Here’s a look at some of the new stuff L2 Design Collective has been cookin’ up the past few weeks for the National Stationery show.

The latest Cult Classic Movies poster for Enzian. This one was designed by our Austin pal, Brett Stiles. Printed here at Lure.

This is opening night of our first solo gallery show, Full Bleed: The Poster Art of Lure Design at Neon Forest Gallery in Orlando. The gallery cleverly combined our opening with a release party for Et Cetera Magazine’s third issue which helped push attendance to around 300 people–give or take a few. Perfect weather, live music, and a good crowd made this poster show a truly great night.

Lure partner, Paul Mastriani, preparing for the opening.

The blacklight room. 3D glasses supplied for optimal effect.

Video projection

Lure studio manager, Heather Masessa

Friend and collaborator on the Cult Classic Movie poster series, Billy Davis.

Francesco rocked the screen printing demo till nearly midnight.

Screen printing Demo.

Dustin, Scott, Sean of Neon Forest

Thanks to Neon Forest, Et Cetera Magazine, Wally’s (Orlando’s legendary dive bar), Jay Dwarzski, Francesco LoGiacco, Lee Waters and Gary Jones.

And so, the eve of the show has arrived. The gang sits today with sore backs and tired eyes, as we have been working our arses off all week getting this show together. It’s a display of all the hard work, along with some suprises! that we have done over the years, some posters have even made me shed tears, some have made Paul yell, and Jeff stress. We hope to gather all of you tomorrow night so we can share with you this timeline of the good times that have been had creating and doing what we love.

Neon Forest Gallery • 1741 Orange Ave • 7-MID

Here's looking at YOU.

spraymount! spraymount! spraymount!

Over 500 pieces in the show!

Ladder time! Not quite like hammer time!

Snacks while we work. (JK)

Coffee. It’s a wonderful thing and, like most people, I can’t start my day without it.

I have a coffee maker that I love. It’s a Starbuck’s Barista coffee maker that I’ve had for 4 or so years & it usually makes great coffee day after day. However, a few nights ago as I was performing one of  my nightly rituals of preparing the coffee for the next day I noticed something strange. I was filling the reservoir in the sink & it seemed to be taking a long time to fill. When it reached the desired water level I picked up the reservoir & noticed that water was pouring out of the bottom of it. I just thought that the stopper had come loose – no big deal. But, as I was trying to put the stopper back, it wasn’t quite working & water was still seeping thru the stopper. A couple of days of bad coffee later I told my husband “We have got to find a new coffee maker”. I was kind of sad because, as I’ve said – I love my coffee maker.

So, last night Jeff & I went on a quest for a new coffee maker. There are several criteria that the new coffee maker would have to fulfill. They are as follows:

Have to have:
Timer (coffee has to be ready to pour when I roll out of bed in the morning)
Thermal Carafe (none of that glass stuff with a burner underneath – that’s a great way to burn the coffee)

Need to have:
Removable reservoir (easier to fill & you are less likely to pour water down the back of the coffee maker & all over the floor)

Do not want:
Inclusive Coffee Grinder (my parents bought us a really nice coffee grinder for our anniversary a few years back & anything that would be included with the coffee maker would be inferior to the one we already have)
Glass Carafe (see above)

I didn’t think that it would be hard to find a coffee maker that would fulfill my needs. I’d been at Bloomingdale’s a few days before & seen that they had a wide variety of coffee makers & figured I’d just run in & pick one up. Boy, was I wrong.

Jeff & I started our quest at the two Starbuck’s at the Millennia Mall (actually, I’d already been to another Starbuck’s that morning (to pick up a decent cup of coffee) and looked for a coffee maker there – but they only had French Press’s). I’m guessing that Starbuck’s no longer makes coffee makers. After the two Starbuck’s we went to Bloomie’s. They did have a decent selection of coffee maker’s – but none that matched my criteria. So, on we went. Macy’s – there was one, a Cuisinart, but it was kind of clunky & ugly. Next, we went to Williams-Sonoma. They did have one that fit the criteria (I think) and it was beautiful. Very elegant & minimalist with a lovely cone-shaped carafe’. Downside – it was $300. I wasn’t sure I was ready to invest that much – it was about twice what I’d wanted to spend. So, my husband looked at me & said “Target?”. So, on to Target we went. As I looked down the line of coffee makers I only saw one that had a thermal carafe – it was a Mr.. Coffee (you know, the brand your parents had when you were a little kid – I didn’t even know that they made them any more). On closer inspection, I also noticed that it had a timer & a removable reservoir & it wasn’t terribly ugly. (I wasn’t crazy about the way the coffee basket worked (and it was a basket, not a cone), but I figured that you can’t have everything). And, it was $80. So, home we go with our new coffee maker.

After we got it home, we ran a couple of cycles of water thru to clean it & then I prepared it for the next day. Setting the timer & the clock. Measuring our normal 5 scoops of coffee into the basket. But, apparently I forgot to put water in it. I woke up this morning & went to the kitchen looking forward to trying a cup of coffee from our new coffee maker & it was just sitting there beeping and flashing at me. After I figured out that – hey, there is no WATER in it (it was early after all) I filled the reservoir & pushed the button for brew. I stood there & watched it brew, anxiety was building for my coffee. It finally brewed enough to fill a cup! I poured it into my favorite travel mug & noticed – it looks a little light. So I tasted it. Ugh – flavored water. But, I don’t normally drink black coffee, so I moved onto the cream test. (pour a little cream into it & see what color the coffee turns). It turned a light brown. Not good – means it’s weak. (the worst is when it turns gray – which means it’s weak & the coffee beans are inferior). I prepared it anyway & had a couple of sips. It was bad. So, there went that cup down the drain.  (I’ll do without before I’ll drink bad coffee). What to do now? Get dressed and run down to my local Starbucks? No, I pulled out my beloved Starbucks Barista & figured – If the water isn’t sitting in the reservoir for long, it will be OK. So, here we go thru the ritual of grinding the beans and adding the coffee & water to the maker (which I poured in from a measuring cup instead of removing the reservoir from the maker). Three minutes later I’m pouring the half cup of coffee that is brewed into my cup. Sniff test – it smells like coffee. Cream test – its a little dark, but that beats being a little light. Taste test – ahhh, its COFFEE. So, here I am enjoying my first cup of coffee and writing about my first cup of coffee and trying to figure out what to do now. I’m thinking that Mr. Coffee is going back to Target & maybe $300 isn’t too much to pay for coffee bliss every morning. Or, maybe I’ll just struggle through with my beloved Barista for a bit longer.