Toronto Variety Blog

A Moment in Fall

2011-11-30T15:47:00.000-05:00

Early morning market's a breeze

On this last day in Movember and the first hint of snowfall, I'm a bit nostalgic for Fall colours. A walk through Chinatown early in the morning offers a glimpse of vibrant colour.

Stores are still shut tight in Kensington and hand-painted artwork on the storefronts are exposed when shutters are closed. A few early morning breakfast-seekers and food shoppers are about.

Trees are up in flames everywhere

Both urban artscape and natural colours of Fall inspire and charm. We stop just for a moment to enjoy the play of light and the uplifting feeling that a splash of colour adds to life.

Closed Coffee Shop front counter art

It's like a different coloured scarf everyday changing colours, wrapped around this Church on Belsize Drive.

Halloween skeleton pirates hang out below the brightest shades of orange and yellow

On Oct 31, a front yard line up of Halloween favourites include pumpkins, spiders, witches and Count Dracula.

Leaf tips seem dipped in petal colours after the rain

Groceries bagged and a quiet street makes a skateboard-perfect ride home.

A Trip to the Sandalman

2011-11-07T13:49:00.001-05:00

Old vs New Roots. This New Student Pack is hand rubbed to give a distinct vintage look that becomes softer with age.

It's a nice day for a bike ride across town for a visit to the Sandalman Leathercare. I've followed "a guy in a store that fixes leather" around town from Harbord and Bathurst in the 80's to Avenue Road in the 90's and now to Oakwood and Davenport. It's a cramped little shop filled mostly with Yoga bags and summer sandals now at end of summer 50% off. Really beautiful handmade sandals.

I have a Roots leather backpack that's about twenty five years old and has been sitting unused and getting a bit musty due to a half ripped buckle hole on the left strap. Nostalgia says "let's get it fixed" but when it turns out to cost 192.10, I have second thoughts. Cary lets me know that it's $50 @ hour for repair, $50 to refinish plus taxes.

Should I just go out and purchase a new one. The Roots New Student Pack is made in Canada from 100% Italian leather and costs $238.00 plus tax, free shipping.

Repairs on a leather backpack incluse refinishing, stitching repair on a half-broken strap. Working on a new protective plastic for the name tag.

I decide to go for the repair.
Stephen calls a couple weeks later to say it's ready. Looks good. The broken plastic on the name tag is easily replaced. The leather hook at the top of the back[pack was broken and lopped off. Really nice to have to hang your bag and take the stress off the shoulder straps. The stitching at the broken loop is a bit shabby - just a quick cut and overlap of the leather.

Someone else might be enjoying this bag if I had given it up -even in it's less than perfect state. It's still a divided debate. A new Roots leather backpack versus a reused, recycled, refurbished repair.
What do you think. Is it worth the repair or just replace?

More at Toronto Variety Blog

Perfecting the Thanksgiving Turkey

2011-10-17T10:25:00.000-04:00

There may be a thanksgiving dinner in your future and you may be the one having to prepare the turkey dinner.

Here are the essentials I learned from Mario at The Healthy Butcher earlier this week.

Five tips to turkey perfection:

Start with a turkey that has been raised with no growth hormones or antibiotics
Give your bird a nice salt water night overnight
Rub butter all over the bird and under the skin
Cook in the oven at 350 degrees celcius. It's ready when the internal temperature of the thigh reaches 165C
Let stand for 20-30 minutes covered in aluminium foil before serving.

Video on

How to Brine a Turkey

Length: 5:12
Produced By: Sarah Breckenridge
Fine Cooking Senior Food Editor and Test Kitchen Manager Jennifer Armentrout demonstrates two space-saving solutions, using either a brining bag or a small cooler.

Now that you've got the turkey covered, fresh and simple works for the rest of dinner. Here's my
Thanksgiving Dinner Main Course Menu:

Turkey

Bread, celery and onion stuffing

Serve with

cranberry/orange relish

Mashed potatoes prepared with milk and unsalted butter served with gravy on the side

Green beans or Peas
Boiled carrot coins
Nips (turnip) or brocolli
Sweet potato or yam mashed with lime and butter.

Appetizers and desserts to your delight!

I welcome your comments, tips, additions.

More articles at Toronto Variety Blog.

photo above Aimee Hopton Thanksgiving 2009

Endless Summer in this City

2011-09-08T22:42:00.004-04:00

If you're in the city in the summertime, looking for excitement, diversity, crowded streets and sidewalks, then south of Bloor Street is the place to hang.

North of Bloor is a vacation as it seems almost everyone is away or at the cottage. You can enjoy quiet streets for biking, lazy strolls, trees and vegetation that attract birds and wildlife, or find a friendly backyard with a barbeque, hammock or a pool.

Strolling along Bloor Street with the rise of more high rises visible in the background

New condo developments clog many major street corners downtown such as the U twin towers at University of Toronto, St. Mary Street and Bay.

As glass panels let loose and fall from a couple towers downtown make the late summer headlines, owners and would-be buyers are concerned about future rising fees and what makes a good investment. Anyone living in the city for the last 25 years is shocked by the rapid growth, questions six hundred plus for a one bedroom with den, an inadequate allottment of green space, and the endless construction noise.

Early morning at Rosehill Reservoir: a glorious park to enjoy at 75 Rosehill Ave. just two blocks south east of St. Clair Ave. and Yonge St.

On the Saturday morning of Jack Layton's funeral, I rode my bike over to Roy Thomson Hall to be greeted by too many media setting up and police officers on horseback to make waiting around a pleasant experience so I headed over to City Hall. Within a few minutes of walking around, reading the messages everywhere on the ground and walls, my cheeks would be wet with tears and my heart heavy with loss. The chalk drawings covering the concrete expressed such an outporing of emotion and displayed all the optimism and hope he represented as the leader of the New Democratic Party and the official opposition.

You stole our heart. City Hall chalk drawing for Jack Layton

You're the People's Prime Minister: Chalk drawings at City Hall express the hopes of Jack Layton's admirers.

A toddler with his Dad visit the temporary Jack Layton memorial at City Hall

Jack Layton's moustache version of the Canadian flag. Chalk drawing at City Hall.

City Hall's best kept secret: The Podium Green Garden is an expanse of underused public garden at the pod level at City Hall which may not be visible from the street but a sweet space to get away from the crowds at Queen St. and Bay.

Leaving City Hall, one block north at Village by the Grange, just opposite the art gallery, Karine's is bussling patrons waiting in line for the classics like eggs/sausage served on a porcelain plate overflowing with heaps of fresh fruit, greens and fries. No plastic here. Stainless cutlery and self serve hot beverage in a real mug.

Not your average mall food court: Karine's serves healthy all day breakfast, vegetarian and vegan delights in Village by the Grange.

