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Five Things For Friday

Five things for Friday #4: Magazine design, not-so-dead languages and the love of fountain pens

Links I enjoyed this week and thought you might too!

Cavan Scott

• 4 min read
Five things for Friday #4: Magazine design, not-so-dead languages and the love of fountain pens
Image: Canva Pro

Hello there!

This week has largely been spent recovering from a small op that threw up a couple of complications, but also gave me the opportunity to break out the pens and get back to drawing.

Oh, and watching the Masters of the Universe teaser trailer over and over and OVER again...

So what else have I been reading / listening to?

Let’s find out...

Image: Canva Pro
If, as an industry, we sit back and allow magazine craft to become extinct, who are we to complain if our kids and grandkids choose to scroll bland, meaningless drivel rather than read an article.

— Jess Hibbert

  1. Design: 'Magazine designers: an endangered species' is a heartfelt – and sobering – read by Jess Hibbert, a brilliant designer I knew back in my Countryfile days. In the first post for her new On the Grid substack, she looks around the shrinking print industry and wonders where the next generation of magazine designers will come from.

    Jess also shares 10 unwritten rules for editorial teams that are painfully familiar to anyone who worked on mags, especially points 4 and 5 (both of which I was all too often guilty of committing!)

  2. Music: "I'm the last old guy playing the blues!" If you loved Sinners, then you should definitely check out this brilliant interview with Buddy Guy, the blues legend who plays the present-day Sammy in the final moments of the movie.

    And don't miss his latest album, for that matter. I've had it on loop all week – 'The Blues Chase The Blues Away' is such a toe-tapping, feel-good track. Go listen now!

  3. The importance of real things in a digital age: A few thoughts about authenticity in a world of AI, prompted by coming face-to-face with Charles Dickens (kinda) and your actual Winnie-the-Flippin'-Pooh during a recent visit to New York City.

  4. Language: I found this profoundly moving. Every two weeks, a language is lost. In fact, by the end of the century, half of the world’s 7,000 tongues may be gone forever. Half! So let's give it up for the valiant attempts by a group of passionate linguists to save an endangered language in South Lesotho. And if you fancy hearing SiPuthi being spoken out loud after reading the article, then your wish is my command!

  5. Podcast: This is worth a listen – a brand new podcast by Sandra Wong where she interviews lovely folk to discuss their secret geeky pleasures. Episode one of We Contain Multitudes covers a subject dear to my heart – fountain pens with Premee Mohamed. A full transcript is also available if you'd rather read what they say.


    Of course, this also gives me an excuse to post a picture of one of my favourite fountain pens, a limited edition BB-8 inspired Cross, which I picked up at Star Wars Celebration Chicago to mark our Project Luminous announcement. I use this pretty much every day.
Sorry, BB-8. It's a fountain pen, not a rollerball.

Let me know if you check out any of the links — and feel free to share your recommendations in the comments below. You can also just reply to this email. We've been doing these Friday round-ups for a month now. It would be great to know if they're helpful for you.

I’ll see you on Tuesday when I lay out my morning routine and how it helps me begin the day on the right foot!

Until then, look after yourself and each other!