Design Police

Every morning I walk to work and on my walk I am constantly looking at design throughout the city, whether it is restaurant signage, retail, or poster art covering telephone poles. Often times I run across something that is so poorly done that I wish I could do something about it. Well now I can...

Introducing the design police



Tear one of these little tags out and post it on any bad design you see. Fun, eh?

Under Interstate 5

Last night I went over to East Lake under I-5 to do some mountain biking. You're probably thinking to yourself, "what kind of mountain biking is there to be done on East Lake?" When in fact there is a whole lot of it at the quickly growing Colonnade Mountain Bike Park directly under I-5. Here is a clip of some of the trails:



Sure it's no Whistler Mountain Bike Park but it is a great place to get a quick ride in. They've already built quite a bit of features and it looks like there is much more to expect throughout the summer.

Just for fun here is one of my favorite runs at Whistler (sorry upfront for the music):

Currently Playing In My Car:

Sometimes do you wish you could put on an Earth, Wind and Fire album and not get a hard time from your friends, I know I sure do. Hercules and Love Affair's debut album, put out by the production team at DFA records, is exactly that in disguise. This record is full of classic disco hooks and dance party hits. Antony from Antony and the Johnstons sings over a few of the tracks. Anotony's unique vibrato may seem like an odd fit with this record but once you hear the first track you realize how much it adds to the already magnificent album.

Big Parking Cones...

...coming to the Olympic Sculpture Park from mid-May through the fall.


Artist.

Re: Record Store Day

...and here is what I got:



What did you get?

Record Store Day is Tomorrow!

Record Store Day is a day to get out and support your local independent record store. Store's around the country will be having special offers, raffles and in-store performances. For a whole list of participating stores click here.

When I was a young, allowance-spending kid growing up in Spokane you would often find me out on Monroe at a Small Record Store called 4000 Holes. I would frequent the store in the early 90's always looking for the latest bootleg from Nirvana or Pearl Jam. I remember Bob, the owner, would pull out long, narrow boxes from under the counter filled with hundreds of bootlegged recordings. At this point it was hard for me to say no, especially because I knew that 5 dollar bill from mowing Grace's lawn was just burning a hole in my pocket. It was really the only place to find unique music in Spokane and listen to it before you bought it. I went back to 4000 holes about a year ago and found that they moved locations to about 2 blocks north on Monroe. Bob was still there but the store had a new feel to it and didn't seem the same as the old, run-down corner store it used to be. Nevertheless I paid my support by purchasing the new Sonic Youth album.


Bob @ 4000 Holes (circa 1997)

Apparently John Richards, fellow Spokanite and celebrity KEXP DJ feels the same way about the store:

A record store saved my life: Growing up in Spokane I didn’t have much in the way of options when it came to discovering new music… or so I thought. After being sent a mixed tape from my brother who was living in Phoenix (and soon to be living in Seattle sending me mixed tapes) I discovered an alternative to the shit being poured down my throat on commercial radio and tv. This awakening makes someone want to find more. It’s like a drug! I had that first hit and needed to keep feeding the addiction. I started to explore and what I found out was that Spokane DID have a place to find music. It was this little store out a guy’s house called 4000 Holes. I got in my car. I found the store. I found heaven. Nothing but racks of music I’d never heard of…bootleg live cds under the counter…a giant dog walking around the store and even better, others like myself. I was NOT alone! There are others! I’m not a freak. Okay, I am but there are other freaks here in my hometown. I’m alive. It was there I bought everything that said “Sub Pop,” “Wax Trax,” “4AD” and on and on. Didn’t matter. I’d buy stuff on album art alone. I brought my friends. We would go there every week. We’d spend any money we had on music. We bought CDs before we even owned CD players. Bob (the owner) would hook us up with imports and live bootlegs. We then found out Gonzaga had a small alt-rock format station. We tuned in where we could. We’d park our car where we could get reception and just sit and listen… and think… and discover. All because of this record store. I have no doubt Bob doesn’t make much of a living there. I’m sure now more then ever he doesn’t. But if it weren’t for him, I might not be on the air. My friends, they may have never left town to find themselves, these bands may never have been heard. Its not just about discovery at record stores, its about community and its about art and its about touching and tasting music. Glorious music.

– John Richards (DJ)

PB Elemental

I was working this morning out on Beacon Hill at an architecture firm called Pb Elemental. The Seattle firm continues to develop award winning design around the area with residential and commercial spaces. Due to their unique and modern style, along with the kudos they've also received some criticism. In particular from the neighbors on Queen Anne when PBE created this residence:





Apparently, the people on Queen Anne dislike the way the home fits in with the surrounding houses. The front of the house is basically a blank white wall facing the street leaving the neighbors in their craftsman style homes a little sour. In addition to more than a dozen other projects PBE is currently working on, you can expect this breaking ground soon:


A slender 440' luxury tower set on a 2,900 sqft parcel in the Denny Triangle/SLU area of Seattle. The tower consist of 19 residential units, each unit featuring two complete floors with direct elevator access. Parking for 22 vehicles is included. I'm sure they may get a little flack for this building as well if they haven't already...not to mention a possible award.

