I asked R to photograph some print samples for a thing I’m doing. Then it was a low-ish moment of recognising how the world has moved on from one-frame compositions to everything-moving compositions as a way to showcase work. I was looking at type contract, expand, and move in splines around 3D rendered figurines over fields of Fuchsia and IK Blue. I asked R if I have gotten too old, too dated for what is considered nice work today in the field. It was a moment of self-doubt that I’m not too used to sharing. As she recalls (correctly) I’m (was) fairly arrogant when it came to work in general, and detail in particular. So, this was new and uncomfortable. I was looking at all the recent stuff I’ve made and the tools I’ve made those with, and realising that the scope has shrunk from when the foundation studio wasn’t a distant memory coated in LGBs and pencildust. The scope has shrunk, and the fun has too, perhaps. I don’t know whom to blame. I don’t think I hate the daily stuff I work on, even when it is largely insignificant and ad-hoc and automated and plain. I find joy in figuring out small things for small ends. I obsess over details perhaps as a way to establish a misguided sense of control and purpose. I don’t read as much as I used to. I don’t actively listen to music the way I used to. I can’t remember the last time I rode the bicycle not to work or to run an errand.

We had a lovely dinner today, with H and a bunch of experimentally coloured cats for company. We ordered a lot of stuff because all of it was lovely. The place was not quiet but well furniture-d and open. We spoke about many things and books and people and places. I went down my go-to rabbit holes about significant teachers etcetera. (On that note, the faculty page at IIT-J’s Design School has a link to a Google Form. It has these two sentences. “Some teachers can have a lasting impression on us. They can inspire us with their thoughts, their stories, their respect and care for us, or some such action…” and “What did you like about them? How did they inspire you? What was special about them? How were they different from other teachers? Did they only teach or did they become friends?” I think that is an awesome way to find people. I was looking at the website after sharing this year’s material- and reading lists for the TDM course. The folks there—Ga and Pr in particular—have managed to do an excellent job of planning stuff, again. In contrast, I received a call on Friday from one of the NIDs for a BGD course early next month. Facepalm indeed.)

I’ve put an alarmingly short list of tools together. There is little variety. The list used to be much more eclectic and fun, especially in the software department. Now it is an apple orchard with few interesting species in between. I’m not sure if it is a sign of things stabilising over time or a sign of too much overtime.

Work-related Hardware and Software. Moved by the usesthis and uses.tech folks. If this helps someone find tools, nice. Please feel free to write in with/for recommendations.

Main Devices

Mac Mini M1 (2021) with 16GB RAM
This is my main machine where most moneymaking work happens. Super-capable despite the nice pricing. Will buy again in a heartbeat.

13-inch MacBook AIr M2 (2023) with 8 GB RAM
This is my ‘lightweight portable’ computer for on-the-go work and typing-from-an-easychair. Not super-capable because of the RAM bottleneck, so I have invented ways to reduce reliance on memory when working on large format print files. Almost-magical battery life.

12.9-inch iPad Pro M2 (2022) with 2nd Generation Apple Pencil
This machine has made teaching and sharing work to a small group effortless beyond what I’d imagined. Had major expectations of moving most work to the iPad but the software limitations (looking at Adobe) have let me down. I use it to annotate work, sketch and plan stuff, and watch films/videos. In class, the iPad mirrored to a Mac connected to a projector is my go-to setup for discussing digital work. Tried reading on it with moderate success. No buyer’s remorse. (B says I never have buyer’s remorse.)

iPhone 12
Bought used, after the 6S stopped receiving updates. My first large-sized phone. Distraction-machine. Double back-tap sends it into greyscale mode to deal with that. (Works with caveats.)

Input Tools

Keychron K2 V2 with Blue Switches (Hotswappable)
The aluminium framed version. A gift from my brother. Works like a dream. Dual connectivity options. Replaced the space bar switch with a black one for silence. Satisfyingly clicky otherwise. Memorising the backlight setting is the one thing I wish it did better. Fn+L+Backlight longpress fixed it. Documentation here: link.

HUION RTM 500
I use this with the laptop when travelling or at home. Nicer than the old Wacom One in some ways (one of them being a USB-C connection). The touchstrips and keys remain disabled. Needed a portable USB-C pen-tablet that fit within the laptop’s real-estate. The Bamboo One and Intuos 3 still work but there is no software support for newer Mac OSes.

Logitech Lift
One of the best investments in the hardware department. (Maybe after the Keychron.) Solved my elbow-strain issue almost overnight even though it took me some days to get used to this. Never going back to regular mice. I want to get an MX Vertical once the price comes down from space.

