My name is Alissa Walker and I’m a design writer who can often be found in Hollywood, California.
In 2004, after a failed career in advertising, I embarked on a two-month self-seeking adventure through Europe. Prior to that, I had never left North America, traveled solo, or slept in a hotel room alone—at 26!—plus I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my life—also at 26! But I brought along my iBook with the firm intention to write, a proposition that became more painfully daunting the longer I was away from home.
When I got to Italy, I walked directly off the train and into a gelateria, where a single serving of pistachio and stracciatella con brioche changed my life. The more gelato I ate, the more stories poured out of my fingers and into my laptop. Coincidence? I think not. I returned to LA knowing two things I didn’t know before: I really wanted to be a writer and I really loved gelato. Gelatobaby came to represent that warm feeling in your belly when you’re incubating creative ideas or digesting good food, sensations I have a hard time differentiating from one another. Both feel like you’re doing what you love.
Since that trip, I’ve been lucky enough to do what I love every day. Mostly, that’s been as the editor of UnBeige, the design blog where, from 2006-2008 I blogged about design industry news, gossip and events daily. People who I never thought I’d have the chance to meet said incredibly nice things about UnBeige, but I’d have to say the quintessential OMG moment was when Newsweek named us as one of 12 sites that “define cool.”
You can find my design writing at Good, Wired, Fast Company, ReadyMade, I.D., Print, Dwell, Metropolis, Design Observer, HOW, and STEP Inside Design. I’ve also written for the Los Angeles Times, but it wasn’t about design, it was about Star Wars (that link will open a PDF, but it’s worth it). I’m the assistant editor for the California Architect’s Newspaper, where I write a gossip column (a lot more interesting than it sounds). My favorite stories I’ve written so far are about designers helping people in Alabama, a Southern California desert road trip, Pinkberry and Why Scientology is good for Hollywood (a lot less scary than it sounds).
I’m the associate producer of the popular public radio show DnA: Design and Architecture hosted by the fabulous Frances Anderton. Sometimes I get to report on-air, like when I covered the redesign of LA’s bus system, or when I interviewed people on the street about a mural at the corner of Wilshire and Vermont, also in LA. I edit the DnA calendar, almost certainly the best compilation of design events in town.
As a host of Core77’s podcasts, I’ve interviewed Gary Hustwit, director of the documentary Helvetica; Rob Walker, Consumed columnist for the New York Times Magazine; Karena Albers, executive producer of the PBS show design:e²; and drooled to the point of dehydration while talking to videoblogging heartthrob Ze Frank at the SXSW Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas. He sang to me.
I like speaking, and I like it even more when there are people around to listen. Recently, I moderated a discussion sponsored by Fast Company that featured four food and sustainability gurus including Stonyfield Farm’s Gary Hirshberg. I spoke at Art Center about design writing and at the Portfolio Center about following your creative path (where I showed this video of myself at age 3). I moderated the student symposium at the AIGA national design conference, where I also sat on panels about design writing and blogging (that last one is extremely entertaining, if you like design blogs, and who doesn’t?). And I moderated part of Designism 2.0, an evening of socially-responsible design, at the Art Directors Club in December.
I won’t judge you, but I’d be happy to judge your next competition. I sat on the panel for Curbed LA’s Ugliest Building Contest where I was the only juror who didn’t give top/bottom honors to Hollywood & Highland (seriously, I think there were worse offenders). I’m currently judging Logo Design Love’s blog logo contest. And while not exactly judging, I provided play-by-play commentary for a pixel-biting match of Coudal’s Layer Tennis.
You may have seen my house on the HGTV show Small Space, Big Style, where I proudly display my collection of suction cups and say noteworthy things like “If something’s all yellow in a pile, it doesn’t look like clutter, it looks like an interesting collection of yellow items.” Somehow the producers from the show were impressed with my supposed knowledge of decorating and invited me to appear as a guest expert on the show. You can catch all the episodes fairly regularly in reruns (303, 401, 402, 404, 405). My craft closet was featured in ReadyMade under the best headline ever: Undercover Craft.
Many people find the fact that I don’t have a car in Los Angeles fascinating. I wrote about the excellent design of LA’s Metro system in Fast Company and few months later, I was interviewed about smart growth by Warren Olney on the KCRW show Which Way, LA? I was so positive about my public transit experience that it prompted a commenter on my favorite local blog, Curbed LA, to call me “Pollyanna.” I love that movie!
I was born in Denver, grew up in St. Louis, and spent 3.5 and 2 years at the University of Colorado at Boulder and the Portfolio Center in Atlanta, respectively. I moved to LA on a whim 6 years ago and it continues to surprise and delight me every single day. I usually take a photo when this happens. Miss my old website? Me, too. But don’t worry, you can always visit it right over here. Gelatobaby will be with you, always.
