The super-talented Mindy Shapero teaching baking pan art to a group of kids

Jack's creation

Jack racing his clay racing car.

Jack's kaleidoscope

Jack in his knight costume

A few weeks back we took Jack to the Hammer Museum for their annual K.A.M.P. fundraiser. K.A.M.P. – Kid’s Art Museum Program enlists more than a dozen local artists who all setup stations for kids to learn some really fun art projects. We went to support our friends Mindy Shapero and Julian Hoeber and, of course, to let the kid go bananas for a few hours. My son had the best time ever and made kaleidoscopes, race cars, costumes, paintings, t-shirts and more. We were so busy we managed to somehow miss story-time with Rainn Wilson which I assume was great. I think the things the Los Angeles museums are doing for kids are fantastic. LACMA has their NextGEN program which gives kids under 18 free admission (plus a parent) for life. K.A.M.P. at the Hammer is one of the more enjoyable museum events I’ve ever been to and it’s impressive they’re reaching out to future generations.

rolls and rolls and rolls

Look at all those tubes!

Blik's Co-Founder Scott Flora

stacks and stacks of decals ready to go

custom decals on the conference room walls

Today, I had the pleasure of getting to visit Blik in Venice. Scott Flora, one of Blik’s Co-Founders is our March 2011 speaker at LosAngeles/CreativeMornings. Scott gave me a little tour of their space which was really interesting to see. They do so much right here in Venice. Aside from their office space they have two production rooms – one where they pack and ship and one where they print. The place is floor to ceiling full of eye candy. Scott showed me a bunch of kid-friendly animal alphabet prints by A Modern Eden which were like modern day Charley Harper – geometric and beautiful! I loved the custom decals they worked on for their conference room which reminded me Charles Wilkin. Scott, Heather and everyone else there were amazingly nice and down to Earth. It’s nice to see someone’s idea flourishing. Scott started printing Blik decals in his apartment and look at them now! If you’re in LA definitely come check out Scott’s talk at next Friday’s LosAngeles/CreativeMornings. Get your tickets on Monday morning.

I love lists and always have. I love top 10 and end of year lists especially. I usually put my top 10 together and share them with friends who do the same and over the last few years I’ve posted them online. So, here is a list of my favorite albums of 2010 plus some other “favorites” that came to mind.

Top 10 Records of 2010 in almost no particular order.

01. The Tallest Man on Earth – “The Wild Hunt”

My favorite record of the last year was The Tallest Man on Earth’s amazing and beautiful record called “The Wild Hunt.” I’ve listened to it non-stop this entire year. Each time I hear I remember listening to it while driving from Venice to Malibu at 5am on morning for an early photo shoot on the beach. His voice, his melodies and his guitar playing are addictive. Check out this video some fan made using a bunch of old super 8 footage. The song, “Love is All” is one of the tracks from the record.

02. Beach House – “Teen Dream”

A close second would be the phenomenal Beach House album “Teen Dream.” There isn’t much I can say about this that hasn’t been said. You’ve all heard it and you all love it.

03. Arp – “The Soft Wave”

ARP live on Arthur Radio (TEASER) from Arthur Radio on Vimeo.

Third on the list would be Arp album “The Soft Wave.” It became my plane album of the year – soft, lush and methodically produced. Really a great and under-rated record. The video above is the closest thing I could find to an Arp video.

Here’s the other records from my top 10 in no particular order.

The Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
Weekend – Sports
Wild Nothing – Gemini
Daft Punk – Tron Original Soundtrack
Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest
Young Man – Boy (It’s an EP but it counts)
Lower Dens – Twin-Hand Movement

Favorite Radio Station
I haven’t listed a favorite radio station in years, but Sirius XMU is the best thing to happen to me in some time. It makes my commute from Silver Lake to Venice tolerable. It’s like college radio all over again.

Favorite Radio Show
In the Swing Seat with Wynton Marsalis. Incredible one hour jazz radio documentaries hosted by Wynton Marsalis every Saturday AM. It’s on the Real Jazz station, again on Sirius. It’s made me dig out those old jazz LPs.

Favorite Design/Work Related Moment of the Year

Tina, Zach from GOOD Magazine and myself

Seeing my pal, Tina aka Swiss Miss, here in LA to help me kick off the LA Chapter of Creative Mornings, where we had Zach Frechette of GOOD Magazine as our speaker. I am so honored and thrilled to be a part of this. Thanks Tina!

Favorite Photo I Took This Year

It would really only be a photo of my son and this is my favorite one – taken at the Ambleside Skate Park in Vancouver, BC.

Favorite Photo I Didn’t Take This Year

photo by Maple Syrup Only

I started following user “Maple Syrup Only” on Flickr a couple of years ago as I loved her hot air balloon photos. This year, she posted another amazing shot of hot air balloons. Definitely, my favorite photo of the year:

Favorite Bittersweet / Tear-Jerking Moment of the Year

Spending a morning with my 93 year-old Grandfather as we packed up his darkroom for the last time. He boxed it all up and shipped it down to me. Pop, your an inspiration and your dark room will rise again in my home! Thank you.

Favorite Source of Inspiration

I read tons of design sites like The Fox Is Black, Swiss Miss, Fubiz, The DieLine, ISO50, DDC and others as they’re all exceptional. However, the one spot I find myself jaw-dropped on a daily basis is Motionographer. Maybe since I don’t really do a lot of motion work it’s so amazing to me. It’s a daily read and a wonderfully entertaining and inspiring site.

Favorite Non-Family Related Moment of the Year

Seeing the World Cup played in my home nation of South Africa was surreal. Seeing South Africa win a match was incredible even though it was too little too late. However, the goal by Siphiwe Tshabalala, in the first match against Mexico, was the goal of the tournament and the happiest non-family related moment of the year for me. Sad, I know. I still get chills every time I watch it.

Favorite Magazine

Uppercase. There isn’t much to say. It’s so damn good every time.

Here’s to a happy and productive 2011. Thanks to my amazing wife, Mindy, for putting up with me and moving across the country with me. You’re the best.

I’ve recently had the pleasure and good fortune to collaborate with a fantastic illustrator named Eleonora Marton. She’s part of the talented OX Studio which is based in Italy. The Ox Studio kids just opened an online shops full of zines (it’s so great people still make things like this), tote bags, t-shirts and more. It’s well worth visiting. Eleonora style is varied and brilliant. I even commissioned her to draw an image of our old (late) beloved cat, Gatto, sitting in her favorite spot – a window in the Summer house in Narragansett. Hands down the best present my wife has ever received.

My friend, Joseph Ari Aloi aka JK5, has a new site up. It’s the first site of his to begin to get close to showing how prolific this guy is. He’s literally saved every drawing, sketch, painting etc. he’s made since he was six. You can see much of life-work detailed in his book Subconsciothesaurusnex.  Anyway, tons and tons and tons of work up on his site: drawings, tattoos, products, paintings, etc. etc. Congrats Ari! Check out his site.