Studio Notes #62

Greetings, Crafty Crew. Here's issue #62 of Studio Notes™—quick bits delivered to you each Friday.

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I wasn't familiar with Dimensions, but it's a sort of like a giant, visual Wikipedia for, well, the dimensions of things. The measurements of anything. Things like a Steinway grand pian0 or the iPhone 17— but also things like...Wes Anderson or a potted rubber fig plant or a Bernese Mountain dog. With facts about each, and downloadable drawings (with a paid subscription) which are especially useful for architects, interior and product designers, or anyone curious. It's one of those websites that reminds you to be glad the internet exists.

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I went into watching Train Dreams with a lot of hopeful anticipation. I've read a lot of positive reviews of the movie (as well as the book it's based on). I'll start by saying I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a beautiful film. And it's perfectly shot using, I assume, only natural light—which perfectly marries the Pacific Northwest forest-y landscape often at sunset with the early twentieth century time period. Joel Edgerton's acting was superb (I enjoyed him in Dark Matter and The Gift). But I wasn't prepared for how utterly heartbreaking the story is. That shouldn't prevent watching it, of course, but I wish I was in the right head space for it. Also, I wish I had seen this in the theater. At home, the boxy aspect ratio felt restrictive. What was on screen looked beautiful, I just wish we could see more of it. ★★★½

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If you're interested in typography, I hope you're following Ellen Lupton. Her books and talks are invaluable—she breaks down type concepts in such a relatable way. I hadn't realized she's also been sharing little short videos explaining different typography topics and they are fantastic. A must-follow for designers.

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I've realized I love parsley. For most of my life I didn't think that was possible—for anyone. But it's great. And I'm not entirely sure why. It adds something fresh I suppose. And the green makes dishes look more elevated. But let's face it, I'm not chopping parsley for the everyday meal. Gourmet Garden's Chopped Parsley is a game changer. A little plastic tub of pre-chopped, fresh parsley that lasts for weeks (they call it "lightly dried" but that's a misnomer—it's fresh, folks). Now I sprinkle it on everything. If using this makes me lazy, then so be it. Boil some spaghetti, heat up some Rao's Marinara in the microwave, but then sprinkle a ton of parsley on it. Now you have the real deal. Yes, chef!

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I'm extending the Black Friday sale another week (or more?). All of our fonts and goods are still 25% off with code BF25 at checkout!

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What are you working on?

Well, I had been traveling the first half of this week and found some inspiring type in the wild. Can you guess where I was? A hint: It was an epic location ;)

Now that I'm back from that mysterious place, I'm continuing to wrap up our next font release, Clauthbound, which is getting very close. I'll be sharing a free pre-release soon with the Secret Club™.

Have a great weekend, and I hope it's warmer than the 10ºF we have here in Massachusetts today.

Cheers,