Refugee All-Stars of Sierra Leone at Skipper's on Friday

[Charles] This Friday at Skipper's Smokehouse, we have a chance to catch a really amazing afro-beat band made up of survivors of the wars in Sierra Leone. Here's the trailer from the documentary about their band. If you believe like me that music can change the world then this is a band you won't want to miss.

Bike Lanes Planned and Unplanned

Alan Snel and our biking Mayor Pam (Photo from Bicycle Stories)
[Charles] It must be really expensive to paint a bike lane... The cost of a bicyclist's life must seem really small in comparison to a crew of painters and an occasional parking space in front of one's house. We just can't seem to get our city committed to making a safe network of bike lanes for our locals. We "Semhis" love riding our bikes to downtown on Tampa St. from Seminole Heights, but then we have to meander and zig zag over to find the lanes pick back up on Nebraska. We're lucky because at least there are SOME lanes. According to Alan at Bicycle Stories, we just can't seem to get lanes for our fellow bikers on Euclid in South Tampa. Please don't let our leaders weasel out of this commitment they've made. I'd even attach that photo of Mayor Pam in her bike helmet from the Crit a few weeks ago to help get the point across. Thanks Alan for the reporting - it was good to see you out at the Earth Day Tampa Bay event at Lowry Park!

Here's the article Reprinted from Bicycle Stories -

"Word is out that the city of Tampa is breaking its commitment to stripe bike lanes on Euclid Avenue as part of re-paving the road. Seems some residents are upset that they are losing parking on the road and won't have space for friends who come over for book club meetings (that's an actual example).

Well, the city of Tampa, always looking to accommodate the convenience of book club meeting participants over the safety of bicyclists, has reneged on its initial plan to stripe bike lanes.

Councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena found out about this and wrote a letter to Mayor Pam Iorio, Council Chairman Tom Scott and council members and Transportation Planning Director Jean Dorzback:

"Yesterday I became aware that the City Administration removed a proposed bicycle lane planned for Euclid Avenue. This is contrary to what was conveyed to City Council by the Administration at a recent public meeting.

"Also, yesterday my deputy campaign manager was hit by a car while riding her bicycle home from the office. Fortunately, she suffered only minor injuries, but her bicycle was destroyed.

"Our community must improve our behavior to make bicycle-riding a safe mode of transportation. We must educate motorists to respect the rights of bicyclists to share the road and we must create a network of bicycle lanes to allow bicyclists safe routes community-wide.

"I will request our Transportation Department to appear and report on May 20 under Staff Reports on how we will address these safety needs and why the commitment to bicycle safety on Euclid Avenue is being broken."

Animals

People love animals. But some of the world's animals are in danger of extinction. In some parts of the world people collect rhino horn for use in medicine. Others carve ornaments for tourists from ivory from elephant tusks. Shark's fin soup is a favourite in many restaurants. Chimpanzee and whale meat are popular with some people.

Another big problem is the destruction of the rainforests. The number of animals in some species is now very small and they may not exist at all for much longer. The Worldwide Fund for Nature is an international organization. It started in Britain in 1961 and has now got a global network in 90 countries. There are a number of projects in Britain which deal with endangered species. The animals are then put back into their natural wild habitat.

Animals born in Britain are now back in the Congo and Gabon in Africa. These Asian wild horses are another success story. They live in China and Mongolia. Now, every year several go back to the grasslands of Asia. This is an African black rhino. There are only 3.000 wild rhinos and 200 in zoos. Lessons learnt from animals in Britain are very valuable in helping to maintain the numbers of rhinos in the world.

I agree with this unit, because I like animals.

British Houses

Well, 90 % of the population live in towns. There are lots of different kinds of houses. This is the kind of house you find in British towns. Terraced houses are joined together. These are semi-detached houses. There are as many semi-detached houses in Britain as terraced houses. Sixty per cent of the population live in terraced or semi-detached houses. Some detached houses are very large but others can be quite small. Lots of people live in flats, especially in big towns and cities.

Houses in different parts of Britain can look very different. There are lots of regional variations because builders use local materials. Some houses are very modern and some are hundreds of years old. These are traditional thatched cottages. Cottage is the name for a small house in the country.

British people spend a lot of time and money on their homes and gardens. There are large DIY stores and garden centres near every town. British people are always trying to make their home into a castle.

I like this unit because I funny with the British houses.

National Cemetery at Keokuk, Iowa

Although this is not Gettysburg, and is not as large as the cemetery at Gettysburg, it is certainly impressive to see graves of those who died for the cause during the War Between the States. There are also soldiers from other wars buried here, as well. As I was walking around, the Gettysburg Address kept going through my mind, and then I walked up to this marker. I decided that I would use words far better than my own describe this experience. Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this contineent, a new nation, conceived in liverty and dedicated to the propostion that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so coceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle field of that war.

We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate---we cannot consecrate--we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who strugled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract.

The world will little note, nor long rmember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fough here thus far so mobly advanced.

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the freat task remaininf before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to tht cause for which they gave the last full measure of their devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain

That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom--and that government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth.

The War Between the States ain't over yet

Each year at the end of April, the city of Keokuk, Iowa, which is just across the river from Nauvoo, hosts a Civil War Re-enactment. People from all over come in costumes of the period, some dressed as soldiers and some dressed as townspeople who walked among them. (The Nauvoo Missionaries are those people as we take "Nauvoo on the Road" to the event and do demonstrations of life in those days.) They have three days of battle, each taking place in the afternoon for about an hour. There are other commemorations such as a Sunday service, and flag raising, and demonstrations of drilling and firing and other military operations. It really is an amazing experience to step back in history and remember those days that shaped America. This marker is over in the National Cemetery in Keokuk, but it seemed appropriate to this part of the post. Keokuk, being a river town on the Mississippi, had easy access to bring soldiers who were wounded in and out the hospital that was built here. Because so many soldier died here, this is one of the few national cemeteries in the country. It is so impressive to see the rows of headstones of those who gave the "last true measure of their devotion".

The people who come for this re-enactment each year actually stay in the tents and make it as real as they can. They have firewood stacked and covered to make campfires to keep warm. This was a rainy, cold day. This gives a picture of the regiments that were larger than others, which would have been a realistic picture of how things were during the battles of the war. Some states provided many troops, while others provided few.

It took me a while but I finally found a "southern" group with the ladies of the South in their hoop skirts.

As I walked through the "battlefield", I thought about the first Battle of Bull Run and how people came out to watch as if it were a spectator sport. They even brought their lunches for a picnic.

As I walked around, I thought, "This must have been what it would have been like--people sitting and waiting, finding ways to keep themselves busy while they waited for the orders to attack."

I am amazed how many people are "civil war buffs" purchasing all the equipment to make these re-enactments so realistic. Many of these were the personal property of participants.

Each of the encampments had the regiment they were representing. They also had the flag of the "side" to which they belonged, and the state flag from which they hailed.

Cannons to the left of them, cannons to the right of them--mighty 500!!! They fired these off and it rattled the whole park, of course, they didn't put the balls in them--just the black powder.

EcoFest Tomorrow (Apr. 24) at Learning Gate School in Lutz

Rendering from Carlson Studio
[Charles] Tomorrow we will be moving the Market for one day up to support an amazing one of a kind school in our community. (We'll be back open on Sunday.) EcoFest is a festival that brings together the green community in Tampa with vendors, music, and information at the Learning Gate School. The Learning Gate Community School is an environmentally focused charter school in Lutz just north of Tampa - right near the intersection of I-275 and Nebraska Avenue. On Saturday the school will be open for people to walk through and see some of the amazing work that has gone into making the school a model of sustainable architecture. There are water harvesting systems, sustainable materials, cutting edge energy saving features, and all of that will be on display with some 40 or so classroom presentations set up for visitors.

In addition to visiting the school to see green technology in action, there will also be a festival called EcoFest that has attracted live music, vendors, produce, and environmental organizations. This will be a lot of fun for the whole family with activities for the kids and parents alike. This is an interesting educational opportunity for those interested in making our world better for the next generation. Come see how an alternative to our current education system can shape the environmental leaders of our next generation.

"EcoFest 2010-
Learning Gate is excited to showcase over 75 local vendors and green efforts in our community. EcoFest 2010 will be this years premier Eco-Educational experience in the Tampa Bay area dedicated to the principles of sustainability –Ecology, Equity and Economy.

EcoFest 2010 will be held this Saturday April 24, 2010 on the school grounds in Lutz, Florida. The event will be open to the public from 9:00 A.M. until 3:00P.M. Admission and parking for the event are free.
There will be live music, food, workshops, demonstrations, informational booths, green living products and services. Many local artists, green businesses, environmental organizations, alternative health practitioners, renewable energy specialists, organic farms and gardens with produce.

16215 Hanna Road, Lutz, FL 33549"

Family Living Center

The rope making demonstration is one of the favorites. When you are finished you get to keep the rope that you make. The fun thing about this portion is that you are a participant in the demonstration. The brethren prepare around 15,000 ropes during the long and boring winter months so that families can each take one rope with them. We actually used several of these ropes when I was serving with the pageant for the children to do jump rope games. They are very sturdy ropes.

The "cooper" demonstration. They show how barrels were made in Old Nauvoo. It was a long process and took many years to become a journeyman. I could explain, but it would take twenty pages of explanation, so I recommend all who would like to know how to make barrels should come to Nauvoo and learn how.

The weaving looms are the most amazing things in this site. It takes several hours to load the threads to make this loom work. There are over 200 threads on this loom that go between the pieces of cloth. They are operated primarily by the men because it takes great strength to do the weaving. The rugs that are produced on these looms are used in the sites here in Nauvoo. People are amazed at the beauty that comes from old rags and a lot of string.

The candle making demonstration is my favorite because it's so natural to talk about Jesus Christ as the "light of the world". We don't really demonstrate, but talk about how the candles would have been made. Girls were given the task of taking cloth apart string by string to make the strings you see hanging. Then they would braid several together to make the wick. Young boys were given the job of fetching small rocks to keep the string straight. The fat from the animal that had been killed was boiled several times to make the tallow. Then they would dip it, hang it, dip, hang it, until it had been dipped about thirty times. The difference in the candles' burning time was amazing. The ones on the right gave about 25-30 hours burning time. The ones in the middle about 10 and the ones on the left were hardly worth wasting a match on. They needed to be buried or put in a metal container because the mice thought they were a great midnight snack.

This is the cooking demonstration. Here we make bread in the bussel oven (to the far right of the picture). Fires are built in the oven daily during the summer. They are allowed to burn until you can put your hand on the brick above the oven for the count of 5. Then you open the lid, take out the ashes, place your arm in the oven. If you can keep it in for 15 seconds, you have a 350 degree oven, and it's ready to bake the bread. Bread is placed on the brick of the oven and allowed to bake about 20 minutes. Six loaves at a time can fit in the oven.

To the left, you see the fireplace. If you squint you can see the arm where they swing the pots out toward you so the dresses do not catch on fire. There are all sorts of "dutch ovens" in the assortment. I thought, "Now this is something I know how to do", but we don't demonstrate in the dutch ovens.

Wool making demonstration-- This is done by talking about sheering sheep. (I should have paid more attention when my niece was taking care of her sheep). Then we talk about carting the wool and preparing it for spinning. We talk about spinning, unless you are one of the three authorized spinners in Nauvoo, and they actually demonstrate it. It's pretty amazing to me. In this same place, we talk about coloring the wool using natural processes, and how to mix wool with linen to make Linsey-woolsey. That thing on the table is a weasel. When you have made 50 yards of wool, it goes POP--thus the phrase "Pop goes the weasel".

You can catch just a glimpse of the landscaping here in Nauvoo. This is the sidewalk from the Bakery to the Family Living Center. At the FLC, one can learn about life in Old Nauvoo with some hands-on experience and some demonstrations. It's a very busy place most of the time and it's fun to be actively involved in pioneer life.

Earth Day Party at Tampa Street Market

Earth Day is Thursday the 22nd and that gives us an excuse to have a little get-together at the Market. We'll be on the lookout for some organic wines and beer and some snacks for everyone. Also, in the spirit of community, we encourage anyone to BYOOB (bring your own organic bottle) to share with friends and neighbors.

We want to encourage all of the people that haven't been able to check us out yet to take a few minutes and stop by. We'll be open late - until 9:00 - to give everyone a chance to celebrate Earth Day with friends - new and old. We love meeting neighbors and just hanging out at our second home (we practically live there anyway!) We will work on some cool raffle prizes and will definitely spin some excellent tunes for after work relaxation.

