From Jonah Lehrer’s Imagine: How Creativity Works, illustrated by Flash Rosenberg

The architects, Stamberg & Aferiat, imparted an important little nugget of advice which is a huge part of their design philosophy: Do not fear color. Many people associate modernism with pure white– the minimalist’s dream. This is partially due to the fact that, as modernism emerged in the mid-century, black & white photography couldn’t convey color that was used in architecture. Everything appeared to be monochromatic, when in reality bright bursts of color were often essential to the building’s design.

Color with intention, that is. The hues for the Saguaro reflect colors found in indigenous wildflowers of the Southwest. So somehow, despite being the visually loudest building for  miles, it makes sense in its surroundings.

Some of Stamberg & Aferiat’s other buildings are fascinating case studies of color in architecture, such as the Shelter Island Pavilions in New York.

I am inspired to not wear black and grey every day this week. Getting crazy up in here.

The capabilities of the human hand as demonstrated by Victor

A newbie to mobile UI design myself over the past few months, I’m observing more closely how we interact with our current technology. Tapping, swiping, expanding and retracting our fingers on a glass screen to get a desired outcome. Microsoft’s vision of the future is full of this touchscreen technology. But Victor believes our future products should provide a more tactile experience and should better cater to all of the incredible capabilities of our human hands.

We live in a three-dimensional world. Our hands are designed for moving and rotating objects in three dimensions, for picking up objects and placing them over, under, beside, and inside each other. No creature on earth has a dexterity that compares to ours… And this is my plea — be inspired by the untapped potential of human capabilities. Don’t just extrapolate yesterday’s technology and then cram people into it.

It will be interesting to see how our tools and devices operate in five, ten years. If we will still be tapping glass, or if the design community will come up with a better solution. I’ll put my thinking cap on.

On a side note, if you watched the Microsoft video, please explain to me why the woman had to fly to Johannesburg to participate in a virtual meeting??

Film descriptions from the 23rd Annual Palm Springs Film Festival Supplement.

1. The Loving Story (USA)
In 1958, a white man and a part-black, part-Cherokee woman were convicted of breaking Virginia’s law against interracial marriage. This eye-opening documentary examines the overlooked story of this couple’s courageous fight and the Supreme Court case that resulted.

2. A Separation (Iran)
A secular middle-class family in the midst of upheaval winds up in conflict with an impoverished religious one. Formally dense and morally challenging, this Berlin Golden Bear winner casts a revealing light on contemporary Iranian society, taking on issues of gender, class, justice and honor.

3. Sound of My Voice (USA)
Gripping mind games come into play when two documentary filmmakers infiltrate a cult and find themselves drawn in by the charismatic leader– a woman (co-writer Brit Marling, of Another Earth fame) who purports to be from the future. Smart, compelling science fiction.

4. Declaration of War (France)
Taking a serious story about a couple whose baby is diagnosed with cancer, Donzelli turns expectations upside-down by using jump cuts, musical numbers, bright color palette, and low-budget enthusiasm of the New Wave to fashion a delightful and moving gem.

5. Almanya, Welcome to Germany (Germany)
Neatly structured into two interwoven time frames, this charming, colorfully styled comedy centers on multiple generations of a German-Turkish clan, and derives its touching, laugh-out-loud humor from cultural misunderstandings and the question of what constitutes a national identity.

6. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (UK)
This witty rom-com revolves around the effort to make the impossible possible, as a reticent bureaucrat joins forces with a determined legal representative to introduce fly fishing into the Middle East.

Love this Chipotle ad. The style & music perfectly complement the message: keep things simple & natural.

Two words: Wise. Lady.

Stealth snap.

For having such an influence on the world of design, she was quite humble and honest about her own journey.

For example, while designing the logo for Citibank in the 90′s, she admitted feeling somewhat imbalanced and unhappy. Having to deal with the bureaucratic processes of a huge corporation (going through approvals, trying to please higher-ups, etc.) in combination with the “invisible” nature of digital work, she craved making something tangible that allowed her complete creative control. And so was born her personal project of abstract, typographic maps painted with acrylic on huge canvases.

Tsunami, 2006

She explained that although things are in all the wrong places, cities are misspelled, and the maps don’t really make sense, she has complete control over the content and is able to express her feelings about the events in a particular location.

It’s something to think about: at any moment, you have the choice and the power to create work you love, that you control. It’s easy to get caught up in completing all the assigned tasks on deadline and catering to the needs and opinions of others… but at the expense of losing touch with raw creativity. A designer needs both to sustain a happy career. Or as Paula put it, “Do the work you need to do to fuel the work you want to do.” Balance.