Super summer salad

Crunchy Spinach Salad at the Pickle Barrel Yonge and Eglinton is a bunch of baby spinach leaves topped mandarins, red onions, almonds, crunchy rice noodles and other stuff is a filling meal on a hot night just before a movie at Silver City. If you haven't seen The Help, don't forget the tissues.

Back Yard Patio

The patio at the Queen Mother Café on Queen Street West, not visible from the street, you must venture underground to get back up to the backyard patio, more like Aunt Marge's than the Queen but you can't beat the Pad Thai noodles after 20 years in the city.

Best summer drink

Cranberry and Perrier with a twist of fresh lemon not available at Starbucks but on patios everywhere. If the music is blasting, be sure the waitress hears carnberry/soda not cranberry/vodka one hour before you get to your evening class and have to do a three-minute impromtu presentation. Yikes!

Nice out of town garden

Going out of town in search of something Victorian then an afternoon at the Royal Botanical Gardens on the border of Burlington and Hamilton, is divine. If you take the your bike on the go train, you get off at Aldershot and it's probably a less than 15 minute ride down to the lake at your at the Gardens. Visit the tea room in the gardens for lunch.

Nice ride

Segway through the arts community in the Distillery District on a tour to explore the history and architecture of the area and includes learning how to ride Dean Kamen's two-wheeled, self-balancing electric vehicle.

Healthy tanning

Ride your bike all along the lakeshore from Ashbridges Bay in the east at the base of Broadview all the way west to the Exhibition.

Doula services: help with childbirth

If you're having a baby, did you know there may be free doula services available to you?

Students from the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine are offering their free services as volunteer doulas. Doulas are trained and experienced childbirth labour companions. They provide support to women and their partners before, during and after childbirth. Should you be interested in a volunteer doula please email heartsandhandsdoulas@gmail.com or visit the website.

The Flamenco dance
In October, when you're looking for a little something described as breathtaking with an innovative twist, the Toronto International Flamenco Festival brings internationally acclaimed and Canadian artists to Koerner Hall at the Royal Conservatory.

I welcome your comments and feedback.
More articles at Toronto Variety.

One of a kind finds

2011-06-01T19:19:00.001-04:00

The One Of A Kind Show is on twice a year in Toronto and this smaller spring show in April makes it easy to get up close to the 450 artisans showing handmade items including bodycare, ceramics, furniture, textiles and fashion.
Out front at the Direct Energy Centre at Exhibition Place, we're happy to find this wonderful swirl of serious bike parking available.
It's breakfast time when we meet Eric standing out front of his booth with a very large coffee next to his bright, cheerful glass designs.

E. J. Davy shows off his glass art

Zit Designs from Montreal uses recycled rubber to create really useful items like this card holder. Buy one for each family member to keep items like health card, library card, doctor's appointment card all in one place.

Lawrence Tucker of Ottawa scouts for special pieces of wood and turns them into magnificent, functional items like these pens.

Another top pick this year are the Original Pheylonian Survival Candles of 100% pure capping beeswax, mostly virgin beeswax freshly produced by the bees each year when they are gathering nectar, that last for 80-100 hours. If you burn candles, make sure they're beeswax which produce negative ions, cleansing the air of dust, odours, toxins, pollen, mold, dust mite feces, chemtrail residues and viruses.

Giant multicoloured navigational buoys designed by Douglas Coupland in collaboration with Philips-Farevag-Smallenberg

Leaving the show and walking north on this mild spring day, we discover the 'red canoe park' between Bathurst and Spadina, just north of the Gardiner. We like the thought-provoking Canadiana feel featuring sculptures by Douglas Coupland and a much needed public space in this Cityplace condoland.

What a beauty!
On the way home and on the theme of one-of-a-kind, we find a lotus. Ryerson University / Mount Pleasant Cemetary bicycle rack competition 2010 winning design LOTUS by Katy Alter and Jeff Cogliati bring together aesthetic, functionality and ease of use in perfect harmony.

Comments welcome!

Work Space: tech help, getting around, cheap eats

2011-04-27T16:21:00.001-04:00

MAC vs PC

Got Mac technical issues?. These service guys are the best. MacTweek.
Of course you need help networking or troubleshooting if you're on a PC.

Don't freak. PCMDOnCall

makes hassle-free house calls 416 944 2464.

Part-time collective workspace

Indoor Playground is a next generation coworking environment gives entrepreneurs an occasional office space, in the downtown core of Toronto -364 Richmond St W., near Peter.

Pretty Darn Fast Courier 905 271 9655. Reliable and well, pretty darn fast!

TRANSPORTATION

On New Year's Eve you can ride the TTC for free. Party without getting behind the wheel of your car. Smart.

If you live in New York City, you get Puff Daddy "Diddy" handing out mastercards and offering free cab rides to anyone needing a ride home after partying at Times Square. Public transportation rocks ! Toronto Transit Commission.

Toronto City Bicycling Map. PDF format available.

CHEAP EATS, FUN DATE

Sakura in Village by the Grange

is homestyle Japanese take out from ramen noodles to ebi fry, all wonderful and filling. Save room for green tea ice cream at BaskinRobbins, north side of the mall, Dundas Street entrance. Visit the AGO across the street on a full tummy.

Caribbean Roti Palace

744 Bathurst South on Bloor, north of Harbord on West side. 416-533-7466. Fine takeout, add table linens, drinks, candles and serve at home!

Frank Restaurant at the AGO is the most relaxed and delightful date for lunch and an afternoon gallery browse. Ten percent off meals is just one of the perks of an Art Gallery of Ontario membership. Named in honour of the gallery's restoration architect, Frank Gehry.

Eleven Things in Twenty Eleven / 2011

2011-04-27T16:21:00.000-04:00

1. Bloor Street Revitalization
The real heroes of Bloor street are the skilled workers who were out there toiling in the summer heat to lay this wonderfully widened sidewalks of "thank you quebec" granite, along with sustainable soil cell systems for trees and diffused lighting.

A near derelict water main system below forced this makeover that will perhaps one day expand beyond the Church Street to Avenue Road area. It's been a maze on this busy strip of Bloor and everyone is so looking forward to when the snow and salt finally lifts and we can enjoy the first summer in the last two years without obstruction and construction.

Though the new sidewalks end at Avenue Road the coolness factor continues west on Bloor where alternatives to the automobile and street art get some space.

Sculpture of Unknown Student by Dale Heinzerling at the corner of Bloor St. and Huron St.

Go see for yourselves - Detail of new art by Runt started summer 2010 on the front walls of Lee's Palace

Our Urban artist "Runt" does some revitalization of his own with some new art for Lee's Palace

Art that fits right into its environment

2. Nipples
A simple, sheer, no-underwire bra is impossible to find at La Senza Lingerie. You will be dazzled by an array of fluorescence and brassieres embellished in lace, sequins, animal patterns, always padded, underwired, shoved together for emphasis on deep pushed-up, cleavage and nipples protected under inches of foam.

