Studio Notes #55

Hello, Amigos. Here's issue #55 of Studio Notes™—quick bits delivered to you each Friday.

🌶️

I like hot sauce. But not if it's too hot. There has to be a good balance of heat, acid, and then the taste of the actual peppers. Ten years ago I went to New Orleans, briefly, for a design conference. It was there that I noticed Crystal hot sauce at a lot of the local restaurants. It's hard to find up here in the Northeast, but I ordered a few bottles and it's become my favorite over Tabasco, Frank's, Cholula, etc. Not too hot, great pepper taste. The stuff is good on just about anything. And just three ingredients: Aged red cayenne peppers, distilled vinegar, and salt.

🏔️

Huckberry's profile of the Patagonia brand is an interesting short watch. I've long been a fan of the way they operate, and this little tour of their headquarters shows how they started (by making rock climbing equipment they themselves wanted to use) and how they've evolved (now a non-profit that donates profits to fighting the climate crisis). Wild to find out their adoption of fleece for lightweight warmth started with the discovery of toilet seat covers as the perfect synthetic fiber.

🍎

In 1992 I spent my high school graduation money on an Apple Macintosh Classic II. A few weeks later the Color Classic was released for the same price. But whatever. I loved that little monochrome machine. And I still have it in a box in the basement somewhere. So, it's nostalgically-tempting to grab the Maclock— a mini Mac-esque digital LCD clock that looks just like the original. If you're also thinking of buying one, I'd do it soon before Apple's lawyers get wind of this one.

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Everything you ever wanted to know about the pilcrow (¶). A typographic character with a long, storied history and more than just a "paragraph mark". I love the thoroughness of Keith Houston's writing on punctuation and typography.

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What are you working on?

I bought a new mailbox last week. Researched the heck out of it. Then watched approximately 452 YouTube videos on how to install the post into the ground; digging a hole, concrete, etc. I can do this! Got everything I needed at The Home Depot. Started trying to dig out the old one and almost immediately knew I was in way over my head. There are roots everywhere, irrigation lines, old post concrete...the videos made it look so easy. I felt defeated. But just then, a landscaper pulled up to my neighbor's house. Someone I know who's helped me with a few small things before.

“Uhh, how much would you charge to remove the old post and put in the new one?”

“$150.”

Now, that was almost exactly the bill at The Home Depot for the concrete, post hole digger, spade, magnetic levels, etc.—all things I didn't have but are required for setting a post.

“Okay, I'll have you do it.”

I'll return the tools and break even. I need to concentrate on things I'm good at, and not sweat that, while it may appear easy on a video, it's okay to let a specialist handle the task.

About an hour after the landscapers started digging, they were almost done.

“That would've taken you a week,” he said.

He was wrong. It probably would've taken me two.

Anyway, I have a new mailbox now. And I drew a mailbox icon for the Clauthbound typeface that's in progress (pictured above). Onward and upward.

I hope you have a great weekend and choose only the tasks you can handle and nothing more ;-)

Cheers,