Back in the 90s—and this is no great exaggeration—much of my personal visual creative energy went into the art of mix tape covers, either ones made for friends or ones made for myself. I spent hours not only on curating the perfect content for these tapes, but also logged a significant amount of time on bedroom floors and Kinko’s color copiers creating complex collages of whatever I was into that week.

This was always one of my favorites, from the period of time when I was slightly obsessed with taking photos of the ocean at night. I finished it off with a blurry, underwater-like Polaroid of our old college cat, Pants (below).

Eclectic track listing for your enjoyment below. Note the third to last song on the second side. That bass player can make some mean raw vegan food….

Side One
1. Superchunk – “Her Royal Fisticuffs”
2. That Dog – “Long Island”
3. Sunny Day Real Estate – “8”
4. Elastica – “Stutter”
5. Discount – “Malarie’s Mission”
6. Slant 6 – “G.F.S.”
7. Lois – “Flamer”
8. Pavement – “Date with Ikea”
9. Sleater-Kinney – “Dance Song ’97”
10. Moped – “Stephaen Hero”
11. Built to Spill – “I Would Hurt a Fly”
12. Skeleton Key – “The World’s Most Famous Underkeeper”
13. Blonde Redhead – “Symphony of Treble”
14. June of 44 – “Rivers and Plains”
15. Retsin – “Foul”
16. Elliot Smith (ft. Rebecca Gates) – “St. Ides Heaven”

Side Two
1. Jawbox – “Mirrorful”
2. The Promise Ring – “Everywhere in Denver”
3. Pixies – “Debaser”
4. The Spinanes – “Uneasy”
5. Huggybear – “Shaved Pussy Poetry”
6. Liz Phair – “Carnivore”
7. Team Dresch – “Deattached”
8. Seven Storey Mountain – “Last Time”
9. Fugazi – “Bed for the Scraping”
10. Tattle Tale – “Arrows”
11. Sparkle – “Her Way”
12. Ruby Falls – “Steal”
13. Kaia – “Peyton Versus Your Boyfriend”
14. Nikki McClure – “Omnivore”
15. Texas is the Reason – “Antique”
16. Karate – “What is Sleep?”
17. Bikini Kill – “Statement of Vindication”

Old Holga photograph of ours of the coast just south of San Francisco.

One last reminder that Katie + I will be repping MooShoes LA tomorrow for what’ll be the store’s first public event at PETA’s Vegan Fashion Pop-Up. We’ll have new products on hand and available for sale, including these awesome new kicks from Le Bunny Bleu. Stop by and see us.

The event takes place on the rooftop deck at PETA’s Bob Barker Building—2154 Sunset, just across from Mohawk Bend. Get a full, up-to-date listing of the vendors + RSVP on the event’s Facebook page. And hope to see you there!

We’re still mid-stretch as we wake from the magical dream that was our weekend in Palm Springs. I’ll leave the details to the imagination, but I will tell you—this guy did not fare well.

Hope everyone had a equally great break from the workweek.

Just came across this work we did way back in 2008 and felt the need to use it to ease ourselves into the weekend.

Have a great one, all.

NYC public space grassroots non-profit 596 Acres just announced their fall fundraising gala, Mapping Matters. The name of the event reflects the organizations unique approach to mapping out unused public space in New York City. 596 Acres takes data on vacant publicly owned land from various sources, sifts through it all, and then uses that data to create interactive mapping that allows the community to mobilize around a shared space to turn it over into a community garden, urban farm, local meeting space, or anything else they deem beneficial to their community.

You can see a screenshot of the organization’s mapping below, but we recommend checking it out on their site—it really is quite impressive.

We created the branding for the group’s very first fundraising event back in 2012 and, recently, 596 Acres approached us about doing so again this year. The result marries the on-the-ground imagery of fenced in vacant lots with a map of New York City, using bent fencing to form the geographic boundaries and vines to subtly denote the major thoroughfares of NYC.

You can find out more about the fall fundraiser—taking place October 2 at Galapagos in DUMBO—on the groups Web site. You can see the branding we did for the 2012 event in our studio portfolio.

File under: Things We Like—candles from PF Candle Company.

More specifically, this candle from PF Candle Company—the Teakwood + Tobacco Soy Candle.

PF is a downtown LA-based company that creates high-quality, small batch, hand-poured candles using domestically grown soy wax, cotton core wicks, and apothecary-inspired packaging. So nice stuff. It’s run by husband and wife team Kristen Pumphrey + Thomas Neuberger (pictured right), who, I’m assuming, smell amazing.

PF’s fragrances run the gamut of high-end candle scents with a unique twist, focusing in on slightly sweet, earthy smells—Amber + Moss, Campfire, and Cut Grass Special are just a few varieties. You can see the rest on the company’s site.

Our favorite—the Teakwood + Tobacco candle—is the company’s best-seller.  So we have awesome taste, right?

We’re no noses, but burning the candle fills our house with a pleasingly smokey, slightly peppery sweetness that’s just makes us smile. PF notes that the candle has “base notes of aged teak and sandalwood, with a hint of muskiness from patchouli essential oil.”

These guys take their candles seriously. You should too. You can order directly from PF’s site or check their stockists to see who carries the candles near you. We get ours at YES/Reform School in Silver Lake.

Added bonus—these candles won’t break the bank. Large candles are $16 across the board; small ones are $11. Plus free matches if you know the special handshake.

And, if you’re wondering, the PF’s short for Pommes Frites. Why pommes frites?
“A lot have wondered about the hidden meaning behind naming our company after french fries. The answer is simple: “Pommes Frites”, when pronounced correctly, sounds pretty similar to Kristen’s last name, “Pumphrey”. Well, and belgian fries are awesome.”

Now I know how to say that correctly! Paris, here I come!

It’s a win-win day, guys.

How cool is the design on this soy sauce packet? We picked up food from the always awesome, super vegan-friendly Jitlada the other night, and this came along with it.

Related question: When do you think Year of the Dog soy sauce goes bad?

Katie made the Getty Iris, the online magazine for the Getty!

The Getty’s one of our favorite places in LA. With it’s unbelievably tranquil, beautiful grounds, most visits, we have to force ourselves inside to view the exhibits. Our last visit was for the museum’s Friday Flights series, which “brings together a network of Los Angeles-based musicians, visual artists, and creative thinkers for a vibrant evening of sounds and sights.” That evening was curated by LA vegan band, No Age, and, in addition to all the art + music, included a special vegan menu on the patio.

Staff caught up with Katie on one of their scenic stairwells and snapped this awesome shot of her with the Pacific in the background. It was so clear that day, you could even see Catalina Island from the museum. The photos part of their Fashion Off the 405 series, which “documents the many different visitor styles of the Getty—from the trendy to the casual to some wild street style.”

You can see the rest of the shots over at the Iris. Katie’s clearly wins though.

Photo by Isoke-Nilaja Cullins.

We’d like to announce and invite everyone to PETA‘s first ever Vegan Fashion Pop-Up this summer. The event will be held Saturday, August 23 from 11AM to 6PM on the spacious rooftop deck of PETA’s west coast headquarters, the Bob Barker Building at 2154 Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake. They’ll be touting wares by NYC’s Vaute Couture, LA-based Nicora Johns, Sydney Brown, Cri de Coeur, and many more. Plus, tacos by Plant Food for People + sweets from Courtesan Cupcakes. So, that. From PETA: “This fancy group includes our headliners, PETA’s 2014 Most Influential Designer, Leanne Mai-ly Hilgart—the first all-vegan designer to show at New York Fashion Week—and Stephanie Nicora, PETA’s 2014 Most Talented Designer, among other favorites who are steadfastly changing the course of fashion as we know it. Don’t miss your chance to rub elbows with these visionaries! Add raffle giveaways, vegan cupcakes, and jackfruit tacos to this mix, and you have yourself a magical afternoon.” I don’t know if I’d call us visionaries per se (pause for obligatory compliment), but we’ll be there too repping MooShoes LA, which is coming along very well, thanks for asking, and scheduled to open this fall just down the street from PETA. Check the Pop-Up’s Facebook page for updates on participants and to RSVP. And hope to see you there!