What's the big deal about showing some nipple? A Mom in Montreal breastfeeds her child in a secluded area of a children's store and starts a storm. Kim Kardashian is all up in a rage over some nipple show in a recent photo but no concern over the showing of bottoms. Jeanne Beker reports on nipples as a trend so we know it must be back and I'm glad to hear it.

3. Fast Fashion
Forever 21 hits Toronto this spring with a new store in the basement level of the Eatons Centre. Everyone loves the fifteen dollar bargain. With tax, it's not too much to spend a $20. and marketers at stores like at Zara, H&M, FCUK have figured out, it's our price point.

Fast fashion, like fast food means inexpensive clothing everywhere, copied fresh of the runway and made possible by our manufacturing wizards in the east. OK, so now when I purchase a t-shirt, it's so transparent that you need to purchase three more just to cover up. Is there too much fashion, too much waste in the industry?

Fast Fashion $10-15 tops at The Rage

4. Kensington Market
Things are way down downtown. The busy sidewalks of Chinatown disguise For Rent signs, boarded up stores, decaying buildings and homes ready for the next wave of immigrants who can no longer afford the downtown prices. Chinatown is changing. Does anyone else feel it?. Until there's a major revitalization in the Spadina Kensignton neighbourhood, we'll have to keep things alive with festivals that win back the streets in the summer.

Yummy cappuccinos at Sublime Cafe, Kensington Market

5. Evergreen Brickworks
With a grand restoration underway, this once hidden oasis in the city is now busy on weekends with the farmers market. The french fry dudes just clean up with hand-cut Yukon gold potatoes and homemade ketchup during the summer months at the Brickworks. After buying all the healthy organic stuff from the farmers, you get kinda hungry, so save some strength for standing in line to get your hot, crispy fries in a hand rolled paper cone.

Nature walk at the Evergreen Brickworks

6. Body Browser
Peeling back annatomical layers of the human body, in 3D no doubt, to take a look at your muscles, organs and bones is still in beta development at google. But you don't have to wait to explore this ground-breaking learning tool. And thinking about exposed bodies, does anyone else worry about the effects of the 'soft porn' ads at the back of the NOW newspaper that's available freely everywhere in news boxes and subway newsstands. We are concerned about our children being exposed to internet porn when this stuff is in plain sight.

7. Netflix vs itunes
I got the netflix $9.95 a month deal and free for the first month after being an avid itunes downloader since it's inception. There are lots of good, popular choices but try searching something classic such as "The Candidate" with Robert Redford of Quentin Taratino's "Pulp Fiction", you'll probably come up not available. I've kicked them to the curve for now along with Primus as my home service internet provider. For now it's pay-as-I-go at Apple and saying no to monthly charges.

The promise of unlimited download, lighting-fast bandwodth evaporated at the end of the year when they were "forced" to break their contract and start charging usage-based fees. The issue continues.

8. Al Jazeera
Watch TV News Now at the Al Jazeera network and gain another perspective.
You won't find an entertainment section and there seems to be a lot old BBC guys on the network but guess what, you'll also find the really cool Avi Lewis co-hosting Al Jazeera's Fault Lines series and probably the best investigative reporting on what's going on the the world right now.

9. Buteyko
Could it be that breathing deeply is in fact bad for you?. The Buteyko Method is a set of breathing exercises developed by Dr K. P. Buteyko to restore healthy breathing patterns, which help to maintain the correct ratio of oxygen and carbon dioxide within the bloodstream. According to his research, some 150 diseases are linked to dysfunctional breathing: think asthma, anxiety, hypertension, allergies or maybe you're being kept up a night by someone else's snoring.

Last summer, I took the Buteko Breathing course with renowned instructor Christine Bauman who was in town from Vancouver a training the trainer session. There's no quick fix. You have to do the exercises. This Spring Buteyko classes will be available in mid town Toronto area.

10. Chinese Checkers
I've cleared out all computing devices from my living room area and dragged in the yoga matt, weights and some board games with the hope of inspiring some family noise. With eveeryone plugged into there own devices with headphones listening, chatting, interacting with something or someone else, it gets pretty quiet together but alone in the new world.

So I'm bring out my favourite game of Chinese Checkers, along with Scrabble, Chess and a deck of Playing Cards in the hope of making some noise again.

11. Electricity
Have you noticed what going on with electricity which is highly subsidized by our government so you don't have to actually see the real cost that we're paying. Everything is plugged in. Even if you're mobile, it's only a matter of time, a few hours maybe, before you have to get juiced up again.

Now electric cars are coming on strong so the demand is going to grow. Smart meters measure electricity usage every hour so take a look at time of use rates because it's almost double during the day from 11 to 5pm.

12. Cloud Computing
When I talk to clients about using online-based applications to manage their business communication, they worry about security, brand reinforcement and document ownership issues. I ask "what if you spill that cup of coffee on your laptop or misplace your USB key?"
What's next is my blog documenting my adventure as a design geek working in the Google Cloud with Gmail and Google Apps business accounts.

Love to have your comments and feedback as always.

Passwords security tips

2011-04-27T16:20:00.002-04:00

With hacker horror stories keeping us alert and everything from our banking, friendships and mailboxes now online, we're stuck with creating and remembering endless passwords. A 2008 survey showed that half of the people surveyed used the same password for all the sites they visited regularly. Not a good idea.

How about starting with a memorable phase that you can turn into an acronym?.
Make sure it doesn't contain a readable word.
Mix upper and lower case.
Use a number or symbol in the middle of the word.
It's easier to remember a phase that means something to you and is secure because it's original.

Here's some good advice on how you can Fix Your Terrible, Insecure Passwords in Five Minutes at Slate.com.

Green Space

2011-04-27T16:20:00.001-04:00

Wildflower Farms is a favourite website about native plants and you can buy stock too!.

Star Gazing

If you love looking up at the stars, the David Dunlap Observatory offers public viewing nights held most Saturday nights throughout the summer months and early fall. The DDO is an educational facility located in Richmond Hill, Ontario and is operated by The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.

Ontario Walks celebrates the joys of walking.

GreenShift Supplies cups and other products made from sugarcane, corn or natural paper fibres with special certified, biodegradable coatings.

Becoming a Toronto Environmental Volunteer. My friend Cyril is an environmental steward with the tiniest ecological footprint of anyone I know. He's just applied to be a TEV. Twenty hours of training and a certificate, 40 hours of community work (or more), a diploma, a T-shirt and hat, ... ah, and free entrance to different shows such as the Green Living Show and Canada Blooms. He figures on at least a great opportunity for networking with employers, meet the community, etc. Check online for the next training session at TEV.

