My Monthly Playlist: August

Another month, another playlist. But this time, here are my jams from my recent trip to Europe. I plan to make a more thorough blog post about our travels.

Some highlights:

Mt. Joy – Just saw them in concert, they’re a raw rock group with great jams.

Mac Miller – His new album Swimming is a great listen. After his recent passing, it takes on a whole new meaning. RIP.

Disclosure – These England boys never disappoint, hyped myself up with their new releases as I prepared for our stop in London.

 

Puerto Vallarta getaway

I recently took a trip to Puerto Vallarta MX for a little R&R. So much beauty all in one place! A few tips and things to share:

  1. Pay in pesos – it saves you lots of money to use cash or card so that you can take advantage of the exchange rate. Paying with USDs are the key to a great ripoff. We used a few $1s for tips only.
  2. BYO Sunscreen – unusually expensive there, and you will need it for all the outdoor activities
  3. A day trip to Las Caletas – an adventure you won’t forget! Snorkeling, ziplines into the ocean, hammocks galore…and all inclusive.
  4. Brush up on your Spanish – just by knowing a few phrases you can help yourself in situations where you otherwise would have issues. Like negotiating taxi prices or understanding menu items.
  5. Low season is the best season – yet again I am pleasantly surprised and happy that we planned this trip between high season and right before hurricane season…gorgeous weather and low crowds = success!

 

Here’s my playlist that I made for the trip, and some pics to highlight my favorite parts. With a direct 3.5hr flight from SFO, we’ll be back soon.

 

 

My Monthly Playlist: January

It’s been a while since I’ve posted one of my monthly playlists here. It’s been a goal of mine to create a new playlist once a month and curate it with new music that I’ve found through blogs, recommendations, emails, other playlists…oldies and newbies. Here’s my concoction for January, and here’s to another year full of monthly music playlists!

 

1 Year with Havas San Francisco

What a year it has been! This month marks my one-year anniversary working as an Art Director at Havas San Francisco. While this year has seen many changes for our company, I’ve learned so much and am so excited for what’s to come.

Favorite memories of 2017, in no particular order:

  • Happy hours for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and everything in between
  • Working with my Citrix team members on the Red Bull Racing New Mobile Workforce website, and getting FWA Site of the Day, Awwwards site of the day, CSSDesignAwards site of the day, and nominated for the FWA people’s choice award!
  • Spearheading the Havas Instagram takeover and starting our Spotify account
  • Experiencing the solar eclipse with the team
  • Getting the entire Game of Thrones storyline ruined for me by our summer interns
  • Helping with our Havas Art Labs internal showcases
  • Receiving an invitation to attend our summer company offsite at the La Quinta resort in Palm Springs, and participating in the discussions of how to grow my career
  • Participating in our global Save the Children Walk-a-thon
  • Finishing it all off on the dance floor at our company holiday party!

 

Here are a few of my favorite pics from said memories:

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Inbox Inspiration: Stella Spoils

If you’re interested in getting a little eye candy to your inbox each day, complete with a suggested article, product, and tune…I highly recommend signing up for Stella Spoils. Along with the gorgeous photos promoting numerous different photographers and artists, I’ve found a little visual inspiration each day through their newsletter. See for yourself and sign up.

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My Monthly Playlist: August

I made a resolution this year to make a new playlist every month, consisting of songs recommended by friends, blogs, and Spotify’s personally curated playlists. Whether old or new, each playlist reflects on what I was thinking or feeling, jamming out to, and often what shows or festivals I was planning to attend or had recently attended. Check out my August playlist here, feel free to go back into my account to see the past 9 months.

SF Design Week Studio Tours

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This week I attended the second day of studio tours for SF Design Week. Other than the free food, booze, and awesome people, some highlights were:

 

Future City Labs

Hidden in the labyrinth of an old canning factory in the Dog Patch area of San Francisco, this workshop and studio had incredibly intricate and impressive installation art pieces displayed all over, along with photos of their actual application in the real world. From neon to plastic to wood, the experimentation that takes place at this agency incapsulated all the visitors who attended.

 

Propelland

An agency subleasing the space with Future City Labs, this small company became a think tank extension for all its clients, coming up with solutions for companies such as Audi and Powerade. Speaking with their product designer about his experience there in recent years sounded very similar to my own experience at a small agency.

 

DesignMap

Located in between the Mission and Dog Patch, this contemporary agency immediately impressed me with its gorgeous architecture and industrial charm, with exposed ceilings and walls, raw brick, glass, and glossed cement floors. With a fleet of over 40 designers, I was able to have a glimpse into what working a large digital product agency might be like, full of mentorship and resources that small agencies might not have access to.

 

The Aesthetic Union

Just down the street from DesignMap, I ended the night at the renowned letterpress shop where the likes of hand-lettering guru Erik Marinovich come to create masterpieces. Teeming with different printing machines, stenciling (probably not using the right terminology here for some of the cool techniques that I learned about and observed during the demonstrations) I was feeling like a little kid in a candy shop oo-ing and aw-ing over everything.

 

Looking forward to posting more fun things that inspire me and my work.

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Here’s a pic of me geeking out making an OG Erik Marinovich handlettered stencil.  Fun fact: He went to Cal Poly SLO and graduated from the Graphic Design program too!