Studio Notes #67

Happy Friday, Design Folks. Here's issue #67 of Studio Notes™—quick bits delivered to you each Friday.

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ORION is a short film about Orion Miller, a surfer in Montréal who braves frigid winter temps to ride the infinite waves of the St. Lawrence River. It's beautifully shot, and seeing footage of Orion floating on a large chunk of ice to help get him into position to catch the right wave is...surreal. (via Kottke)

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The story behind Joy Division's iconic art on its Unknown Pleasures album could easily be the subject of a 20/20-style documentary. It turns out the "stacked plot" image that has adorned scores of bootlegged t-shirts is a data visualization of the radio frequency measurements from the first pulsar identified in space. Outstanding sleuth work from Scientific American.

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In Williamsburg, Virginia, there's an abandoned outdoor museum called The Presidents Heads. Having gone bankrupt in 2010, it's now a field of giant, decaying bust sculptures (perhaps a metaphor) on private land. The current owners offer ticketed showings and photography workshops. If I'm ever in the area this will surely be a stop to take some photos.

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There's a road in Hungary that plays a song when you drive it going the right speed. Using strategically-placed grooves in the asphalt, you'll hear a delightful Hungarian folk song played by your car tires. Here in America, when you accidentally veer off the highway onto the "rumble strip", you only get to hear the siren call of the devil himself.

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What are you working on?

Earlier this week, we handed over a free pre-release of our latest typeface, Clauthbound, to Secret Club™ members. It's a gently-stressed, display sans inspired by the foil-stamped, cloth book covers from the 20th century and includes over 40 random icons that would feel at home on those mid-century covers.

I'll be doing an official release very soon, but if you'd like to grab the pre-release today along with ALL of our typefaces, join the club ;-)

I hope your 2026 is off to a great start. I always have a renewed hope of good vibes at the beginning of the year, and so far that's staying in place. Onward & upward.

Cheers,