90s Art School Gift Guide

My mind hasn't really been on work over the Thanksgiving holiday, so I thought I would take a short break from serious matters. I'll be back at that next week. Here's a gift guide for the art nerd in your life inspired by IG's @90sartschool.

📫 Mail Art

Kelli Anderson's Monthly Good Mail is focused on her cool paper engineering experiments. You can sign up for a whole year or monthly.

In Kate Bingaman Burt's risograph printed KBB Mail Club you can buy individual zines or sign up for the yearly subscription when it opens up.

Mark Pawson's entire website, but especially the stickers for me – Aggressive School of Cultural Workers and Demolish Serious Culture.

🎨 Tools

My Keychron Mechanical Keyboard is the best WFH desk setup item I purchased. I got the K4 (looks like has been updated with newer models online) that works either wirelessly or wired and has an RGB backlight in a whole bunch of modes that I thought might be annoying but are really fun. You can turn them completely off. I got the Brown switch, but they offer different ones so you can customize the clackiness of your choosing. Only regret is I got the 96% layout, and I would recommend 100% if you're used to the full size Apple keyboard.

I bought these Mr. Sketch Gel Crayons on a really nostalgic day and they didn't disappoint. The scents are just like the markers I used to have, but these gel crayons actually feel really good to use. Somewhere between a crayon and a paint stick.

Arcade Game Typography: The Art of Pixel Type has been on my design book wish list for a while. On a related note, I read Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and enjoyed that read if a fictional novel set in the early days of game development seems like something you'd be into. I'm linking to Amazon since it's accessible, but buy from your local bookstore if you can.

👀 Looks

Art school fashion has always been a bit DIY. Each month Suay Sew Shop's Community Dye Bath offers about six colors and you can mail in clothes that maybe you're sick of wearing, or are dingy, or stained, and have them dyed for a whole new life. The second batch I've sent them is on their way back, and among the pieces is a pair of cream pants with an unwearable stain that will now be mantis green and fully wearable.

Doc Martens are a classic for a reason. Old school pick are these cherry red lace ups. New school pick are these white chelsea boots.

Every time I go to Conkrete, I intend to get a great neutral sneaker, but color is my shiny object.