Hi friends. This whole year has been busy. My friend and business partner Janice have finally published our labor of love… Revel In Portland, VOL 1. We join Revel In New York guidebooks 1, 2 and 3. The Revel In brand was founded in NY by managing editors, Marc Santo and Scott Newman.
For curious travelers and locals alike. Revel In Portland is an arts and culture travel guide and platform, delivering a personalized view of the city, through the eyes of its most intriguing characters. Volume 1 features conversational interviews with (illustrator) Carson Ellis, (chef) John Gorham, (filmmaker) Lance Bangs, (musicians) Chromatics, (designer) Tinker Hatfield, (photographer) Ray Gordon, (Bridge + Burn designer) Erik Prowell, (artist) Alicia McDaid, (architect) Jeff Kovel and (chickfactor editor) Gail O’Hara—alongside amazing contributors, beautiful pictorials and 72 personal recommendations on Portland’s ‘best of’ everything. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Portland’s Right Brain Initiative - enhancing our children’s education through the arts.
Portland, Maine native Caleb Charland does some amazing things with his camera and light sources. Even more astounding is the fact that he creates all these magical effects inside his camera. That’s right, no Photoshop.
Some seriously impressive animal illustrations by Portland, OR illustrator Berkley Illustrations. I wish each animal had an associated voice-track. You know the sloth’s voice would be brilliant. (read on to see the sloth)
The 6-part IFC Original short-based comedy series PORTLANDIA, created, written by and starring Fred Armisen (SNL) and Carrie Brownstein (vocalist/guitarist, WILD FLAG, Sleater-Kinney), premieres on IFC Friday, January 21, 2011 at 10:30 PM ET/PT. Each episode’s character-based shorts draw viewers into “Portlandia,” the creators’ dreamy and absurd rendering of Portland, Oregon.
I mean, this clip above, really? Perfect. Also, the best name dropped compilation of things that make me really angry. Handy!
More clips below, or, you can visit the IFC site directly. Carolin, I would love to get your opinion on this one. Particularly since I have never been to Portland. Not that that’s going to stop me from being judgmental. Nothing ever will!
Mmm, charcuterie + design. Be still my beating heart.
The Official Manufacturing Company is a trio of former big agency guys – Mathew Foster, Fritz Mesenbrink & Jeremy Pelley – that, when combined, perform Voltron-like feats of design. These guys look like they have a blast at work. Going well beyond your normal print and web shop, they do album covers, coffee packaging, freakin’ wool blankets…
Check out their full portfolio, go buy a ‘Fuck Haters’ shirt, or send them a postcard.
Mark Warren Jacques, Portland, OR based artist, is old school. And by that I mean he paints what we see in a lot of awesome graphic design these days. He makes it happen on canvas and brings to his audience moments of enlightenment. Abstract geometry is paired with organic texture and beautiful color—I can’t help but feel a sense of harmony when browsing through his work.
Also win—his site introduces him via a beautifully ethereal video. Oh and one more thing: He’s also part of the awesome Free Life Center project, along with Seth Neefus.
Ignore the fact that Christopher David Ryan has three first names and therefore cannot be trusted and check him out: he’s a graphic artist out of frosty and unforgiving Portland, Maine that runs one-man shop Atmostheory.
His website is host to a single piece of his work, everyday. Everyday. That’s a lot of days to have something new to put on a website.
And although Mr. Ryan’s work may not change your life you’ve got to respect it if for no other reason than the sheer quantity and frequency. Whoa, dude.
It’s kind of like photography: you shoot 500 photos to get one great shot. Poke around his site and you’ll probably find something you’ll enjoy, if not today, tomorrow.
Ghostbikes are memorials for fallen bicyclists; somber reminders of bicyclists killed or hit. Back home there are far too many ghost bikes in our cities and it’s unfortunate that most of us are familiar with this cultural phenomenon. I haven’t seen any since moving to NC so I thought I’d share…
For the most part, cities will leave these bikes forever, out of respect for the passed rider. It’s gestures like this from folks you don’t expect it from that make it possible to maintain my sanity. It’s like when every jerk driver on the road that would cut you off and give you the finger in a second pulls to aside let a funeral procession pass. For me, these are big reaffirming moments that keep me sane.
SIDE NOTE: This is old news but for anyone who didn’t hear about it at the time, the above bike was part of a 2008 DKNY guerilla marketing campaign in which they were promoting general bike riding, supposedly by placing these orange bikes all over cities nationwide. A pretty disgusting appropriation of a cultural symbol by a big company. Whether it was deliberate use of the ghostbike symbol or just a lack of research, it’s offensive. Either in stupidity or arrogance. You’re whack, Donna Karen.
