ICMAD 2017 – Honorable Mention

The Young Designers Award was created in 1998 by The Independent Cosmetic Manufacturers and Distributors (ICMAD) to encourage creativity in graphic design and package design. This year, more than 100 students from 18 schools across the United States submitted an original design concept for a cosmetic or personal care product. FIDM SF student, Eva Edgren, received an honorable mention this year for her "Lock Block: Hair Sunscreen Cream". Congratulations, Eva!

I thought Michelle's was worthy of placement as well, but not in this year's tough competition.

Giving Thanks

During challenging times, artists turn to their art. I was working on some new work in my PopDot series during the election so some of the pieces I created were inspired by what I was seeing and hearing. As the first 100 days began to play out and I wanted to do more, but couldn't, I realized what I could do was thank those that are digging for the real truths and doing their best to keep some checks in place. I turned my Bridges, Not Walls image into thank you post cards and have made them available to anyone who would like to give thanks. Let me know how I can get you some.

16 Years of Brothers

I've been shooting a portrait of these two every November for the past 16 years. Yesterday we shot these. To watch them grow from 2 and 4 to 17 and 19, check out the Brother's Portraits section of my portfolio.

Cameron at 17, Clayton at 19

iTrip 2016 – Iceland to Italy (for the Floating Piers on Lake Iseo)

This year Stewart and I were invited to join some friends at a house they had rented on Lake Iseo in Italy during Christo's installation of The Floating Piers. WOW Airlines was offering great prices on flights, so we decided to stop in Iceland on our way there. We had about five days in each location. The time flew by as we clocked loads of adventures. Here's some of what we saw. 

The Secret Lagoon. Our goal in Iceland was to soak in hot water at least once a day. This was our first night. 

A path to the geysers at The Secret Lagoon.

Greenhouses near The Secret Lagoon. This is 10:00 at night. Though it was cloudy, the nights never got dark.

The Lupin or BlueBells grow like weeds all over the countryside.

Midnight outside of the second nights soak at Laugarvatn Fontana.

Under a waterfall looking up.

Scar on path to soak for day three at the oldest swimming pool in Iceland, Seljavallalaug Pool.

Met this guy on our hike up the hill to find soak number four.

After the 2.5 mile hike up, this view and the hot flowing river made the whole climb worth it.

Our fifth and final soak was the famous Blue Lagoon.

Then it was off to Italy for The Floating Piers!

Amazing experience being out on the water with hundreds of thousands of people and seeing Christo & Jean Claude's dream become a fantastic reality.

The swans loved it too.

We interacted with so many different people each time we ventured out to the Piers. These two were recipients of noses we brought from the whythenose project.

We lucked out with the location of our house. Rather than wait on the hours long line that many people had to endure to get to The Floating Piers, we were able to take a ferry to the large island in the center of the lake and walk a mile to the island entrance of the piers.

The house was also a great place for dinner with a view.

...and to just relax and watch the water.

We took more than just a small piece of the Piers home with us.

Macro Nature and the Postcard Exchange

I recently got a Photojojo Iris Macro lens. The rains we so happily received in NorCal this winter have gifted us with a garden overflowing with flowers. That has been my favorite place to play with the macro. 

A month ago a friend roped me into joining the SPARK Postcard Exchange. SPARK is a call-and-response group combining artists, writers, and musicians to inspire each other. For the Postcard Exchange we were given one month to create 5 postcards to send to the randomly selected people in our group. I knew none of them and they were from all over the U.S. I decided to mix two of my favorite things and print these new macro photos of the flowers in our garden and then sew them to heavy paper stock to use as postcards. I may need to make more...

WB + FIDM

Today we video chatted with students in LA and heard feedback from our contact. Hope to share more news on this project in the coming months.

Getting to Know LA

In December I was promoted to Director of Graphic Design for FIDM. Along with all the new responsibilities comes the opportunity to get to know LA a little better. I am a Bay Area girl through and through, but I love to travel and get to know new places, so one of my favorite parts of the new position is going to LA monthly for a few days at a time. Here's a little of what I've seen so far.

My favorite architect alive today, Frank Gerhy. The Disney Concert Hall.

Installation outside of MOCA.

Haven't been inside The Broad yet.

Love the labyrinth at The Last Bookstore.

Pershing Square is set to be changing.

2016 Macy's Flower Show

The Macy's Flower Show in San Francisco's flagship store opened to the public on March 18th for two weeks. For the second year, FIDM students created installations featured on the third floor overlooking Union Square. The Macy's Visual Team participated in our Design Installation class by challenging students to create mannequin displays using alternative materials and inspired by American Icons. 

American Icon inspirations from left to right: Julia Morgan, Sacagawea, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Rosa Parks, Babe Ruth, Betsy Ross.

The Macy's Visual Team reviewing student drawings.

Visual Communications students working on their installations.

