Ye Olde Siren magazine

I just love Googling. Today I randomly searched on a magazine I designed with my co-conspirator Laura D. and found a blog post on the topic. In the 40 plus comments, a few of them sang the praises of the magazine and one even gave a shout-out to the cover I designed for Lili Taylor. The mag work resides in a special place in my heart b/c it was one of my first (albeit meagerly) paid jobs out of art school, and Laura and I designed much of it fueled on homemade breakfast after watching Martha Stewart in our pajamas, trips to Mel's diner for egg salad sandwiches, and beer. We also did a lot of xerox experiments that found their way into the layout. Ah, the glory days.

Crafty

So my second craft day with Melissa yielded fabulous results. She was working on a birthday present for Leah and I, having forgotten my original stencils, started work on some graphic coasters. I'll be revealing Melissa's fabulous painting after this Friday, but suffice it to say that it's genius!!
The following are some of the fruits of my labor. Photos courtesy of Melissa.

What's On My Ipod

K'naan: Fatima. Heartbreaking sentiments on the gang shooting of a first love, wrapped up in light hiphoppy pastry. I lurve this song. Wait for the chorus.

Drawing little mopeds with tempera paint

I remember one of my first forays into making artwork that presaged my career as a graphic designer; I believe I was 8 or 9, and pulled an ad from a magazine for Honda mopeds from a Rolling Stone. There was a headline and a few lines of copy on a white background, and lining the bottom were images of 4 mopeds in different colors and models. Something compelled to draw and paint in freehand those little moped images with my Crayola tempera paints, the ones in those small plastic clear containers. The finished product looked fairly representative of the photographs, but more importantly, it was quirky re-creation. Of course, I wanted it to be a perfect reproduction; I didn't yet appreciate the value of idiosyncratic gesture.

Recently, Lani gave me a large postcard that featured the work of Evah Fan, an artist that lives and works in Berkeley with her partner, Brendan Monroe, also an artist. She makes these tiny pieces that are simultaneously loose and detailed, and most of all, full of humor. Her work took me back to those early joyous tempera moments. Take a gander at some of her work and marvel in the negative space and then get hit on the head with the polo mallet of her witty insights. Be sure to click for a larger image.

invitation to kleptomaniac at art committee meeting


source of bad energy



without further adieu

Meditation on surfing

(random cull from Google images; please excuse copyright)

KITTENS!!

Um. This rocks in every way.

Bag porn.

I must tell you about a store L. ventured into last week: Hlaska in the Fillmore. The description on its website:

Born out of a love for science and design Hlaska combines elements of nature, science, architecture and engineering to create luxury wallets and bags. Each design is carefully thought out, with special attention paid to its inspirations, its functionality, and its beauty. Using only the best materials, including Italian leather, European fabrics and custom hardware, Hlaska products go through countless revisions to ensure the final product meets our strict standards for resilience, functionality, and aesthetics. Staying true to the original vision of founder Anthony Mazzei, each new Hlaska product brings with it a new way of appreciating both science and luxury.


Upon further research, apparently the owner has styled his showpiece bag after an archaelogist's bag, thus referencing his love for science. Another chestnut is that "Hlaska" is a combination of Helsinki and Alaska, two places he's fascinated with; as it turns out, "hlaska" is also czech for "communication".


So what differentiates this bag maker from any other of hundreds of fine bag makers? One word: Execution. I accompanied her to return to the store and purchase a weekender bag that she had eyed the week before. What followed was blissful enjoyment of a retail concept well-executed both physically and philosophically--the ambience and the soul is there. The store is tight. I felt like I was in on the ground floor of say, a Louis Vuitton in the making. This dude is passionate about one thing: a luxurious, well-designed, classic traveling bag made from the finest of materials, harkening back to when the well-heeled traversed the friendly skies wearing sassy neck scarves, valises in hand. Sigh. It was refreshing to see not one hint of trendy, faddy pandering to the transitory tastes of today's consumer culture. Kudos, Hlaska!