My favourite sites of late:

www.creativegeneralist.blogspot.com

www.ted.com

watch videos from amazing speakers in all different fields

www.core77.com

the largest forum for industrial designers

www.cultureby.com

anthropologist Grant McCracken's blog

Words Schmerds #12

New words, old words, words learnt, words lost

This edition comes from some time vacationing, a break which usually involves eating and reading:

Kohlrabi - There are some great farmer's markets in San Francisco. Pictured is a large one under a highway where the Mexican and Asian sellers had a range of plants for cooking that I had never seen before. The standard answer when asked what to do with them was 'in soup'. We bought a kohlrabi and thinly sliced it into a salad later in the day. It's a round turnip like vegetable that's part of the cabbage family. You can see the softball sized kohlrabi in this picture on the bottom left.

Jicama - This is a Mexican root vegetable which is crunchy and delicious on a salad. It's sweeter than the bitter kohlrabi and reminds me of an Asian pear. It's about the same size as a kohlrabi, but has a brown skin instead of green. Look for one next time at you're at the food market!

Conkers - Embarrassingly having to have this explained to me, this is a game supposedly everyone knows in the UK. A two person game where each one has a chestnut threaded on a string and they take turns hitting each others nuts. Yah, enough said.

Approbation - I was reading a book of short stories on vacation and in an Alice Munroe short story she writes that they were "seekers of approbation". This is a strong way to say seeking approval.

And finally, what in god's name is a
Jabot - As read in a Carol Shields story. The grandmother in this story was lying in her casket in a black velvet dress with a white crepe jabot. I must have seen this a dozen times working at the opera, as it is described as a ruffled, frilly, and ornamental collar or bib that cascades down the front of the outfit. Think Mozart.

I came home from my trip to find a package waiting for me. It's my Microsoft Zune! It's an 8GB music player that is Microsoft's rival to the iPod. The second generation Zune just launched in Canada last month and I received a free one as part of a marketing campaign.

Right away I can say that I love the premium headphones that I got. Headphones always drop out of my ears, and Microsoft has included a variety of different sizes of inserts that you can pop onto the headphones so you can use whichever one fits you best. That's user-centered thinking! I also love the magnetic ends of the headphones, so when they're off they are stored together. The cord is also soft, and looks like it won't get kinked up.

The packaging is gorgeous. My Zune came in three separate boxes, one for the adapter, one for the headphones, and then the player itself. Although it seems like a lot of packaging it didn't feel over packaged, and there wasn't a lot of useless foam and paper. I would have liked to see some kind of indicator that the packaging was made from recycled materials. I really like the logo and colours they chose, it feels like a nod to retro styling but completely contemporary and on trend.

I haven't used it yet, since it's still charging. So far the only downside I know about is that it's not compatible with iTunes. I wonder if they'll be any preloaded content on it?

http://www.zune.net/

Back from my vacation on the West coast! On the way through I dropped by the most notorious store in Vancouver's Gastown: Two of a Few (right next door to sister store One of a Few). Owner Michelle Rizzardo has created what could be described as my dream store: bright, open, well-edited, stocking feminin (but not girly) pieces from lines that I have never seen before. I could have definitely dropped the rent in there. Two of a Few is now carrying my neckpieces, if you are in Van it's the only place you'll find them, so get it on!

http://www.oneofafew.com/

Check out the latest issue of Celery Magazine online, with a nice little feature on Fawn, an unparalleled store on Queen Street West that carries my line.

http://www.celerymagazine.com/latest/26.html

With my fashion radar turned on, I managed to find the hottest little shop in Victoria: Still Life. Charming owners Kim and Matt have recently bought and revamped this store creating a fashion stir on quiet Vancouver Island. They are now carrying my small run accessories line alongside great pieces from lines like Rittenhouse, Dittos, Nudie Jeans and Cynthia Vincent in their newly renovated store on Johnson Street.

http://www.stilllifeboutique.com/

It's that time of year again at the Opera when we work on projects to improve the shop. We have had the problem of having too much bounce on our workbenches when chiseling or gouging out wood, so I designed and built a solid chisel table for the back shop. The table is a welded steel frame with a thick wooden top which makes it nice and heavy but it's on teflon gliders, a trick which makes it easy to move around the shop. The height of it lines up perfectly with the other workbench so you can butt it up against it to have one long table. The drawer glides like butta and each tool has a seperate compartment to keep them protected from nicks. I'm pretty pleased with it!

Just back from the Maraval show. What an overwhelming experience to take in 1000 women! I have to say that the concept is amazing: connecting the creative community city wide, photographically and physically in one space. Unfortunately I didn't think the pictures brought out the best in many beautiful women that I know, hard goings when you only get a handful of shots on a white background in harsh lighting. All said and done, I feel blessed to have been a part of it, and I can't wait to receive my book in the mail, and to see Maraval continue his world series.

Luminato is in full swing in the city and tonight is the invited opening for the 1000 creative women photographed by Maraval. If you can't make it to the exhibit do watch the Making of Toronto's Mille Femmes. (You can see me getting ready in the background for a split second at 1:53). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA53XVjyYzA

Thanks for the listing!

http://iwantigot.geekigirl.com/

I have been working with the unbelievable Canadian singer, songwriter, producer and performer Parvati on her international tour Yoga in the Nightclub. I made her a fantasy wig for the tour, a complicated and fun process for me. I made the wig out of about twenty interlaced circles of tubing, wrapped in hair, and dyed. It looks pretty amazing on her, check her out at http://www.parvatimusic.com/

In February I alluded briefly in an edition of Words Schmerds that I wanted to go back to school, but I wasn't sure if it was design school or business school and that I was looking to find the combination of both (the C school). Well at the end of that month I did some research and went to sit in on a day of MBA school at Rotman (University of Toronto). I sat through two of the softer subjects, marketing and strategy, and to make a long story short realized that the environment was too rigid and did not match with my skills or interests. I have now found a school that seems to be a perfect blend of design with practical skills for a business environment. This is IIT the Institute of Design in Chicago. They offer a Masters of Design program which does not train you to be a designer but focuses on the thinking, researching and conceptualizing up to the design point, including sketching and building prototypes. What I understand from the alumni is IIT's focus is design planning which teaches collaborative problem solving and how to be an effective presenter and make logical arguments for your ideas. Although logic is not my strong point, I am imagine there must be quite a bit of interpersonal and conceptual skills (my stronger points) needed to work in design research. The career path out of IIT would be user research, ethnography, design planning, experience or system design. Not knowing anyone who works in those fields or what the reality of it is, is not stopping me from being increadibly turned on by the idea! I think a trip to Chicago is in order to check out the school! (Unfortunately tuition is about the cost of a house).


Post Note: Professor and student project: http://www.id.iit.edu/ThinkeringSpaces/

Words Schmerds
New words, old words, words learnt, words lost

Nutritionism - I just finished reading Michael Pollan's excellent book In Defence of Food. In it he writes about our maladjusted connection to food as a North American society. Nutirtionism, a belief system he opposes, is the notion that eating is only about nutrition and that the only people that understand food are the scientists and industry who must dictate to us what we need to eat.

Soporific After complaining about a bout of 3pm sleepniess, my co-worker claimed my problem comes from my salads at lunch, as lettuce is a soporific. Soporific - something that induces sleep.

Hey lady! I thought I'd note that Hey lady! has been the expresion of late coming from girlfriends old and young to greet eachother. It sounds kinda 60's to me.

Getting outta Dodge This lady can't wait to get the hell outta Dodge. Another 60's expression coming back into use. It's a reference to Dodge City, Kansas which was the setting for the Wild West show Gunsmoke. Bad guys were told to 'get outta Dodge'.

Papcastles While cleaning out the back carpentry shop I came across a box labelled Matt's Papcastles. Within I found various odd, but charming objects: a carved wooden snowflake, untraceable jigs, mermaid puppet parts... This word apparently comes from a dictionary by Douglas Adams (who wrote the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy) called The Meaning of Liff "a dictionary of things that there aren't any words for yet". He uses place names as new words (Paspcastle is a place in the UK).

PAPCASTLE (n) Something drawn or modeled by a small child. You are supposed to know precisely what it is.

Papcastles! This word puts a smile on my face.

New Store Opening!

Right next door to Fawn in the Chocolate Factory Lofts a little gem popped up 5 days ago called Atomic. Aptly named for the mid century age it showcases, this compact space holds a well edited collection of modern furniture, lighting and art pieces. Atomic also sells a small collection of pristine vintage clothing and shoes culled by the owner's wife. Clothing aside, the real treat here is the excellent quality that the mid century pieces are in, especially the kitchenware. A big step up from your local junk shop and sure to be a new prop stylists favourite. Here's hoping it will foster the new breed of young vintage collectors in Toronto.

Atomic
965 Queen St. West

Pelleas and Melisande

Barber of Seville

Eugene Onegin

Tomorrow marks the opening night of our last set of mainstage shows for the Canadian Opera Company's 07/08 lineup and signals the end of four seasons of work for me at the opera. I have one more month in the prop department for this season and then I'm off for the summer to pursue other projects. Wee!

