Soapbox Blog #1

Here's the first of my weekly design observations for the Soapbox Collective Blog:

Mid-Century Modernism on the Brain


Hollyridge Gem

Walking around Los Angeles it is hard to imagine what the city would look like without the influence of Modernism. Frank Lloyd Wright, Rudolph Schindler, Richard & Dion Neutra, Charles & Ray Eames (among many, many others) redefined the home by designing living spaces that were both natural and architectural. L.A. modernism was shaped by an influx in population post-world war 2. The style spread through the Hollywood Hills , Silverlake, Echo Park & Los Feliz, dotting the rolling landscape with straight planes of concrete, wood and glass. These functional living spaces rejected the old sense of home and replaced it with open-air bohemian living.

In the hills, artful detail is everywhere: teal blue homes flanked by red pointsettia trees, 3 story wonders on stilts jutting into the canyon, millions of plants, trees, flowers. The architectural landscape is inspiring. I think I'll stay a while...

-Leah

P.S. Crave more info?
Check these links:
Useful + Agreeable
Wiki tells you about Mid-Century Modernism

Or these books:
Bohemian Modern
Bohemian Los Angeles

If in LA, you can even take a class:
The Mod Squad

Mmm…album art…

Happy Mondays’ Pills ‘N’ Thrills and Bellyaches; Central Station Design

From: Factory Records: The Complete Graphic Album; Chronicle Books

“Matthew Robertson‘s beautiful [book] is a 500-image, 224-page book that looks less at the label’s musical influence…and more at the indelible mark head designer Peter Saville left on the vidual-arts community. Saville and company’s creative style came to define both the post-punk and early rave scenes–minimal and streamlined in its design yet weighty in its impact.” --Ken Taylor, XLR8R Magazine

See more of Peter Saville’s impressive portfolio filled with images, typography and all sorts of graphic design. Learn more about him here. Learn more about Central Station Design and artists/brothers Matt and Pat Carroll.

Rachel Car & Strater Records

I finally got a chance to shoot Rachel Car's debut CD which I designed for Strater Records, so I thought I'd post that along with one of a close-up of one of the photos Erin took of Rachel (that I painstakingly traced in photoshop). Rachel's site has more photos & short videos and of course her unique electro-pop/new wave sound...take a listen.