Hey there! My name is Alissa. I’m a writer, a gelato-eater, and a walker in LA.
You can learn more about who I am, what I write, why I walk, and even see where I live and work. Last year I was honored to be named as an USC/Annenberg Getty Arts Journalism fellow. You also might like this talk I gave about how to do the work you love.
Welcome to Gelatobaby
Follow me at @gelatobaby
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Come say hello
- GOOD Design for Cities
A new event series hosted by Alissa and supported in part by ArtPlace is coming to Portland and St. Louis. Here's how creatives can apply to be part of it.
- GOOD Design for Cities
Check out our next de LaB
- Design East of La Brea is a monthly party I co-host with Haily Zaki, Marissa Gluck and Erin Cullerton. Almost always east of La Brea. Learn more about past de Labs and sign up for our monthly newsletter.
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Click on some recent posts
Read my articles elsewhere
You can find my writing most days at GOOD, or at Fast Company's new design site, Co.Design, or over at Dwell. You can also read about my 13 favorite stories from 2010.
- Waaaaay Back to the Future
Fast Company, August 2011
Nike's 23-year journey to make Marty McFly's AirMag shoes real. - Meet the Makers
Details, July 2011
Profile of Saul Griffith, an engineer and inventor who could change the way we make... everything. - Sasaki's Heartbeat
Dwell, June 2011
A studio visit with the Japanese-born artist Sasaki, who has been drawing people's heartbeats for 15 years. - Is LA's Public Transit a Joke? This Comedian Sure Hopes So
GOOD, June 2011
For comedian Kristina Wong, living car-free isn't just an act. - Middle School Students Tell LAUSD: No More Styrofoam
GOOD, April 2011
A group of sixth graders mounts a campaign to rid their school of the evil white foam. - The Future of Reading Online [Video]
Fast Company, March 2011
At SXSW, I interviewed designer Khoi Vinh about tablets, pay walls, and browsers. - How LA's "Farmers Field" Could Boost Urban Agriculture
GOOD, February 2011
Let's turn the city's new football stadium into the world's biggest urban farm. - BOOM! Palm Springs Plans a Wacky Old Folks Community
Fast Company, February 2011
10 architects have collaborated on a very unique new kind of retirement home for gays. - The Design Difference
GOOD, January 2011
How can design help create change in the underserved community of Brownsville, New York? A three-part series. - Why We Don't Need Any More Anonymous Critics
GOOD, January 2011
Let's stop the dining in disguise and make food critics powerful, public voices for real social change. - The Rise of the Bus-Riding Celebrity
GOOD, October 2010
Why don't more eco-minded celebrities in LA take public transit? - Can Design Save the World?
Fast Company, October 2010
Profiles of superstar emerging designers Candy Chang and Bobby C. Martin, Jr. - Where My Ladies At?
GOOD, August 2010
Why aren't there more women in industrial design? - At Home with Ed Begley, Jr.
Dwell, June 2010
I visited LA's greenest celebrity to talk about gardening, solar panels and riding the bus. - Why I Write About Design Now
GOOD, May 2010
How we need to cover the design industry: Without a chair in the world. - Here's Why the Banksy Movie is a Banksy Prank
Fast Company, April 2010
The world's most famous street artist makes a documentary? I'm not buying it. - If You Lived Here, You'd Be Urban By Now
GOOD, Spring 2010
The case against fake "walkable urbanism" developments which are neither walkable or urban. - Why Can't the World's Best Architects Build Better Websites?
Fast Company, March 2010
Loading... - The Fake Freeway Sign that Became a Real Public Service
GOOD, January 2010
Artist Richard Ankrom's act of guerrilla public service improved the commuter experience.
- Waaaaay Back to the Future
View my photos
Try some gelato
- Catch up on my latest gelato adventures, or find gelato using my Gelatobaby GeLAtomap.
Monthly Archives: October 2008
Would it help if I got out and pushed?
Thursday’s the day when I go to 826 LA and help kids do their homework and write stories. (Oh yeah, the volunteering thing? I’m doing it. And I’m loving it.) This being a special Thursday, I also got to stay … Continue reading
Posted in crafting, creating
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This is Halloween
If it hasn’t already been made quite obvious by my activities of the last week, Halloween is hands-down my favorite holiday. Maybe because it’s also one of the craftiest. Everyone will take a knife to a pumpkin, get all Project … Continue reading
Posted in crafting, creating
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On Today’s DnA: Shepard Fairey, Robbie Conal and the Gamble House
Much ado has been made about Shepard Fairey and his Obama propaganda game-changer (check out this incredible site with all the parodies of his “Hope” poster, thanks to Spencer). But before there was Shepard—literally, before he was even born—there was … Continue reading
Posted in advertising, building, crafting, creating, designing, DnA
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Caught between the moon and a new city
My ritual is this: Get to any event at Disney Hall early and hike all the way around it until I reach the highest point. The place is usually deserted at this time of the evening, and I’ve never once … Continue reading
Posted in building, walking
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Tour de Farmers’ Market
Sure, it was no 25K mountain climb, but the quick SOAR race last Sunday through the agricultural basin of Moorpark was like a high-speed harvest preview. We parked in a walnut grove, where the loud craaaaacks underfoot were actually perfect … Continue reading
Posted in eating, greening, growing, walking
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Buy My Words: Design Disasters
When Steven Heller comes a knockin’, you let him in, give him a beer, make sure he’s comfortable, pull out the best silver, whip up a five-course meal, toast him as the guest of honor, give him all money in … Continue reading
Posted in creating, designing, writing
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Eat My Words: May the best design win?
When I got the missive from newly-named owner-editor John L. Walters about writing my very first piece for Eye, I was taken a bit aback. The subject, awards, didn’t faze me as much as the fact that John was looking … Continue reading
Posted in advertising, designing, Eye
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Intelligent navigation for designers
I’ve been under the weather, which must mean I’m in pretty bad shape since that would put me below these low-hanging clouds that are producing rain, actual rain, in LA, in October. But before I befell whatever virus was floating … Continue reading
Posted in building, crafting, designing, speaking
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