Real Living Space

My friends are probably already sick of hearing this, but I believe the independent film Helvetica is by far the best documentary I’ve ever watched.

Helvetica is all about the popular font/typeface Helvetica.I know, I bet you’re thinking how boring a docu on a typeface probably is, but believe
me, it’s not. Directed by Gary Hustwith, the film was made in 2007 to celebrate
this popular typeface/font’s 5oth anniversary.The docu shows how Helvetica was
developed, and how it spearheaded the leap into modern-day art direction and visuals
in the 50s, because before Helvetica, ads and signs used a lot of cursive, serif-based
lettering. It also changed the way the modern world looks, in general; since Helvetica’s
“mission” was to make things more legible, flexible for all markets, and accessible. If you
watch the trailer above, you’ll find out that Helvetica is used in almost all the popular
brands, from Target, Toyota, Nestle, and BMW
among many others.

On a related note, you might want to read the book Typo by
Page One—an interesting take on all the popular,
modern fonts you may be seeing everywhere right now.

My question is: Why is there no Zara Home here? There are enormous Zara outlets all over Metro Manila, everyone buys the clothes, so I’m sure there would be quite a number of people out there dying to snap up their rugs, throws, pillows, bed linen, and elegant toiletries.

Wishful thinking lang.

Here are more snaps from that fateful night (photos by Paul Ang). Assistant stylist Coni and the Summit events people helped out with the stage. Dimensione Megamall provided some of the accessories seen at right:

And we were so happy a lot of guests arrived in spite of the torrential rains!

Dear friend Nicole Bulatao was sweet and cool enough to host. Thank you, Nicole!

All of our readers went home with goody bags from Ace and RL, or prizes from Ace and Powerbooks—or both.

So grab a copy of Real Home Ideas 4: The Color Book now! (Available at bookstores and newsstands for only P195).

We finally launched Real Home Ideas 4: The Color Book! For those of you who weren’t able to make it, here’s a mini-photo montage of the event.

Coni put together a little sitting area on stage, using a lovely ceramic stool, side table, and candelabra-lamp from Dimensione, some of her own stuff, and a super comfy chair from Preview creative director Vince Uy.

The main event was a paint demonstration by Tom Padua, the Ace Paints marketing guy, assisted by Ace Hardware dudes from all these different branches.

The current and former RL staffers (rear, l to r: Carlo Vergara, Gwyn Guanzon, Danio Caw, Rachelle Medina; front, l to r: Fran Haw, Kaye Lopez, Kath Valle,  Arlene Sy, Coni Tejada, former staffer Issa Villar, Tisha, and former staffer Amillah Rodil), and the people behind the launch all went up on the mini stage for a photo op. (My gorgeous dress by Madhuri Hemandas.)

And we all enjoyed yummy eats by Chef Him Uy de Baron! I especially liked the dip for the chips and those mildly spicy curry sandwiches. Mm-mm-mm!

Do grab a copy of the book–it’s only P195 and you get over 190 color and paint tips. It’s like a peso per tip! Now that’s value for money!

Spotted this recently in Preview magazine’s June ish—to celebrate iconic doll Barbie’s 50th birthday, celeb-designer Jonathan Adler designed a “Malibu Dream House” for her, a hot-pink California-modern fantasy replete with fuchsia-hued furniture that would perfectly match a plastic tan (human or otherwise):

Look at the Barbie hair chandeliers by Project Runway contestant Chris March on this one—I remember the Barbie doll I got on my 10th birthday was the “Twirl and Curl” Barbie, which had blonde hair up to her ankles; these remind me of her:

Hindi ko kaya!!!

In the Palms Suite version, the bedroom is slightly reminiscent of the actual Barbie doll house furniture pieces:

And the dining room, replete with Louis Ghosts, neon princesa chairs and poodles…sakit sa head!!!

Read more about it (and about other Barbie-related fashion features) in the June 2009 issue of Preview, out on newsstands and bookstores now. (Magazine images from Preview, other images from barbie.com )

Judging from our past posts, I’m sure that you already know how hard it is to make a cover, more so a book cover. Creating the cover of Real Home Ideas 4: The Color Book was especially long-winded. In the end, we used an image from the Product Development and Design Center of the Philippines color story. Here’s our final book cover (shot by Ocs Alvarez):

But what other people don’t know is that this cover has gone through many mutations! Here was our first cover image, designed by Carlo Vergara, shot way back in January by Miguel Nacianceno, styled by Gwyn Guanzon (it was used as the cover, though, of the free Handy Color Guide included with every RL June 2009 issue):

I really liked that cover option. But the bosses deemed it too “intimidating” (read: too sosyal, hehe). So we made another cover option. First, Carlo and Coni Tejada had to lay out a wooden “floor” in the studio…

…then in came Vince Uy’s mirrored console. It was so hard keeping those fingerprint smudges off it!