Have you been to the Brickworks lately?
Evergreen community naturalization programs is a collective effort that includes people from all walks of life in the revitalization of their schools, community and in making cities our more livable. Spread the green.

Take a video tour or just get your butt out on a saturday for the Farmers' market. The Evergreen Foundation is our blazing star forging ahead to raise $55 million to transform this heritage site into a sustainable urban green space.

Along with the farmers' market will be leading edge ecological programming through community activities, kids’ camps, a native plant nursery, arts initiatives, green conference facilities, at-risk youth programs. Right now you can enjoy the trails and great outdoors right in the belly of our city.
As part of the Don River watershed and City of Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation, this urban oasis helps to protect wildlife and habitat.

Listen or Watch Online

2011-04-27T15:57:00.000-04:00

Sit back and enjoy a review of 50 years of history in less than 3 minutes. Thanks to a student at the University of Chicago featuring the music of songwriter, Billy Joel We didn't start the fire.

LISTEN UP! Canada lives here

| CBC Radio Two | CBC Radio One

Bachman Turner Overdrive fans can listen to Randy's Vinyl Tap radio program Saturday nights 7-9pm EST on CBC radio.

WATCH TV ONLINE at CTV.ca Broadband

Astro offers great horoscopes. Select the free ones just to check it out.

Hack Attack: When your internet hosting provider gets hacked, who else is out there

2011-04-06T14:02:00.001-04:00

Last October, while on a trip visiting my Dad 2,000 miles away from my desk, a telephone call alerted me to an outage at my internet hosting provider. All email service was interrupted. Websites I managed were unavailable online. My internet service provider had been hacked. Clients were agitated. The hackers had attacked and access was denied.

A year earlier, Vic, my Guru technical director and hosting provider for more than decade, decided he'd had enough with the late nights, rebuilding servers, upgrading to yet another version of Spam Assassin and investing in more security software that clients didn't want to pay for to vend off the hackers. He dumped his 300 plus client web properties onto a larger provider with a Microsoft specialty and went off to apply his genius in the world of Apps.

You have to have the bank account of Google today to fend off the hackers. So the advice seems to be to go with someone's who bigger who has the budget to keep up with the hackers.

Just as we were recovering in January, we were hacked again. Clients were continuing to request a move to another hosting provider in a mad scramble for safety.
I already had a few clients at Network Solutions who were contented mainly due to their reputation for reliability and support, so I switched another client over and found the overall interface and instructional text quite intuitive to follow.

Another client who is running an online product catalogue requested to switch to Blue Host on the advice of an associate who moved their hosting a year earlier with no interruption in service since.

Bluehost was really was breeze. I didn't feel like I had to search for things like "what's my DNS?". Set up was easy and support was responsive. When the catalogue didn't work on initial set up, they offered a solution.

I then called up my web producer Cyril to see if he had any other recommendations instead.
He told me he looked at the largest and cheapest ISPs he could find without spending weeks researching, thinking that volume sales can keep the cost down, and size would indicate reliability.

He says his clients don't require the ultimate reliability and security that Q9 Networks offers,
for example, and as the first line of tech support there's no need to have superior service from the ISP.

He compared Go Daddy (the largest, according to Wikipedia), HostMonster (unlimited domains), and 1&1 (International). Go Daddy is the most cost-effective if you're on a tight budget, but their up-selling drives me nuts and the tech support is just acceptable. At least they provide many tools for server management and and it's easy enough to Google for their online help and promo codes.

Media Temple had also been mentioned on several occasions, mainly for their tech support and infrastructure. When I tried to set up an account, I went through the whole process of filling out my credit card info only to be bounced back to the home page with no feedback. I emailed support who promptly responded. I had already gone elsewhere. How could I trust a provider whose transactional site was broken.

Hope this helps in your search for the ultimate ISP.

Colour and texture: an essay on shades

2010-11-03T19:27:00.000-04:00

Around the dinner table with my Dad's best friend and family, sitting second from the right.

When I was in junior school, I wished for dark skin like my classmates so they would include me in their fun and games.

At catholic church, I was baptized with a new christian name. As a child I thought perhaps my own name perhaps may not be recognized in heaven.

At the beach with my aunts, uncle and a slew of cousins, my brother sits front row second from left.

During the August holidays, my brothers and I stayed with my mother's parents.
We went to the Methodist church on Saturday with my Grandmother and on Sunday, to the Presbyterian church with my Grandfather.

When we visited my father's Venezuelan mother, she spoke to us in Spanish, as if we understood. She lived in an aromatic kitchen with a breadbox that was never empty.

My Chinese godparents switched back and forth from English to Cantonese as they spoke to me or each other. When I visited, I always returned home with a unique gift from their homeland.

Family and friends gather for music, food and festivities.

I had to say goodbye to my first boyfriend who followed me around everywhere at sixteen but would never invite me to his strict East Indian family home, even for a New Year's Eve Party.

At the prestigious all-girls high school I attended, many close friendships with my white peers ended at 2:30 each day, at the close of school.

At University, I lunched with my all-Canadian football player classmate who called me exotic and wrote me poetry.
My best friend at Art School was handsome, Jewish and gay.

I get asked for directions in the subway by women speaking Farsi or Portuguese.
A popular topic of conversation when I meet someone for the first time is usually "Where are you from."

And when I walk down the street, I see myself reflected in every face that goes by.

Related
Watch Shadeism
A documentary about the discrimination that exists between the lighter-skinned and darker-skinned members of the same community, specifically how it affects young women within the African, Caribbean, and South Asian communities.

LostLyrics
is an organization that uses Hip Hop culture to break down the images, pressures, and issues young people face including the Roots of Beauty Ideals.

"You may say I'm a dreamer but I'm not the only one.

I hope some day you'll join us and the world will live as one."

John Lennon, Imagine.

Beauty Rules: Breaking some at the Bobbi Brown cosmetics event

2010-10-22T10:05:00.004-04:00

At the Bobbi Brown beauty cosmetics event in Toronto, groups of uniformed teenagers, mature sophisticates, business women of caramel, butterscotch, milky peach, cocoa and every skintone are here for a personal consultation with a Bobbi Brown beauty advisor.

You get a before and after photo done by a professional photographer to take away on a brushed silver USB key, along with a makeup sheet outlining products used or recommended.

Bobbi Brown is in town for the event and many women are here for the book signing, along with a friend for the first time or many are knowledgeable converts after discovering one of the few cosmetics companies working to create a no-makeup look that is simple and flattering on all skintones.

Although the staff always seems preoccupied at this beauty counter at Holt Renfrew, it's the only store to carry the brand. You can leave behind your days of poking around in the aisle at Shoppers Drug Mart, becoming distraced with too many smelly perfumes and spending on cosmetics you'll regret the next day.

