Simple Table
Snapped some photos of my friend M. Prado’s crafty work tonight.
Visited: Central Baltimore
Scene of the Wire and much speculation throughout the past couple of years, here it is in all of its glory. I was impressed with the city but frightened by the posture toward crime enforcement. A scary exciting American city. A studio project and a master’s thesis to follow.
Reyner Banham Loved America
Mr. Banham was a British architectural critic most active in the ’60s and ’70s. His passion for candid critiques is well documented in a diverse series of books written during the period. He published his love for LA (see above film), industrial American architecture, environmental systems in buildings, and even a poetic tribute to the deserts of southwestern USA. I have just started reading some of his work and have found it enjoyable and exceedingly straight forward. In a world of convoluted architectural writing it is refreshing to come upon texts with a bit of style and wit that remain readable. I also like the man’s style as he reminds me of the British Waylon Jennings.
[1] Street-Porter, Tim. P.R. Banham at Silurian Lake. Photograph. Scenes In America Deserta. Layton, Utah: Gibbs M Smith, 1982. 121. Print.
Mixtape 2010: Thriving In Ambiguity
Every year (except last) I produce a mixtape of my favorite songs for the holidays. This is the fourth edition and by far the most laborious and exciting. All of the original artwork is from NASA or Illustrator, printed on high res paper with an ink jet. It is late but hopefully awesome. The tracklist follows:
1. 4/28/67 part 2 – Skipp Coon
2. You – Gold Panda
3. Not In Love – Crystal Castles (ft. R. Smith)
4. Helicopter – Deerhunter
5. Chinatown – Wild Nothing
6. Marathon – Tennis
7. Wilderness – Active Child
8. Lucidity – Tame Impala
9. 10 Miles – Beach House
10. 32 Leaves dipped – Shabazz Palaces
11. Carolina – Girls
12. Excuses (Yours Truly) – Morning Benders
My favorite song of the year is definitely Not In Love. The albums I listened to most (according to iTunes) were Active Child and Wild Nothing, but the Black Keys’ album was not far behind. Such a good year, for me, my growing family, and music. Cheers!
Portfolio Reboot
Had a big meeting this week that called for a mini-portfolio redesign. It is a small folding version that worked perfect for the meeting and captures a couple of targeted projects without overwhelm (hopefully). Printed on 3-ply vellum finish Bristol with an ink jet plotter.
The Trends of Preppy
An interesting analysis over at Ivy Style on the status of many leading clothing brands.
L.L. Bean is peering into the abyss. I can now only buy six items from L.L. Bean with any confidence: Norwegian Sweaters; Boat and Totes; Bean Boots; Chamois Shirts; Flannel Shirts; Ragg Socks. It is worth noting that none of these are made in China and the socks, bags and boots are all US made.
The most important part of this is that the brands on the left continue to produce in the U.S.A. (or the originating country of the brand). The direct correlation between quality and location of production is evident if you get your hands on any of the respective products. Filson is a missing label that remains on the left side of this graph for me, somewhere with Quoddy and Alden, just a touch cheaper.
Poler Camping
Poler, a Portland camping gear startup, looks like they have the right idea and design thinking going on. They make these rad little air activated heating packs called Heat Bags. And they are releasing a full line at SIA next week. “It’s for people that look at most outsdoorsy stuff and wonder why everyone is trying to pretend they are going to do first ascents on alpine peaks instead of celebrating the fact that they are having adventures that are awesome in their own way.” Sign me up.
Vintage Design and French Children
French children and design from before yesterday. All media devices should have plungers that remind children of TNT igniters. And has there been a kid since Rockit that didn’t try to scratch on any record player within arms length? My mom collects odd vintage kitchen utensils and always had good fun asking us what we thought each one was for. We looked a lot like these children I think. Via core77.
Kerfing in Platform
Our kerfing project was selected for GSD Studioworks / Platform. Hooray!
Roy Works the Kinect
My friend and partner Roy S. is doing big things over at the Media Lab. Not the best video, but the functionality of browsing the web, etc. with gestures in one step closed to the Minority Report HCI holy grail. Now we need some holograms. Congrats man.