I'm loving my new discovery - CEREAL magazine. A magazine about food and travel, 2 of my favorite subjects. Cereal is a quaterly publication out of the UK, so you're not going to find it at your local newsstand unfortunately. I found my copy in a boutique right where it should be—next to a few of my favorite magazines: Gather, Kinfolk, and Diner Journal. It's part of the explosion of food related indy magazines now gracing the shelves of cool shops around the city. Ceral's clean design, gorgeous photography and pretty nice paper stock makes it feel more like a... Continue reading

Hi friends - sorry for the lack of posts lately. Since I last was here, I have taken on a new job as Art Director at San Francisco Magazine. It has been a pretty busy past few months and a complete change from my previous job as AD at Yoga Journal. I'm getting to work on a big variety of topics: food, fashion, travel, politics, etc. And I'm also getting to work with a bunch of awesome new photographers, and illustrators. I'll tell you more about them soon. In the meantime, here a few of the stories I've been working... Continue reading

I first started paying attention to the photography of Valeria Lazareva when I did a post years ago about Magnificent magazine. She shot the cover for that issue (and a few more) I posted about. Since then, her photography has continued to intrigue me. Her shots are like stills from a movie -- capturing a sense of nostalgia, freedom and sensuality with very compelling characters. Valeria, is also an architect and lives in Odessa, Ukraine. Check out more of her beautiful work here. Continue reading

I can't enough of the colorful and graphic illustrations of Swedish illustrator Kari Modén. Inspired by pop-art, South American poster design, fashion and magazines Kari's work has been commissioned for advertising and editorial work, packaging, patterns, t-shirt prints, wall paintings and websites. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, GQ , Elle, The Guardian, New York Times Magazine, Vogue Living & Entertainment, and Wallpaper to name a few. She's represented in the US by the super cool agency Snyder & the Swedes. Check out more of Kari's fun work here Continue reading

When prepping for a photo shoot I look for inspiration in all kinds of places - books, blogs, magazines, even my own collection of stamps! You just never know where that element you're looking for will come from so always keep your eyes peeled. For my most recent food shoot, for example, I looked at fashion for color inspiration. The story I was art directing was about getting children to eat healthy foods so I wanted the styling to be fun but not childlike. I wanted to bring bright happy colors, and maybe some patterns, so off I went searching.... Continue reading

I just watched the documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop last night, and it inspired me to do this post. The documentary is a story about French shop keeper and amateur film maker, Thierry Guetta. He is obsessed with street art and started following and filming a bunch of artists including Banksy, Shephard Fairey, Invader and others. He eventually became a successful street artist himself. Interesting story. Anyway, I don't know the artists who did the pieces above, but I found them around the streets here in San Francisco, and I thought they were pretty cool. Hope you like them... Continue reading

The other day I was organizing and cleaning my collection of promos and I came across this one from Debra McClinton. In case you didn't know her, Debra was one of the most amazing photographers, EVER! Debra's beautiful work graced the pages of Yoga Journal on many occasions. I was fortunate to have worked with her on a few shoots, and she always brought so much energy, creativity and excitement. I remember the last shoot we did together, shortly before she died, was one of the craziest shoots I've ever done. We were on a location (a private garden in... Continue reading

I'm so loving the Studio Issue of Acne Paper. If you're not familiar, Acne Paper is a magazine (they call it paper), published twice a year by ACNE Studios -- an internationally recognized design collective working in fashion, graphic design, film production, advertising, and product development. This large format magazine, printed in bright, heavy newsprint, is filled with beautiful photography, fashion, art and interesting profiles and interviews. This issue in particular has a story photographed by the legendary picture editor Bruce Bernard. In it, he captures performance artist extraordinaire Leigh Bowery posing naked for painter Lucian Freud. The level of... Continue reading

I've been obsessing over yellow sofas for quite some time, and now that we're almost settled into our new place I'm pretty sure I must have one. So off I went to look for inspiration and these ones here are some of my favorites. So much fun, don't you think? Now the hardest decision, what shade of yellow and fabric? Mustard? Lemon? Sunflower? Chenille? Micro Fiber? Argh, so many options! Any suggestions on good fabrics and eco-friendly materials are welcome. photo 1 - via design public photo 2 - via first sense photo 3 - via remodelista photo 4 -... Continue reading

Literally the sweetest promo I have ever received! It's from illustrator Hudson Black (she illustrated the cute label). I totally appreciate this promo because, not only was I running low on honey, it did exactly what a promo should do: grabbed my attention. Upon opening the mysterious package, I immediately went to her website to check out her work, and now every time I put honey on my tea I'll be thinking about her. Genius! Anyway, I don't know much about Hudson, but I enjoy the style of her illustrations: whimsical and soft with beautiful textures and line work. Definitely... Continue reading

See, you should always look stylish even if it's just to go milk the goat! Seriously tho', I'm totally loving these looks from the latest issue of Bloom. The touches of yellow are so fun, I may just have to run and get a pair of yellow suspenders today. This latest issue of Bloom magazine, titled "Farm of the Future" is all about, well, farming, but done only the way Bloom can do it--filled with beautiful photos, awesome styling and interesting fashion. To see more of this issue and be inspired click here. Continue reading

Isn't this bag cute? It's the latest promo from Gerald & Cullen Rapp, an illustration agency representing an amazing group of talented artists. The illustration in the bag is by Brad Yeo, and I think it totally makes the bag. I can't wait to go to the farmers' market and put all my fresh fruit and veggies in it. To see more of Brad's work click here, to browse more Rapp artists clcik here Continue reading

