DanFranChap

How fun do these look? Chalktrail, a device that allows you to attach a piece of chalk to your bike tire or scooter wheel and draw while you ride. I know the target market might be a decade or two younger than I am (yikes, is this when I start to feel old?) but I want one! I have a feeling it would take all of two minutes for me to end up crashed, though, having spent too much attention on the ground behind me.

I appreciate the video, too. The creator Scott Baumann does a great job of showcasing his product without going all creepy salesman on you."No tools or parents required." They still need support to get started so if you have something to give, head on over to their Kickstarter page! 

This was not supposed to be a critique of Coroflot. This was supposed to be a critique of a few portfolios hosted by Coroflot. Unfortunately I was so uninspired and frustrated by the process of looking through those portfolios that I decided a critique of Coroflot was of much greater importance. 

The problem is not a lack of interesting, quality work in Coroflot portfolios. Take Tom Bentley's portfolio, for example. He's an experienced designer, and it can be gathered from his resume that he's accomplished, he's worked with high profile companies. His portfolio images suggest that his resume doesn't lie, he can deliver. Some of his renderings cause a hunt to find hints that they aren't photographs.

So what's the problem? There's no story! Did he spend weeks creating a form that made the most satisfying click when closed? Was that ring created to feature a come-back of a vintage Biba lipgloss, or can that pan be removed and replaced with any color the wearer would like? I found this lack of context repeated in almost every portfolio I saw. No story, a lack of process, and lots of mismatched images and spreads with little or no connection to anything else in their profile.

The argument could be made that this is the fault of the designer and not of Coroflot. Coroflot gives us the space to work with, it's up to us to create a coherent representation of what we can do and how we do it, right? Storytelling should be a well honed skill of a designer. Coroflot is a leader in this situation, though, and representing designers to a world that may or may not understand what design is and what it is capable of. Even the Genius Gallery, where Coroflot curates favorite work from portfolios, is all eye candy.

While I was planning my ... resolutions?... for 2012 I realized I don't write much anymore. I mean, I've written an ok amount in the last year, but not for myself. I've neglected sketch books and blogs and notebooks. It's terrible, I miss it, and I'm missing out on the positive impact those things bring. 

Here's a promise from me to you, dear tumblr. I won't neglect you any longer. I'll fix you up, update broken entries and the tired layout. I'll stop losing the ideas I should have posted. I'll get back in touch with the inspiration you bring. 

It's gonna be great.  :)

Here's a post I did over at Daily Grommet. Breast Cancer Awareness month is awesome, but packed with pinkwashing! It needs a little more activism. Take a challenge with me... replace one product you use with a "clean" one! 

1. Chose a product or type of product you want to get rid of. 

2. Check the products out on the Cosmetic Database.

3. Get a new, safer product and test it out!

4. Tell me how it worked out!

Summer in New England has proven to be an excellent time to work on eating more locally grown food. I knew about the economic, environmental, and health benefits of eating locally, but there are a few more abstract ones that I have been pleasantly surprised about.

It makes cooking much more fun. I've had the privilege of babysitting a couple organic gardens this summer. It was not at all as hard as I thought it would be, and home grown produce is the tastiest kind. Bringing my hand-picked goodies home to cook with was my favorite part. I love to cook, which is probably due to my mom's influence. (She's a kitchen guru!) It's great looking up recipes to use for whatever we happened to have from the gardens that day. "Fresh & Honest", a book by Chef Peter Davis of Henrietta's Table in Cambridge, MA, has been a great source of inspiration. 

It makes grocery shopping enjoyable. Farmer's markets and farm stands are a great place to buy food guaranteed to be local, fresh, and delicious.  It's also a great way to meet new people and see old friends.  In addition to produce you can usually find baked goods, honey, meat, craft, and freshly cut flowers. Sometimes there is live music and local artists selling their work. It's almost guaranteed that you'll be able to find a glass of home made lemonade or iced tea that blows Starbucks away. It's really a more social, wholesome way to do your grocery shopping. You can find most farmers markets online or in local listings. In Massachusetts, FarmFresh.org is a great resource. LocalHarvest.org is a safe bet nationally for all kinds of local food.

So, working a part time job and living at home may not be the most desirable position to be in, but it certainly has perks.  Getting to see my family every day, getting 8 hours of sleep every night, and having time to read...  Here are a couple books I've read in the last couple weeks that are more than worth your time!

Better Off: Flipping the Switch on Technology  by Eric Brende

The experiences of an MIT graduate who decided to spend 18 months living in a "Minimite" community with as little technology as possible. It's a great read, and gives an excellent picture of how technology has changed us, and how a lack of it can be more positive than you might think.  Brende was very good about keeping the location of the community a secret, but I would love love love to go there and do the same thing!

                 The World Without Us  by Alan Weisman