Even without a special event, it's well worth it to walk in during the week or book an appointment with a beauty advisor onsite.

On this occasion, I walked away with the hydrating face tonic, the vitamin enriched basebase, and my USB key with my before and after makeup shots.

Next time, I'm looking forward to something like a co-branded event with Apple, all beauty advisors recording the products used or recommended on their ipad free-standing device and my ten-step beauty chart mailed to my Android or added to my USB key.

Market Day in Trinidad

2010-10-03T19:57:00.002-04:00

If you want to eat fresh, Sunday morning is market day in Trinidad. The story in the newspaper today says "Market prices fall... consumers still bawling". Popular foods grown locally include seim, bodi, pumpkin, sweet and hot peppers, patchoi, lettuce, sweet potatoes, ginger, avocados and chives. On the streets outside the main building, maxi taxis are the transportation of choice along the east west corridor.

Along the priority bus route, behind the market building, vendors offer everything from shoes, not-yet-released pirated CDs & DVDs, mobile accessories alongside a truckload of watermelons and a brisk trade of yummy doubles - curry chickpeas, mango chutney and hot pepper to taste, sandwiched between two fried patties called bara.

Fresh eggs at the Tunapuna Market

Vendors allow patrons to select their own items so picking through a heap of peppers is all part of the experience.

Do you know the difference between a Gros Michel or Lacatan banana?
Locals know. Plantains may also look alike but are boiled or fried before eaten.

Dry coconuts are husked and ready to be cracked open and shredded for bake - a local flat bread, ice cream, callallo soup, and sweet sugarcakes.

Eddoes, white and sweet potatoes.

Local crabs, an essential ingredient in callallo are bundled together, alive and wiggling, and sold by the heap.
The vendor will remove the main body shell after purchase.

A popular doubles vendor does a brisk trade.
At $4 a piece, it's the same price as a soft drink and a great bargain for breakfast on the run.

Maxi taxis are identified by different colour stripes based on the route they travel.

History notes:
The Tunapuna Market is situated beside the Priority Bus route which used to be the train route east/west into the City of Port of Spain.
The video below chronicles the end of trains in Trinidad: Last Train to San Fernando, 1965. Enjoy!

Stretchy Exercises for Desk-Bound Dummies

2010-08-19T09:10:00.001-04:00

Does your job require you to sit in one position for a long time, or perhaps you're about to embark on a road trip.
Here are twelve great exercises, shared by a physiotherapist and pilates instructor, to get those stiff muscles moving again.

WARM UPS

Neck Rolls
Tip ear to shoulder, then drop chin to chest and roll to the other side. Back and forth. 10 reps.

Neck Stretch
Rotate head to one side, drop chin to chest, grab with same side arm at base of skull, pull up to stretch. Hold 10-15 seconds. Repeat 2-3 times.

Backward shoulder rolls. 10 reps.

Ribcage mobilization
Press ribcage side to side, then front to back sticking chest out and dropping chest back. Add "bowl roll" if you want, keeping the movement in a smooth circle.

Hip "Bowl Roll"
Knee Rolls: Feet together, hands on knees. Circle knees.

Ankle Rolls: One foot at a time, move from tippy toes to balls of feet back and forth.

STRETCHES

Hold these stretches 1--15 sec, 2-3 times.

Thighs

Pull knee to butt. Point knee to floor.

Hips

Press hips/pelvis forward in a deep lunge. Alternate raised feet using a stair or step stool, for example.

Hamstrings

With one leg straight, sit tall and lean forward. Press sit-bones back.

Calf

Keep back heel on ground.

Figure 4 Stretch

Cross ankle over knee. Sit tall and lean forward.

Backward Bend
Feet apart. Stand with hnads on buttocks. Abs are tight. Press hips forward. Repeat 5-10 times, no hold.

Hope you'll share these twelve simple moves with friends and colleagues. Keep on stretching!

The Secret Life of the North Toronto Teenager

2010-08-04T12:24:00.002-04:00

House Party - North Toronto Spring 2010.

There are those dazzling spring days when impossible is nothing.
The school year is coming to an end. The teenagers are bursting with excitement and pushing the limits.

Four Maple Story loving, Moe's Southwest Grill lunching, Yonge Dundas Square grooving Grade Ten males, get permission to have a private House Party with a few close friends. Parents agree to go out to dinner.

A publicity image from the TV show HOUSE cheekily advertises the event to a select twenty Facebook friends, male and female equal in numbers.

On Saturday, a $50 trek to the store and the kitchen is flush with ketchup chips, cheezies, a few litres of pop including Mugg Rootbeer. No Jolt or guanara laced "Gives me stomach ache" beverage.

A worried parent calls to ask the parents whether they were incredible naive or just insanely stupid. It's like that ancient shampoo commercials goes "I'll tell two friends and you tell two friends and so on and so on and so on"

With ipods fully loaded with awesome playlists, the teenage experiment unfolds. Parents depart at 8:30 and two hours later, the house is filled with bodies and the house party is out on the street and out of control.
Highlights include:

A sixteen year old gets his parents to buy him a six-pack for a house party where alcohol is allowed

A neighbour reports at 10 o'clock that the party has extended to her front lawn

The sound of broken bottles on nearby streets and a possible mugging in a nearby park is reported

An early guest is armed with a mega party-size bag of Kernels Popcorn which covers every square foot of the main floor and 4 days later someone is still picking bits out of hidden places after floors have been hand-washed crawling on knees

No sooner than two party-size PizzaPizza pizzas are delivered and set down on the kitchen counter, someone grabs a box, runs out the front door, down the street towards towards the park, possibly followed by others

One girl quietly announces that she will be going up tho the bathroom to do a little crystalmeth. A short while later, she is lying in bed, puking over the side on onto the carpet

Groups of girls in tap shorts and blue lights on their faces from mobile devices make their way down the street

When asked to leave, non-invitees from another school get boisterious, swearing racial profiling, flashing glazed baby blues, blond mops hidden under dorags.

A replica gun-waving fifteen year old runs around in the backyard while another tries to take him down.

A very happy girl appears to have forgotten her pants at home or mistakenly selected a top instead of a dress. Boys are following her around. OK. We need to call your parents.

A rude, degrading comment targeting women is scrawled on the kitchen blackboard

Someone decided to take a bite out of every apple from a large bowl of 24

Same for two dozen bananas smeared and smashed on the floor, following a path up the stairs and down to the basement

The word is out and there's a party on the front lawn spilling out onto the streets. Enter through the back gate where the main goal is achieving an altered state of reality as quickly as possible

40% alcohol Tequila and Vodka bottle and too many esoteric beer labels, some crushed into the lawn in the back yard

Five one side shoes are at the front door - no pairs. A female partygoer decided wouldn't it be funny to throw some shoes around.

