Designers Get Green in San Diego

Last weekend, we packed up the Prius and traveled down to San Diego for the 13th annual Y-Conference. This year's theme was Seeds of Change and tackled issues of sustainability in both design and life. I adore this conference, because the quality of speakers is consistently top notch (of course, there are always a few duds, but this is impossible to avoid), the San Diego chapter of the AIGA is eclectic (designers seem authentic and wear colors other than black) and totally non-snooty, the University of San Diego is a lovely location, the weather is glorious in late March, and the conference is very affordable by AIGA standards. I was so excited when I learned about the theme of Y-13 and couldn't wait to bask in the eco-love.

And I was not disappointed. Robert Noble, of Envision Solar is now my hero. For years I've been ranting about parking lots in SoCal and all that sun that could be generating energy. Well, Mr. Noble is covering those God-forsaken, hotter than hell, gigante mall parking lots with Solar Groves™. What a poetic name for and beautiful incarnation of green design at its best. This is just one of Mr. Noble's many innovative and progressive projects; the man is a true visionary and all around cool guy.

Another super duper inspiring speaker was Brian Dougherty of Celery Design Collective, based in Berkeley. Not only does Celery Design create beautiful work, but it is also eco-innovative, big time. They even created a free online ecological guide to paper to help designers make sense of PCW, ECF, PCF, TCF, FSC, etc. Holy cow, paper specing in more complicated than ever. Thank you Brian for proving that a fabulous printed piece doesn't have to include a matte varnish, a gloss varnish, a double hit of florescent ink, foil stamping, tip-ins, and full bleed images. In my view, any designer who does not at least consider issues of sustainability in their work is, well, a moron.

I have only one negative comment about the conference and that is: Organic ToGo sucks. And it sucks on a number of levels. First, the food lacks, well, flavour. Second, every single item is packaged in plastic. Third, and most horrific: BAGGED SLICED APPLES! Now, I am not a proponent of all caps or the exclamation point, for that matter, but the very core of my being is offended by bagged sliced apples. Apples: perfected packed by Mother Nature. Slicing apples drastically reduces their shelf life and necessitates the use of some form of preservative (usually asorbic acid). So instead of biting into a delicious, crisp organic apple, I had to suffer through soggy slices with a faint hint of what can only be described as chewable vitamin C taste: chalky and faux citrusy. The organizers of the conference actually apologized for the food and mentioned that they had hoped to avoid totally plastic-encased lunches. Oh well, these things happen.

All in all, Y-13 was educational, eye-opening, at times mind blowing, and very inspiring. Nice work AIGA San Diego: you guys and gals deserve a big meyer lemon martini for your efforts.

I Heart Papyrus (?!!)

Good God Almighty: I just found a site devoted to the glorification of Papyrus—arguably the most poorly designed, overused typeface of the contemporary era. What exactly is Papyrus referencing? Degraded calligraphy on rough paper? The ancient world? All things granola? Orientalism?

What is it about these awful display faces that captures the imagination of so many practitioners with access to Photoshop ("designers" who use Papyrus would use Photoshop for all their typographic stylings)? It rivals my old favorites Remedy and Fajita, which were at their zenith in the mid 1990s.

* I actually think the I Heart Papyrus site is tongue-in-cheek. It just has to be.

Environmental ABC's

I stumbled upon these fabulous alphabet prints by Grégoire Ganter via thetypejunkie. I have always loved urban vernacular typography, and Mr. Ganter's juxtapositions are simply charming. Apparently, Mr. Ganter started his collection of alphabet images when he and his wife could not find suitable baby room decor. Nice work—yet another designer rearing a typographically sophisticated child. I'm already teaching my Iain that Papyrus is the devil and should never be used.

Perfectly Simple Puddings

A lingering cold combined with end of the quarter malaise and general pregnancy-induced exhaustion prevented me from preparing an elaborate Easter dessert this year. What with the glorious Meyer lemon in season, I envisioned a fresh lemon tart with almond crust. But the thought of making and rolling out pastry dough proved far too ambitious. That's when I had my moment of genius: to adapt a Real Simple recipe for buttermilk pudding into a Meyer lemon delicacy. The recipe is, oddly enough, completely simple:

1 1/4-oz. envelope unflavoured gelatin
1 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
2 cups buttermilk
zest of 1 gorgeous Meyer lemon

Combine the gelatin with 1/4 cup water and let stand for 3 minutes. In small saucepan, over medium heat, combine 1/2 cup of the cream and the sugar. Cook, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and whisk in the gelatin. In a large bowl, combine the buttermilk, lemon zest, and remaining cream. Whisk in the warm cream mixture. Lightly oil (canola oil) six 6-oz ramekins. Divide the mixture evenly among the ramekins. Refrigerate, covered, at least 3 hours. To serve, run a knife around edge of each ramekin and invert onto plates.

I was able to take my puddings to the next gustatory level with the addition of the first sweet crop of Santa Maria strawberries: perfection.



*note: If you don't have access to fresh (non-wax dipped grocery store) lemons and strawberries, don't fret. Simply replace the lemon zest with one teaspoon of vanilla extract and garnish with any fruit in season.

Easter with Robots

Because nothing says the risen Lord like Transformers. . ."they're more than meets the eye. . .they're robots in disguise." Imagine my surprise to discover a Transformer-themed easter egg coloring kit. Well, actually, Iain discovered it with the eagle eyes of a two-year old. When I was a kid, I don't remember easter egg coloring kits with movie tie-ins—surely, my brother and I would have been all over a Star Wars-themed Easter. Ah well, no matter. It occurred to me that movies such as Star Wars and Transformers are not necessarily un-Biblical in nature. Witness Wikipedia's description of Optimus Prime:

Optimus Prime is a character in the Transformers universe. He is the commander of the Autobots, a faction of heroic Transformers from the planet Cybertron who wage their battles to destroy the evil forces of the Decepticons for control of their homeworld, and by extension, peace in the universe. Optimus Prime is depicted as a heroic, brave and compassionate character who puts all his talent to use to improve the world around him. Optimus has a strong sense of justice and righteousness, and has dedicated himself to the protection of all life, particularly the inhabitants of Earth; he will battle his foes with unyielding resolve to uphold this belief.

I suppose Optimus Prime could be considered a Christ-like figure in that he is willing to sacrifice his own life for the good of both robots and humankind alike. Hmm, perhaps the Transformers are not completely out of place during the Easter season.

Letter Ice

I just discovered these super cool Letter Ice (jello?, cookie?) trays at swissmiss. How fabulous would little pomegranate juice letter ice cubes look in a tall glass of fresh lemonade? Apparently, Letter Ice is seeking a distributor in the U.S. and abroad. I hope they find one, because the typographic possibilities are endless.

My *Star* Turn

Check out my star turn on the Doodlewhore site. Only may pal Sugs could capture the true heinousness of la Sevigny: