TGD: Lisa Solberg
This week’s TGD interview is with L.A. artist Lisa Solberg. Lisa is one of my favorite contemporary artists and it was a real honor to steal a few minutes of her time last week. I was also extremely stoked when Lisa agreed to let us use Coconino in the page header. Not only is the painting beautiful, it fits perfectly with the site.
You may have noticed that Lisa’s name is spelled backwards… No, there’s nothing wrong with your eyes or the browser :) Take a look at “Land Red Down” and “Franco” and you’ll see what we’re doing.
Also, I’d like to note that you can use the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard to navigate through the entries. This feature will become quite useful as more entries are added to the site.
Hope you enjoy the interview! TGD: Lisa Solberg
Next week: Garrett Murray.
TGD: Francesca Tallone
This week’s interview is with Montreal-based photographer, Francesca Tallone. I’ve been a fan of Francesca’s work for years so it was an honor to talk with her about creativity, photography, who and what inspires her, and what kind of legacy she hopes to leave behind. Grab a good cup of coffee and enjoy the read…
The Great Discontent: Francesca Tallone →
“It’s a good way to discover things I want to be doing by being in places where people are doing things they want to be doing and not just talking about it.” — Francesca Tallone
“ I think all artists are driven by a sense of perpetual dissatisfaction, which can be temporarily remedied here and and there by making stuff, but it never goes away and you feel you’ve never made enough. It’s not one pill, it’s constant medication.”
— Shepard Fairey (from Very Nearly Almost Magazine - Issue 15)
Reminds me of the underlying theme of TGD :)
The Great Discontent
This site is the culmination of years worth of thinking, dreaming, procrastinating and refining. Tina and I first started talking about creating a magazine revolving around the theme of creativity over 5 years ago. The process of discussing it, refining it, and then shelving it would happen every several months… always waiting “for the right time” or wishing for the day when we’d have more time. Resistance as Steven Pressfield calls it (The War of Art) was kicking our asses. That is until this past winter. During the months of December and January we buckled down and hashed out what is now The Great Discontent.
I designed the site between January and July snagging whatever time I could in between client projects and late evenings. It took about 3-4 iterations to get the design right. I wrestled with making it more print-like or settling with a traditional web layout. I think I landed somewhere in between merging the two in some hybrid fashion.
As proud as I am of the design, it’s the concept of the site and questions that are asked that define it for me. We’re both fascinated by creativity and enjoy connecting with other creatives. We love hearing people’s stories. We like discovering their past and learning about their aspirations. It’s amazing to see the similarities between us all. I think many of us pride ourselves on being independent but it’s true that “no man is an island.” We’re all connected and learning about each other as individuals is both inspiring and challenging. It encourages me to learn that Dan’s past is similar to mine in some small way. It challenges me to never make excuses and to let things run their proper course.
It is our hope that TGD inspires you to pursue the things that you love and to use the innate talents and gifts you’ve been given to improve the world.
It’s difficult to say whether TGD would be what it is right now if we hadn’t procrastinated and put it off over the years. The core concept was there all along but as we’ve matured the concept has matured. It’s grown and evolved and I’m sure that will continue. Creativity is often a process. It’s iteration after iteration until the thing is ready. If there’s anything I’ve learned in working on this project it’s trust your gut. You innately know when something is ready and when it’s not quite there. But when in doubt, just ship it.
Here’s to the road ahead and all the creatives we’ll have the pleasure of interviewing. We can’t wait to share the journey with you all.
I’d like to say a special thanks to Dan Rubin for being our first interview and for being a mentor to me over the past year or so. I can’t thank you enough for being so generous with your time and for your invaluable feedback a couple weeks prior to launch.
Just launched The Great Discontent this morning. Will write more about it later today or tomorrow but for now go check out our first interview with Dan Rubin.
“ I’m not sure how my visual art and my movies will be seen in the end, but I think the work I’ve done is at least interesting. And, of course, I’ve been in some shit movies, but I’ve always polished that shit into gold. What I hope is that it will all come together in an interesting story at the end, because I don’t think there is any way to separate your life from your work. When you are dealing in art and this kind of craft, it’s just part of something you are thinking about all the time, whether you are on holiday or not, you’re always onto the next project, the next photograph or painting or movie. It’s a constant; it’s part of you. I think, in the end, the idea of experiencing life is part of your creative path.”
“ From as far back as I can remember, I saw myself as destined to achieve the extraordinary. I ruled out even the vaguest notions of “normal work”. I saw myself as an artist or a poet. Something that would last. Guys like Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Rimbaud, they gave me faith because although their lives were tragic ruins, their legacy, their work—the fruits of their suffering—has achieved immortality.”
Food Sense
This morning I launched a new site called Food Sense for a fantastic new client from Philly. In a nutshell:
Food Sense is a unique resource for thoughtful, food-loving eaters and home cooks who have a palate for plant-based eating - for themselves or their loved ones; three days a week, or every day of the year.
I’ve been working on it for the past several weeks and I’m excited to share it with the world. I enjoyed having the opportunity to go from branding consultation all the way through to the design, development and launch of the site.
We went the responsive route with the layout and I’m glad we did. It gave me an opportunity to test out the concept on a large site. It is more work but I love the results. The layout beautifully adapts to the browser/screen size, including the slideshow on the homepage (which proved to be an interesting challenge). I really believe responsive web design is here to stay…
I’m not a vegan/vegetarian but constantly seeing all these dishes while I was working sure made me hungry. I’m looking forward to incorporating some of the recipes in our meal rotation.
Go check it out! Get some food sense :)
Scott Harrison (@scottharrison) of charity: water is my new hero.