Twig, a Chidren's Boutique

My cousin Angela opened a children's clothing boutique in greenwood called Twig a few months ago. She's carrying products made with organic materials from designers that are using sustainable business practices. So if you have a little kid needing to be clothed, go say hello to my cuz at Twig.

Seattle Music Festivals

Sub Pop's 20th Anniversary will be a 2 day benefit concert at Marymoor Park in Redmond, WA (7/12 & 7/13). Seattle's earliest grunge band Green River (who later became Mudhoney and Pearl Jam) is scheduled to play the festival.


Other Sub Pop bands playing include:

Beachwood Sparks
Comets on Fire
Fleet Foxes
Flight of the Conchords
The Fluid
Foals
Grand Archives
Green River
The Helio Sequence
Iron & Wine
Kinski
Low
Mudhoney
No Age
Pissed Jeans
Red Red Meat
The Ruby Suns
Seaweed
Wolf Parade

More to be announced...

Also, my favorite Summer festival, Capitol Hill Block Party's lineup has been released for July 25 & July 26th. I couldn't be more excited for this linup:


Girl Talk (Capitol Hill Block Party, 2007)

Vampire Weekend (eh)
Les Savy Fav (yeah!)
The Hold Steady (cool)
Girl Talk (YYEAH!)
Chromeo
Kimya Dawson
The Dodos
U.S.E.
Jay Reatard
Darker My Love
Akimbo
The Hands
Pwrfl Power
The Builders & The Butchers
Velella Velella
Past Lives
Black Eyes And Neckties
The Physics
Man Plus
Little Party and Bad Business
Champagne Champagne
with over 30 more bands and DJ's to be announced!

I can't wait for another Girl Talk performance. If it is anything like last years, I think we will all be in for a treat.

George Lois: 1965

Esquire has been celebrating it's 75th anniversary and recreating some of it's most memorable covers. The May issue continues this idea with another recreation of Art Director George Lois' classic cover from March 1965. Lois was known to push the boundaries in cover design and was often times very controversial.

Geoff McFetridge at SAM Sculpture Park

L.A. based graphic designer, Geoff McFetridge, has an installation of work at the Olympic Schulpture Park.

Appointed Art Director of Grand Royal, the seminal Beastie Boys magazine at the age of 24, his career has continued steadily onwards and upwards ever since. On leaving Grand Royal in 1996 he established his own company, Champion Graphics, and is also a founding member of ‘The Directors Bureau’ alongside Mike Mills, Sofia Coppola and Shynola. McFetridge is a truely multi-disiplinary designer ‘an all-around visual auteur’. Recent projects are as diverse as packaging design for Gasbook 9, textiles for Marc Jacobs, sneaker design for Nike, stickers for the Dazed / Greenpeace campaign, a plethora of music videos and wallpaper design for French furniture company Ligne Roset.

New Track: Wolf Parade "Call It A Ritual" (mp3)

Wolf Parade released their first single from their upcoming release. If continuing to release great music is a ritual, then yes I would call this a ritual.

Nau.

I was in New York a few weeks back and ran across a couple people early in the morning handing out fliers for a clothing sale for a company called Nau. I recognized the company since they are from Portland and have a store in Bellevue and opening a new one in Fremont (old Sonic Boom location).
It's a great company:

Our goal: To demonstrate the highest levels of citizenship in everything we do: product creation, production, labor practices, the way we treat each other, environmental practices and philanthropy. We believe that companies have a broader responsibility than simply generating profit. That's one reason we're blending profitability and philanthropy, what we believe is the new measure of success. Lofty? Perhaps. We didn't invent all the ideas we seek to combine, but we swill stake ourselves to them.

The clothes have unique, simple design and 5% of the your sale is donated to a foundation of your choice. It's kind of expensive stuff but maybe you can luck out like I did and run across a sale.

The Sun Sets on a Ballard Treasure

Sunset Bowl in Ballard closed it's doors early this morning at 1:00am. It's sad to think the bowling alley is becoming a thing of the past. Sunset Bowl was on of the last classic bowling allies in Seattle, it will be missed. The whole story is in the P.I.

Helvetica

Am I a huge nerd for wanting to see this movie...



...doesn't matter. I'm gonna see it anyway.

Google Conspiracy

I went onto Google Maps the other day to check out the new "Street View" option they have for certain cities. Seattle isn't available yet but Spokane is. I was a little weirded out from the detail in the photos and accuracy of every street in the city. For example here is my folks house with my car parked outside.

Weird.



Also, this is probably old but worth re watching. Not to mention the animation is great.

Pitchfork on the Tube

Pitchfork media launched there new online TV website early last week documenting independent music from around the world. Now you can not only read about every "flash in the pan" new band but watch them too. I did however watch The Thermals live show from a New York roof top and thoroughly enjoyed it. Further proof why I love this band.

Linda's New Restaurant.

The bar owner, Linda Derschang, who brought you Linda's, King's Hardware, Smith and the Viceroy has plans to be a partner in a new restaurant/cafe/bar called Odd Fellows. The new haunt is scheduled to open late October early November on 10th Avenue.





Taxidermy?