Kristin Cofer - Design That Kills

betsey johnson’s two-bedroom, one-bath greenwich village penthouse, is for sale!
her tastes are exquisite- look at the image she has hanging in the bedroom!

oh dream! oh lust!

check out the clean, modern package design, typography and concept of this scrabble chocolate by mary & matt

yum!

thanks to my creative curly haired co worker lisa marie- i finally found a favorite san francisco coffee shop, ritual coffee roasters-

i love coffee and they obviously do too- below, a direct quote from their website-

“WE OBSESS ABOUT OUR COFFEE: HOW IT IS GROWN, HOW IT IS PROCESSED, AND HOW IT IS ROASTED. EACH WEEK WE SPEND HOURS TASTING THE HIGHEST QUALITY COFFEES FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD, FOSTERING RELATIONSHIPS WITH FARMERS WHO ARE GROWING AND HARVESTING THE VERY BEST. THEN WE ROAST THE COFFEE IN TINY BATCHES, PRESERVING THE CLEAN, SWEET TASTES INHERENT IN THE COFFEE FRUIT. MAKING GREAT COFFEE TAKES DOZENS OF STEPS, WE’RE MORE THAN HAPPY TO OBSESS ABOUT EVERY ONE.”

as a caffeine addict, i am sold on ritual coffee- it’s my new favorite san francisco spot! xo

and some fun yelp reviews:

“Ritual has the best logo for a coffee shop I’ve ever seen. Visually, it’s one of the hottest coffee shops around SF. What kind of a review to you expect from a graphic designer?”

“A great cup a joe from baristas that take the care in making your coffee experience well worth the wait. If you’re hip, then grab your single speed and yer laptop and plop your ass down for great cup of coffee or two and free wifi.”

“Amazing coffee. People who cared about the shot they were pulling. The fact that tapes-n-tapes was playing and that they had midnight cupcakes with lavender frosting didn’t hurt much either. I’ve bought art here. I’ve had blind dates here. I buy coffee here every week. I’ve run into people from elementary school here.

I’ve developed one hell of a retail crush that has me coming back every Saturday to stutter at that one guy behind the bar that makes me nervous. And if anything ever did happen and then didn’t work out and it was even more awkward than it is now it doesn’t matter. I’d still be back for the coffee.”

N.E.E.T. magazine is my favorite online fashion/art/music/photography read… since it’s creation, i have sent several electronic love notes with my devotion and desire to be a photography contributor- maybe someday they will enjoy my work and i’ll get a reply- for now i’ll just remain a loyal fan and reader! xo

i caught her gorgeous drawings today while browsing through fecal face-

“Mel Kadel used to skip school in Pennsylvania where she grew up. She went to art school in Philly, moved around some and then ended up in a log cabin with her partner Travis Millard in the hills of Ecko Park in LA and is now represented the Richard Heller Gallery. We had the pleasure of meeting her when we were down there for our show at BLK/MRKT last year and was instantly impressed with her personality that along with her work has a very relaxed understated confidence about it.”

read the fantastic interview here

if you are in the san francisco area, her work is currently at the shooting gallery until february 8!

i met kat bret on a rainy thursday evening at amber bar - i first saw her work on flickr and was intrigued by her dreamy snow kittens photoset…

she is a beautiful beret wearing black haired girl and together we drank red wine and talked about music, art, moving to new york, novels, films, etsy, photography, daydreams-

(dtk) where are you from?

(kb) I was born in San Francisco but am a duel citizen of here and the UK

(dtk) tell me about yourself in ten words-

(kb)
1. Crafty
2. Multi National
3. Spastic
4. Wry
5. Visual
6. Distracted
7. Eccentric
8. Cerebral
9. Circitous
10. Discombobulated

(dtk) when did you first pick up a camera?

(kb) For serious or just literally. Seriously in High school when I took a photo class as the only small bastion of creativity in a very jock catholic high school where I had few friends and had little in common with the majority of the polulous.

(dtk) first poignant photography memory?

(kb) I have a terrible memory and have to say I do not remember much about growing up. I remember going to photo class where everyone had nice new cameras and all I had was this old rolleiflex I borrowed from my uncle in England, and having a mess of trouble because everyone else had 35mm and we had to shoot slides which ended up a whole other can of worms.

(dtk) favorite music?

(kb) My musical tastes can be quite schitzophrenic. I like industrial, brit pop, mod rock, jazz, among others. I love Belle & Sebastian, Blur, The Good Bad & The Queen, Edith Piaf, Dirty Pretty Things, Hello Goodbye, Death Cab, Amy Winehouse, Feist, The Horrors, The Noisettes, Gnarls Barkley, Art Brut, Scissor Sisters, and Combichrist just to name a few…

(dtk) how do you come up with your concepts/ideas?

(kb) By accident, driving, being bored, reading books, looking at art in other mediums. Inspiration can come from anywhere and is often a surprise, then again that is the best kind.

(dtk) how do you find your models?

(kb) Started with friends, moved on to internet modeling sites, now I try to test with agencies, though they are never willing to give you their best ones without a price, have they never heard of starving artists?

(dtk) what are your goals?

(kb) To make money as a photographer and not get a day job, to never have to grow up, to colour my hair pink again, to loose 7 lbs, to travel more, to eat more fish, to go to the gym again, and to learn all the settings on my sewing machine, make fab clothing, and rule the world through crazy style and photography, oh and never take life too seriously and to always have fun doing what I am doing.

(dtk) what is your dream?

(kb) Well, last night I had this odd dream where I was running through this old abandoned house. I was being chased with this big creepy guy with a knife though I could not see his face. I ran into the bathroom and happened to look in the mirror, but my face was not my face. I was someone else. Then this dude tried breaking though the door. So I jumped out the window but I was a few stories up. Last I remember was hitting the ground… but that may be because I was watching tv in bed for once. I wish I could remember my dreams more, normally they just involve me dying. Weird huh?

(dtk) advice to other photographers-

(kb) Gosh, I could do with some advice myself. I say don’t bother with an overpriced art school education. Go out there and learn from doing. Past that, I don’t even know what I am doing. I seem to just happily stumble through life, but I am fine with that. I like happy surprises.

(dtk) if you could do it all over again would you change anything?

(kb) Yes and no. There are things in my life I wish I had handled better or did differently, but I regret nothing. Overall my life has been pretty good and I have had opportunities to do things not everyone gets to do. I am not stuck in a dead end job with a life I find dull. I have had the freedom to go through university a few times and had a couple do overs in terms of careers. The key is focusing on the bad but appreciating the good.

(dtk) describe your photographic style-

(kb) Not sure I have one. For the few years of art school I did attend, the teachers went on about figuring out your style, I just shoot what I think looks good. I don’t just shoot one way with one aesthetic. I find I have a very short attention span and get bored of doing just one thing for too long. That is why my series never seem to go past 4. For a semester I had to work on one project. I ended up with 12 or 13 steampunk images but as a result I got soooo burnt out on the theme I have not done another one since, even though people really seem to like them.

(dtk) do you miss film? what camera are you currently shooting with?

(kb) Miss film, I still shoot with it. Though I find a lot of it is in my refrigerator and never gets developed. I get a lot of project with tight deadlines and the processing place is only open weekdays, so I shoot digital along side to meet the deadline. I shoot with a Mamiya RZ67, Canon 5D, Holga, and Rolleiflex.

my current electronic obsession is etsy.com- which is a useful online website where independent artists, designers, photographers, and other emerging entrepreneurs can easily sell their goods.

current favorites include, this dress, which i will be receiving soon in black and white.

also lusting after this large canvas market bag and these silk screened neck ties.

oh etsy i heart you!

heather posted the best gift idea ever- and you can buy one for yourself or someone you adore here

came across this chicago photographer, josh kurpius and his fantastic work- i love all the details with styling and lighting- i want my work to start going more in this direction- xo

thanks to heather and her fine music tastes, i have a new favorite band, brooklyn’s own, a place to bury strangers they are currently on tour, please check them out immediately!

while standing on bart this rainy morning, sipping coffee, surrounded by the other gloomy thursday passengers, their beautiful song, “i know i’ll see you” was the perfect soundtrack.

from pitchfork, “anyone looking for a quick description of his own band can look to the names he (lead singer oliver ackermann) gives these things: Interstellar Overdriver, Supersonic Fuzz Gun, Total Sonic Annihilation.”

xo