Studio Notes #41

Hello, Friendly Folks. Here's issue #41 of Studio Notes™—quick bits delivered to you each Friday.

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Look, I like red wine. Specifically Pinot Noir. And most of the Pinots I buy these days have a screw top. I feel like perception of the screw top has warmed over the last several years and I'm glad—it's damned convenient. If you have to uncork a bottle though, Craighill has made a wine key with an ingenious ratchet placement. It's expensive and I'm endorsing the design here more than this particular brand. Seems like a much better solution than the typical cheap corkscrew where you move the lever once and hope there's enough of angle to get the cork out.

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Many thanks to Daily Dennison for recommending another Instagram profile with an enormous amount of vintage type inspiration. Mr. Epherma looks to be a newer account—but with an already-giant bucket of lettering goodness. Followed.

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In a matter of 5 minutes, Lindsay Pollak takes a power drill to a large carrot and turns it into a clarinet. But what's most surprising about all this, is that the result sounds like the most beautiful clarinet I've ever heard. It helps that Pollak is quite a great player. But that root-vegetable-tone is something to study.

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After several years without a dedicated camera (other than iPhone) I finally invested in a real one again. More on that and a big project I have planned for it in a future issue, but I grabbed one of these wooden soft shutter release buttons for it and damn if that little bit of walnut doesn't class it up several notches. Why a shutter release button? Bigger, better, tactile spot for your finger when taking a photo. That feedback after pressing really does make a difference. I prefer the concave versions.

What are you working on?

I hadn't planned on doing multiple weights for the new, Knight Rider credits inspired typeface, Turbeau, but I was on a roll and banged out a bold with funky contrast along with the initial Regular weight. There'll be 3 total! Still a ways to go and very much a WIP—but this is the fun part.

I hope your Summer is going as well as could be at this point, and thanks very much for reading this little dispatch.

Cheers!