The air in the backyard is hash heavy and boys with large bongs seem to disappear as the lights go on

Next morning the neighbours to the right are picking up beer bottles from their backyard

Three x-large clear plastic bags are filled with empty bottles and cans.

When you call 911, get distracted and hang up, they will call you back and have a police cruiser show up in five minutes.

Bottomline, these party hosts find their real friends.
These guys spent the evening babysitting to keep everyone in line. They didn't scamper when the adults arrive. They offer to stay behind and clean up.

They stay up late with laughs about this new experience and chow down on Big Macs. They sleep like puppies in a pile on the living room floor and have pancakes in the morning swearing never again.

OK. Maybe University. Have you seen the advertising?. Drinking responsibly is not the message some kids are taking away. After all, they're watching the Coors Light Silver Bullet commercials along with the rest of us.

Share your experience. Comments and feedback welcome.

Resources for Web and Graphic Designers

2010-07-28T13:45:00.002-04:00

A comprehensive web design resource available at Facebook from Shard

Jumpola Some terrific links to resources for designers - all on one page!

Ultimate Writer's Resource has a ton of useful information on writing and grammar published by Amsterdam Printers

lynda.com Learn, master, and apply digital tools and techniques.

Colour wheel and more at Colour Matters

Good CSS reference Sitepoint

Adobe Indesign help? Casey D’Andrea's shares his expert tips and Adobe Indesign resources on customized contact sheets

Here's a one-minute video about Connect Now, which is part of Adobe Creative Suite 4. If your work team is all using CS4, this may be useful as a means of video-conferencing.

TypeKit is a service that allows any font to be displayed on the web. There is a fee attached. Nonetheless, perhaps there may be a client or an application for using it sometime.

Typetester is a nice widget for previewing and comparing the look of screen fonts - helps with specifying typography on the web.

List of Standard Windows fonts

Web Logs and Analysis FAQs on interpreting your web reports

Q2ID The leader in conversion plug-in. A review of Q2ID is available here for QuarkXpress lovers. There is a fee attached.

An eclectic collection of best practice web and wonderful inspiration for designers is piepmatzel.

Imagination is everything at OCAD University.

Perception: Sourcebook for business design by imedia.ca

Contributors
Sally Hewson
Shard

Colourful Foods: Everybody's Diet Food Shopping List

2010-07-27T15:50:00.008-04:00

Eating healthier doesn't have to mean information overload counting calories, tracking cholesterol, or remembering what you had for breakfast.

It's simple if you keep it fresh, real and colourful.

The Everybody's Diet Food Shopping List is compiled from a list of foods my doctor shared with me.
I've kept all the essentials and eliminated everything else that's recommended a low or moderate use food.

Shopping List

Grains

Spelt
Kamut
Quinoa
Buckwheat
Millet
Brown Rice
Basmati Rice
Semolina Pasta

Seeds and Nuts

Almonds
Walnuts
Pecans
Filberts/Hazelnuts
Macadamia Nuts
Pine Nuts
Sesame Seeds
Flax Seeds
Pumpkin Seeds
Cashew Nuts
Sunflower Seeds
Brazil Nuts

Legumes

String Beans
Romano Beans
Chickpeas
Split Peas
Green Peas
Lentils

Fruits

Currants
Grapes
Kiwifruit
Pear and Chinese Pear
Apple
Papaya
Apricot
Strawberries
Blueberries
Lemon
Cherries
Pineapple
Plum

Herbs and Spices

Sea Salt
Curry, Black & Cayenne Pepper
Paprika
Onion
Garlic
Horseradish
Ginger

Vegetables

Potato with peel
Carrots
Beets
Kohlrabi
Turnip
Celery
Parsley
Parsnip
Rutabaga
Radish
Daikon
Tomato
Avocado
Dill
Parsley
Romaine
Radicchio
Leaf Lettuce
Boston Lettuce
Head Lettuce
Dandelion Greens
Endive, Belgian Endive
Escarole
Arugula
Asparagus
Kale
White and Red Cabbage
Savoy Cabbage
Chinese Cabbage
Bok Choy
Leeks
Squash
Zucchini
Artichoke
Broccoli
Chicory
Cauliflower
Collards
Shiitake & Reishi Mushrooms
Spinach
Okra
Rappini
Snow Peas
Swiss Chard
Brussell Sprouts
Watercress
Water Chestnuts
Seaweed
Fennel

Meat, Fish, Poultry

Turkey
Goose
Duck
Quail
Pheasant
Lamb
Goat
Rabbit
Veal

Dairy

Eggs
Rice Milk

Drinks

Vegetable Juices
Fruit Juices
Teas
Hot Chocolate
Lemon/Lime water
Purified Water

Sugars, Syrups, Sweeteners

Blackstrap Molasses
Barley Malt
Natural Cane Sugar
Stevia
Agave
Apple Butter
Homemade Preserves

Sauces & Vinegar

Mustard
Miso
Mayonnaise
Wine, Balsamic & Rice Vinegar
Apple Cider Vinegar

Fats and Oil

Unsalted Butter
Olive Oil
Pumpkin Seed Oil
Flaxseed Oil
Sesame Oil

We've done the typing so you can Copy, Paste, Print or Keep this list in a convenient format.

Remember

1. Real Fresh - As close to it's original form so real cheese instead of cheese strings or cheezies.

2. Minimum Packaging - Keep packaging which means food processing to a minimum. If you like corn have fresh corn on the cob instead of prepackaged corn muffins or corn flakes

3. Healthy Colour - keeping it colourful is an easy way to remember to include foods that will give you the nutrients to maintain your healthy, balanced, active lifestyle.

I've also considered that many people are experiencing food allergies.
For example, negative reactions to wheat are common due to the high gluten content, so this shopping list includes other grain alternatives.

Of course you'll need to include your unique dietary requirements and if you have any concerns, check with your doctor first.

Enjoy the colour at the grocery store!

Find delicious local Greenbelt food and farms at Greenbeltfresh.ca

Toronto to Manhattan - 4 summer nights

2010-07-21T13:26:00.006-04:00

Bryant Park July 1st

Hotel Bellclaire is a charming old structure barely noticeable under scaffolding and renovations underway. A laid-back location in midtown Manhattan between the green at 77th and Broadway.

Late night dining and food shopping is everywhere.

With The Hudson River Greenway on the west side and Central Park to the East, it doesn't take long to see why this neighbourhood is in definite demand for young families.
Starting at the Teccumseh Playground on Amsterdam and heading towards Columbus and the
Museum of Natural History, the streets are busy with strollers, parents, neighbourhood residents.

Expect gigantic, lifesize dinosaur skeletons and be amazed by truly inspiring works of artistry and craftsmanship abound in the many showcase dioramas.
If only you had a week but take in enough to leave in awe and gratitude.

