Well, time does fly. Since my last post I've launched a few sites, shot a bunch of new photos and even managed to sneak a logo or two in there. Here's the run-down:
Lagana Foods
Not only do people often think that Ethan Stowell and I are the same person, they probably think we spend a lot of time together with all the work I do for his company. While we do hang out from time to time, for this project I actually worked more closely with his partner, Kaela Farrington, on a new website for their specialty pasta company: Lagana Foods. During the discovery process we spent several hours drinking Negronis and snacking on smoked mackerel before we decided we didn't really want to do the usual website design. That led us to the top-down pasta pile photo shoot which quickly became the obvious choice for a homepage. The rest flowed from there. I really like how this turned out.
Check out Lagana Foods and if you are in the Seattle area buy a bag of pasta. It's really good stuff.
Spring Hill
This project was more of a design refresh than a complete redesign. The old design still looked great, but the navigation needed a big usability upgrade and we needed to find a better way to show off even more of Mark Fuller's amazing food. But sure enough, by the time I got into it I ended up re-writing all of the HTML and CSS from scratch. (Four years of out-dated code gathering dust.) This new version is much simpler to use and to maintain—and it looks pretty good too. A good argument for a realign vs. a redesign. The old website is still in there, but now it not only looks better, it's actually more in tune with what Spring Hill's customers wanted from the site.
Spring Hill is still one of my favorites. As a restaurant site it's a great combination of food-pornery and information accessibility.
Book Bindery
This project was quite comprehensive. Over the course of a year I worked on the Book Bindery logo, then the menu design, and finished off with an interim website. Eventually as the space itself began to take shape we crafted the complete site that is live now. All throughout the design process I stopped in for various photo shoots of the space, the food and even the pressing of a Columbia Valley syrah.
The Book Bindery is a great new restaurant situated on the banks of Seattle's Ship Canal. It's run by Patric Gabre-Kidan and Mike Almquist who also runs the winery and distillery next door. Chef Shaun McCrain is the guy behind the food and he's doing some pretty incredible stuff.
Check out the Book Bindery. They are taking it to the next level in all areas.
Northwest Palate
I recently provided photography for the cover and spread in a recent issue of Northwest Palate. Ethan Stowell again, this time digging for clams off Whidbey Island. These photos were actually outtakes from last year's cookbook project. We all spent the weekend on Whidbey shooting photos, digging for clams, and drinking way too much wine. It was a spectacular time.
There's a lot more work coming in the next few weeks. A local retail food company gets a brand refresh and website, another Northwest Palate spread goes to press, and my favorite new project this year: Eric Banh's fantastic new noodle bar and cocktail lounge. This one is going to be great!
Happy Spring.