TDN Update 006
Lots of feelings & not a lot of type!
Hey y’all! Hap Fri as we say around here.
I have to come clean with y’all! I almost canceled today’s newsletter because type design productivity has been at an all time low for me lately. I don’t have an excuse really, it’s just like that sometimes. I’m trying to get better at forgiving myself when these lil’ slogs come on. (Don’t blame me, let’s blame the weather!!) I do have a couple fun tidbits to share with you to remedy the situation — I absolutely hate letting you down.
I’m not sure if I have ever talked about this in the many, many emails I have sent but I have ADHD. This means I struggle with productivity when things lack urgency, immediate gratification, or novelty. The sense of urgency behind the 52 Fonts project is the main reason I made it across the finish line. Since that project has ended, making progress on fonts, websites, licensing, etc etc etc, has been harder because there is no tangible deadline. “No one cares if you do it or don’t” says my brain as I flick past another TikTok.
I have noticed through many months of trial and error, that I am the most productive when I have a solid morning routine. For those of you that have heaps of self discipline, this might be obvious to you but it’s taken me about 30 years to fully understand. In order to have a productive day, I need to fully wake up, convince myself go for a run (every other day), shower (every other day), get dressed in real clothes (no sweats or pj’s), eat breakfast, get caffeinated, sit at my desk, and make a to-do list.
You might be thinking, “Obviously!” But it’s not so simple!! If I lay back in bed and look at my phone for even 5 minutes, my motivation is gone and the shame spiral begins and then it’s sayonara to any notable productivity that day. I don’t know why but apparently I don’t make the rules!! There are two reasons that I’m sharing this with you. The main one is so that you don’t hate me for not getting my shit together and opening this frickin’ foundry already. And the second is because I want to start working on my routine/productivity and sharing it with you. You’re my accountability partners, remember??
In order to resist overhauling my day to day routine (because let’s be honest, it never works) I am going to start by improving small parts of it. Step one is moving my to-do lists from little scraps of paper trash to something cute, fun, and customized to my *very specific* needs and preferences. So I have made myself a little planner. Each month, I am going to print these out and staple them together like a little zine-style planner.
I’ve intentionally designed it to be very open with lots of room for interpretation. There’s a spot for the date, obviously, but it’s blank so it can be filled in on the day it was used. This will hopefully avoid any blank, failure pages — I have been humiliated by too many pre-dated planners!!
The next box is for deciding who I am that day: Type Design Queen Extraordinaire, Business Biatch, Avery the Admin Guy, Sad Garden Fairy Priestess who needs an easy day, or just lil’ ol’ Libster. Sometimes you need a fancy title to set the mood for the day. An accompanying playlist doesn’t hurt either. Can you tell I’ve thought about this a lot?? Docs might say I am hyper-fixating.
Box #3 is for jotting down something I’m thankful for. I prefer to think of something super specific because if I just say Alex (partner) or Morty (dog) every day, it kind of dulls the effect. Today, I am thankful for morning snuggles with my little Morty guy. The next part is the most obvious: to-do list for the day. I try to be realistic when I make my to-do lists but sometimes I just brain dump. Whatever feels right!
The rest of this page is meant to be filled out at the end of the day or beginning of the next day. Sometimes when I don’t cross everything off a list, it makes me feel bad. Writing what your day actually looked like is helpful because you might have helped your partner pick out frames for his new glasses instead of digitizing that sketch. Still productive, just not how you thought your day would look! No biggie!!
Anyways, sorry for writing a whole novel about a random planner I designed on a whim for myself. But if you’d like to download it, click the button below I included the InDesign file with the pdf in case you’d like to customize it. It’s three pages: a cover and then two planner pages (so it prints double sided). It’s also free!! Print as many planner pages as you want and staple them or saddle-stitch them together! Or just print one at a time! Who cares!
Also if you’re interested in any of my dingbat fonts, they’re on sale right now through Creative Market. At the end of the year, I will be taking them off CM to move them to my own website. So this is the cheapest they will ever be!! Check them out!
5 Things I’m Into Right Now
My favorite type design podcast, The Weekly Typographic, interviewed one of my favorite type designers, David Jonathan Ross recently and he shares some really great insights. Definitely a must-listen!
I am super into the new season of The Crown! They’re finally getting into more Princess Diana stuff. The actress that plays her is phenom.
I’m stuck on this idea of starting a knitting newsletter to share all my knitting experiments and the things I’m making. I might call it Libbie’s Lab. I guess I just really like writing!!
I am getting excited to decorate our place for the holidays! I love hanging colorful garlands and reorganizing the living room to make space for our little Norfolk pine to become the center of attention!
This song from Black Sabbath that I am shocked isn’t metal… It’s called Planet Caravan and is weirdly soothing!
Have a great 2 weeks!!
Libbie