I am bone tired and the week hasn’t even begun. But I want to take a moment to mark the fact that this is my twenty-sixth week writing these notes. Sure I missed a fortnight due to a family health scare, but I am rather proud of sticking to this habit for half a year.
WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING
1.
Most of last week was a daze as I was trying to catch up with work. I felt over-extended, fragile and desperately needing a break. I started work on the first round of a new lettering commission, and began putting things together in a presentation for the client. In the last couple of years, I’ve got better at communicating what I am doing during meetings and I want to keep that up. I have a nagging feeling that exchanges with this particular client could prove to be challenging so I really don’t want to miss the mark in my preparation. I also did some more work on a project that started a couple of weeks ago, expanding the character set and refining the composition and illustrations. Despite feeling quite stuck, I kept at it longer than I usually would have and I think I made some breakthroughs.
2.
Despite myself, I prepared and shared a quote for some graphic design and typography work to go with a couple of typeface families I am designing. I am desperately craving a break from work, but it seemed too good an opportunity to let go. I would, after all, love the chance to make my typefaces sing, if I can.
3.
The highlight of the week was my super short trip to Bangalore. I was there for less than two days, just enough time to attend the speakers’ dinner for City Scripts, facilitate my workshop at the festival, and grab coffee with some friends. I was quite nervous about the workshop because it was a new idea, but I think it went well enough. In hindsight, I feel like my introduction could have been more focused on what we were doing rather than on the general shortcomings of the design canon. I also wonder if I can introduce some materials in the workshop that help participants understand the history they are reinventing a bit better. It was excellent to have the Aksharaya calligraphy manuals on hand, though, and I am thankful that Sarang was able to send me a new set at very short notice. The folks at IIHS had already set up my little exhibition before I got to Bangalore and it was gratifying to be able to see it in person. When I went, more than half the free film zines that were up for grabs were gone and that made me super happy. There was so much excellent stuff happening at the festival, and I wish I could have spent more time there attending talks and panels, and meeting folks.
4.
I finally met Pooja and Yadu at the festival, and ended up spending quite a bit of time with Yadu and Namrata at the dinner, which was lovely. I also got the chance to have a small chat with Heta Pandit, and I met Hari, who works with her and helps run the Champaca store in Goa. Hari immediately reminded me of one of Amber’s closest friends and that was nice.
After the workshop, and before heading off to the airport, I squeezed in a coffee with Noopur and Kenneth. Even though Noopur and I worked together on making the Pixel/Play workshop happen last month, we hadn’t had a chance to just hang out and chat, and it was wonderful to be able to do just that. While at Nerlu Café, we ran into Aarika, Pratul and his parents, which was a happy coincidence. I hadn’t been able to figure out a way to meet them on this trip, and in a way our serendipitous run-in was even better than a planned rendezvous. It made me feel that even though we live in different cities, maybe that is not so far after all.
With Pooja, Namrata and Yadu at City Scripts
5.
The two solo flights I took were the perfect time to get some reading in. On my way to Bangalore, I read Jordan Mechner’s graphic memoir Replay. I was hesitant to read about the holocaust right now, but he tells the story of his family beautifully. I only wish there was more about his game making journey in the book. I sort of made up for that by reading Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow on the way back. Video games and game design has been on my mind a lot lately, and for good reason. Rhea and Prateek released the demo for their game Fishbowl last week, and I’ve been telling anyone who’d listen to go play it.