Rows of cafés and extended sidewalk patios are ready for lunch and dinner, presenting unexpected combinations with flair such as mexican flavors with japanese sushi.

Walking along Times Square

Head downtown to a lush and cheerful Bryant Park with sun-seeking bodies catching the rays at lunchtime. As things heat up on this first day on July, we chill with Starbucks and homemade gelato in Made in Italy geometric shaped takeaway cups at the cost of $7.US for a small.

Times Sqare masks it’s age well with enormous signs that cover entire buildings, a showcase for screen technology at it's finest. Loud but surprisingly friendly to pedestrians with painted greenspace street-areas, oversized pots filled with seasonal plants on street intersection create a cool sense of calm and a real compassionate approach with benches to take the load off for a while.

No Honking signs everywhere keeps car horns at bay and what a noticeable difference to the entire feeling of the city.

Get way downtown to Soho and the East Village. Activity and ideas at every turn with an abundance of lunch spots offer healthy, eclectic fare. Most may morph into some new experience by next year. Renovations are everywhere but equally visible are buildings in disrepair.

Walking up Canal Street and into Chinatown, there are unexpected finds such as art under the side walk grate - a super tortoise hiding in the hostas. Take a closer look.

Around the corner, the John Jovino Gunshop makes us stop for a moment. We're not in Canada anymore.

A carpark in the sky and too many hours spent on ipods and mobile devices playing games, watching previously purchased Law and Order episodes in the car.

The best of time is a bike ride through Central Park and then back near the hotel for breakfast of freshly-squeezed orange juice, croissant and tea without any traffic hassle.

It takes longer than the map predicts on google, with frequent gas station stops, bicycles on the roof and bathroom breaks.

It's getting hot on July 4th as we drive through the Adirondack Mountains on our way north east to Montreal.

The mountains, the sky, the landscape is breathtaking and I dream about walking around here and what it would be like to see beyond the highway.

Expect long lines at the border crossing and heavy traffic on the 401 once you make your way back into Ontario.

Bad typography on the web

2010-05-17T09:42:00.004-04:00

The goal of most web sites is to communicate with customers: to provide helpful information and to increase sales.

Legible typography, as a part of design, is a tool for enhancing the user experience.
Web sites, sadly, suffer from technological limitations in rendering type in a moveable feast.

Print typography does not translate to the web well, and this can lead to poor usability.

a) Web browsers do not come with hyphenation dictionaries, so words cannot automatically split over two lines when a line is too long, as is common in print media. This becomes a problem with full justification because browsers can squish words together, or increase the space between words; both decrease legibility.

While a paragraph might look nice with flush left and right margins, its content might also be compromised by poor legibility.

b) Unlike with print media, web sites do not display consistently between browsers and computers.
By adjusting the web site's width depending on window size/screen resolution, line length can vary.

Lines too long or too short reduce legibility, and this is true in print also.

c) A manually labour-intensive method to enhance legibility with full justification is to add soft hyphens () at the break points of all words that potentially can be at the end of a line.

Remember to account for all browsers across all computer platforms.

d) Centering headlines and subheads can reduce legibility by over-emphasizing their content, and by having the eye travel widely around the page.

Visual communication follows different rules, depending on the media. Reading on the web is a bit better than reading a fax, and nowhere as good as reading printed material.

When rock climbing, wear proper footwear, not flip flops to avoid sweaty toes.

More Learning

Bad web typography: full justification

Web typography with CSS3

Readability: making web pages easy to read

by Cyril Chen, Shard

Hey Designers, if you love CSS, layout some comments right here.

photo above: Aimee previews an episode of Futurama on a Macbook where the brilliant use of type and colour is evident at this screen size and resolution so the words: CARGO BAY lets the viewer know exactly where it's at.

City Escapes and cheap dates: Allen Gardens

2010-05-09T12:58:00.007-04:00

On a rainy Sunday afternoon, leave the purse behind and take your partners hand for a restful stroll through this greenhouse treasure on Jarvis Street near Gerrard.

Allen Gardens is set in one of Toronto’s oldest parks and transports you into a warm, humid horticultural feast of six themed greenhouses featuring a mature forest of Palms, Succulents, Bamboo, Orchids, Hibiscus and Bromeliads.

If you lived on Jarvis Street in Toronto in the early 1900's you were among the wealthy establishment. Today Jarvis Street is home to more than the cities fair share of homeless shelters and resource centres for our less fortunate.

Allen Garden is a botanical oasis offering welcome sanctuary among beautiful plants from around the world often finding some privacy from unwelcome stares under the centre piece historic, cast-iron and glass domed “Palm House”, built in 1910.

Designers note: Easy does it.
I shot these images at The Allen Gardens Conservatory on an Olympus Digital E-P1, then downloaded the images to iphoto, exported them as a slideshow, then uploaded the slideshow to YouTube and embedded the link here. You can also do this using your Picasa account to create and publish a quick slide show. I like the iphoto export because I don't have to deal with individual images.

In search of good design experience during march break in Toronto

2010-03-18T14:13:00.013-04:00

The sweet sounds of Oh Canada hip hop patriot Classified-style still lingers a week or so after the Canada men's hockey team gold win at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Trees are still bare from winter so squirrels find their homes exposed high up in the changing skies. More on dreys.

Service with a smile
March break insomnia hits the city like a flu with daylight savings time sending us in a tailspin.
We are basking and smiling in the sun and for wait and service staff genuinely seem to need a vacation or are dreaming of being somewhere else on the brink of nice weather finally.
We empathize.
Anyone who lives through winter in downtown Toronto thinks of, even for a brief moment, of that ubiquitous white hot sun and sandy beach anywhere near the equator.

The doorman at the Windsor Arms Hotel greets with a nod and smile. His job location is a plus with the spring sunshine on the laid-back St Thomas Street in Yorkville. He's the happiest employee at the hotel.

The maître d’hôtel offers to take our coats and Tea for six is as expected from the kitchen but not as we imagined.
Tea is served in two intimate south-facing rooms with high ceilings, Victorian molding, walls painted gloss black with white trim. Loved but lost the fireplace with back turned seated on a comfy black eggplant velvet chair in front of a tiny table cluttered with crisp linens and shiny silver.

Ten minutes to menus and A Full Tea Set at $30 per person.
Tiny sandwiches and a substantial selection of scones is satisfying. The warm goats cheese puffs were just right but asking our waitress for water and a refill of cream seemed to scare her away for over fourteen minutes.

Also in question is the moderately high opera with classics featuring the theme from the movie The Omen starring Gregory Peck and the retro TV show The Lone Ranger. Not at all what I expected for afternoon tea. A little John Coltrane or Cole Porter anyone. Sorry we only serve opera.