BinePad BNK9 White
A 9-key + dial macropad programmable into 4 layers via VIA. Has black switches (and that one blue from the keychron). I haven’t used it 100% yet. Waiting to buy some labelled keys or figure out a way to make layer-based LED backlighting work. I think I should’ve gotten the HUION or the XP-Pen macropad instead.

Monitors

DELL P2419H
This stays home now, connected to the MBAir only when watching some videos/movies or when there is significant amount of work. Intuitive OSD for all four buttons. The USB uplink works amazingly well. Such nice VFM I’m going to find another used one for the MacMini.

Cintiq Pro 16 on a LUMI Arm
The Cintiq Pro is 4K at 16 inches for some sweet, sweet clarity. Built in etched glass surface feels like paper. There was no VESA mount for the thing so stuck to a custom cut VESA plate with some 3M command strips. The arm is sturdy beyond necessity and helps so much with working ergonomics. The Mac Mini is permanently tethered to this monitor.

Audio

AKG Lyra Microphone
Gift from Mishal. Makes me want to start a podcast.

Airpods
Convenient. Chellam chewed through the first pair. This pair used to be my brother’s till he got an AT M50.

AKG K52
Bought this for how large the cups are. I put these on when I need to signal ‘donotdisturb’ at the workplace. I do that often with no music playing. Works well.

CoLoud Boom from 2015
Resilient like the NOKIAs it used to be shipped with. Nicely basic with some lovely product design detailing.

TinAudio T2s
Not used much because the MMCX connectors are temperamental. Suchnice sound etcetera.

Telling Time

G 5600 E1
Tough Solar. (So it recharges you while charging itself.) 5 Alarms, automatic backlight. Large numbers and commendable information-hierarchy.

GA 2100 in Red
Pointless and fun.

IKEA KUPONGs
Affordable, simple, fun shape. One at home and one at the HQ. Reminds me the sun has risen/set.

Software

Apart from the obvious/common stuff like CC (Ai, Id, Ps, Bridge, Acrobat), Figma, and Mac utilities, here are the ones in my dock.

iA Writer
Decidedly opinionated developers. Distraction-free. Their Quattro typeface (a derivative of IBM Plex) is quite a nice way to deal with ‘monospaced’ text!

Paper
Distraction-free writing. More customisable than iA writer.

iA Presenter
No-nonsense presentation-maker. Love how the focus is on writing well.

MonitorControl
Lets me deal with multimonitor brightness settings.

Firefox
With an array of Privacy tools.

Clear
Fun to-do lists. Nothing more/less.

NetNewsWire
All my RSS feeds in one place. One of the most used apps on the phone.

MYRenault
Awkwardly named. Well-detailed user-manual.

SublimeText and CyberDuck
For writing and uploading to keyaar.in

Telegram
For everything. Everything.

Bags

LowePro Urbex BP 20L
Typical useful LowePro styling and features. Nice side-access for a camera. Molle loops. Really nice tech-pouch that fits in the optional bottom compartment or hangs out from the Molle loops.

Victorinox Altmont Active Rolltop
On loan to R. Lovely details and the rolltop doubles as an open tote for unplanned acquisitions.

DailyObjects Slim Caddy Crossbody Bag
Mustard yellow. The right size for EDC. Makes the randomest of t-shirt-trouser pairings look deliberate. Or so I tell myself.

Forclaz Compact Messenger Bag
For when the other two are overkill. Makes you want to downsize for weight and space. Not meant to be a laptop bag but that hasn’t stopped me. Folds back into a pouch. No padding/protection. I’ll upgrade/sideways to a DO messenger bag someday.

Stationery

Longer list later. This is the EDC version.

Pilot Parallel Pens
1.5, 3.8, and 6.0 mm. All filled with various inks.

Pilot V SignPens
Black, refilled.

Figo Fine
Black, Violet, Orange.

Uni Kuru-toga M5 450T
The cheapest Kuru-toga. Gateway drug, I think.

Staedtler Mars Technico 2mm
Got this 8 years after first-sight-love in my Analytical Drawing faculty’s pocket.

Parker Jotter (Blue and Stainless Steel)
The best-feeling ballpens south of 300 Rs.

Camlin Techno
Uniball green leads from RaRa. Stuck eraser.

MUJI White Plastic Ruler + Kristeel Stainless Steel Ruler
One for drawing, the other for cutting.

Stainless Steel Loupe
From second-year. Fun at airports.

5mm Stencil Letters
All caps. I don’t know why this is EDC.

All of this in a LIHIT Lab Zipper Case
A fine replacement for the MUJI pencil box. Loved the catalog/tag that came with it.

Stanley 5m Tape
Now that we work often on large-sized outdoor signs. Bought 2 of these.