Toronto's Milles Femmes

Photographs by Maraval

Although I f-ed up this shoot entirely, I was thrilled to be invited to be photographed for Toronto's Milles Femmes for Luminato. Come see me, and 999 other creative women in the city blown up, put on display and published (me - I might be looking like I was in pain I was so nervous I couldn't breathe).

June 6th - 15th 2008

Allen Lambert Galleria, Brookfield Place161-181 Bay Street, Toronto

French artist Pierre Maraval calls his photo exhibitions ‘‘human landscapes,'' each a collection of 1,000 portraits of individuals linked by a common characteristic or shared passion. Athletes, AIDS workers, Internet pioneers, and women from some of the world's greatest cities are among those whom Maraval has celebrated since he began his project in '93. Now he turns his lens on Toronto and the women who enrich the city's flourishing cultural scene through Toronto's Mille Femmes.

Toronto's Mille Femmes is a tribute to 1,000 artistic, creative and inspiring women from Toronto and their protégés, who embody the passion and heritage of the city. Architects, actors, dancers, designers, journalists, musicians and others have been chosen in recognition of their achievements and leadership in their field. Joined together, the 1,000 portraits will become a visual network, a chain of recognition that celebrates not only an extraordinary community of women, but also the creative character and diversity of Toronto.

http://www.maraval.org/

http://www.luminato.com/

Spring has finally sprung in Toronto! A new set of white Night City Scarves and one-of- a- kind Valour Pins are arriving this week at Fawn and Model Citizen.

Caller question: "What's a girl to do, who doesn't want to fork out for an entirely new wardrobe for our short summer season?"

Gillian answers: "I always think the best way to transition into the warmer weather is to change purses and rock some new accessories. As they say, your clothes are the canvas, your accessories are the paint."

(Pictured is the phone I answer these emergency calls on and one of the many new one-of-a-kind valour pins out for spring. Check out this unbelievable vintage sterling silver arrow earring!).

To my apron.
Oh goodbye sweet apron, how you have protected me so well these past few years. Remember the time when I splashed acid all over myself, and it only got in my eyes and not on my clothes? Thanks to you apron. Thank you! Your replacement will never have the same soft cottony quality that you have, she'll never compare to your gentle touch around my waist and neck. Although you are ratty and shitfaced now, I will always love you.

Words Schmerds
new words, old words, words learnt, words lost

Well it's been a slow blogging month, and on top of that I haven't been keeping track of new words lately. So we're down to one lone word today.

prie-dieu This is a piece of funiture used by someone for praying. A traditional one might have a shelf for books or a padded arm rest. I built a stylized one at work this week, designed by Dany Lyne for one of our upcoming operas. It's a steel and wood bench with applications to the steel tube legs to make them look like black wooden sticks. Not pictured here is the thick cushion for the top of the bench for kneeling onto.

Cutting sheets of polycarbonate

Vacuforming over molds

Results!


Drawing mask shape over mold


Cutting

Spray bombing

Attachments

A little photo essay from work.

Making 48 chorus masks for Eugene Onegin at the Canadian Opera Company.

Congrats to MADE for their successful 1st year of Radiant Dark, the offshoot show from IDS which focused on Canadian product and craft designers. I went Sunday on the closing day, and although it was pretty empty I think attendance was generally good, especially considering the fire happened right next door to them (the show was held in the historic Burroughs building on Queen West). The exhibit was hit and miss with some pieces better executed than others. The variety was good, from ceramics, to furniture, to lighting and it was nice to see little to no cross over from the IDS rising stars section of the show. Pictured above is Rollout's custom wallpaper. I like the idea that Shaun one of the owners of MADE expressed to me at the show that the definition of luxury design is shifting from the large European design houses to local, limited run pieces.

Checkout IDS 08 yesterday. Good show this year, with some interesting stand-outs. First, Olena Zylak who I have followed for a few years for her hand knit scarves is making the move to home decor. Her hand crafted work stands out in the world of custom cushion manufacturers.

I was also really excited by the work of Castor Design who was showing in a group called 10 Innovative Canadian Designers. We giggled all the way into their cement ice fishing hut. Excellent!

My favorite discovery of the show was by Ecosmart fire whose fireplaces were beautiful. The ones shown in the pic on top are their outdoor retro line. The bottom pic is from one of their indoor design lines.

From their website: The EcoSmart™ Fire is an Australian innovation - an environmentally friendly open fireplace. The EcoSmart™ Fire is flue less and does not require any installation or utility connection for fuel supply, which makes it ideal for just about any architectural environment. Fuelled by a renewable modern energy (Denatured Ethanol), it burns clean and is virtually maintenance free.