The rest of the conversation circled many topics, including the shifting relationship between graphic design and the music industry. Paula’s first job was designing album art for CBS and Atlantic records. Not so long ago, the album cover served as an identity badge for a band; yet over the course of a couple decades, it has been reduced to a collapsible icon in the corner of iTunes. Sure, you can still buy a hardcopy CD if you choose. But streaming seems to be the way of the future. What does this mean for the branding of an artist and how the user experiences their music? Food for thought.

Aside from the keynote conversation with Paula Scher, I wasn’t able to attend any other part of the conference. But based on how inspired I felt after one hour, I’m really interested in attending the whole thing next year.

Afterward, I came home and stumbled upon her insightful TED talk from a few years ago. Definitely a well-spent 20 minutes if you have it.

© Palm Springs Life

Lately I’ve been knee deep in our magazine archives for a project. Sweet discovery– I am LOVING these illustrated vintage Palm Springs Life covers from the 50s and 60s. So fun!
We will be selling prints in the next coming months.

UPDATE: For those of you inquiring, yes– vintage prints are now on sale. Click here and fill out the online form. We can print any cover available in the archives.

A few weeks ago I attended TEDxSoCal, an independently organized TED event in Long Beach, CA. What an inspiring day! I guess that’s what happens when a group of passionate speakers and listeners come together for the sole sake of learning and ideas.

The event was broken down into sub-topics of Lifelong Learning, Sustainability, Well-Being, and Creative Cultures, with the spectrum of talks ranging from ocean conservation to coffee-soluble sugar packets. From a design standpoint, I particularly enjoyed learning about Solarflora by Nectar Design– public art pieces with the ability to transmit solar power to surrounding buildings.

I also had the fun, quick project of designing the event’s program. I decided to take a utilitarian approach by binding informational cards with a handy hook-ring, providing a “carabiner pen” and ample room for notes. There’s nothing worse than seeing print material scattered across the floor of an event, so I was happy to see the program hanging from many belt loops.  :)

I definitely recommend attending a TEDx event in your area. You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars for the main TED to get inspired (unless you have thousands of dollars lying around… then by all means, go!)

(thank you Katie)

Falling head-over-heels for the new website Pinterest. What an elegant solution for collecting, organizing, and sharing inspiration via virtual “pinboards.” Normally when something catches my eye on the internet, I save it to my desktop with the wholehearted intention of someday blogging it, or printing it out, or doing something with it… only to forget. Problem solved. This site will be perfect for making mood boards for new design projects (ie: collecting color palettes, type, & imagery to generate an overall “feel”.)

Here’s to dwindling more hours away on the internet, hooray! Lord knows I don’t stare at this screen enough. Let’s be friends!  

He poses the question, “Can I pursue happiness in design?”

His answer?
“Do more of the things I like to do and fewer of the things I don’t like.”

Simple enough.

Our ability to measure and apportion time affords an almost endless source of comfort… “I’m afraid I’m booked solid through the end of the month,” says the executive, voluptuously nestling the phone at his cheek as he thumbs the leaves of his appointment calendar, and his mouth and eyes at that moment betray a sense of deep security. The crisp, plentiful, day-sized pages before him prove that nothing unforseen, no calamity of chance or fate can overtake him between now and the end of the month. Ruin and pestilence have been held at bay, and death itself will have to wait; he is booked solid.”

–Richard Yates

Isn’t it funny how much control we think we have over our lives?

I’m not even going to show you my pen drawer.

“What nobody tells people who are beginners — and I really wish someone had told this to me . . . is that all of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, and it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not.

But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase. They quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story.

It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”

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…and had the absolute time of my life. It would be difficult not to while surrounded by 90,000 passionate music lovers and some of the best modern musical talent for three straight days; not to mention the beautiful setting. Larger than life sculptures were scattered across the polo grounds set against my beloved desert landscape. My favorites were the enormous, neon dandelions (“Wish” by San Francisco artist Robert Buchholz) and the return of the giant tesla coils (“Cauac Twins” by Syd Klinge) which have appeared for several years.

I caught about 25 performances over the weekend, including:
Cold War Kids
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
The Black Keys
Kings of Leon
Freelance Whales
Tallest Man on Earth
Gogol Bordello (most fun, hands down)
Delta Spirit
Mumford & Sons
The Swell Season
Empire of the Sun
Arcade Fire (Mind. Blowing.)
City and Colour
Jimmy Eat World (awesomely nostalgic)
The National (against the backdrop of a vibrant sunset… unforgettable)
Ratatat
The Strokes
Kanye West (… had to stick around and see if he’d pull any stunts.)

This was my fifth Coachella and definitely won’t be my last. I feel so lucky to live a stone’s throw away from one of the top music festivals in the country. One of these days I’d love to experience Sasquatch, Bonnaroo, Wanderlust, or any of the other big fests. Adding it to my bucket list!