coterie creative co.

Fire Escape, Portland

Added on by Amanda Lee Smith.

Olivier & Alice passed through at the end of an epic month-long van journey through the US West—just days before they moved back across the Atlantic to set up camp in Brighton. We shot some photos on my Burnside fire escape before they headed up north.

These two: authentic, gracious, talented and very much in love, which makes them a joy to be around. 

Oregon on Film

Added on by Amanda Lee Smith.

My dad's old Canon AE-1 Program has been my trusty sidekick for the last 15 years. It's taken some abuse and travelled so much. I tucked it away for over a year, but recently it's come along on some of my Oregon adventures.

More photos on Flickr.

Bridge Burner: Wood & Faulk's Matt Pierce

Added on by Amanda Lee Smith.

The latest instalment of the Bridge Burners series was a pleasure to write, partly because any excuse to visit Wood & Faulk's gorgeous North Portland workshop is a good one, and partly because owner Matt Pierce is a thoughtful creative and a bangup storyteller.

Visit the Bridge & Burn blog to read how his business went from a hobby-blog to an internationally distributed brand in just a couple years.

Photos by Erik Prowell

Photos by Erik Prowell


Bridge Burners series

Added on by Amanda Lee Smith.

I'm working with Portland apparel company Bridge & Burn to develop some long form content on their blog—celebrating entrepreneurs who've taken the leap and "burned the bridge" of working for someone else. They'll be published monthly through the summer and autumn. Here's the first.

Gigantic Brewing's Ben Love & Ben Havig [photo by Erik Prowell]

Gigantic Brewing's Ben Love & Ben Havig [photo by Erik Prowell]

Portraits of Brief Encounters

Added on by Amanda Lee Smith.

Lately, one of the highlights of my week is cracking my inbox on Tuesday morning and finding the latest instalment of Cole Nowicki's illustrated series "Portraits of Brief Encounters." 

For an editor there's nothing better than working with a clever writer who can tell a story in so few words. I love starting with something really strong and making a few small changes to ensure it shines. Catch his weekly contribution to Sad Mag every Wednesday.

Canadian Yachting West redesign

Added on by Amanda Lee Smith.

I grew up in a house full of boating magazines.

Habitually on Saturday mornings, Dad would fetch the latest issue of Pacific Yachting or Boating off the London Drugs newsstand. (Aside: it might have been on one of these excursions that, as a 10-year-old, I first discovered Disney Adventures magazine, launching my lifelong passion for periodicals... remember that?!)

All dad's magazines looked the same: aerial views of a fast-moving boats driven by a middle aged men, with two bikini-clad babes on board. No secret who they're targeting.

For my final PUB602 assignment I re-envisioned one of these mags—stripping it down and stepping up the sophistication to include the female audience that's largely ignored.

newest gig: Sad Mag web editor

Added on by Amanda Lee Smith.

So, so very super excited to be joining some of the finest writers and artists in Vancouver, as the new (co)web editor of Sad Mag

Sad Mag is a quarterly volunteer-run arts & culture magazine, birthed out of SFU's MPub program in 2009. I'm sharing web editing duties with this quick-witted smartypants, covering literature, music, fashion and graphica.

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coterie co. identity

Added on by Amanda Lee Smith.

Polished off the components for the coterie co. identity package for my MPub Design class. 

clockwise from top left: bizcard, envelope, letterhead and print for a tote bag. boom.


bookish

Added on by Amanda Lee Smith.

If there’s no other certainty about what the future looks like right now, at least I know what I’ll be reading in 9 months.

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This week we nailed down our 2014 book club reading picks: