I'd like to welcome Clara and Katarina, the Design in Transit duo, to Los Angeles, California and the US of A.

These two adventurous ladies are here from Germany, taking a tour of the west coast and hoping to gain graphic design experience in the process. About a month ago, they emailed from Germany to set up a time to come by and get a tour of Studiofluid on their arrival in L.A.

So far we've collaborated on an advertising campaign, shared a few meals together, and I've pointed some cool design highlights to check out in Los Angeles. Next week I think we're going together to check out the Echo Park Time Travel Mart for some packaging and general design awesomeness inspiration.

I've also introduced the DIT ladies to a few other design firms in the area that might be interesting for them to visit. If you're in Los Angeles, San Francisco or maybe even Portland and you want to collaborate with Design in Transit, they'd love to hear from you. To invite them out for some good American beer or just say hello, you can get in touch at: designintransit @ hotmail dot de — and tell them Studiofluid sent ya.

The design work we've been doing for the Pasadena Symphony is starting to pop up throughout Los Angeles. Right now, the Metro Rail Gold Line that connects Union Station to Sierra Madre is running the "Take Your Ears Out for the Evening" ad campaign, announcing the 2009-2010 Symphony Classics.

Photo courtesy of Tim Harwick.

The Pasadena Wine Festival is less than 2 weeks away, and since Studiofluid handled the event branding and web design, we've got a special treat for you…
We're giving away:

Good for Saturday and/or Sunday October 3 & 4, 2009. The event will be at the beautiful L.A. County Arboretum, from 4:30-10p both days. These passes are going for $170, so here's your chance for the hookup!

Post to twitter starting with "I want #pasadenawinefest tix"… followed with your best reason. The winner will be selected (based on creativity) and announced on the morning of Monday 9/28. We'll be in touch to for mailing address, comp passes will go out via priority mail the same day.

Good luck!

This week the Pasadena Star-News ran a story on the Pasadena Symphony and POPS and how they're overhauling their brand strategy and visual identity. Studiofluid has been right in the middle of that process for the last couple months—partnering with the Symphony to design their new logo, season booklet, stationery and new web site—so I joined them for the interview and small photo shoot.

When it came time to speak about the brand strategy and our results, I had the floor for a few minutes to articulate our process and share about our new branding results. And what made it into the final piece?

Probably did, too.

The Pasadena Wine Festival is being billed as the largest lifestyle event of its kind. Festival goers will enjoy the beautiful atmosphere of the Los Angeles Arborateum, sample wines and gourmet foods from around the globe, and experience lifestyle points of interest such as travel, leisure activities, cooking and entertaining.

Studiofluid developed a visual identity that captures the energy of the festival, and connects with the sophisticated yet fun-loving audience that will attend. Moving forward, we're building a multimedia marketing campaign to solidify event sponsors and attract attendees from Pasadena area as well as all parts of Southern California. Our advertisements for the festival have run in Pasadena Magazine and Los Angeles Magazine among others, and we've worked with sponsors such as Coffee Bean, Whole Foods, Rusnak Mercedes-Benz and KPCC to provide valuable brand exposure and make this event a success. The web site integrates with Paypal to accept credit cards and process ticket sales online. Using a sign up form, we've tied in the client's Constant Contact database to send out email newsletters to interested visitors.

Make sure you mark October 3rd & 4th on your calendar and reserve your tickets today! All ticket sales from the Pasadena Wine Festival will benefit the Pasadena Symphony Association in support of the cultural arts.

I was recently contacted by Sabrina Vega to be a part of her online / book project. The image above is my postcard submission to her project, which is this:

“A couple of years ago in 2006 , right after I graduated from Texas State University, I had the idea to collect my name, Sabrina in every shape and form I could think of…”

Working on my submission was a rewarding experience—in particular getting my hands dirty with a soft pencil to fill in the background.

I was honored to be included among some high profile contributors such as Milton Glaser, Stafan Sagmeister, and Gary Baseman. I think my favorite is done by Kim Robertson, who created an anagram our of Sabrina's first and last names, turning it into "A Bar in Vegas."

Thanks Sabrina, and good luck with your book!

Over at the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, a group of entrepreneurs contributed their best strategies for staying focused and getting things done.

Ben's idea is featured at #10.

Here's a link the the Freedom App, which is highly recommended for those of you on the Mac.

April 27th. Yes, today is the day we've been waiting for.

A wonderful day dedicated to celebrate the profession of graphic and communication design. And by celebrating, I mean that we're putting the finishing touches on some client work and drafting some new proposals.

Unfortunately I see no mention of it in our AIGA Los Angeles chapter.

And today is the 15th anniversary. Who knew? Now we do.

It's been a flurry of activity around here. I just finished renovating my live/work space and my new office looks great and functions even better. I'm looking at a photo shoot soon so I can post some here.

Identity and Retail Packaging for a healthy snack food company. Can't say a whole lot about that one now, but we're stoked about everything is coming together.

Branding and Website for the Pasadena Wine Festival which will be held at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanical Garden this fall. Our site will handle ticket sales and event sponsorship. All ticket sales from the event benefit the Pasadena Symphony.

Branding and Website for a remodeling company. We're helping the owner connect with his clearly defined target audience in Southern California. His website includes a content management system (CMS) and will clearly communicate their commitment to quality, community focus, and will encourage visitors to get in touch for a free estimate.

And a few more are in the pipeline, but it's a bit too early to say...

Trendwatching has an interesting article about how more people are taking entrepreneurial steps to supplement their income. Keep scrolling, there are a lot of solid ideas and unique business models made possible through our increasingly connected world.