books! books! books!

While my book wishlist is about 100x the size of this, these two are my current faves. I have been monopolizing The 3D Type Book from the school library and finally had to give in and return it and haven't been able to get it back. I figure that makes it worth owning, right?
I wasn't initially very interested in the Design*Sponge book but Grace Bonney spoke at SCAD last week and all the photos caught my eye.

Design*Sponge at Home by Grace Bonney, The 3D Type Book

identity investigations

A project I am currently working on for one of my classes has caused me to be even more aware of well-designed identities lately. I've been obsessively pinning them and thought I'd share some of my favorites from the recent weeks.

Identity designed for The Chop Shop by Ptarmak.

I just can't get over the animal silhouettes. The Crunchy Grocer identity by
The Tenfold Collective.

I'm apparently really into geometric shapes lately. It's really become a sickness. I'm
especially drawn to the colors in ITI's identity by Heydays.

This kraft paper-happy identity for Eastfield Village is simple but stunning by
Hovard Design.

Lastly, you've got to appreciate a well-designed barber shop. The website for Fast Eddie's
is pretty great as well. Designed by Richard Arthur Stewart.

This is just a few of those that have caught my eye. See my pinterest boards for more examples.

SPARKS gallery show

I made my Savannah gallery debut this past Friday in an exhibition featuring the work of my Design Methodologies course that I took over the summer. The show was a smashing success with a fantastic turnout and everyone was extremely encouraging regarding our work.

The entire group and our Professor.

My work.

Just a small sampling of our fantastic turnout!

science is cool

From Every Day is Science Friday

adventures in cooking: bbq chicken pizza

I make homemade pizza on a regular basis. It has become a standard for me as a way to keep my leftover veggies from going to waste, yet it has never crossed my mind to try my hand at BBQ chicken pizza even though it is one of my favorite kinds to order. I pinned this recipe of The Pioneer Woman not too long ago which gave me the idea. I didn't use her recipe exactly but it was definitely the starting point for my creation.

First off, I know my limits and I stick to buying pizza crust in a tube. It makes the idea of making pizza a little less daunting. I cooked two chicken breasts in the oven for 25 minutes like her recipe calls for and used my personal favorite, Sweet Baby Ray's barbeque sauce. While that baked I prepared (rolled out) the crust and spread a little olive oil and kosher salt on the crust before adding the toppings. Go easy on the oil or else the crust will be soggy and don't skimp on the salt, it truly makes the pizza! I was working with what I happened to have in my fridge so my ingredients differ slightly from what she suggests. I ended up using mozzarella cheese, sliced jalapenos, and sliced red onion. I chopped up the chicken once it was done and rolled it around in the barbeque sauce to make sure every piece was nice and covered before spreading it on the pizza. It was delicious although it did seem like it was missing a little something. A little bit of scallions or cilantro like The Pioneer Woman's recipe called for might have have been just the thing.

Overall, it was tremendously delicious and incredibly filling!

book bound

I am officially finished with my second quarter and have one more book under my belt! I made a process book chronicling my Design Methodology class and all the projects that were completed. 

i hope to one day be this talented

I came across this on design work life and am currently contemplating recording my screen at all times in hope that I may have something even half as cool one day. Here's hoping!

Poster Process - The Black Keys from DKNG Studios on Vimeo.

Awesome, right?

I doubt my past 22 hours (continuous, for the most part) of design work for one of my classes would have been worth recording. It would NOT have made for very riveting watching! It included quite a lot of pinterest searching in an effort to overcome my designer's block that has plagued me throughout this entire project!

if i were rich...

I would shop exclusively at Steven Alan. Ok, maybe not exclusively...but I could definitely do some damage.

1. Libby Dress, $125-$149  2. Fairchild Dress, $169
3. 3/4 Sleeve 50s Dress, $259 4. Willow Dress, $119

adventures in cooking: parmesan chicken

I think I have finally found my signature dish. It is my firm belief that everyone needs one. That go-to recipe that never fails you and looks fancier than it really is. I think I have finally found mine and it is Parmesan chicken! It has been in my recipe box all along, and is written in my mother's handwriting even though I don't remember ever having it when I was younger. Regardless, I have already made it twice this week and think I've worked out what the key elements are to it's success!

They are:
First, crushing up the stuffing until it is nice and fine. I do this with my mortar and pestle but I'm sure you could use a food processor or a ziploc bag and rolling pin to achieve the same results.
Second, I've experimented with both butter and olive oil as the means to making the coating stick. I know some recipes call for egg and I may try that next. My only issues with the olive oil was that it made the crumbs slightly soggy but not enough to totally rule out using it in the future.
Third, I used smaller cutlets the second time versus larger chicken breast pieces so there was a smaller crumb to chicken ratio. 

The Recipe:

4 Boneless skinless chicken breast or cutlet
1/2 cup crushed stuffing mix
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. Italian herbs (or just buy Italian Herb Stuffing mix and skip this)
2 Tbsp. melted butter (or Olive Oil)
1/8 tsp. minced garlic

Mix stuffing, cheese and Italian herbs in bowl. Brush chicken with butter and garlic mixture. Roll chicken in crumbs to coat and cook 45-50 minutes. Cover with aluminum foil for final 10 minutes.

book work

For my Typography course this quarter I had the opportunity to try my hand at bookbinding for the first time. It took me several attempts to get my stitch down for the style binding I ended up using but I am very happy with the result! Here's some quick photos of the finished product before I turn it in this evening.

chalkboard art

I've seen Dana Tanamachi's artwork all over the blogsphere (Design*Sponge today) and can't express my love enough! What's better then looking at chalkboard art? Seeing it made...

Stop motion video of Dana creating artwork for the Nagging Doubt wine label. See more videos and work here.

how cool is this

I originally saw this here along with her amazing tutorial. I think this is the perfect counterpart to the increasing trend of feather extensions that I've been seeing. I love the idea of the feather style but I've heard some alarming information about how they get the feathers that have made me hesitant to join in. I was instantly enamored with this colorful alternative. Can't you just imagine one or two streaks in the front or under layer?  And like she says, you can easily hide the streak in a bun because it is just the ends of the hair. I would love to try this but the bleaching part slightly terrifies me (in addition to her warnings about seeking professional assistance). We'll see how brave I am!

i want these NOW

We had these growing up and I didn't appreciate them at the time but I'd love to be given a second chance! Just look at the options...

Letter Set Transfers from Veer

so neglectful

I'm just going to pretend that I haven't been absent for over a month.

I'm a few weeks into my summer quarter classes and one is a typography class. We take a very hands on approach to learning letterforms!

I had a shaky beginning...

This lovely f was my greatest accomplishment!

finals week

I'm in the home stretch of projects for this quarter. I just completed this one today and wanted to share. Out of context it doesn't make a whole lot of sense but isn't it pretty?

Also check out the corresponding twitter @be_a_tree.