Here is a pic of the front of the cafe currently. Down at the bottom of the post, is a “before” pic from November of last year.

While all of this is happening, Jesse and Lisa are holding down the fort serving up their blend of espresso in the back of the cafe. Jesse is a master. Lisa here is learning the craft. A former lawyer turned barista, she is chasing her dream of a creative life in the coffee biz. We love dream chasers, Lisa rocks.

Matt is the GC… going through the very complex blueprints for the Handsome operation.

I wish I knew all of the details of this roaster… but, what I do know is that it’s a 1956 Probat UG22 roaster that they tracked down (after a long search) in Belgium, restored, and imported over here. Like Handsome Coffee, it has the reputation to be the best, of course.

Details like this smoking pipe are laser etched in the surface of the walls of the cafe… one of many identity icons for the Handsome brand.

Here is the “before” pic of the Handsome storefront a few months back. They’ve come a long way.

The wide, bright, green Spring Street bike lane is always a plus too.

This is a huge wall that connects the bottom floor to the top. Blueprints of jeans and brass jean buttons carefully placed.

A huge California flag made of jean patches hangs over the entryway.

Free Lets Do More field books and pencils… a nice reminder, thanks guys!

The exhibition is at the Heath LA store until the end of the year. You can read an exclusive interview with Geoff McFetridge from our friends, Bobby Solomon and Kyle Fitzpatrick, of LAImYours.com. For the Angelenos, Geoff McFetridge along with potter/director of Heath LA, Adam Silverman, will be doing a studio talk on December 3rd. Mark your calendar.

Even more images from the show at our Flickr.

A little field trip today for the Poketo crew to Handsome Coffee and Thvm Atelier. Note: Please excuse the Iphone blurriness, I don’t know what was wrong with my hands today.

Handsome Coffee, still in the construction process, but, they are opening their backdoor for the community to come down and taste their incredible coffee. This is a place where you won’t find options like soy, non fat milk, sugar, or chocolate. These guys have the heart and experience of quality coffee… and trust me, it’s damn good. I mean, look do you see those Barista Champion trophies there? Plus, really, really nice and down to earth folks. Say ‘hello’ to Jesse and Michael when you go in.

Thvm is a collective of artists, designers and musicians. Founded by Brian Kim and Olga Nazarova, this was originally the custom jeans brand that was based out of Echo Park for many years. They moved the operations downtown into a huge 6000 or so square foot space and have made it a space for different creatives of different disciplines.

More to come…

The exhibition is divided into four categories: shaping, making, living and selling. The Selling of the California Dream- its grandness and optimism- was the most interesting to me. The California lifestyle was represented in the design of furniture, clothes, publications, toys for kids, and more- Not much different than it is today. Quoting photographer Julius Shulman, “Good design is seldom accepted, it has to be sold”.

California played a key role in defense and aerospace during WWII. Breakthroughs in fiberglass, molded plywood, and other materials were key to modernism, post-war. These materials for the first time were being used inexpensively for the home and lifestyle products.

Art & Architecture, 1946.

The Barbie Dream House, propogating the California dream at a young age.

These wooden blocks intended for kids back then, reminds me of the Balancing Blocks for the kid in us now.

No matter how far technology advances, there really isn’t anything as satisfying as sharing great stories face to face. This November 1, we have another chance to do just that at California State University, Long Beach. We’ll be giving a talk to a class of mainly Graphic Design students, but, the event is open to the public and we invite you to join us. We’ll be sharing our early years, how we got started, building our brand, and what we see in the future.

This year alone, we’ve had the honor to speak at Wharton, UC San Diego, and Creative Mornings, Los Angeles. We are looking forward to CSU Long Beach, we know the talent that comes out of that school and it’s always great to connect with future artists, designers, and optimists that are coming up in the world.

From Creative Mornings, Los Angeles at Herman Miller Showroom

From our talk at University of California, San Diego.

Join us for a little conversation, November 1 (Tues.) from 7 to 9 p.m. at California State University Long Beach, University Theater at 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, CA. Admission is FREE. Parking is available in the adjacent lot with a $5 general parking permit. RSVP here.

Mark your calendar, see you real soon!

When we asked her for a great bicycle-themed graphic for our shirt, she whipped up an awesome vintage-inspired typography that we just can’t take our eyes off of. We love the bicycle silhouette embedded onto to the word “Coolin’”–not to mention the slightly upturned, happy angle of it. Seeing this just puts us in a good mood.

Such a great design probably has a great story, so we asked Nathalie to share a bit of her bicycling history with us.

Hi, Nathalie. When did you first learn to bike?
First learned to ride a bike in the yard of Fairburn elementary school alone by trial and error. I just kept trying until I finally got it.

How did you get hooked on cycling?
I got hooked riding down a big hill in Santa Cruz on a starry summer night. That refreshing breeze on my face was irresistible.

What’s the best part of riding for you?
Freedom to go where I please at my own speed.

Could you share one of your favorite memories of biking?
Riding around the monuments at night on a visit to DC wth my friend Chris. The weather was mild, so many bike paths, no one around, we had all the statues and fountains to ourselves.

If you could take your bike anywhere in the universe, where would it be?
I would like to ride on the astral plane.

Check out Nathalie’s shirt on poketo.com. Or, if you are going to be cycling this Sunday in LA for CicLAvia, you can get this on the route!
Find more of Nathalie at headphonerecord.com