I just got word that Model Citizen is moving from Dundas to Kensington Market! All the best to them with the move (I'll post the new address once confirmed).

Happy Valentines day!

Looking fierce selling my goodies (one-of-a-kind valour pins and Night City scarves) at Pop With Brains last month.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffjewiss/2256212865/

Words-Schmerds #9
new words, old words, words learnt, words lost

starchitecture - pretty self-explanatory, but great new word to add to the mix. It's this flashy architecture as epitomized of late by Daniel Libeskind. Do you remember the turn of the century, when an architect was a nobody, and an Industrial Designer fashioned tools?

anhydrous - I keep a list in my drawer at work for new words, and I usually remember the context in which I heard them. I have no idea how this came up. Regardless, it's definition is straightforward: a substance that contains no water.

design- art - The phenomenon that is being fuelled by the overheated art market, in which rich collectors are now looking to augment their priceless collections with unique or limited-edition contemporary furniture pieces, otherwise known as design-art. Give me a limited edition Eames over a Watteau any day.

The C-Suite - as in CEO, CIO, CMO.

d-school + b-school = c-school As I sit in the middle of a personal crisis on wanting to go back to school but not quite yet seeing enough reason to spend the money, and if I go, should it be a D- school (Product Design) or a B-school (MBA) I realize I'm deeply interested in both. I have found that what I am looking at is a new social experiment in education which some are calling the C-school. These are the very few programs that are attempting to merge the worlds of design and business and treat innovation as the essence of both of them. I think this C-school lingo is quite fresh, and might only be used in one of the blogs I often read. Anyway, in theory it sounds good, but I'm not sure if it translates into practice yet.

skunkworks - from Wikipedia: Skunk Works is used in engineering and technical fields to describe a group within an organization given a high degree of autonomy and unhampered by bureaucracy, tasked with working on advanced or secret projects.

The term "Skunk Works" came from the Li'l Abner comic strip which was popular in the 1940s. In the comic, the "Skonk Works" was a backwoods still operated by Big Barnsmell, known as the
"inside man at the Skonk Works." In his secret facility, he made "kickapoo joy juice" by grinding dead skunks and worn shoes into a smoldering vat. (haha!)

From a blog: "I have always been skeptical when clients or managers claim theywant to set up a 'skunkworks' for product development. What they generally mean is: 'We want to move to a location separate from the corporate headquarters, spend a lot of money, tell no one what we are doing, and have no real accountability.'" !

Check out my latest feature in the online mag Celery on pgs. 21-24. Celery has become THE fashion, art and music mag for Toronto's next generation of culture stars, edited by local it girl Odessa Paloma Parker (who I like to think is our next Anna Wintour). www.celerymagazine.com

I can't believe the massive comeback that rock and roll is having in Toronto. Here's where it will get even better Feb 16th, Levack Block.

Words-Schmerds #8
new words, old words, words learnt, words lost

signature - Sometimes at work (COC prop department) I need to secure old books to make them usable for the stage. For me, this is a new understanding of a common word : signature. In bookbinding this is a section, or a group of folded pages in a bound book, or magazine. Grab a novel off your shelf and you can see the signatures glued down to the spine.

comeuppance - William Safire who recently wrote for NYTimes "don't give a tuppence for comeuppance". Yoink! Tuppence, I guess I know from life in the theatre, is your two pence, and your comeuppance is your fate. In otherwords, 'don't give a shit for your fate'?. Hmm.

farrago - Again Mr. Safire. It really takes me my nose in the dictionary and an hour to read one of his columns. "A farrago of complaints": this is an assortment, or confused mixture of complaints.

tricked-out - This is an old word that I love and that I have been reading lately as being applied to everything, no longer just BMX bikes and cars. I think this word is having a bit of a comeback and I'm loving it for fashion descriptions like "that boy looks dope in his tricked-out hoodie".

I also need to mention here the end of the CBC show And Sometimes Y which seems to have had it's last show in 2007. Although never the same since the new host change in the fall, And Sometimes Y has been an important virtual space for all of us word nerds to reaffirm that an interest in the english language is in fact the most picky and anal of pursuits.

After 5 great years I'm sad to announce that D'Lightful in Kensington Market is closing the doors in early Feb. Head down there to pick up some great pieces at ridiculously low prices (I scored a cute new skirt for $40 which screams for cable knit tights, boots, and a glass in hand) All the best to Diana who is moving on to a bigger better deal.