Art in October + November: A sticker sheet!
In November I actually didn’t draw anything 🥲️. Thankfully there’s October to make up for it: I managed to finish my (first) sticker sheet in time for the Frankfurt Book Fair 😊️! (when I showed you the work-in-progress in the September letter nothing was less sure)
Here it is, nicely designed with 6 stickers in different shapes and sizes, little additional motifs to tie everything together (in this case, gras tufts 😁️), and a colourful, decorated title :)
And yes, it is available in the shop 😎️!
But here I’d mostly like to share the behind-the-scenes with you. So here is my first rough design of the sheet (based on observational and idea sketches I had done before).
And here’s how the file I sent to the printer looks like.
I had the sticker sheet printed at a specialist printer’s called Typographus (based in Berlin). The shapes of the individual stickers (that are pre-cut on the sheet) have to be provided as vector shapes (in green on the picture); you have to keep specific minimum distances between the border and the cuts, between the cuts, and between the cut and the motifs. I was very late creating these shapes, I had never before done something like that with my desktop-publishing software, and I was not sure it would all work out 😬️! But it did – all with my free software Scribus 🔥️.
There’s more I could show and write about how it went from idea to a product I could hold in my hands and stick on my notebooks and sketchbooks – but this letter already looks like it will be too long 😅️. If you’re interested, I would make a blog post about it :)
From my camera roll: Mushrooms, planting trees, and Mexico
In October I saw these fancy mushrooms during one of my morning walks 😊.
A woman who was making some measurements along the path, a small axe in hand (!), told me that these are “ink caps” (in German, Tintlinge). I later researched it and I think they are shaggy ink caps, specifically :)
Also, we planted 3 fruit trees! – 2 apple trees (Santana and Breaburn) and a prune plum :)
Then the last October week and almost three weeks in November we went to Mexico! We made literally thousands of photos (I alone made about 1500) 😅️. Maybe I will select more in later letters, or specific blog posts? Anyway, it’s impossible to give an overview, so instead I’ve made a selection based on very specific topics 😁️.
First I have to show you this Halloween-themed cake 😂️ (I bought it at a nice supermarket, they had several different designs with more or less eyes, teeth and spiders 😁️).
The sweet bread bun on the left is a “pan de muerto” (“bread of the dead”), a traditional cake baked in Mexico during the time before the “dia de muertos” (“day of the dead” – I talked about it in the August letter).
Then one of my favourite photo topics, street art (including stickers 😁️) :) Although it does not directly qualify as street art, I had to include this concrete mixer truck, as an unexpected example of art in the public space / in unremarkable locations 😊️!
Finally, some culture (at the temple of the feathered serpent in Teotihuacan) – but with a cute twist 😁️
So, did you spot it? ;)
(another one of my favourite photo – and drawing – topics… animals of all kinds :))
Let’s talk a bit about: Framasoft (crowdfunding campaign for 2026)
Something a bit different for this section this month :) Also, you may have noticed that I’ve renamed it – I realised that with “I have to tell you about…” I felt I had to find something really exceptional 😌️. But I want to be able to also mention more casual things, something I’ve just stumbled upon, an artist I find interesting but didn’t necessarily change my life 😅️. Also, I hope the new title may prompt you to reply and tell me what you think (beautiful? gross? boring? …changed your life? 😁️)
Though of course everyone is busy and you mustn’t feel forced to check anything out or to think about it ;) Only if you have time, and if you’re interested!
Anyway – just a few days ago I saw a post by association Framasoft, calling for donations for their annual funding campaign (though of course you can support them anytime 😁️).
One thing that concerns me is how a bunch of people and their companies (such as Meta (WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, …), Google/Alphabet (Google search engine, YouTube, Android, …), Amazon, Microsoft, Apple) are shaping the Internet and more generally the “digital world”. They are making it a place where everyone is constantly under surveillance, targeted by advertisement, and in fact also handled as a commodity.
Not only that: somehow they have managed to influence how we think about that situation. Namely that we come to accept it as if it were “normal” or “necessary”.
Well, it’s not.
Framasoft is only one of many groups and people who advocate, and also concretely work towards a digital world with another philosophy. With values of sharing, community, and freedom.
They talk about it on their blog (there’s more articles in French 😇️), also on the site for the campaign they’ve been running for several years, ‘De-Google-ify Internet’. As I said, many others are promoting and working on something similar – it’s just an example. But maybe a good starting point!
For example you can try using Framadate (which has just become mobile-friendly) instead of Doodle to find out when to meet with friends :)
With some technical knowledge you can also install the tool, and many more, on your own server and be fully independant!
That’s it for this month!
As always, if there’s anything you would like to ask, something you would like to read about in the next letter, or anything really – send me an email at hello@reinekurth.com! It would be lovely to hear from you 😊.
With love,
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