Side A

Side B

It’s always sad when a friend moves away, right? Recently my friend Ina had to move back to Germany after spending the last year in Chicago. But before she left, she made a mixtape. Not just any mixtape mind you, she typed the track listing on a typewriter, screenprinted 20 copies and then folded them into envelopes to house the burned CD. I just thought it was a really exceptional and sweet take on a goodbye present. And she’s posted the songs so now you can download them too.

1. The Bigger the Figure • Louis Prima
2. Horchata // Vampire Weekend
3. The Man Who Sold His Beard • a Hack and a Hacksaw
4. Your Rocky Spine • Great Lake Swimmers
5. Sounder • This Could Mean Blood
6. James’ 2nd Haircut • Cairbou
7. Little Secret • Passion Pit
8. Zebra • Beach House
9. Winning a Battle, Losing the War • Kings of Convenience
10. Unattainable • Little Joy
11. The Ills • Mayer Hawthorne
12. Let’s Get Out of this Country • Camera Obscura
13. Petey’s Song • Jarvis Cocker
14. You + I • Wilco + Feist
15. Kokomo • Ben Kweller & Adam Green
16. Too Much • Bonaparte
17. ONE • Yeaseayer
18. Ich Moechte Leben • Wolfgang Mueller
19. Furr • Blitzen Trapper
20. Home • Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

Read and see more about Ina’s projects and collaborations here, here and here. She’s also just opened her online store too.

I love it when my friends impress the hell out of me with their awesome work. In this particular case, it’s a project is en pointe from top-to-bottom. Ten empty storefronts in Wicker Park/Bucktown now have artist inhabitants for the next four months thanks to Make Believe, Firebelly Design, and Pivotal Promotions. Not only have artists been allowed to move into a space to use as their own canvas for MONTHS, in a very high traffic area, but it’s a juried contest with a cash prize of $5,500. (Determined by free and public voting which anyone can do here). As we know, art/design just get no money these days, so the fact that there is some compensation incentive in such an accessible venue is just amazing. Shop, eat, drink and look at art. Perfect.

And the work IN the windows? Just wow. My girls, Indo Projects, snapped up my vote for sure.

These ladies pulled off this incredible feat under incredible parameters. They had just three days to find the cups, of which there’s several hundreds, and five days to build and install. At it’s most basic, their installation takes mundane, dirty, and senseless waste and makes it beautiful. But on a deeper level, it’s calling our accelerated pace sharply into focus and trying to promote a return to a simpler pace and slower, more responsible commerce.

Learn more about their window and vote here.

I’ve spent the last four days building an installation for The Post Family’s We Are Family opening tonight and I totally didn’t anticipate how much it would be owning me. Whoops. It’s finally up and I’m pleased with how it came out, but I’m in the weeds big time. But I’m dying to tell you about all this exciting stuff, so here’s a quickie update. It’s at least a little something until I can get some sleep, sort things out, and form proper sentences again.

By Reba Rakstad, RarRar Press

I got to do a guest post for Etsy’s blog this week! The post is all about my fave artists & printmakers on Etsy, and the inspiring color palettes they use. Big thank you to my other bloggy-friends at COLOURlovers for setting it up.

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We Are Family: Emerging Talent in Chicago:
In conjunction with Chicago Design Week 2010, the Post Family welcomes nine voices from the far reaches of Chicago’s graphic design community to the Family Room Gallery for a look at surprising, evocative and oftentimes challenging work that consistently redefines the boundaries of the field.

Participants: Also Design, Shawn Hazen, Letterform, Plural, Scott Reinhard, Sonnenzimmer, Isaac Tobin, and David Weik.
Sponsored by the AIGA Chicago, Intelligentsia Coffee, and Goose Island Brewery, and Colorphonic.

7:00 pm-11:30 pm
1821 W Hubbard St, #202
Chicago, IL 60622
Free

This is not at all a sponsored post, I just really like my Uncommon iPhone case. They’re sleeker & cheaper and just as strong as the Incase ones, Uncommon has a a fantastic online check-out process, and I had the phone 3 days after ordering. (I have this Cody Hudson one in case anyone cares). Uncommon’s having a contest alongside the Chicago AIGA Design Week, and are curating a line of cases to signify this year’s festivities. If your artwork is chosen, they produce it and you collect 5% sales royalities. Not too shabby, eh? Submission details & dealine here.

It’s going to be a busy night in Chicago, ’tis the season for gallery hopping on bikes. And most especially tonight is all about my inspiring friends and they fantastic work they do. First up is Printervention, which is a massive poster show downtown at the Chicago Tourism Center. Holy Moly! Curated by Emily Clayton, the show is a modern spin on the Work’s Progress Administration from the 1930’s…We’re basically trying to promote any kind of positive social messaging that is relevant to today. A few participants: Rand Renfrow, Delicious Design League, Jay Ryan, Will Bryant, Chad Kouri, Seripop, Sonnenzimmer, Thirst, Steve Walters, Ina Weise, Keith Herzig, Mat Daly, Little Friends of Printmaking, Plural, Ryan Duggan, a few of my Public School chums likeJustin Cox, Shaun Lind and Cody Haltom,Andy Luce, Spudnik Press, Letterform Inc.

PRINTERVENTION POSTER EXHIBITION, APRIL 16th – MAY 4th
Opening Reception Friday, April 16, 2010 5pm – 7pm
@ Chicago Tourism Center Gallery
72 E Randolph // Chicago
Hosted by Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, Office of Tourism

And then, AND THEN! Over to The Family Room for Ina Weise’s solo show, the Following of One Thing After Another. With cardboard and other salvaged materials, Ina & Linsey have transformed the space into an installation-scape. There’s also going to be a video installation and a puppet show. I’m really excited and so proud of Ina. Coming all the way from Germany to be The Post Family’s intern was no doubt incredibly intimidating, but she’s been killing it anyway.

7pm-12am
The Post Family
1821 W Hubbard, #202
Chicago, IL 60622

High fives friends, I do what I do because you do what you do.

I just LOVE it when my friends impress the hell out of me. Mike Renaud, Zach Dodson & Spokesmom have been putting on The Show ‘N Tell Show here in Chicago for over a year now, and they just dropped this amazingly funny-cute-nerdy opener. With muppets! It gives a fantastic sense that The Show ‘N Tell Show ain’t your average design event. The next one is Sunday March 28th at Lincoln Hall, 8pm. It is a free show. Please, please come if you are in this fine city.