Hello everyone and welcome to the second edition of the Aeiou’s Log. The first one had a warm reaction from new subscribers, which pushed the log to be less shy. Last month has been the most active since we went live, with the first uses coming from the wild, it’s super rewarding. On the menu: Some reflections on our practice and new recipes with a back taste of winter and perfume of spring (depending on the location). Enjoy!
Shinka Superstar
As said, last month the first uses came back to us. All of our big drop serif monospace: Shinka. The group Aespa is–indirectly–our first client through our website, which is mindblowing. They are using Shinka as the typeface for their new series of concerts.
Then our friends at BBDB used it for a show and a small publication by Veronica Milli and Dito Publishing. They did a launch event at their studio in Bassano del Grappa.
Last but not least our dear Elisa and Francesco (zoll) are using it for a soon-to-be-published book by Spazio, along with an exhibition that will stay on also during the design week, if in Milan do not miss it. It showcases the photography of Francesco Paleari and Allegra Martin of Casa Maria Bottero designed by architect Umberto Riva in the 1960s.
“Just needs to be green”
What pesto is made of? If you ask a Genovese it will most likely answer you “Basilic, Parmigiano, Olive Oil, Garlic and Pine nuts”. It isn’t easy to create something more umami-full than the original pesto. However, the idea of it somehow got into common knowledge as a paste that can be made of everything, usually as long as it gets green. Then Barilla created a red pesto, but we are not here to take strong positions.
Even if I disagree with that, all the possibilities that allow this approach are almost infinite and can use vegetables that are not commonly used. Following my recipe for a kale pesto that you can use in pasta, with proteins, to make a yoghurt sauce… everything.
Fill a pot of water and put on the stove;
Take two large Kales, separate each leaf and remove the hard part of the stem. I usually hold it with one hand at the bottom and with the other, I tear the leaf. What comes easily is the good part. You can keep the stems to make a broth.
When the water boils add salt and blanch the kale for roughly 10’. Never cover if you want to keep a nice green colour.
Drain the kale and rinse with cold water.
Roughly cut two green onions and a bouquet of coriander (which can be replaced with any other fresh herb of your liking). Add a grated garlic clove and a good amount of olive oil. Mix well, the more it mixes the smoother the paste.
Put it in a jar and keep it in the fridge.
Andrea changing his mind, weekly update
This month Andrea’s mind was looking at the Big Apple. He started with “I might get an Office Monitor™”, but it was too expensive. So then, Andrea started looking at cheaper monitors and going back and forth with the Big Company™ one. Some days after we chatted about getting a Tablet Pro™ to proof our typefaces. In Parallel, his Portable Computer Pro™ started giving signs of weakness. Keys were not working anymore, we can say he loves his cmd and shift quite a lot.
And one morning the computer decided that it was it. Andrea straightly went to the Big Company™ store and came back with a brand new laptop. Two weeks have passed, and he is back to the Tablet Pro™ moment. He says they will take the place of Portable Computer Pro™. I will keep you posted
Butter on Cheese
This recipe arrives sweetly from our escapade in Passenans with Elisa and Francesco. We came over for a research project that Vincent initiated. I can’t say more so you get only the recipes, but rest assured that it was a matching weekend.
I like slow cooking, and guess why, I can do other things in the meantime.
In a baking dish that goes onto the stove sear 1kg of chunks of beef. Depending on the amount and the dish size, you might want to separate them into two batches.
Remove the meat and add a noisette of butter. When melted add 2 chopped shallots, a crushed garlic glove and a pinch of salt to make
Preheat the oven to 140°C;
In the dish, better with a lid, add chunks of beef, finely chopped garlic and shallots, olive oil, and spices that you have and like. I used salt, pepper, oregano, a weird mix my father had with anise, different kinds of peppers, probably some cumin and other unidentified seeds. It smelled good.
Cover it with wine. Luckily, I had a white one from the house (Vincent’s).
Finally, put the dish into the oven for roughly 4 hours, checking and stirring occasionally. I had Zélie do it for me while we were on a tour with the team
Back from the tour, Zélie had peeled a good amount of potatoes that we put in a pressure cooker for 30/40 minutes.
Drain the potatoes and set them apart. In the same pot, put milk, butter and some salt. Let it warm up until the butter melted. Add a potato one at a time and smash it until smooth.
Preheat the oven to 180°C;
Take the cooked meat and put it on a large cutting board. Chop it roughly to break any big pieces. Put it back into the baking dish
Add the purée over the ragù. Cover it with grated cheese-Comté for us, we are in Jura-and a few pieces of butter.
Put in the oven again for 20-25min and then enjoy!
Some notes: Evolving the idea of this hachi-parmentier, I might try to go in the direction of a Genovese ragu using the same cooking technique to get a smoother sauce, using shallots and not onions for a more complex taste. It shouldn't be as humid as Genovese ragu. Or also the way meat is cooked for rou jia mo. Slow-cooked for 12 hours and chopped just before serving. Depending on the influence also the purée on the top could evolve but potatoes are generally a wide common ground.
Cherries on top
There is a way of saying in French and Italian (the two languages I know the most) that refers to putting cherries on the top of cakes as the last perfect detail. After some research, I realised that “Icing the cake” was more used in English. But hey, I’m more bound to the cherries so you’ll have to keep along with that. Also, the following text was written as I perceive what I do, hoping you’ll find some resemblance. I feel this can be relatable to people in the creative field. Illustrations are made by sweet Carlotta (@unluckycorporation), a friend of ours who is borrowing our couch while desperately looking for a room in Milan.
I finally found a way to express what I’m good at or better, what I like to do. I don’t know if you already felt it, but sometimes working in many different manners and layers, it can feel that you are not good at what you are supposed to do. At some point, you will have this strange feeling that you cannot create anymore, or you can’t add this sparkle a client is asking for a one-shot project.
I can barely put the cherry on top. It makes me feel like an impostor, as I’m not a graphic designer. But the reality is a bit more subtle than that. I like systems and order, being eager to respect each space. I realise that the result can be boring, and it’s all the point of it. We need someone who can take that grid and break it. Take that rule and smash it. Or use it in a way you didn’t think about. They are the cherry droppers (on the top of cakes).
I like to see what I do as producing the reddest and juiciest cherries, all in laid-out tree fields with straight lines and labelling. Maybe I like to organize?
Sometimes it happens, I can put the cherry on the top of a cake, but I can’t define how. It’s an abstract moment that remains undefinable and when I need to start something new I’m scared it might not happen again.
That’s often the case with typefaces. If you create I think it’s difficult to know how to use them well (“right” probably yes, it’s not the point and what is right whatever). While using it you go back to the font editor to correct errors you found. And that brings us to the fact that it can be scary to use your creation in a non-default way as you’re not “respecting yourself”.
recs and questions
This month I went a lot to the cinema. Fondazione Prada has a thoughtful selection of classics, new releases and unfoundbale.
Zone of interest, what a weight, what a perspective.
We saw the documentary about Hipgnosis, the duo behind 70s record covers (Pink Floyd, 10cc, etc.). The movie says more times that they were crazy than their creative process, still great.
Dune 2, I love sci-fi please pardon me. I love aesthetics too. This is not a review.
Have you seen Gossip releasing a new album? I started listening to their discography in a loop last week till a full house cleaning almost turned into choreography.
Can’t get out of my head if u think I’m pretty from Artemas. It touches on a middle point between different genres that is pretty interesting.
That is it for this time, I hope you enjoyed it. Maybe there is less type design than usual, but this is a free place. We are also working on some website updates that will take months to come. We are going slowly but surely.
Bisous!
César (and Andrea, when he likes it)