Hasta La Ideas

It’s odd for me to be on the other side of the camera.Kasey, Nick and a bit of meWe moved the couch so that you can see all the magazines behind me in the frame.Kasey asks the questions off-camera.Nick does the video and sound.Yesterday Kasey Fleisher Hickey and Nick Strayer of Evernote were visiting all the way from California to make a video about little ol’ me and how I use Evernote as an integral part of UPPERCASE publishing.

I look forward to sharing the finished video with you, in which I explain in more detail how it is part of my creative and business life. If you’re not familiar with Evernote, here’s a little introduction:

I really can’t recommend the service enough and my endorsement of the service comes very naturally. I’ve been using Evernote since issue #2, so it is an integral part of my creative and editorial process in the magazine development. It has been like an editorial assistant or second brain for me—I honestly couldn’t get as much done and sorted without it and I have Evernote on my main computer, laptop and iphone. In addition to my ideas, inspirations and web links, all or your emailed suggestions, portfolio links and submissions get put directly into my Evernote database where I can easily access it and pull up content as I need it. 

Thank you to Kasey and Nick and the rest of the Evernote team for wanting to share my story.

Thank you to Eleanor for the excellent photos above!

My perspective, as an Instagram.

Three springs and a lifetime ago, Glen and I went to Scandinavia to meet Camilla and exlore Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. Posts from that trip are here. We’ll return someday…

My brother Marc is an amazing musician and guitar/amp genius. Yamaha has recognized his talents by asking him to demo their cool new amp, the THR10.

From the Yahama website: 

“The go-to guy for anything guitar-related in LA, Marc’s credits include Daughtry (Marc’s THR5 made it on to the latest record!), Kelly Clarkson, Black Stone Cherry, Theory of a Deadman, Creed, Adam Lambert, Papa Roach and 3 Doors Down and he’s as likely to be found modding an amp or building a pedalboard as he is tracking an amazing guitar part or finding the perfect guitar sound for a hit record with his awesome collection of amps (a small part of which can be seen in the background of the video). Suffice to say, what he doesn’t now about tone isn’t really worth knowing…

And don’t be fooled by the collection of incredible amps and outboard in the control room at Bay 7 Studios, everything you can hear was done using only what comes in the THR box (apart from the laptop and guitars).”

You can download the track that Marc recorded here. The product design is cool, too.

This February marks my seventh year at Art Central. It has been a significant number of years, with some major life-changing events marking the way such as opening UPPERCASE gallery, books & papergoods, getting married (both in 2005), publishing my first book (The Shatner Show, 2007), launching UPPERCASE magazine (2009), retiring from client design work (2009), closing the retail aspect of my studio (end of 2009), having a baby (2010). The original name “UPPERCASE gallery, books & papergoods” and “Vangool Design & Typography” and their corresponding vinyl letters adorning my studio windows no longer apply to what my workspace is today. It is now primarily a creative office, my publishing headquarters. I still love the space and how it has transformed over the years. UPPERCASE has turned into something bigger and better than I could have imagined seven years ago.

And so, I peeled off my letters yesterday. The beautiful ampersand was the last to go. 

Goodie box all tied with a bowIt was nice to have a day off with no particular schedule. Although I’m disappointed that I will miss all the design camp activities on Saturday (flying home), I think it was for the best to have some down time before Alt begins. If the “Dinner with” and Speakers’ reception this evening are any indication, the next few days are going to be intense! 

When I first saw all the girls (yes, the women probably outnumber the guys 50 to 1!) congregating in the hotel lobby chatting in groups or waiting outside for taxis to their dinners, I was a bit overwhelmed with that old highschool feeling… you know the feeling: being shy, awkward, intimidated by the cool kids… But the “Dinner with” event was a nice way to ease into the very social aspect of this conference. There were various groups of 15-20 people at restaurants throughout downtown, each hosted by a particular sponsor. It was nice to meet Erin of Designformankind (at last! she has contributed to UPPERCASE magazine for quite along time now) and to visit with Kate of Chronicle Books (she initiated the Shoegazing Notecard set, see the sidebar for a picture).

Here’s a partial list of the folks at the Squatter’s Pub dinner, thanks to Christine and Bo.lt for hosting.

Erin M – http://christineharmel.bo.lt/ErinMcGovney
Jessie – http://christineharmel.bo.lt/StyleandPepper
Megan – http://christineharmel.bo.lt/NotMarthaBlog
Kate – http://christineharmel.bo.lt/ChronicleBooks
Amy – http://christineharmel.bo.lt/AmyWingDesigns
Janine – http://christineharmel.bo.lt/UppercaseMagazine
Jessica – http://christineharmel.bo.lt/ShimmerKai
Trina – http://christineharmel.bo.lt/LaLaLovelyThings
Erin L – http://christineharmel.bo.lt/DesignForMankind
Tyler & Wendy –  http://christineharmel.bo.lt/BlueLilyPhotography
Kathryn – http://christineharmel.bo.lt/SnippetandInk

See you tomorrow at the conference (and on Twitter and Instagram).