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December 30, 2010

Some of My Favorite Things 2010

2010. What a year. Sadly left NYC and our lovely home in Brooklyn to move out to Los Angeles. It was time. In my house, we all miss NYC on a daily basis, but we’re loving the weather and the pace of life out here in LA. There’s so much going on here and each day is full of new surprises. Started working full-time again for the fist time in a decade as I joined the good people at Something Massive. The kid turned three and I turned 35. South Africa hosted the World Cup and I even bought a car. Looking forward to seeing what 2011 holds for me. Anyway…

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.

October 20, 2010

City of Jerks – Noir Novels

I was asked to design several noir-style novels for a feature film one of my bosses, Chris Gibbin, has been working on. The movie, City of Jerks, is a modern day noir film set here in LA. They were a lot of fun to make as I was able to spend a long time refining the typography to get an aged and believable look. There’s something really gratifying about seeing these props show up in the actual film. City of Jerks is in post production now.

August 6, 2010

Happy Birthday Mindy

Just came across this old lomo shot I took of Mindy several years back. I think it was the first time we went to SF so she could meet my folks. The rest, as they say, is history. It’s her bday tomorrow. Happy Birthday Babe. I hope it’s a great year for you. Thanks for being so great.

July 1, 2010

Telcel Redesign

We recently launched a redesign of Telcel’s portal site. Telcel is the biggest telecommunications company in Latin and South America. When I was down in Argentina they were everywhere! I handled the creative direction and initial design on the portal site which is chock full of nice little sliders and expandable panels. The site is free of Flash and, in my opinion, a huge improvement on the previous site. Definitely, one of the largest content sites I’ve been apart of in a while. Created with love with the good folks at Something Massive.

June 30, 2010

I Love NY and Always Will

This is the first photograph, in its 2 megapixel glory, I took when I moved to NYC. I moved here, like many do, with a suitcase, an open mind and a desire to build a business, meet a girl, and order steak frites for delivery at 4am. Thankfully, I leave here knowing I managed to do all that.

New York is the greatest city in the World. There’s no comparison. I love London, I love Barcelona, I love LA, I love SF, I love Stockholm, I love Venice, I love Cape Town and so on, but nothing compares to NYC. It’s a city where on a good day you feel like you’re on top of the World as the people, the cabs, the lights, the noise and the energy seem to lift you up and whisk you around town. On a bad day, all of these things seem to hammer you down to the point of feeling worthless.

From sleeping on couches, to moving furniture in Queens, to doing websites as rent barter the first year was long, but still fun. Long nights with Mario at Milk & Honey (our friend was the bartender) were a highlight. Jen Fowler hired me to do some work for J Records and things fell into place. I somehow stumbled into Southpaw one night after they opened and started djing an indie night there called Painting and Kissing. This was followed by hundreds of posters which got my business going. Somewhere along the line I met a girl called Mindy who is currently reading a book to an amazing kid called Jack.

In the end, I leave this city in a much better place than I arrived and the real thanks go to the city itself. It’s truly the one place that can change your life and if you’re willing to work hard it’ll happen for you. I look forward to moving back here with Mindy when we’re much older. I’ll miss you NYC. Thank you for everything.

Here are some awesome things I learned and experienced in NYC:

1. BEST TIP EVER: if you hate humidity like I do, you need to apply a little Gold Bond powder after you get out of the shower – it stops the sweat. Thanks Ricky!
2. Yo La Tengo performing in Prospect Park to a non-stop light show of fireflies.
3. Playing ping-pong 10 ft. from a Mogwai soundcheck – my ears will never be the same.
4. The blackout of 2002.
5. The fresh mozzarella at Russo’s
6. After work drinks at Pastis – touristy but worth it
7. Late night steak frites at Casimir
8. The crisp air of the Hudson Valley
9. Seeing the Brooklyn Bridge everyday and never tiring of seeing that beautiful behemoth.
10. Riding bikes through Times Square at 3am.
11. Fashion trend hilarity in Williamsburg.
12. Broken Social Scene at the Bowery in 2004.
13. Adopting dogs, while covered in the scent of White Castle, in Queens.
14. The Met, The Moma, The Guggenheim, The Whitney, The Transit Museum, The Jewish Museum, etc.
15. Bike riding with Jack in Prospect Park
16. Documenting Alicia Keys’ second album – a truly phenomenal person I feel lucky to have spent time with.
17. Getting paid to do design work
18. Putting on the Go Team show at Southpaw
19. Vetiver / Vashti Bunyan at Southpaw
20. Being in the same Borough as my sister.
21. Walking around the neighborhood and seeing people you know on every block.
22. The bodega guys letting you pay the next day.
23. LA BAGEL DELIGHT
24. All the fantastic folks I met and all the old friends that moved to NYC.
25. Not owning a car or really needing one for the better part of a decade.
26. Coney Island, Ave P, Bensonhurst, Borough Park, Midwood and the rest of the real Brooklyn.
27. Having a studio in DUMBO.
28. The Carlyle Room.
29. Roof decks.
30. Mindy, my love.

The list is endless. I look forward to my new list in Los Angeles. Here’s a parting shot. An old video taken from the Q Train on the Manhattan Bridge.

Q Train 2002 from jon setzen on Vimeo.