this past weekend, we decided to take our friend, seth, and his son, oliver, on their first camping trip. we figured we’d start out easy and do an overnight camp in angeles crest forest to keep the drive short and stay close to home while getting a good taste of nature. the thing is, after last year’s devastating station fire, i wasn’t sure what we’d be in for. the 2 highway is still closed on the lower parts of the mountain, so we took the less-traveled [by us anyway] big tujunga road.

in the low lands there were lots of barren exposed hillsides, followed by scorched trees flocked with new greenery that has come in with the rain in the past year. other areas had trees that were blackened on the lower half and green on the top. then you’d suddenly see a border of black on green, crossing over to where the forest was untouched.

a familiar spot where big tujunga merges with the 2 was surrounded by these bare, black branches. i am not even certain what kind of tree this was, but this type of burn is common in the chapparal of angeles crest. in chilao’s manzanita loop, where we stayed, they used the road through the campground as a firebreak, burned on the outside and in tact on the inside. what a close call.

what is encouraging is that there are a few rehabilitation projects in the works. some botanist volunteers have organized to remove scattering seeds of undesirable plants that would otherwise take over in the cleared environment. additionally, treepeople.org is putting together a volunteer replanting and rehabilitation program for spring of 2011. hopefully we can get it back on the right path.

[image: seth sherwood]

on the other hand, camping itself was really fun! i was taken camping in all kinds of terrain since i was a child and i always enjoyed setting up camp, cooking over the fire and exploring nature. oliver was all set with his binoculars, bug observation box, head lamp, and awesome attitude, and his dad was ready with the camera. we took him scrambling over the rocks, romping through the weeds after lizards and grasshoppers, showed him how to set up the tent, how to collect kindling to build a campfire, and all the finer points of marshmallow roasting. he was a great camper, he said hi to other kids we’d pass in the campground, had no problem sleeping in the tent, and was up early and ready for more the next day. on the way home he said “i love camping! can we go, um, 100 more times!?” we’ll try, little buddy!

here’s what i’ll be doing

thursday, september 9, 8pm lecture on ghost ships with jason brown at machine project, part of the ongoing shipwreck exhibit, FREE!

friday, september 10, 6-9pm AIA/LA design awards at the A+D museum, FREE with rsvp. the opening night includes a conversation with the juries of the awards followed by a reception.

other events for this week

thursday, september 9, 7-10pm behance / AIGA LA meetup at beechwood, FREE to behance and AIGA members with rsvp. come out and meet the greater los angeles creative community! note: this event will move to various locations around town on a monthly basis.

what design can’t do by christopher simmons for aiga.org

if the above graphic doesn’t drive the point home, simmons’ stance is that design can only express what comes from the top down, through a staff working toward a goal through shared vision and strategy. design isn’t going to change your product, your approach to customer service, or turn your average idea into a great one. the attempt to slap a smashing design on an average service will only temporarily distract people, if that, and when their opinions recalibrate to match reality, you’ll be out valuable time and money that could have been spent reworking your system so it’s in line with the brand you want to be. excellent read!

[image: blake royer]
tomatoes are everywhere this time of summer, and everyone knows i won’t shut up about gazpacho until they’re all gone! 2 great summer recipes from serious eats: dinner tonight: alice waters’ gazpacho and weekend cook and tell round up: squash invasion.

a great collection from thekitchn.com this week: 5 cool melon soups for the last days of summer, recipe: lima beans with cumin-mint dressing, 5 quick and delicious lunches under 400 calories, thick and creamy: how to make greek-style yogurt. yum!

this article about the secret life of trader joes has been going around, and i’ve found it pretty fascinating! inside trader joes, full version, from fortune magazine.

wine

[image: municipal winemakers]
i absolutely love this idea from municipal winemakers, it’s a reusable bottle designed for taking home young table wine, enjoying & bringing back the bottle for more. i have to try this next time i’m in santa barbara!