Ripped Paper Adventure Sundress Available if Crowdfunded

The print I designed for BetaBrand that reused the ripped paper from the background design of the 2013 Burning Man Map has moved from the ThinkTank into CrowdFunding. This means they made a sample of the print on fabric, created the dress, photographed it, and placed it on the site for sale. It is currently 36% to the goal. Once 47 more dresses sell, it will be real! Check it out and consider buying one for yourself or someone you know.

https://www.betabrand.com/ripped-paper-printed-dress.html

Public Pop Dot in Los Gatos

Located at the end of Santa Cruz Avenue in downtown Los Gatos near the Highway 17 on-ramp, is my latest Public Pop Dot, Sun Powered Outlet. The meter sits alongside an EV charging station. When the City of Los Gatos put out their call for concepts to place art on utility boxes around town, they asked for submissions with an environmental theme. This update of the Outlet Pop Dot was their choice. Below are the all the designs submitted in the initial proposal.

Ripped Paper Textile

I'm happy to announce my first textile design for BetaBrand. It is currently live in the Think Tank and needs votes and comments to make it real. Take a look and add some <3. 
Thank you!

https://www.betabrand.com/ripped-paper-printed-dress.html

Paris and France 2015

It's been over a month since we returned from Paris and I have neglected to post photos here.

The events of November 13, 2015 have left me thinking of Paris often and what a beautiful giant city it is. Here are some photos from our time there the end of September through the start of October.

2015 Set Design — European Study Tour

During the first two weeks of May I had an amazing opportunity to join students from FIDM's Advanced Study Program in Set Design & Decoration on their European Study Tour. For two weeks we traveled through London, Florence, Venice, and Rome going to various theaters, museums, and historic sites. Seeing some of my favorite cities through the lens of this trip was a truly exceptional experience and it was a fantastic group of women to share the adventure with.

High Tea at Fortnum & Mason.

The displays in Fortnum & Mason are beautiful sets.

We rode on the top of the bus as we explored Central London.

Had an amazing tour of the National Theatre stages and art department.

Tour of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.

Next was Florence where in addition to lots of history and art, we had two days of mask making workshop. Here we were getting inspiration from the Masks of Agostino Dessi's shop. 

Then we went to his daughter Alice's Workshop to learn the process first hand.

The process starts with choosing a plaster cast and lining it with layers of felted paper.

This is the mask I worked on, a bird-like face.

Once dry, these will be cut and stringed for masks. 

Each day we also had a walking tour with art historian, Rocky Ruggiero.

Our first day with Rocky included the history of Florence and the David. 

I fell for this interpretation of David, "HERO for Florence — Homage to David: Saracino interprets Michelangelo", 2015. In the courtyard at the Accademia.

Everyone loved Florence.

The Duomo from the roof of our hotel at sunset.

While in Florence we took a day trip to Venice. A highlight from this study tour, seeing one of my favorite cities through their eyes,

So much inspiration in this beautiful city.

Final stop, Rome. Collage of the Spanish Steps. 

Learning about the spectacles that would have been witnessed in the Coliseum.

Temple built upon temple in the Forum.

More beautiful ruins in the Forum.

From the Hall of Maps in the Vatican Museums.

Detail of tapestry from the Vatican Museums.

All dressed up for dinner and the opera on our last night in Italy. Memories that will last a lifetime.

My New Commuter Bag

I have been using the same style Baggallini Messenger Bag for about a decade. I've gone through about 3 of them in that time and still have a black one that works perfectly fine, but I was getting a little tired of always caring around the same bag. I haven't been able to find another commuter bag that has all the right pockets in all the right places for grab-and-go while on the move so I decided it was time to make my own.

Two small pockets for easy scanning of my Clipper Card and ID.

…and even a signature label.

Macy's Flower Show + FIDM

On Friday the Macy's Flower Show in San Francisco's flagship store opened to the public. On the third floor overlooking Union Square is a colorful installation by FIDM SF Visual Communications students. The Macy's Visual Team participated in our Design Installation class by challenging students to create mannequin displays inspired by the works of famous artists throughout time. Check out the Fashionable Art Masterpieces created by FIDM students using recycled and alternative materials. The Flower Show is on view during store hours through April 4th.

Click image for more photos.
Macy's info here.

Congratulations, Travis! (Yes, I MADE Him Do It)

Congratulations to 6th quarter Graphic Design student, Travis, who won first place in the Young Designer Competition sponsored by ICMAD.

SUDZ design by Travis Cuellar

More info on the FIDM Digital Arts Blog

Public PopDot • San Leandro

On February 15th we celebrated the installation of my latest Public PopDot with a toast in the plaza housing Buttons & Zippers. After some time in the sun we drove over to La Piñata in San Leandro to see Lightning and enjoy some yummy lunch.

Fallen Cosmos

So that amazing warehouse is Pier 70 and for two weekends it was transformed into Fallen Cosmos, an interactive art happening that brought to life The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch. It was an epic undertaking and a fun project to be a part of.

http://www.sfiop.org/posts/events/fallen-cosmos/

www.juliaotestphotography.com

www.juliaotestphotography.com

www.juliaotestphotography.com

Welcome to the update of Lisatized

I've given in. I'm not going to take the time to update my website in Dreamweaver anymore. It's just not as efficient for me as an online web builder. I'm a little afraid of my site looking too much like others built with the same templates, but at the end of the day it's about the work I'm sharing and not the design of the site. This blogging platform will also be a handy way to share updates. 

More coming soon!

More images from a project in this space will be coming in a couple of months.