To show our thanks for three and a half years of amazing support, we will be offering 20% anything in the store as a way to say thank you for spending part of your Earth Day with us (with the usual exclusions of local consigned art).

We are also extending a special invitation to all of the members of the Seminole Heights Community Garden to help celebrate their first year of community based organic gardening! Come by and talk to Garden members if you've always been curious about urban gardening or throw a couple of bucks their way and get a bumper sticker for the Garden to show your support! We are happy to give the folks at the Garden a place to congregate that doesn't involve sweating in the sun for a few hours...

Charles and Amy

Tampa Street Market

Shopping

People in Britain really likes shopping. In a recent survey 56% of women between the ages of 16 and 40 described shopping as their main hobby.

Traditional, local shops exist in some areas. They sell different things like food, medicines and cosmetics, clothes and books. But in most high streets in Britain the same shop names appear all the time.

There are lots of big out-of-town shopping centres where there are many shops in a large indoor area. This is Bluewater near London. It's the largest shopping complex in Europe with over 330 different shops and three big department stores. There are also 40 bars and restaurants and a thirteen-screen cinema. For a lot of people "going shopping" doesn't mean they are going to buy anything. Shopping centres are open late most nights of the week and from 11 o'clock until five o'clock on Sundays.

I like this unit, because I like shopping and Bluewater.

School in Britain

For most students in Britain, the school day starts between eighty thirty and nine o'clock. People travel to school using many different kinds of transport. They cycle, they walk and they come in cars. The school day starts with registration where the teacher checks everybody in school. Students move to another classroom for the next lesson.

After two or three lessons there is a break. This is fifteen minutes when students go out into the playground to have fun after all that concentration! There's always the lunch break to look forward to. There's usually time to play games, talk with friends, read a book or catch up with some homework.

After lunch it's back to the classroom. The main subjects in the school timetable are English, maths and science. Then there's French or Spanish, history and geography. Students also study art, music and PE. The final bell goes at three thirty to mark the end of school. School lasts for seven hours and nearly five hours are lessons. But that's not the end of the school day. Students have homework every day.

I disagree with this unit, because I don't exciting with school and subjects.

Celebrate Earth Day with Recycled Art from New Local Artists!

We've met some really great artists this week and added their unique offerings to ours. Come by and see what a three string guitar made from scrap wood and a cigar box looks like or take a look at mirrors decorated with soda cans to a staggeringly beautiful effect. Celebrate recycled art this Earth Day!

On Hiatus

 I'm taking a hiatus from DWK Design for the next two weeks... 

No, it's not due to a vacation! 

Bob & I are taking Retreat on the road to the Remnants of the Past Antique Show in Nipomo, California (Central Coast area). This is a new show for us, by invitation, and I need to concentrate on bringing my 'A Game'! This is a gathering of stellar dealers & artisans with treasures galore and fabulous displays, which means I will be taking all of the tips & tricks I share here and applying them to our own product presentation and booth design.  Judy has introduced us via her blog  - so we have to live up to the hype!

{And you can bet I'll have lots of photos of inspiring displays to share when I return!}

CL Tampa Green Issue Out Today

[Charles] Big shout to Tampa's Green Community writer at Creative Loafing - Katie Machol! Instead of the same old list of green ideas that most papers haul out every year, she went to the people and asked for their ideas. Large or small, actually "preferably small" she told me. The idea was to give people things they can easily do to keep moving forward and improving our world.

Not everybody is going to take to the seas ramming whaling ships or scaling bridges for Greenpeace. Most of us have enough on our plate with work, kids, friends, family, and life in general that changing a light bulb is actually a victory worth celebrating. If everybody took a few of these ideas in the article home, the impact would be huge!

I offered that I'd like to see more cool bike racks like NYC's David Byrne designs and more bike lanes to downtown. While we're at it, let's bring back the electric taxis. There were other simpler ideas like to make sun tea or to stop idling in the drive thru that make it really easy to change.

Here's the link to the post on CL's site. While you're there, you might check out the site for more ideas that didn't make the print version but are still worth considering.

http://tampa.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=1060957

-Photos from Creative Loafing's Flickr page-

Old Nauvoo Cemetery

This statue which stands at the east end of the Old Nauvoo Cemetery, speaks volumes to me.
It speaks of families who "bore one another's burdens", it speaks to the personal loss that so many experienced, but it also speaks of the hope that is provided through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, that we will all rise again, and that "little children are alive in Christ."