neighborhood

[image: shifty]
big congratulations to my friend jen diamond on the launch of her awesome bike jerseys! read more on her new release here: echo park designer rides the biking boom, from theeastsiderla.com.

another from theeastsider, we’re getting a farm-fresh produce market right down the street! cookbook opens a new chapter in echo park food shopping. it will be so exciting to have a storefront dealing in fresh, healthy food to supplement the farmer’s markets around town or prevent a drive to a further destination. excellent news!

the LA times turns it’s eye to our neighborhood this week as well, with a piece on edendale, the oldest part of the echo park / silver lake area, right at the heart of the two: LA’s edendale, alive and thriving.

culture

an interesting look at public workspaces and the popularity of coffee shops in an increasingly solopreneurial marketplace: coffee shop office hybrids: the workplace of the future? from fastcodesign.com

i’ve heard of a few really outstanding programs designed for correctional facilities that all focus on self-expression as a means of therapy. introspective podcasts created by youth in utah jevenile corrections facility, from utne reader showcases the sending messages program in salt lake city.

breakthroughs in science! from sight to synesthesia: what happens when senses can be rewired, from hplusmagazine.com explains the vOICe device and how it helps the blind to see “using aural information in their ears.”

how has the changing economy affected consumerist habits? take a look: understanding the consumer of the future, from inc.com.

[image: from here to there on imprint.printmag.com]
i may have mentioned, even yesterday, that i love maps of all kinds. enter this gem maps, maps everywhere! from print magazine and now i not only know there’s a new book on hand-drawn maps, from here to there, i know there is a hand-drawn map association, which puts me over the moon! [don't worry, i can map it for you.]

[image: how design blog]
a 2-volume set of six novels told in woodcuts doesn’t need much more explanation, but the idea that lind ward chose to create this body of work is pretty unbelievable: wordless novel, from how design blog.

typography

[image: myfonts.com]
laura worthington creates beautiful original script fonts for myfonts.com, and this month she talks about design and hand-drawn type here: creative characters: laura worthington.

design industry

if there ever came a time to redesign american currency, there would be endless ideas abounding everywhere, it’s an interesting proposition. utne reader pointed me to this piece dowling duncan redesign: US bank notes in which a really cool set of US bills have been revised with a modern twist and more of a spin on our history of achievement rather than leaders.

following up from last week’s piece on buying design, mule is back with presenting design like you get paid for it outlines all the best points on how, why & when to present your work.

biz ladies: promoting your business tastefully online, another infinitely helpful how-to from designspongeonline.com.

little lies and small promises, from seth godin is a nice reminder about how your work ethic can be a slippery slope.

international freelancer’s day is coming up in september, with a free online conference especially for solopreneurs!

animation

[image: don shank]
print magazine’s imprint blog got it right when they said i may not know don shank by name, but i know his work. i’ve actually been a longtime fan of his animation for samurai jack and the powerpuff girls, so it’s not surprising that a spin through his prints and original work have already set off an imaginary wish list. i love this stuff!

my mom and i decided to see what was happening on the boulevard for atwater summer nights, and part of our stroll included a visit to alias books, a relatively new addition to the neighborhood that all my bibliophile friends are talking about [we even ran into one of them there that very night].

i am always confronted with a challenge in any book store, because 1 of a few things take over. either i shut down because i have already owned [and systematically let go of] so many books, or i want to buy everything that appeals to me because some kind of voracious collect all inspiring print matter book designer’s panic kicks in.

i have a complicated system for dealing with this, which has largely been to focus on a few things i’m allowed to collect. one of those is books on los angeles and california, of which i never tire. we have a whole shelf dedicated to books about california: travel, photos, history, hikes, national parks, essays and critical writing. so i found the california shelf and sure enough there were books on caves and wild plants and mining towns, all of which could not exactly come home with me.

