All Over, Overall
The chaos comes to a head.
BEFORE YOU READ FURTHER please consider donating to the 🫱🏼🫲🏽 Gaza Emergency Relief to help civilians bearing the brunt of the Palestinian genocide.
One year ago I decided to bring this newsletter back from the depths of the dead and quasi-vowed to produce and publish an installment at the end of each month. Where you here before, then? When this was called “lunch party” and the premise of each installment was what I had for lunch one particular day and what my thoughts were as I ate said lunch?
Consider yourself lucky if not—the product wasn’t exactly gripping. (Or is this my gorgeous friend Imposter Cindy speaking again? Girl, hush.)
The 12-month was a dare to only myself: Keep up with this for a year, and see what happens.
Not much has.
It’s not as though I came into this past year of chaos theory with any goals in exact. There was no reward to procure or prize to acquire. There was no point to be made. No numerical threshold to hit. No one to prove right or to prove wrong. Nothing to prove at all! The only sure thing was that the finish line is May 31st, 2024. And we’ve arrived at such juncture.
I’m not someone who’s too keen on looking back (eyes ahead at all times!), but as I cast my mind back to each time I wrote about and shared my thoughts and experiences as a designer on the internet, my positions and angles on the design industry, my takes and slants on being an independent, I am in some recipe of awe at how I was able to actually put whatever’s on my mind on paper, and then share it to whoever may be looking. To write and to share it is not something I’ve really been able to do before.
Before I was a designer, or any brand of creative in that regard, I fancied myself a writer. Writing was my first love. I can still see my boy self pulling out a pen and a notebook and writing down the worlds that he created—the people in it, their relationships with each other, how each dynamic wove into another, and et cetera. I remember writing poetry, and lots of it. I remember writing short stories in all sorts of genres—horror, fantasy, love. I remember just writing all the time—in the car on my way to school, before practice, on the weekends—and loving doing it.
But I never did two things; I never wrote about my own life, and I never shared my writing with anyone (not in a dark little secret way…maybe more in an “I’m gonna shield what’s sacred to me” way?”) I also stopped writing anything outside of academic essays once I reached middle school.
It’s what’s made the experience of these past 12 months, 12 installments that much more piquant for me: It was like learning how to ride a bike again, only the bike isn’t the same bike I used to ride.
So what has happened for this newsletter between May 31, 2023 and today? Like I said: not much—The subscriber growth has ticked up steady each month, but no viral growth, which would bother me if I were psychotic about analytics, and thank god I’m not; I gave it a soft rebrand at the end of December to usher in 2024; and it naturally took a segmented form where everything feels modular: there are always 5 songs and 3 fonts of the month, some sort of unhinged though categorically fair list, and a monthly life update in 300 words or less.
Not a lot and yet I look forward to it every time.
I think that may be the answer; sometimes, our endeavors don’t have to mean or amount to any grandiose, gallant thing. Sometimes, it all it has to do, is be. Something with which you can tell yourself, “Here is something you made. Dig in. Or dig not.”
Creating and adding onto this newsletter every end of the month for the past twelve has been so fun. I’ve thought deeper about my work and the work (as it were), and shared more about myself on the internet, than I ever have on any other platform or at any other time. But is it something I could think of doing for another 12, or 1 for that matter? Dear reader, we’ll see.
🎰 JAMES JUNK JUKEBOX*
The Hurtin’ Kind, Orville Peck feat. Midland – What a gorgeous song. If I were insane I’d say this is this year’s Rush by Troye Sivan. Do you see the vision?
She’s Not There, The Zombies – Maybe the sexiest song ever made. I’d die if someone sung about me the way these boys did Her.
BET, METTE – Thank you Twitter algorithm for bringing this certified bop into my life. If you’ve never heard this song, change your life and please do.
BIRDS OF A FEATHER, Billie Eillish – Her new album is bonkers good and miles better than her prior stuff, and this song gives me Fall 2021 vibes, which I usually regard as a difficult time in my life, but the mornings were always sunny and free and this song is what I envision Fall 2021 me would play if it existed then.
*Now you can listen with ease! I’ve compiled these into a mixtape on Spotify. I’ll add as we go. 🔗 Here.
🧾 A RECENT NOTE ON MY NOTES APP WITH NO CONTEXT
Hope your weekend was good! Took a few to collect some thoughts about our connection and while I had a great time with you on our dates, I’m unsure it’s one I’d like to pursue romantically. You’re a great guy! Would love to stay in touch as friends if you’re open, otherwise best of luck : )
Dated May 28, 2024 at 18:45
Okay I'll provide context LOL. This is a draft of a cutoff text I sent a guy I went on a few dates with this month. He was super sweet about it.🪶 A DESIGN QUOTE I THINK WE SHOULD BE REMINDING OURSELVES ON THE REGULAR
“You have to be in a state of play to design. If you’re not in a state of play you can’t make anything.”
📺 A DISRUPTION TO REGULAR PROGRAMMING
I made ANOTHER font! It’s called Reed and I think you’d be into it. Will you give it a whirl and let me know what you think?
Alright, commercial done. Scroll on, dear reader.
⚰️ THINGS I THINK NEED TO MAKE A COMEBACK
Windows 2001 UI
Colorful headphones
Pre-2020s Tesla culture
Narcissism
Poetic justice
Romcoms that feel like romcoms
Not participating in Activism Olympics on the internet in order to make yourself feel good and superior, even though all this incessant chatter only contributes to the detraction from the actual humanitarian conflict at hand
👔 LIFE UPDATE IN 300 WORDS OR LESS
Life was lifeing this month. In the interest of showing not telling you, here are a few photos (with captions, duh) from May that made me feel lucky to be here.
Starting with:
Me absolutely dominating beer pong on Cinco de Mayo weekend. (I lie; I suck at these games because I cba. I’ll consumer alcohol and not need to lose a game to do it.)
Dueting You’re The One That I Want with my friend Coco at Backstage on a random Thursday night. (There’s a long-form video of this entire venture, which won’t be seeing the light of day.)
Seeing my best friends over a winey Napa weekend. (Missing a few…group photos never work when everyone’s too busy having fun!)
Happy hour at Melody. I’ve entered my natural wine era and I don’t see myself exiting it anytime soon.
Getting a second tattoo. It’s a pond and wood grain at the same time. (It’s rather otiose, as all body art should be, but if I wanted to grant it meaning it would go a little something like, “Things become different things when you look at them from different angles.”)
There are more I wish I could show you, but those will have to wait for their own time. ‘Til then, I’ll see you elsewhere on the internet.
Kisses and smooches and pecks,
James
🫗 CHAOS FUEL
🧹 Fonts
Reed by James Junk, Poleno by Ján Filípek, Srisakdi by Cadson Demak
🛝 Internet Things
svg grabber – This Chrome plugin lets you grab SVGs on any given site. Get into it.
Atelier de Typographie – A pert collection of independently made typefaces.
Gaza Relief and Recovery Fund – Again, please consider taking action by donating money that goes directly to those needing urgent humanitarian care.
🌐 IN YOUR ORBIT
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