03 16 2007:

congratulations to print, who publishes our “obsessions” column bi-monthly, on their national magazine award nomination! (ed: i need to read more closely.) the magazine was awarded for general excellence, which is probably the biggest gold star a magazine can get.

many at print have been close friends to us over the years, including editor joyce rutter-kaye, managing editor emily gordon (for whom we designed emdashes, where she blogs the crap out of the new yorker), our own editor caitlin dover.

02 25 2007:

late friday night, we relaunched arsnovanyc.com for new york’s feisty ars nova theatre. this is a project that’s been in the works since september of last year, and would never have been completed without valuable input from ars nova’s jillian apfelbaum, teresa bass, and chris sauvé.

the design is a partnership between chris and myself—chris had worked online before, but only in a flash-based setting, so it was my responsibility to take his rough sketches, then design with him to redevelop them in a way that responsibly calls attention to the work—not the medium. we redrew his sketch into a series of translucent panels, looking through the theatre company into the work itself. the entire site is run via a content management system, including the media players. this means ars nova can update their content without worrying so much about upsetting the design.

ars nova is the subject of an extensive profile in today’s new york times theater section. if you don’t have a nytimes.com login, you may download the article as a PDF file by clicking here. it’s a great read for young directors looking for new financial models.

02 18 2007:

the posters we made as valentines to our clientele have been quite popular—we’ve begin receiving requests for purchase. far be it from us to refuse. it’s a lovely piece of illustration and typography in pink on metallic cream stock; looks nice anywhere. if interested, visit the newly christened store.houseofpretty.com—we call it s.hop—to buy yours.

01 29 2007:

infanstyle, launched this morning, joins the growing number of designer-run sites for childrens’ goods. it’s owned by shamar and geoff brossard (and their two kids). we met the brossards years ago when geoff and i created an installation for hewitt associates’ visitor center together.

infanstyle is the first time we’ve built a shop from scratch, and i think it worked out pretty well. we gave the brossards a customized shopping cart, a new custom typeface, illustration, and design. keep tabs on the shop every couple of months—we’ve designed and illustrated it so that it’ll change with the seasons. we also anticipate building a storyline around the mascot.

01 10 2007:

mobile phone manufacturers, if you’re ready to start giving thought to your interfaces now that apple’s dropped a fairly handsome brick in your puddle, su and i are available for consultation.

i’ve actually wanted to do iconography and typography for a well-done personal communicator for some time. we’ve got plenty of iconography and interface studies under our belts to make one great.

frankly, my razr’s interface is less satisfactory than it should be—especially considering the beauty of its form factor. hey motorola: we’re a twenty-minute drive from you.

01 06 2007:

check it out: gina got stippled.

gina’s a friend su and i made in manhattan when we were beginning an aborted design of gawker media’s kinja, years ago.

now she’s living across the country with her partner terra, and is working in public as the editor of lifehacker. she’s forthright. refuses to commit to something she’s not knowledgeable about. her honesty and openness are stimulating, especially on the community-driven web, where many feel the authority to speak without much justification.

gina’s got a new book out—her logotype is a preliminary version of a new type family i’ve worked on for too many years. while she wrote, we discovered we shared a publisher. as a result, she’s been a great cheerleader to me as i worked on our book (not done yet). if there’s anyone who rates a wsj profile, it’s her.

01 02 2007:

Happy New Year, folks.

We’ve been quiet for a reason: we reorganized our business. House of Pretty, Ltd. is now an Illinois corporation, which means my journey from salaried employee to freelancer to sole proprietor is now getting a little more interesting. If we could take offices in Oswald Cooper’s old building, here in Chicago, life would be perfect. Unfortunately, I think that building’s gone now.

Cooper’s my favorite typographer, in case you don’t follow that discipline. More on Oz here.

We’re in the process of doing a pile of new web-based work for Pentagram, PBS, Gawker Media, and Ars Nova Theatre in New York. Also in progress is a custom three-face family of fonts for Catholic Healthcare West’s new identity system. And, then, of course, there’s our usual recurring column, Obsessions, in Print Magazine. Always a good way to see what we’ve been looking at.

We’re in the midst of creating a proper site to replace this news column. We’ll be a bit more presentable shortly. For the time being, however, apologies. Hair’s still in curlers. :)

10 04 2006:

that sound you hear? me fighting the childproof cap off an alleve bottle.

first up is freshred, originating in los angeles. it’s is a music search site—use it to find local shows in the los angeles metro area, then sort by act, venue, price, or date, and see where all of this falls in visual terms via google maps. for this, su and i designed a minimal identity and pure-white interface. they’re accepting advertisers now, so if you’re looking to hook up with music enthusiasts, there’s your ticket.

next up is another musical piece—my first new work for gawker media in some time—idolator. this is a visual collaboration between myself and nick denton, and shows a return to my cute-but-deadly roots. idolator covers the music industry with gawker’s trademark jaded touch. drunk, too.

locally, in chicago, milan lent a hand with an interface and identity design for riggs barr, a furniture designer operating from www.riggodesign.com. riggs makes custom steel furniture and objects, to which milan added rugged typographic forms and textures.

we’re also doing more work with PBS these days. we’ve just launched remotely connected, which celebrates PBS’ upcoming fall season. each entry will be a longform piece from a number of well-known online writers.

last but certainly not least is emdashes, which su and i launched just yesterday for miss emily gordon. emily’s the managing editor of PRINT magazine, and she writes obsessively about the new yorker in her (two) off-hours. su and i contributed typography, palette and interface, while frequent collaborator jesse ewing (find him at inkleaf) supplied illustrations. i gotta say, this is the most kissable site we’ve made in a while.

09 05 2006:

butch is the brainchild of brazilian designer, juliano corbetta. our newest site, one for his 2007 mens’ swimwear collection, went live just a few moments ago.

art directed, designed, and built here at pretty. enjoy!

08 26 2006:

kyle and kelly are friends of su’s from his days of living in oklahoma; i met them when they came to stay with us over thanksgiving a couple years ago. they just moved from oklahoma to san francisco, so go make friends. i’m especially proud of kelly for making the move; she’s lived in oklahoma forever and was apprehensive about making a giant cultural jump.

if you’re into online sex (oh, come on, don’t fib), you’ll want to hear what kyle has to say on the subject. watch his presentation at the second life community conference here–this is a perfect display of kyle’s personality: funny, sweet, and kinda kinky.

it’s funny how second life is such a quietly powerful force in mine and su’s lives: kyle works at linden labs now, as does my college friend beth goza (who’s now married to phillip torrone, a smartypants in his own right).