I rode the Indie home and to places around WF for the past few days. Took the scooter to regular-mundane daily tasks and took it on dedicated test-rides in the night after the traffic thinned. (The photo looks like a potato-quality spyshot but that is just because I am awkward at taking photos in public. Even when it is early in morning and the only three people outside the chicken stall are more interested in other more pressing everyday stuff. R couldn’t take pictures because of the hurt leg and we are left with this crappybara I’m constantly apologising for. I even had to content-aware-fill the eff out of a piece of crumpled newspaper somewhere in the bottom left corner. See the bird-droppings on the seat above the pannier mounts? That is how ‘stock’ the vehicle was running. We’ll fix all this soon. Let R get well soon.)

The scooter rides really well, planted to the ground as if it were a car with nice suspension. (Reminds me of podimol in many nice ways.) The last time I felt this amount of ride-refinement was with the Thunderbird 500 back in GurgaonOfTheFlatRoads[1]. Like all EVs, the torque is instant and it is fun to make the motor spin up on open roads. (The whine is divine.) The range anxiety is real (started most of my rides with under 50% charge and that is not a nice thing to have running in one’s mind or flashing in the instrument cluster) and reenacting the charging sequence reminded me of trying to memorise a particularly longwinded hydrocarbon in class twelfth. That—despite how my marksheets turned out—is not a memory I’m particularly interested in revisiting everytime the chariot runs out of juice.

The Indie is a beautiful machine with a lot of well-intentioned details. We’re working on the second version of a small part on the vehicle and it is nice to see assumptions from version one fail faced with the three-dimensional experience of riding the Indie and having to charge it at the shared bays in the HQ parking lot. Looking forward to making some small significant (and above all, friendly) improvements soon.

I also did some impulsive helmet buying. Unlike my usual matte black-grey-white-with-stripes palette, this one is ‘colourful’ to say the least. R was surprised and went on to say she doesn’t recognise me anymore. I know she wasn’t talking about the second (tinted) visor-lette having come down over my grin-painted face. But the point remains noted.

There was a particularly busy traffic situation near Brookfield where I stopped next to an RE (a Bullet 350 with the golden 3D logo on the tank; not the retrofitted abomination that passes for decals at RE these days[2]). It was nice. Was happy and talked to R about it when the traffic situation let me get home sunburnt.

In other news, showed myself the proverbial door at the current temporary office this morning (before getting thrown out ceremonially perhaps; my ego wouldn’t have been able to take that fall after all the serendipitous traffic-light spotting of beziers). Looking for a tea-break friendly room and working from home till that materialises. After all these years wringing pixels behind oddly angled screens held together with velcro and bulldog clips (and sheer force of will to continue making a reasonable enough living), a proper workspace is something I’ve come to care the most about (after certain other things in life, ofc) and it is not okay to compromise. There was something that S wrote about that I wanted to discuss here. Will soon. Context.

There is a lot of work to finish. Some of it is exciting. Some of that exciting work is tweaking carpet designs in the middle of the day and tweaking them again much later. Some of that exciting work is mundane out of context but take a lot of patience and craft. (Like putting vehicle loan options and terms and EMIs in handout-friendly A5 cards. Or a 3-by-9 cm newspaper ad for hiring store staff. This last one I had so much fun with.) We are looking for capital G graphic design people to help do some of that boring/tedious work that needs an unsustainable level of attention to detail, fairly advanced typography/gestalt chops, and a lot of empathy and humility. If this sounds like I’m trying to glorify tedium and perfectionism and all those ideals that usually work against people having a life, apologies. I have heard what Carson had to say about graphic design saving the world. Also read this Nick Asbury essay on ‘purpose’ and fully agree. None of this work is ‘noble’ in itself but are good opportunities to manipulate form and order in service of someone’s experience. (Send in a PeeDeeYeff CV via hello-at-kl11-dot-in if still interested. Know that we expect a significant amount of fundamentals-in-place-ness and an unconditional willingness to work on many many many versions of things; we too do this. We also pay fairly well while being sufferable bosses.)

1: The difference is that I did not want to get one for myself immediately then, given how smitten I was with the Classic with the upswept silencer.

2: I wonder how the current B350 tank graphic even passed the basic-est of reviews. Can hear Mr. D grind his teeth everytime one enters my line of sight. I believe crapfest is the most family freindly technical term to describe that waste of materials and space. Like how a friend’s new boss describes stuff, I must start saying ‘shambolic’ and ‘gargantuan’ and suchlike.

Kerala Govt. Lottery Ticket from 1987. Hand-drawn-to-fit text with a variety of pen-angles (Pre-paid and 5 at 0, Date-of-Draw at a confused -45) and a tastefully divided horizontal-space. That Lubalin-esque 9 just begs to be folded in half.