Barb Designs

Food. Life. Work.

Eat Cake March 27, 2009

Filed under: Baking, Design, Dining Out, Food — Barb @ 7:04 pm
Tags: ,
Bakery Bar

Bakery Bar

The well-designed sign outside of Bakery Bar on Glisan and 30th says, “Eat cake.” OK, no problem. But wait, there is a problem because not only must you eat cake there, you must eat scones, muffins, breakfast sandwiches on homemade English muffins, brownies, and more. Then you can eat cake.

Bakery Bar is my new favorite place to hang out, read, work, drink a latte and listen to the great mix of music that they play. They’ve also expanded their menu to include breakfast and lunch.

Good design, good music and good food converge all in one spot.

 

O silver retro Tannenbaum, O silver retro Tannenbaum December 7, 2008

Filed under: Design — Barb @ 11:49 am
Tags: ,
Silver Tree

Silver Tree

Our holiday decorating consists of:

  • taking the silver tree out of the box and putting the two pieces together
  • oooohing over our MoMA colored bulbs (I get to hang the turquoise one!)
  • setting up our Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer “nativity scene”
  • hanging a swag of garland on the front porch
  • all while listening to Public Enemy, Lyrics Born, Ratatat and other festive music

Now, that’s what I call tradition!

 

Creepy but cool October 25, 2008

Filed under: Design, Film & Lit — Barb @ 10:55 am
Tags: , ,
Black Hole

Black Hole

Just when I think my reading list is getting under control, I hear about more books that I want to read. Black Hole by Charles Burns is one of those books that I moved to the top of the list and finished in one sitting. It’s a creepy look at teens in the 70s in Seattle who get sexually-transmitted diseases that turn them into mutant freaks—they develop everything from warts to a second mouth on the neck. [Note: Neck mouths make for very interesting make-out scenes.]

The art in Black Hole is incredible. Now it’s being transformed into a motion picture by David Fincher (Fight Club, Se7en) with the advice of Neil Gaiman (The Sandman, Stardust, Coraline). A live-action Black Hole makes me a little wary, but hopefully with the guidance of Gaiman, its creepiness will be just as beautiful on screen as in the book.

 

Art Spiegelman is a genius October 12, 2008

Filed under: Design, Film & Lit — Barb @ 8:51 am
Tags: , , ,
Breakdowns

Breakdowns

I had the pleasure to see Art Spiegelman speak at the Bagdad theater this week (for a mere $5). I’ve read only Maus I and Maus II along with some of his work for The New Yorker but have a list of work waiting to be read: Breakdowns: Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@&*!, In the Shadow of No Towers, and the illustrated version of Joseph Moncure March’s The Wild Party.

Spiegelman was articulate, funny and brilliant as he described his creative process and how his brain works when he develops a comic. He also talked about the history of comics and how they have evolved, including the crazy 1954 Senate report called “Comic Books and Juvenile Deliquency” that claimed comics cause increased teen angst and trouble. That’s how we ended up with so many super heros in tights—we had to have good role models to save the day.

 

The tram is cool, no matter what they say September 25, 2008

Filed under: Design — Barb @ 4:47 pm
Tags: ,
OHSU tram landing platform

OHSU tram landing platform

Even after all of the media fuss and budget issues, I happen to think the OHSU tram is pretty darn cool. The landing area is Gheryesque, and the tower/spire is an attention-grabber.

It seems like the machinery is quiet, so hopefully the residents below aren’t too disturbed.

 

Simple design but packed with info September 7, 2008

Filed under: Design, Web — Barb @ 5:57 pm
Tags: ,
Electoral votes

Electoral votes

This simple map shows daily updates of the electoral votes for each state. It also shows how each state voted in the last 4 elections.

The color coding helps visually show which way states are leaning (ex: Florida is barely GOP…who knew?) It’s not high design but it shows how simple design can carry a wealth of information.

 

End petlessness September 7, 2008

Filed under: Design — Barb @ 5:38 pm
Tags: , ,

Allan Sanders’ illustrations make me smile every time I see them. They are now used in the Oregon Humane Society’s End Petlessness campaign (it’s too bad they didn’t carry over the campaign to their web site). His illustration style reminds me of J. Otto Seibold and Roger la Borde but the charm in each ad is unique.

The billboards have been all around town since early this year and they’re just so darn cute that I hope they never take them down. There’s even a commercial that features Portland folk artist Laura Gibson’s song Hands in Pockets that was featured on the 2006 PDX Pop Now! compilation.

If this cuddly campaign doesn’t make you want to go get a furry creature of your own, then I don’t know what will.

 

Hazen’s Manifest Hope poster chosen August 21, 2008

Filed under: Design — Barb @ 8:58 am
Tags: , ,
Shawn Hazen's poster

Shawn Hazen's poster

Shawn Hazen, hubby of my friend Lisa Hazen, designed one of five posters chosen for Manifest Hope that will be auctioned at the Democratic National Convention.

The poster shows the rally cry UNITED morph into the word CHANGE. It’s simple but effective.

Manifest Hope

Manifest Hope

 

Something’s up with HP August 19, 2008

Filed under: Design — Barb @ 7:59 pm
Tags: , ,
The Nightmare Before Christmas font

The Nightmare Before Christmas font

The moment I saw HP’s new “The Computer is Personal Again” campaign, I thought of Tim Burton. This is probably not the response they were looking for, but the typeface that they chose looks so close to the font used in Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.

It’s not the same font, according to other font geeks on Typofile, but I wonder what exactly HP was going for.

Jack Skellington was not available for comment.

HP font

HP font

 

Paper addiction August 19, 2008

Filed under: Design — Barb @ 4:37 pm
Tags: , ,
Paper Milk postcards

Paper Milk postcards

I used to have a serious addiction to paper; now it’s under control except for an occasional relapse. My latest stationery splurge has been buying cards by Portland artist Trish Grantham, aka Paper Milk.

Her images have an animé quality (reminiscent of Japanese pop artist Yoshitomo Nara) and yet they’re printed to look like they’re on vintage stock. Some of them are just plain cute while others have a dark side to them, like the single-fanged kitten hanging in my bathroom.

Grantham’s work is all over Portland gift stores now. Pick up a postcard for a friend and mail it, the old fashioned way.