Should you be searching the tubes for great pants or lofts with views you can’t afford (in lieu of just walking around, say, Potrero), give Design Bureau a peak. The Chicago-based magazine recently released its inaugural issue and I was honored to review Velo, a book chock full of photos of bikes and their owners:
Most bicyclists ride for a specific reason—as a mode of transportation, a good workout or just for fun. But others ride because it’s their passion. And for these die-hard pedal pushers, Velo was created. Velo: Bicycle Culture and Design from Gestalten is a striking visual journey into the multifaceted world of cycling and the diverse tribes that inhabit it. The 240-page tome chronicles bicycles and their riders in all shapes, sizes, speeds and styles. Editor Sven Ehmann, an avid cyclist himself, created the book as a celebration of cycling as a broad, democratic cultural phenomenon. Read more.
After she brought the wonderfully insightful Fail Faire to SF, Heather Fleming, the co-founder of Catapult Design, and I talked at her Mission Street office space (the consultancy’s work to develop products and technology that improve livelihoods were the topics du jour). The engineer and Stanford design and sustainability instructor talked to Women 2.0 about wearing business development and project management hats simultaneously at the helm of the new non-profit.
Chalk it up to wanderlust, but when designer extraordinaire Lenny Naar passed along Me No Speak, it made me bust out a world atlas. SF-based travel writer Cheryn Flanagan and IT specialist Benjamin Kolowich independently publish a book series that travelers can use to point to the things they want, need and think when they don’t speak the local language. The concept was born out of a hungry night in a Chinese hotel room with hand-drawings created in lieu of spoken communication, and the rest is, well, picture perfect. The guides are also available as an iPhone app should you Turkey or Thailand-bound.
Be it for pair of original sneakers or a handwoven denim rug, your vote for a winner in the Ecouterre Recycled Denim Challenge should be submitted by Thursday to count towards one designer’s sustainable vision. Sponsored by Gap’s 1969 line (and, full disclosure, produced by my company, FM), the contest has collected photographs of readers’ most inspired creations from recycled denim, including Hyun Gun Jang’s striking geometric dress repurposed from wide leg jeans and Miranda Chance’s woven saddle bag made from old pants and coats.
Judges of the final 45 entries included Jill Fehrenbacher, creator of Ecouterre and the Inhabitat sites, and Ecofabulous founder Zem Joaquin among other design experts. The crowd favorite will win the opportunity to have their designs featured on Ecouterre, Inhabitat and the Gap 1969 Stream. I’ll be watching in my
My athletic news should really be focused on the home team going to the World Series, but I couldn’t resist sharing this great social evangelist job in Park City. Think Sundance, snowboarding, and tweeting the whole time: the “Ultimate Mountain Gig” at The Canyons requires one lucky duck to shadow shifts with ski patrol and lift operations and blog about their experiences. They’ll be handsomely compensated, too, with a season pass, digs at the Waldorf Astoria, video and snow gear, and training clinics. Enter with a two-minute video exploring “how you mountain”–and be quick–you’ve got 17 days and counting to apply.
Lots of us are wary when we hear that something’s available to us for free. “Are you sure?” and “Are you trying to con me?” are our usual reactions, but in a Chris Anderson-inspired sphere where “Free” is a non-scary reality, a startup like Storenvy has a real shot.
And it should: the idea for a social store community that offers no-cost virtual storefronts is a strong one when coupled with good UI and eye-catching design (Kansas-to-California founding duo Jon and Janette Crawford have new addition Willo O’Brien to thank for that). DIY store owners are offered CSS color pickers and social features in the company’s aim to democratize e-commerce. And for the non-merchants among us, browsing shops like Fashion Loves People and Clothe Your Neighbor as Yourself is a great way to spend your clothing dollars supporting independents.
After a bright weekend in the city (it is Indian summer, after all), it’s nice to see work that’s equally colorful–and imaginative, for you Folsom Street Fair-goers. In addition to creating joyful work on wood locally, illustrator and CCA grad Mati Rose McDonough currently has a show at Rare Device that’s well worth a stroll through. If the warm weather keeps you from making it to the Market Street store, her Etsy shop may grab you with its neon elephant-themed pieces and half off sale.
Now that the Tour de France is over (and with it the de California), we San Franciscans are gearing up to do it our way: handcrafted and well-aled. Though we’re no Houston, the annual Tour de Fat bike extravaganza promises a calorie-filled destination for all locals who bike over to Lindley Meadow this Saturday. But you need not go it alone: Valencia Street bike builder Mission Bicycle Co. will be leading a bike train to Golden Gate Park for New Belgium Brewing’s “costumed celebration of human-powered transportation.”
As though South Park weren’t already a wonderful enough place to kill an hour between meetings, European-style bike maker and shop Public Bikes is now inhabiting a bright space across the street from the swing set (sounds like a dream, I know). Their “Public M” and double diamond frames come in orange, white, blue, and green, and no local would be surprised to hear that the color that’s sold the best is the one that no other word rhymes with. The website and store have clothing, bike accessories, and a certain book whose logo I love for its similarity to the forthcoming SanFranista redesign.
I feel fortunate that online pub The Bold Italic let me run wild with another local idea and that they once again paired me with such great graphic talent. Onto the story as I pinch myself…
Two days after returning to San Francisco from a vacation in Barcelona (SF’s newest sister city!) I am sitting in Spanish class for the first time in eight years. I got through college and a few years of adult life without needing to know a second language, but the frustration of not being understood while abroad finally had me realize that it was time to learn Spanish.
Luckily, short of El Paso and a few other cities, I’m hard pressed to think of places that offer as many public resources en Español than San Francisco. I don’t have valid excuses in a city with so many individuals and retailers communicating in Spanish to not learn the language. Aside from pride, that is. I frequently feel embarrassed just trying to order at El Metate in my Midwestern accent.
After my trip, I become convinced that the best way to overcome my Spanish-language shyness is total immersion. I want to start dreaming, understanding, even swearing in the language, and the sooner the better. I set out to create a Spanish-speaking experience at home in SF by finding a language school in my neighborhood, taking yoga en Español at my local studio, and eating at places where I can practicing rolling my r’s.
