in its second year, the econsm conference took place on april 29, 2008, at the skirball cultural center. since this is a springtime conference involving outdoor spaces, and since social media companies tend to have bubbly color palettes, i did a bright selection of spring colors to get the conversations flowing. once again, i did all the signage, print collateral and wall projection graphics. contentnext will be adding a few more conferences and seminars, so this will be part of a series that reflects the current topics for the year.

i took a springtime camping trip with some friends to joshua tree national park last weekend. the combination of a well-spaced rainy season and our particular weekend choice made for a desert exploding with color. the flowers were quite prolific, as were the lady bugs, lizards, jackrabbits, and even ducks in the barker dam area. we must have timed it just right, because we got to see the joshua tree fruit, which i have never seen before. i’d have liked to dissect one, but there are menacing signs warning not to within park boundaries.

joshua tree is host to several microclimates which make it possible to see clusters of different plant concentrations, or to see ducks thriving alongside lizards. hard to believe that these succulents and cacti who otherwise camoflage themselves in the summer heat reveal hot pinks, flaming reds and yellows, and soft lavender and sage in early springtime.

kicking off a new year for contentnext with a complete media kit and investment prospectus. these guys are growing and expanding their popular events and publications, so i put them into a clean format of the over-arching corporate identity that ties together their individual media outlets, tells their story and outlines editorial and event goals for the coming years. the first is a media kit for advertising in online blogs, newsletters and sponsoring events, followed by an investment prospectus to gain funding for growth into future endeavours. together with letterhead and stationery, they have a very recognizable identity that rolls out to most any print or online format, and umbrellas over sub-brands nicely.

super-cute los feliz boutique and wellness center, being in la has a full menu of services, headed up by the extensively knowledgeable jenette serrins. what i really liked about this job was getting to know the business owners, their philosophy and approach to beauty and wellness. they’ve got a new yoga student [me] out of the deal, too!

just a quick shout-out to my sister [& client], gretchen parlato who just got a fantastic multi-page article in the november/december 2007 issue of italian jazz publication, jazzit. excellent press!

for those of you who speak & read italian, all about jazz has just reviewed my sister’s self-titled album [i helped by doing all the packaging—ha ha].

i am always surprised to see how well this album doing for an independent release. nearly 3 years after its debut, gretchen parlato is still a top seller in the jazz category at cdbaby.com [as of the date of this post], and still garners reviews internationally.

trepan cultivates mutation in forms and styles of reading and writing, discarding traditional barriers between genres and forms, seeking out unexpected openings, and creating them where necessary.

it took us awhile, but better late than even later. a literary journal like trepan demands a clean, reader-friendly layout that’s easy on the eyes. we made it highly readable with a spin on a lost-era letterpress pharmaceutical manual to make it endearing.

copies are still available at trepan.org