Women's Health/ Stone Fruit & Cocktails

Photography by Romulo Yanes 

Photography by Romulo Yanes  

Photography by Romulo Yanes 

Photography by Romulo Yanes 

Main Photograph: Romulo Yanes

Main Photograph: Romulo Yanes 

For the July Issue of Women's Health, I was asked again to contribute to their food pages for the July Issue. Once again I got to work with Photographer Romulo Yanes and it was once again such a pleasure as always. The stories we shot were on Skinny Cocktails and Stone Fruit, everybody's favorite in Summer. The palette was relatively neutral for Some Fruits but I was instructed to pick up the colors of the fruit themselves ever so slightly so I wove in some pale lilac's and pinks, but offset it with some blues and greens on neutral backgrounds, For cocktails it was all about choosing the right silhouettes for the drinks, Making sure they all looked different and had a mixture of classic but interesting shapes. When shooting cocktails you often need a ready supply of many multiples of the same clean glass as they need to be refreshed in the shot often 2/3 times before getting the perfect one. This is harder when three are in the shot at the same time : )   


The food  and drinks were styled by the very talented Victoria Granof who is well known for working with the late and great Photographer Irving Penn for over a decade. Her approach to food she sums up as saying on her website "It's about the emotion" I would have to agree, her passion shines through, I always love watching a Food Stylist at work, It is indeed a very specialized profession as some would say is also mine, We all in this industry get paid to make often difficult things look very simple.   

Garnet Hill/ Summer Covers

Photography: Maura McEvoy

Photography: Maura McEvoy

Photography: Maura McEvoy

Photography: Maura McEvoy

For Summer, 2012, I was asked by regular client Garnet Hill to style the covers planned for the season. Working with the both very talented Photographer Maura McEvoy  and Art Director, Amy Schroeder Prawitz we spent a day coming up with over 10 versions of possible covers. 


Shooting in Maura's New York Studio in Brooklyn, We collaborated together for the New Hampshire based company. Usually we come together in the studios in NH so in a way I felt kind of "off-site". The studio was full of possible vignettes set up and versions, We only really got to cover just a handful but working on the covers for Garnet Hill is a great experience as you get to do something simple and creative, They don't use a lot of type on the covers and they can be evocative and in the spirit of the season rather than over thought and produced. 


Hope you enjoy the 4 they decided to feature, These I believe may rotate on different drops of the Summer Catalog.    

Food Network Magazine/ Pasta Salads

Photography: Yunhee Kim

Photography: Yunhee Kim

Photography: Yunhee Kim

Photography: Yunhee Kim

In the latest issue of Food Network Magazine for the July Issue. I had the chance once again to work with Photographer Yunhee Kim Yunhee and I had not worked together for many years since our work with Real Simple. 


As we are in the midst right now of Summer in NYC, It's hot! Pasta Salads seem so appetizing right now, I don't actually eat Pasta but if I did! : ) The palette quite often in July Issues across the board in the USA is red, white and blue. July 4th is a big holiday here and so these colors are often evocative of that season. Other stories in the issue also reflected this color palette so in a way this story was an extension of these.


I was very happy to be able to use my 1950's salad individual bowls found in St Paul, Minnesota with the Orzo salad.


Food Stylist Maggie Ruggiero once again worked with me on the food and did a wonderful job, She teases me on set for being so Blog/ Facebook orientated, So Maggie this one is for you! : )  

Inspiring Icons/ Alexander Girard

Alexander Girard

The interior scheme he produced for the Saarinen designed Miller House in Indianapolis, USA

An example of Girard's fabrics being applied to the Eames chair and pillow designed for a Girard project 

Left: Todd Oldman and Keira Coffee's book on Alexander Girard,
The cover evoking one of Girard's textile designs: Right

Products are still available bearing Girard's design's at DWR and Vitra

Girard's Corporate Identity/ Branding for Braniff Airways

More examples of Girard's graphics

More examples of Girard's graphics

Alexander Girard later in life

Left: The chair designed by Charles Eames especially for the project as seen in picture
Right: Le Fonda de Sol Restaurant in The Time Life Building, NYC

Left: The menu for Le Fonda de Sol, Right: The interior looking towards the kitchen

Motifs, Chairs and Menu all designed for Le Fonda de Sol Restaurant in The Time Life Building, NYC

His wife Susan and Alexander Girard in 1958 in The Herman Miller Showroom in San Francisco

Some examples of furniture Girard designed and collaborations with Charles Eames and George Nelson using fabric he designed for Maharm

Alexander Girard (May 24, 1907 – 1993) affectionately known as "Sandro", was an architect and a textile designer born in NYC to an American mother from Boston and a French-Italian father. He was raised in Florence, Italy. A graduate of the Royal School of Architecture in Rome, Girard refined his skills in both Florence and New York.