As you can see, many of the headstones are falling down and deteriorating. Although there are many headstones here, there are far more unmarked graves. There are many children buried here in the cemetery. Joseph Smith said, "To me, the place where a man is buried is sacred". I sure feel that way whenever I go out to the Old Nauvoo Cemetery.

I need to find out if this a relative of my fifth grade teacher and dear friend. But the amazing story of this man was that someone was offered a fifth of whiskey to shoot him, so they did. The reason they wanted him dead? He would not deny his testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Workmans names listed in the kiosk are the ones of record who died in Nauvoo. In Lands and Records, we have another little boy, Joseph, who is not listed but the family history says he died here. They sacrificed for the cause.

Take Me to the River

[Charles] On the way in this morning, Marcie at WMNF 88.5 reminded me that today is Al Green's birthday (64 if you're counting). That's all the reason I needed to post this -

Aside from being one of my favorite singers - Al also was covered by The Talking Heads with Take Me to the River. That song got David Byrne on the radio and into my permanent rotation. I'll play both versions for my daughter and probably some young singer will cover Al Green for her and her generation. I hope that someday she remembers me spinning this album.

If there was a "Soul School" like the post says, then Reverend Al was definitely at the head of the class.

Enjoy the tunes.

Food in Britain

Most schools in Britain provide hot meals and salads every day but may students prefer to take their own lunch to school. This is a "packed lunch". Sarah and her dad make her packed lunch every morning before she goes to school. Sarah eats her lunch with friends in the school cafeteria.

A lot of chocolate, crisps, fatty foods and cola isn't good for people. This is part of an advertisement on British TV. They want people to eat five pieces of fruit and vegetables every day.

One school in England helps students to eat healthy food with the Green Machine. Green Machines have got lots of interesting snacks. There are cereal bars, organic crisps and yogurts. There are fruit juices, mineral water and smoothies. These students are enjoying their food and it's good for them too.

I don't like this unit, because I disagree the food in Britain.

The Royal Family

This is the British Royal Family. This is Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth the Second. The Queen's husband is the Duke of Edinburgh. Their oldest son is Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales. His two sons are Prince William and Prince Harry. The Queen lives in a palace in London, in Buckingham Palace. The Royal Family's have got a castle in the town of Windsor.

Princes William and Prince Harry are the Queen's grandchildren. They are the sons of Princess Diana and Prince Charles. William and Harry are in Majorca on holiday with the Spanish Royal Family. Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry like to ride horses.

Princes William and Harry live here in Clarence House. They don't live in Buckingham Palace. This is Prince William just before he went to university at St Andrew's in Scotland. Prince Harry wants to be a soldier in the army. It is difficult for the Royal Family to have private lives. Newspapers and television want stories about them.

I don't like this unit, because I don't like the Prince's and the Royal Family.

A New Retail Display Resource

In the retail field, we are always searching for resources and ideas to amp up our visual merchandising knowledge and practices. The combination of inspiration with how-to information is invaluable to a busy and cost-conscious retailer. My most popular seminars & articles over the years have been of the 'How to Create Innovative Displays Inexpensively' variety, with as many ideas as I can fit into the time or space allotted. Trade shows and merchant associations have requested my '100 Fast, Cheap, and Easy Display Ideas' seminar topic more than any other subject.

It is my pleasure to share a new retail display resource with you:
My friend and fellow visual merchandiser & public speaker Linda Cahan has written a new book: "100 Displays Under $100" . Linda has gathered inspiration and information from many sources, and combined them to present a soup-to-nuts compilation of great ideas and the help you need to create them yourself.

This full color book is filled with photos of fun, creative, interesting and inspiring displays from designers all over the world. Included in the book is a list of must-have tools for your display toolbox, some excellent vendors, and a short section on the basics needed to make the magic happen. Each display featured is under $100 and most will work for a huge variety of merchandise and types of retailers. 

This is written in a recipe book format: There is a brief introduction and then a "Need" and "Sequence" section explaining exactly what you need to pull each display together and then, how to go about doing it.

This is a great resource for your store, or as a gift for a friend with a store. If you want to learn more about display and visual merchandising, you'll learn a lot just by going through this book.