I'm totally madly in love with this book. The photography by the incredible Mikkel Vang has me dreaming. The design by Jennifer Muller is inpiring me, and the recipes by Lucinda Scala Quinn have me drooling. I cannot say enough about this book except for if you love cookbooks as much as I do, it's a must have! Lucinda Scala Quinn is the Executive Director of Food and Entertaining at Martha Stewart Living, so you know this woman knows her food. You can find out more about her by visiting her blog here. Mikkel Vang, based in Australia, photographs pretty... Continue reading

At work, I like to have an inspiration wall usually made from the promotional materials I receive from photographers and illustrators--postcards, books, posters, etc. Honestly, a lot of these promos end up in the recycling bin, but the really special ones I save for inspiration and as reminders to think about these artists as we plan the stories for the magazine. My wall changes every couple of months as I get new materials in. Sometimes it's a collage, sometimes a single poster, just whatever I find inspiring at the moment. This is one here is my latest one, I call... Continue reading

Bela Borsodi's creative and imaginative photos never fail to fill me with inspiration. Even though the photo shoots I art direct couldn't be more different than his work, often times I head over to his website just to get my creative juices flowing. Bela's award-winning photos are part works of art and part story telling. In his photos you're not only looking at shoes, or jewerly but also at sculptures and characters. His creative genious lays in the way he blends fashion with art. It's fun, fresh and always unexpected. In addition to his advertising work for Selfridges, Uniqlo, Hermes,... Continue reading

I can't never get tired of doing moodboards! I love looking for the right images, and doing the layouts. It really gets my creative juices flowing. But moodboards are not just for fun, they're a great reference tool for art directors, stylists and photographers to have before and during a shoot. These ones here were created for some recent photo shoots I art directed--Spring Recipes, Holidays Gifts, and Japanese food. Fun, no? Continue reading

These snapshots here are from some recent shoots. I know they don't look wintery at all and that's because they're for a Spring issue coming out soon. It really messes with your mind to be shooting Spring and Summer in the middle of winter. Tomorrow, for example, it's going to be 40 degrees and raining and I'm shooting a model wearing a bikini. Poor girl, I better make sure we have heaters in the studio! Anyway, thanks again to all the super talented people that work on these shoots: photographers Maren Caruso, Sheri Giblin and Chris Andre; food stylists Christine... Continue reading

Hi everyone, Sorry I've been MIA for a couple of months. Been busy working a lot and moving to a new place. But I'm very happy to be back with renewed energy and ready to bring you lots of new inspiration. I got interviews with some awesome artists lined up, new magazines, books and a couple of exciting new projects. So thanks for sticking around and stay tuned for more fun stuff coming your way. image by the amazing Paul Costello Continue reading

Recently I've been art directing a lot of food and entertaining shoots. Here are some snapshots from those shoots. As usual, these shoots would never happen without the contributions of a bunch of ubber talented people. Thanks again to food photographer Sheri Giblin, food stylists Erin Quon and Karen Shinto, prop stylist Christine Wolheim, and all the wonderful assistants. You make my job super fun! {photos by yours truly} Continue reading

I love getting really cool promos whether from a stock house, an illustrator or a photographer. This one here is a promo from Corbis from a few years ago. My boss recently gave it to me because she knows how much I love stuff like this. The promo is called "Always in Fashion", and it's a set of 9 cards featuring vintage fashion photography from the Condé Nast archive which, as you can imagine, includes hundreds of images from publications such as Vogue, Vanity Fair and Glamour. The images here are (from top): 1. Vogue Cover. 1945. By photographer Erwin... Continue reading

I just wanted to share a couple of outtakes from a recent fashion shoot I art directed. It was photographed by the very talented and fun Victoria Yee. The styling was done by the super fabulous Jane Black from Ford Artists, and the hair & makeup was done by one of my favorite peeps, the amazing Veronica Sjoen from Artist Untied. The 2 gorgeous models are: Ashley Shaw-Scott (top), and Mei-Ling Murray (bottom) both from Look. Thanks to all for making my job so much fun. Hope you enjoy! Continue reading

My boss recently returned from a trip to England with the best gift a guy like me could ever want - a super cool magazine. She knows I'm a sucker for unusual format magazines and this one here is no exception. The unique circular format is not only fun but it challenges creatives to work in a format they haven't used before. Only on its second issue, Free Style magazine stays true to its tagline, "for creative people who like to play," by delivering an issue packed with fashion, photography, art, and design that's lots of fun. Also, just so... Continue reading

A couple of weeks ago I received this promo from illustrator Jared Andrew Schoor. Jared is represented by one of my favorite agencies, heflinreps, so I was already familiar with his work. However, it wasn't until I opened this fun personalized promo that he really grabbed my attention. In this day and age of mass-mailings, the fact that he took the time to hand write the envelope and then precisely cut my name out inside, shows me someone that really loves what he does, and I can't wait 'til we have the opportunity to work together. Most of Jared's work,... Continue reading

Oh, how I love beautiful magazines, and ABOVE magazine is no exception. Printed in beautiful matte paper that is 100% chlorine-free and fully recyclable, and using 100% vegetable -based inks, ABOVE is staying true to its commitment to preserving nature. ABOVE is a different kind of lifestyle magazine, that believes that "photography, the plastic arts, fashion, architecture and design can be instrumental in raising awareness about the need to preserve nature," and this is what makes this magazine so beautiful. Showcasing some amazing photographers, writers and artists that are, through their work, reminding us of the beauty of our world... Continue reading

This week I'm totally swooning over the beautiful pictures of New York based photographer, Burcu Avsar. I especially love her "collections" series. Burcu was born and raised in Turkey, but calls Brooklyn home now. Her work, mostly still life and interiors, has appeared in Bon Appetit, Country Living, Food & Wine, and Real Simple to name a few. To see more of her gorgeous work, click here Continue reading