Two days later at our beloved Bright Pearl on Spadina, the manager in a crisp blue shirt took our order for baby bok choy, sweet & sour pork, and green tea ice cream, became distracted by friendly patrons

Slowing things down on the streets
Thinking about the design for an "I AM A CAR" TShirt that maybe everyone will want to have by the end of summer. Perhaps stir this upside world right side up so we no longer have to fear the guy who almost side swiped me as I made my way down at Yonge and Eglinton this week.

I tell myself that "I am a Car" lends a spirit of comraderie, with a more positive attitude than the "Share The Road" or "Bikes can be Cars too" message

A TShirt with BIG BOLD REFLECTIVE LETTERS on the back is best on the bike.
Matthews helps the imagination as he gets ready to dive into a chocolate delight at Frank in the shape of a sculpture featured at the restaurant at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Kensington Market
The teenagers have finally left behind American Eagle, Hollister, Abercrombie & Fitch in search of self-expression and individuality in the heart of Kensington and Queen West West. The call of King of Kensington, Exile, Courage My Love is as strong as it was in the 80's. The leather jackets are heavy and stiff. The vintage is one-of-a-kind so don't be falling in love with those soft peach loafers. They only come in a size 6.

Visiting Caribbean Corner on Baldwin Street for island foods like plantain, raw sugar cane, cassava and roti skins is a natural thing.

A detour back to Yonge Street brings us back to the old faithful Levis. - just the best designed jeans in the world and almost right next door is the Marble Slab Creamery so who's gonna say no to ice cream?

How to tweet visual images

2010-01-19T13:26:00.008-05:00

There are two steps to posting visual content on Twitter; uploading your content to flickr, then selecting individual images to tweet.

Your image won't show directly in a Twitter window, rather, Twitter will display a url that will take the user directly to where your image is located on Flickr.com

Step 1: Posting your art on Flickr
If you have not already done so, set up a flickr account.
If you already have one, then skip Steps 1A and 1B.

Step 1A
Go to http://www.flickr.com/
Click on "Create Your Account"

Step 1B
Prerequisite: a Yahoo mail account
If you don't have one, click on the "Sign Up" link at the very bottom of the "Sign in to Yahoo!" box. This will allow you to create a log-in.

Step 1C
Once you have a flickr account and you are logged in, click on "Organize and Create" from the top navigation bar.

Follow the prompts to upload your image(s). If you already have your images or artwork scanned and archived on your hard drive, it will be faster to upload a group of images as a batch.

Step 1D
Go back to your Twitter account.
Go to "Settings". In the Settings window, go to "Connections". Click on Flickr and follow the prompts to connect your new Flickr account to your Twitter account. Don't worry, it’s easy.

Step 2: Go back to Flickr.

Step 2A
Now that you have a "Set" containing your artwork, double click on the image you want to tweet.

Step 2B
You should see the title of your image in black type at the top.
Below it you should see a new tool bar with items starting at left with "add note". The fourth tool is labelled "Blog This".
Click on "Blog This"

In the pull down menu select "Twitter".

Step 2C
A new window will open with "Blog this photo" and a text box that says "Compose your blog entry"

Write what you want to say, such as the topic or theme of the image. You will have to write to the character count given on the page.

IMPORTANT: Start your entry with a "hash mark" which looks like this # and is found above the number 3 on your keyboard.
Reason: lots of people search Twitter for topics that interest them. If you use a hash mark, then your tweet will be found in a search. If you don't use a hash mark, then only your "Followers" on Twitter will see your tweet.

Click on "Post Entry" once you're done.

That's it! Take a look at your Twitter page to see it.

Mind your own brand: Creating guidelines for your logo/identity usage

2010-01-12T10:54:00.004-05:00

Creating an organized way to document and share your company's identity usage standards ensures that your brand personality and relevance is never compromised.

This means the consistent display of a company's logo in print, on tv or the web.
For example, when designer creates a master workmark or logo as an EPS [encapsulated postscript] file, it scales to any size and will maintain it's quality - no jagged edges.
When the file gets resaved and distributed in various formats for printing in an ad as a .tiff file or on the website as a jpeg, png or .gif file, the logo should look and feel the same.

A logo usage guide or Style Guide may be an online document with links to graphic resources or it may be an elaborate printed manual to communicate with affiliates, staff or suppliers.

It starts with identifying those key elements that reflect the core values and represent the image attributes of the company. A designer details every possible placement and usage standards for the company's identity.

This includes the do's and do not's of logo in various mediums from websites to print and display advertising.

VISUAL DESIGN ELEMENTS
1.Typography

Font choice
Print type treatment: options for headlines, subhead, callouts/decks
Online HTML treatment such as Cascading Style sheets [CSS].

2. Colour Palette

Colour combinations showing primary and secondary options.

3. Graphic Treatment

Logo or logomark
Photographic styles
borders, rules, bullets, graphic identifers
Illustration and graphic treatment.

SITE ARCHITECTURE

4. Templates

Web grid layout that shows designated content areas
Sketches to illustrate placement and appearance of key layout features.

5. Navigation and Information design

Create a diagram of the navigation design. This is the HTML template that shows
the structure of the page and identifies key content areas.
Print out or link to live example
Icon-based treatment
Address global, 1st and 2nd level navigation.

Here's an example colour palette that displays references for web hexadecimal colour, RGB for TV, and Pantone numbers for print.

#CC3300	R204 G51 B0	PMS 1665

#993300	R153 G51 B0	PMS 1675

#000000	R0 G0 B0	PMS Black

#666633	R102 G102 B51	PMS 378

#999966	R153 G153 B102	PMS 0000

#666666	R102 G102 B102	Cool Grey 9

#993366	R153 G51 B102	PMS 208

#FFCC66	R255 G204 B102	PMS 134

Check out this collection of Corporate Identity and Logo Usage Guides from SCRIBD that illustrate how organizations control their public image.

Image above: Tulips. Inspiration can come in many forms.

Create a gift from the heart for the holidays

2009-11-05T21:25:00.006-05:00

In a year when many of us are seeking a more meaningful way to give, why not share your artistic talents with the special people in your life? A small painting, water colour, mixed media collage, drawing or card gives the gift of your imagination.
Artist and educator Krista Barnett is offering Gift-Making Weekend Workshops for all ages at the new Artscape Wychwood Barns.

"I've had parents ask if they could take the workshops along with their children. I tell them it's a great way to spend quality time together. Artists of all ages find that creating a gift can be an exciting way to experiment with new ideas and techniques," explains Krista.
Register now for Art Classes at the Barns™
Weekend workshops:

Sundays 6 - 8 pm November 8 to December 6
and again Sundays 3 - 5 pm November 15 - December 13.
Studio 155 Artscape Wychwood Barns
601 Christie Street Toronto.

We welcome your comments and feedback!