Gwyn spray-painted some vases black, and put in a Kartell chair. Oh, that’s us in the photo—from left, Coni, Carlo, Gwyn, and me (all photos here by Miguel).

Here was the alternative cover; Carl did some post-prod work on the wallpaper behind it:

So which RL Book 4 cover do you like? (Real Home Ideas 4 is now available at newsstands and bookstores for only P195)

Hello, readers! To complete our Real Home Ideas series of books, we’re launching our fourth book,

REAL HOME IDEAS 4: THE COLOR BOOK

On June 17, Wednesday, 6PM at Powerbooks, SM Megamall Bldg. A, Mandaluyong City.

Sponsored by Ace Hardware, this fourth installment in the Real Home Ideas series will teach you everything you need to know about color, from choosing a color palette, mixing and matching hues, step-by-step paint application, to proper lighting, all with Real Living magazine’s best houses. The book also includes a color wheel, and handy paint swatches from Ace Paints to help get you started.

So drop by this Wednesday for a free paint demo, special prizes, and cocktails. See you!

If you haven’t gotten a copy of our June ish, you should. It’s a fabulous, fabulous issue!

On the cover is fashion stylist Pam Quinones’ French-themed house. So chic! This photo is especially memorable because I fought for it—due to a string of events, we were left without a stylist, and Arlene and I had to feel our way through the home shoot. The photog (one of our faves, Miguel), wasn’t keen on taking this particular shot. “It’s too…girly,” he said. Back and forth we went, and I finally put my foot down…or at least, politely asked him to just take the photo, please. And ta-dah! Cover!

Lots of other pretty photos that didn’t make it into our pages, such as the photo of Pam’s brother’s room…

He doesn’t live there anymore, but Pam still spruced his room up. It has a bit more of a Spanish influence, with the print on the wall and the open box of quills on the bedside table. (How very Jose Rizal!)

We also took a photo of her “dirty” kitchen (and I know a lot of people hate that term. Sorry. To use a phrase that I don’t really fancy, it is what it is!).

If you’ve seen the mag (and shame on you if you haven’t!), you would’ve spotted her sleek black kitchen. But Pam wanted another kitchen so that she could keep the smells out of the house. She thus converted part of her lanai into a kitchen. While the black one is very Parisian, this one has more of a French provincial vibe. Charming! And if you look closely, you can see my fingers holding the door open. And my toes trying to squeeze themselves out of the frame. (I knew I should’ve stuck with ballet ’til I reached toe shoes!)

And lastly, here we are, cam-whoring with the lovely homeowner. That’s me (without makeup! Oh well) and Arlene, Pam’s former colleague at Marie Claire Philippines, and now our very own art director.

I really enjoyed the shoot because the house was so interesting. Pam really invested time and effort into making it pretty. And, having seen it before the renovation, I was really impressed by the transformation! Plus, Pam fed us this yummy mango confection! Food at a shoot is always good!

Start the Independence Day weekend celebration this Thursday night by attending the opening of the latest exhibit at Pablo Gallery, Cubao X.

Entitled “Wallflower”, the 2nd Solo exhibition of AJ Dimarucot will be unveiled at 7 pm.

His exhibit will run from 11  june to 3 july 2009.

I braved the torrential rains yesterday to attend the True Value re-launching at the Alabang Town Center. I must say, I am a bit frightened about our weather these days—Al Gore was right! Designer and RL contrib Marilen Faustino-Montenegro was the host for that afternoon:

The new True Value is brighter, better-organized, and full of new products that you won’t find in your usual hardware stores, like their well-stocked kitchenware aisle:

Their revamped True Value paint center:

And they’ve got cool clocks too:

But my favorite part of True Value has always been their garden section; they’ve always been more complete with their selection of gardening tools, fertilizers, and implements than the others; I do miss their live plants section tho, esp the one in Rockwell.

By noon’s end, they let everyone who shopped get a 20% discount, as long as it fit into their Greener Options eco-bag. But what I noticed about the shoppers in front of me in the line is that they even asked for a plastic bag to carry the stuff that they bought! Tsk, tsk; some people really don’t get it. So what’s the point of the eco-tote now? Kaya nga it’s called “Greener Options,” di ba?  Anyway, hope you can drop by their Alabang branch soon.