File under Funny people

I went to hear Canadian mom turned Hollywood screenwriter /Twitter sensation Kelly Oxford this week.
Funny and inspirational both in terms of both her writing + style.

My Favourite exchange:

Interviewer: Why do you put in so many specific references in your writing like Orphan Annie's broken locket? Aren't you worried that people won't get the references?

Kelly: I put them in to bring my people closer to me. My people get the references. :-)

It's inspiration for me to always create + write from the truest part of myself - and then have confidence that it will resonate with others.

Inspiration: Dorothea Lange

Am listening to a documentary on Dorothea Lange.
She's the photographer who took the iconic Migrant woman photograph during the depression.

Inspiring, Kick Ass woman.

A Month of Great Design in Toronto

The last 30 days has been absolutely chalk full of great design adventures in Toronto including:

 1. A super inspirational talk by Jonathan Adler at the DX

(Took 6 pages of notes!)

 2. A visit to Kevin Austin's stunning new shop Vintage Fine Objects in Corktown

(Could buy everything in the shop!)

 The Opening of Revealing The Early Renaissance at The AGO (curated by my friend Sasha Suda) (So proud of her!)

A fashion show of Comrags' Fall Winter 2013 Collection at Andrew Richard Designs. 

(Loved the clothes + check out this new swanky event space!)

All were very juicy experiences and deserving of their own post -- which will come next week when I'm caught up on my illustration work! Stay tuned.
Toronto - you are a great design city and sometimes terribly distracting. :-)

Jonathan Adler is at the DX tomorrow

 

 Tickets available here.

Tyler Brulé At OCAD

Tyler Brule's talk at OCAD last week was funny + inspirational and served as a big kick in the ass reminder to always be brave, original + THINK BIGGER.

Some favourite lines:

1. "Can we all be present in the room here tonight? I don't wanna see any tops of heads."
(In other words... turn off your phone)

2. "I worked at Movenpick in Yorkville and I spent all my tip money across the street at Maison de la Presse. That's where I got my education."

3. "Toronto needs to change it's residential vernacular. In terms of architecture it needs to raise the bar". Yep.

4. "Rather than looking south all the time Canadians should look East + West"
(After that I wrote in my notebook... LESS MAINE.... MORE SPAIN!")

Thanks OCADU for a great night.

Creative Morning with Paddy Harrington was great

Am rushing off to silk screen!

The quote I scribbled above is:

"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant.

We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift" 

- Albert Einstein 

YEP.

Here are my notes from Paddy's Harrington's talk complete with sketches of Colleen Nicholson's legs and great Chanelish flats!
One of his main messages was Trust that your Intuitive brain is churning away at the problem all the time!
More later. Very inspirational.

Looking forward to this on Friday....

Paddy Harrington is Executive Creative Director at Bruce Mau Design.

Creative Morning 6

Gary speaking at the Gladstone
Instagram photo by Jennifer Stark.

Creative Morning with Gary Taxali was great this morning.
His slide show took us through his entire career and included images of his work on a great mix of surfaces including wine labels, pillow cases, toys and even cufflinks. (!) Inspiring.

This is tonight

Gregory Herringshaw is Assistant Curator in charge of the Wall coverings Department at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in NYC.
Lecture is 6:30 - 7:30 at the Design Exchange tonight.
234 Bay St.

This is tomorrow

Vanessa is a partner at Blok design.
Looking forward....

Contemporary Days: The Designs of Lucienne & Robin Day

Am still deep in textile work this wknd.
Found this film by Design Onscreen on Vimeo:
Contemporary Days: The Designs of Lucienne & Robin Day.

(Was played at the IDS on Friday night)
Really great.

This is tomorrow

Creative Morning Two!
Looking forward the danishes + coffee...

Creative Morning 1 was Fantastic

Helen Kerr and Nigel Smith of Kerr Smith Design.

The Design Exchange setting was A+, the Helen Kerr/ Nigel Smith talk was fantastic,
and the danishes + coffee delish!
Congrats to Behrouz Hariri for organizing all.
Added bonus: The 2011 Design Exchange Awards Exhibit was up and was quite great.
Much to write about - but am dashing out! For now see some pics at the CM blog here.
Will write a longer post about it tomorrow.

This is tomorrow!

I am very much not a morning person -- I'm glad there'll be coffee + hot pastries waiting....

Creative Morning Toronto 1

Here's the details:

When: November 25th 8:30am

Where: The beautiful Design Exchange.

Speakers: Helen Kerr + Nigel Smith, of KerrSmith Design

Apt therapy Evening with Grace Bonney of Design Sponge

Grace Bonney and Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan
(Two Pioneers of the Design blogging world)

Wow just watched this fantastic video of Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan interviewing Grace Bonney of Design Sponge. The evening was part of Apartment therapy's monthly meet up series.

I was really impressed with Grace's articulate and thoughtful answers.
Topics included:
The diverse jobs which Grace held before starting Design Sponge.
Ethics in blogging ie. Her belief that one should write about what one honestly believes in - rather than being bribed by free pillows! Right on.
The wonderful Biz Ladies series which Grace created to assist women starting out in business.
The future of blogs + publishing.
The background behind her new book Design Sponge at Home.

I think it's quite great that Apt therapy tapes these talks! The next best thing to being there at ABC Carpet in NYC!
*Highly recommended - especially if you run a small design related business.

Creative Morning video by Sharon Ann Lee

Great talk by trend analyst/author Sharon Ann Lee.

This is one of the slides from her talk. What quadrant are you in on this work/happiness map? You can watch here.

Jian + Gary Shteyngart

Jian Ghomeshi + Gary Shteyngart
(Don't you love that unshaved look?) yum.

On Saturday I went to see Gary Shteyngart at The IFOA. He did a hilarious reading of Super Sad True Love story followed by a hilarious interview with Jian Ghomeshi. Really... it was a laugh a minute.
Some favourite lines:
"A bunch of us writers in New York meet every night at Café Sabarsky to bemoan the end of literature. Between 11pm and 2 am is the Crying Hour. We all freak out... and we all have an HBO series in our pocket."
"As Jonathan Franzen says "Welcome to Fiction... the new poetry!"
"Being the child of immigrant parents I work 3 times harder than any of my peers - cuz I don't have a trust fund to fall back on."
Part of the interview will be played on Q tomorrow (Wed Oct 26). Highly recommended!

ps. The time has come for me to declare that I think Jian is a National Treasure.
Yes very corny.

Creative Mornings is coming to Toronto!

Wow just checked the website and see that Creative Mornings is finally coming to Toronto!!
The Toronto Organizer is Designer Behrouz Hariri. Can't wait for the first meeting. Bagels, coffee, fresh ideas + creative cross pollination! whoo hoo. See you there.

An evening with the Eameses tomorrow

Presented by Design within Reach. Sounds interesting. See you there.