BUT! look at this one i settled on. thanks to my dad, i’ve already been reading some john mcphee, so i was able to doubly justify the purchase by an author of interest. his writing is intensely narrative while largely being non-fiction, and lots of it is about my homeland. the cover design is striking though, and not just because i love maps [don't get me started on the copious map collection]. the design sits in this sweet spot between historic document, municipal information device, and frontier settler’s hand-kept ledger. it’s downright endearing.

the design credit goes to cynthia krupat, about whom i can find relatively little information, despite much lauding of her setting the precedent for certain styles in book design. though there is this: how harry ford and cynthia krupat defined poetry book design for an era, from poetryfoundation.org and she is credited in some of the publisher’s archives for whom she did design work. i wish she had a web site!

for the record, i’m really looking forward to actually reading this book as well, but i must admit, the first thing it got was a photo shoot.

i first heard of robert glasper because he’s part of my sister’s larger circle of musician friends. he’s got an amazing album, double booked out, and has done some really outstanding arranging and producing on some of my sister’s recordings, but until recently that’s all i’d heard. [sometimes i live under a rock, ha.]

listening to rap with robert glasper by patrick jarenwattananon for npr is a really great sit-down & listen through some standout moments in rap & hip hop history with 2 guys who have loved the genre for years, exploring both of their takes on what each song has meant. take a break & enjoy.

[image: hedonia]
this lágrimas snap pea salad looks like a great way to enjoy snap peas this summer. try marinating your chicken in fruit vinegar with this, roasted marinated chicken. if you’re looking for some seasonal grilling, try grilled fish with tomato olive relish. all recipes originally sourced through saveur.com.

health & fitness

advice on sports bras seem to have popped up everywhere, so i thought i’d share a good resource: how to choose a sports bra, from whatwouldbettydo.com.

if you’re not aware of BPA, it’s a chemical in several commonly-handled items we interact with regularly. utne reader has an update on the dangers here: big bad bpa: now it’s killing the lobsters.

one for the mental health files, so to speak, an interesting piece from utne reader: the word’s happiest countries are the least religious.

gardening

as we head into fall, if you have a garden that’s ready to harvest, you can start planning your fall crops. last chance plants: late season veggie gardening, from re-nest.com can help with suggestions.

diy

[image: Etsy Store Babynme2]
here’s a fun project and a great way to switch to reusable containers while creating your favorite flavor: how to make homemade lip balm, from re-nest.com.

Hi-Fi from bante on Vimeo.

branding

[image: pentagram]
this brand & identity for secca by pentagram is not only stunning, it moves! read up on it here: pentagram’s luke hayman on how multimedia is transforming branding, from fastcodesign.com.

print design

[image: sockeye creative]
this lovely print specimen by sockeye creative for the lan su chinese garden in portland is rich in details that make the experience of interacting with it really rewarding. a custom die-cut window over a stylized illustration invites you in, then the unique binding of a gate fold over stepped pages detailing the vistas makes you want to flip through and study each one. fantastic work! see more here: lan su visitor guide, from underconsideration.com.

web design

a series i found on uxbooth.com included some useful articles i wanted to share for web designers. a complete beginner’s guide to design research, overcoming the obstacles of usability testing and the complete beginner’s guide to web analytics and measurement.

creativity

[image: johnny miller]
amazing rainbows and color gradients created with colored glass and light, by johnny miller. thanks, oh joy for the link!

since creativity is about how you think, here are 2 articles i found interesting from around the tubes this week. seth godin talks about how we analyze our inner monologue to help define intuitive marketing: monitoring your internal monologue, and succcess.org explores the einstein quote “imagination is more important than knowledge” here: be smart, know smarts ain’t the answer.

design industry

ravi sawhney talks about his new book predictable magic here:forget praying to the muse, create design magic on demand, from fastcodesign.com

tim lapetino of hexanine talks about how to get the most out of your kickoff meeting: the art of interviewing your client, from logodesignlove.com.

a post chock-full of inspiring resources: 25 useful videos and presentations for designers, from smashingmagazine.com.

small business owners & sole-proprietors, take note: biz ladies: free online resources for business owners, from designsponge.com