One of my biggest design hero's Alexander Girard's work was so prolific that I can't possibly demonstrate it here in one blog post, but I have tried to give you an overview of his world, One that has heavily inspired many including myself. Alexander Girard worked with some of the best in the industry working with fellow contemporaries such as Ray & Charles Eames, George Nelson, Eero Saarinen to name but a few. He worked for many years for Herman Miller  Starting in 1952, He headed up the Fabric & Textile division.


While at Herman Miller, Girard created more than 300 textile designs, including wallpaper, drapery, and upholstery fabrics. His most significant influences were motifs from Mexico and Central and South America, but he borrowed liberally from the traditions of more than 100 countries visited during a lifetime of collecting folk art. 


Here are couple of his major projects:
La Fonda del Sol Restaurant
Girard's designs for La Fonda del Sol Restaurant in New York's Time-Life Building were among his most memorable work. He created the complete environment for the restaurant-from the Southwestern-style fabrics and intricate tile work to the decorative china, evocative menus, and iconic brass sun that informed the entire design. I know the space exactly where the restaurant was as I worked for a period in The Time Life Building, I always wished it was still there. 


Brandiff Airlines
Girard also developed a furniture collection for Herman Miller in 1967 building on his designs for Braniff Airlines' lounge and office furniture which featured a low sight line and interior/exterior shell separate from the seat cushion to maximize varied upholstery.The Brandiff Project gave Girard the opportunity to work with textiles, color, and graphics on a grand scale, redesigning everything from the sugar packets to the ticket counters to the color of the planes themselves. He used colors like light and dark blue, beige, ochre, orange, turquoise, and muted yellow to make the planes recognizable from the ground. Italian couturier fashion designer Emilio Pucci designed attendant uniforms.


He also worked with other companies such as Georg Jensen, John Deere and Maharam 


Alexander Girard’s playful patterns, graphics and bright colors are an inspiration to me, His whole application of them to so many areas of design are just astounding. The fact that he was able to wear so many caps and produce such a huge body of work in one lifetime makes me hope that in my career I can achieve even a slice of that.  

Good Housekeeping/ Bobby Flay Feature

Photography: Kate Mathis

Photography: Kate Mathis

Photography: Kate Mathis

Photography: Kate Mathis

Photography: Kate Mathis

Ok, If it would just stop raining we might start to feel Summer! A couple months ago when shooting this story with the wonderful Photographer Kate Mathis, squint and you swear it was Summer in the studio. We were matching shots of Bobby Flay's previously shot on location in his kitchen (These images not shown) A feature on a Summer menu recommended by him. 

Michael Pederson was the Food Stylist and he did a great job bringing Bobby's classic recipes to life. Grilled Corn on the cob, Pork sliders, Watermelon with Lime/Honey Syrup, Skirt Steak, You can just smell it, right!? 


I was also delegated to being Bobby's body double in parts, wearing the same shirt as his cover, but unfortunately you won't be seeing these shots here either! : ) 

Decorating Brochures/ Mid Century

Love the graphic nature of this cover

Would love to own this house on the right

This could almost be an artwork, love the graphic nature of the layout

Who does not love a cheesy illustration and step by steps

I love this illo too, Brochure illo's was so aspirational back then

Now that's a range of color

I want to be her, wouldn't you?

Liquid Velvet Wall Paint, Super pastel

Another fine illustration

Holiday homes, Porches..That's the life. 

Wood was big in the 1960's

Only in 1967 but how great!

Just love a color chip

Right: All the brochure laid out, Left: Contact Chrome, Who knew?

It's with the biggest Thanks to the guys at Succotash in Minneapolis/ St Paul (See the link to a Yelp review), An amazing Vintage Store in Minneapolis/ St Paul which I rate as one of my all time favorite stores for these amazing brochures. A couple of months ago when there on a Target job, I was given a huge pile of these when I visited the store and I have been pouring over them ever since. I especially love the layout of the paint chips and illustrations.


These brochures are from an era when home life in America was booming, the innocence and the aspirational qualities of these brochures are just so sweet. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I do.