Portland welcomes spring! The swifts and sparrows are singing, the air smells fragrant with camellia blooms, and cherry blossoms float gently amongst the soft breeze. This weekend calls for celebration — from the birth of a new season, to the Passover and Easter holidays, to just good old-fashioned quality time spent with loved ones.
Below you will find our top five Portland picks for fun for this weekend (many of them are free to enjoy).
There was an interesting post this morning in Daring Fireball about yesterday’s iPhone 5 and Music Event. As a designer, it’s hard not to love a company that cares this much about design.
When Schiller unveiled the iPhone 5, it rose from the stage floor on a smoothly-rising and rotating pedestal, pinpoint spotlights hitting the phone and only the phone. The rotation of the iPhone atop the pedestal was in perfect sync with the rotation of the iPhone projected on the big screen at the back of the stage. There’s no store where you buy such pedestals; Apple designed and engineered it specifically for this event. It was on stage for about a minute.
Despite their size, and the loss of a visionary leader, Apple continues to value design. I find that quite heartening.
Superawesome duo Kate Endle (longtime and über talented Needmore client) and Caspar Babypants are descending on Portland this Saturday. Read all about them on Powell’s Books Blog and then stop in on their kid’s story time (11 am at Powell’s on Burnside). Or, head over to Caspar Babypants’ show (rootsy music for kids and families — 4 pm at Mississippi Pizza).
Artwork by Kate Endle
Our studio (suite 102) will be open this Friday, April 8th from 6 pm to 8 pm as part of the Milepost 5 Grand Opening Celebration. Come by to toast with us! (And do let us know if you are swinging by – we’ll have a glass waiting for you!)
Milepost 5 is home to our studio and a community for creatives and artists, tucked Portland’s Montavilla neighborhood. Friday is kicking-off a weekend-long Grand Opening Festival to celebrate the final completion of its long-awaited completion of the Studios building. This end to major construction marks the official opening of the largest live/work community for artists and creatives in the Northwest and we’re thrilled to have our studio right in the middle of the action.
We’ll be celebrating in our studio starting at 6 pm. The festival begins proper at 7 p.m. with art receptions in galleries, open Studios, a traditional Feng Shui Red Rice Blessing Ceremony, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 8 p.m. with Portland Mayor Sam Adams. Then, you can stay and dance the night away: from 9 p.m. to midnight, Lara Michell, singer-songwriter and MP5 resident, followed by DJ Prashant and Bogra Dance party in the EAT performance space, art receptions in galleries.
Thanks to everyone who came out and helped us celebrate our move to Milepost 5. We had a fabulous time with friends new and old. And, thanks to Amy Ruppel for sending over some of her photos of the event (more images are up on Needmore’s Facebook page). The last picture is the newest member of our studio – darling little Darwin.
Needmore Designs is moving on down the road – to the bustling artistic community at Milepost 5. It’s a project by Beam – the developers of the last building we worked in – and it’s lovely. Very modern. Very suited to our style. We’ll be writing more about this space in the next few days.
So, effective immediately, our new address is:
900 NE 81st Avenue, Suite 102
Portland, Oregon 97213
To celebrate, we’re opening our doors on Saturday, June 12th from 5pm to 8pm. We’ll have lots of snacks, bubbly and, of course, cupcakes on hand. Stop in and celebrate with us! And, if you are on Facebook, let us know you are coming. Our party will coincide with the closing reception of our dear friend Amy Ruppel’s Mean Birds II: The Extinction art show. If you haven’t seen this series yet, it is a good thing you are coming to our party!