"100 Displays Under $100" is available online in a PDF format for $25.00.

It is also available in a soft-cover, spiral bound paper format for $39.95 + $5 shipping (within in the USA, extra for overseas.) 

Either can be purchased via PayPal or US checks.

Combine it with Linda's DVD "Visual Merchandising 101: The Basics of

Excellent Presentation" and you have a good beginning course in display and VM! ($59.95 + mailing - overseas extra.)

Order through: lindacahan@verizon.net

Visit Linda's Web Site: www.LindaCahan.com  

{image credit: Linda Cahan 2010; All Rights Reserved}

{Linda provided me with the details about her book,

and the content of this post. I don't have a copy yet!}

Sherry's Yesterdaze in the New York Times

Chip Litherland for The New York Times

Mitzi Gordon of Tampa, at Sherry’s YesterDaze Vintage.

Photo from the New York Times - Chip Litherland

[Charles] Last Thursday, in the travel section of the New York Times, Sherry's Yesterdaze from little ole Seminole Heights was the main part of a feature story on vintage clothes shopping in Tampa. It was nice to see Tampa shown as something more than just a cigar factory graveyard. Sherry's was one of the pioneering businesses to head to Seminole Heights when she left South Tampa years ago. I'm sure there are old customers of hers south of Kennedy still wondering where Seminole Heights is.

Here's the link to the article -

http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/04/02/travel/02vintage.html?scp=5&sq=Florida&st=nyt

Also, at the bottom of that article was an earlier article called 36 Hours in Tampa which was pretty enjoyable too. It's nice to be a tourist in your own city every once in a while...

http://travel.nytimes.com/2005/12/09/travel/escapes/09hour.html?fta=y

Design Resources from Gingko Press

 

Today I received an email from Karen at Gingko Press, 

asking me to help them promote a new book release. 

More on that coming soon!

As I searched through their web site, I found a large selection of books that they have published that I consider valuable resources for the design of retail spaces. From fashion to food and brand image, these compilations of work by designers from around the world is sure to inspire and educate you.

Each title below links to the book's information page 

on the Gingko Press web site.

Super Identity
In Your Sight & In Your Mind
First impressions count. As that first perception is the most important one in real life, in the competitive world of commerce it has the potential to make or break a brand. Be it the visual identity for fashion branding or traffic signals, service industry manifestations or restaurants and food boutiques, Super Identity – In Your Sight and In Your Mind, unveils the ever changing, cutting edge of this visual language. 

Structural Displays

A brilliant collection of simple, novel and out-of-the ordinary packs and displays, this book illustrates perfectly how to showcase a product to its best advantage.

Nice To Meet You, Too

Visual Greetings from Business Cards and Self Promotion
Artists and studios featured range in their specialist fields from direction and design of moving image projects to product packaging, typography, event promotion, interior design, fashion, music photography, illustration, graphics, film, exhibitions and interior and product design.

Growing Graphics

Design for Kids
There is a visual universe that children immediately recognize. Enter a bookshop with your children, and you can be sure they will quickly be drawn to the department aimed at their own age. Growing Graphics – Design for Kids opens a window to this visual universe of children at different ages, presenting a multitude of graphics aimed at them: Logos and characters, corporate identity, packaging, labels, catalogs, brochures, posters, invitation cards, books, educational material, web and multimedia design, exhibitions, signage etc.

Design Taste
Graphics & Interiors for Bars & Restaurants
In a frenetically paced, time poor world 'dining out' has become a frequent activity and accordingly, patrons of restaurants, hotels, coffee lounges, clubs and bars have become more discerning. To succeed, each requires its own particular brand of ambiance and an image with which its guests can readily identify, from the soft and subtle to the bold and daring. Design Taste is a brilliant collection of identity designs covering everything from external signs and entrances to logos, menu cards, tableware, uniforms and interior design, and how to visually create a unique experience for the patron.

Stay tuned for information on their latest release here...

{Image and All Book Descriptions 

property of Gingko Press; 

All Rights Reserved}

It's Spring!!!

This is right out my bedroom window. This picture didn't even begin to capture the magnificence of the tree, especially when you put the fragrance with it. The only problem is the birds think it's okay to start chirping early in the morning. We're going to have a serious "talk" about that.