TEDx PDX Preview

Year 3 of TEDx Portland starts on Monday. Well, ticket sales open Monday, you still have a month to look forward to this lineup, a full day of amazing speakers, an art show, and a surprise event before hand that will excite any TED fan. Yeah, TEDx is a franchise. But it’s our franchise. Our flavor, under the global TED umbrella, it’s Portland’s very own in a rad series of what is turning out to be fertile grounds for a short-list... Read More

Poler opens a door in PDX

I was hoping to be the first in line. A camper, in an iconic bright orange Poler tent pitched outside the flagship store, which opened today at 10AM, just a few blocks from my studio in NW Portland. I wasn’t the first there, I was actually among many thronging fans of the brand, eager to get my grimy mits on some adventure-inspired hats, tees, and a combination backpack/camera bag. Forgive the photography in this post, it’s my first time... Read More

Tanner Goods on film

How many times have I watched this short film? The first time I was exposed to it I was standing in a small circle of friends huddling around a laptop. We were all silent for the full 7 minutes. Ryan Bush was standing behind us biting his nails. We applauded him immediately at the finish. But Mr. Bush had no reason to be nervous. He executed a great short film deliberately in a very short amount of time. He has been kind enough to credit me in... Read More

A little interview with Steve Sandstrom

Designspeaks is featuring Steve Sandstrom! It’s time to bring your ears, notepads, curiosities and friends. Well not too many friends, the event is darn-near sold out, so get in on it! Come listen to a man who has very likely influenced your purchases of Tazo tea, Bulleit Bourbon, Full Sail & Session beer, Converse shoes, St. Germain liqueur, Moonstruck chocolate, and Kombucha! If you’re not convinced, Mr. Sandstrom was generous enough... Read More

Poler Camp Vibes

Portland has a reputation (or stereotype) of being a town full of artisan crafted goods for very specific types of consumers. It’s rare to find a company offering a very Portland-style set of products that also have the potential to be offered to a much wider audience. It would be easy at first glance to lump Poler into one of those niche shops I just mentioned. But it’s not, it’s much more subtle and accessible than most shops... Read More

GOOD + PSU + Your Ideas

You know that problem. The one that drives you crazy. The one that always ends with the sentence or thought “why don’t they fix that?” Well now you can be the they and the fixer. And present your solutions in a public place with some serious support behind you. This is your chance! Want to see more public art? Want to pitch solar-powered driverless cabs? Want a garden every 10 blocks? Here, let me hand you that megaphone, people... Read More

Ellen McFadden

My graphic design education effectively began on Flickr. Class critiques were conducted there, and it was the first place that I really started to explore all the ways that people were communicating visually. It was on Flickr that I also began to explore design history, and started to connect the dots between the graphic trends of the moment and the masters that these trends were emulating. It was also around this time that a professor introduced... Read More

40,000-piece textile archive

It was an accident really that led me to Andrea Aranow. I was working in the Goldsmith Building in Chinatown when Caleb Sayan poked his head into the studio. He was looking for Jelly Helm. In his stead I followed Caleb up to to the fourth floor and caught my breath when I walked into what is the largest private textile archive in the world. Caleb mentioned that his mother, Andrea Aranow, was flying in from New York in a few weeks and what started... Read More

Invisible Creature with Don Clark

Two cities, two houses of design, one community. The Spit Swap has happened, and not only was it informative/inspiring/radical, it was engaging. Here’s the thing with being engaged, it leaves you better prepared to create things worth sharing than passive involvement. I never feel like I just attend a Designspeaks talk. They actively engage, so in fact I’m paying a few bucks to get mobilized. It’s a briefing, if you will, on what... Read More

Will Bryant, Please!

William Bryant just moved to Portland via Austin and just killed the New York Times Magazine front cover with the illustrated question of the year “What if the Secret to Success is Failure?” This man can draw, and he draws everyday. Plus he’s humble and nice and hard working. So that’s amazing. Mr. Bryant has been generous enough to share some process sketches and below is the cover on the NYT website! Holding this thing in-hand... Read More

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