Bouncing around

I’ve had a lot of half-baked ideas bouncing around my head recently. Fragments of projects or possible starting points. Things to pursue. Maybe putting them out into the world will a) get rid of them or b) let them flourish.

At the very least this will help me close some tabs.

• Creating an online space that is not dependent on any platforms or required to be “professional.” I still need a website for my design work, but I also need one that is… not that. A website that is a shifting house next to a river of knowledge. I have a “Website Revamp” Are.na channel where I store inspiration.

• Mailing things. Making a print club (like Catdrool Club or Sunroom Monthly Flyer Club) or some sort of physical media exchange (like snail-mail exchange or Elan Ullendorff’s ᵐⁱᶜʳᵒsupporter Program).

• Finding music and movies outside of algorithms. I feel silly saying this, but where do I even look? When Carly and I first got married we would open up Kanopy and take a chance on a random movie that seemed interesting. Not all of them were for us, but we watched a bunch of great movies we probably wouldn’t have found any other way (Captain Fantastic, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Lady Bird, Ernest & Celestine). In college my friend Austin picked up a random CD from a thrift store. Driving around while blasting something you just stumbled upon is an amazing feeling. How do I find that serendipitous energy again?

• I keep getting emails about zines (and also real, paper, ink, and staple zines). More please. Some subject lines in my inbox:

  • ZINEMAIL No.1

  • Do you want the March zine?

  • Let’s Make a Zine!

  • Wanna make some zines?

  • Zinestack Roundup No.9

  • Read like an artist!

• Resisting AI and refusing to believe that just because something is easier or faster or more efficient (you can’t see but I’m making exaggerated air quotes with my fingers) doesn’t mean it’s better. Inefficiency has value. Maybe not to someone else’s bottom line, but it has value.

• Along the same lines: “No one wants to make ‘ugly’ art, or a ‘bad’ website. But struggling and making mistakes is an important part of developing skills and – increasingly important – finding your own voice.” (via Naive Weekly)

• Untangling myself and my workflows from big tech companies (feels impossible, probably isn’t).

• Something about the interconnectedness of writing, publishing, and design.

  • Why everyone can (and should) be a great storyteller – Carly Ayres

  • Writing advice for artists and visual thinkers – Austin Kleon

  • artist publishing (vs. self-publishing) – Amelia Greenhall

  • On Publishing: Graphic Designers Who Publish – a bunch of people

  • Why Designers Should Be Writers – Abby Farson Pratt

• I can’t believe our kids are growing up so quickly. Everyone says “It goes fast!” and then you have kids and find out they’re not exaggerating.

Knox added all the color to the animation this week using his trusty crayons.

*pointing at beef jerky* “Can I have somma that chicken beef?”

This newsletter is sent out every Sunday morning, rain or shine. It’s lovingly made by Mitchell and patiently edited by Carly. Knox and Olive are around here somewhere. We do not use AI.a

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