This first week of June, things are feeling summery and full of changes at my studio. For one, I’ve temporarily moved to a studio collective in Mitte for the month, after the Multiverso studio collective closed its doors in May. This Monday, I celebrated my first day (Einstand) in the traditional German manner by bringing my colleagues something sweet — strawberries from one […]
Yesterday, on a Landpartie (countryside outing) to brainstorm some ideas for Schloss Wartin, I admired this sign, whose weird 70’s typeface clashed oddly with the surrounding village, which looked more like 18th or 19th century. ‘frische eier!’ means ‘fresh eggs!’
A voice sings out when you call this old-fashioned paint shop in Berlin-Kreuzberg: “Malerladen!” The full name is actually Frauenkollektiv Malerladen, as it’s run by a collective of down-to-earth, middle-aged women. Coming from a variety of related professions, including carpentry and construction, they believe in renovating old Berlin apartments the old-fashioned way, with high-quality linseed […]
Last week, a poster in a glass case in one of Berlin’s subway stations caught my eye. Or rather, half a poster. The whole poster, including the word (Love? Lover?) and the image (a woman’s face) had been torn in half from top to bottom, and only the left side remained.
Tomorrow is Martina’s lettering workshop and I’ve been collecting more Berlin lettering to mentally prepare. Above, the window of an after-school activity center in a Neukölln storefront, painted paper letters proclaim “On Fridays, it’s really happening!
Berlin isn’t a bad place to go sign-peeping. Not just at the Museum of Letters, but also right on the city streets, there are signs from East, West, and pre-Wall Berlin, and some lovely new signs as well. I’m designing some script lettering right now, so I’ve been looking at the many script signs around […]
In my native California, it’s no sacrifice to eat with the seasons. At any time of year, some sort of juicy fruits and leafy greens are in season; winter means blood oranges, grapefruits, Meyer lemons. Only when I moved to New England at 18, then later to Germany, did I encounter the homelier winter produce […]
Last Wednesday, I was tour guide to six folks from the Ruppiner Feingebäck cafés in scenic north Brandenburg. It’s the second research and tasting trip I’ve organized for them in Berlin. We criss-crossed the city to try my favorite neighborhood cafés, brainstorming new design and menu ideas for their own café along the way…
Obscure chocolate bars and tasty-looking business cards have been accumulating on my desk. My excuse for noshing on the job: I’ve been busy planning a tour of Berlin’s most charming cafés and food shops (in my opinion, of course).
Happy New Year! I’m honored to help Slow Travel Berlin ring in the new year as well, by writing their first article of 2014. In this piece, recount my day trip with huskies and other animals, wild and tame, in northwestern Germany. Here is the full article on Slow Travel Berlin. Photos courtesy of Freizeit mit Huskies.
