032: Fruit stickers, 90s teens, and good fonts

Plus tennis fashion.

María Vargas Aguilar

Sep 02, 2025

Graphic design, visual delights, and things worth noticing, delivered twice a month.

Hi there, I am so happy to be back in your inbox after taking a couple weeks off.

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Now onto the newsletter.

Prompt 007:

Draw an egg 10 different ways.

Set a timer for 30 minutes.

Sometimes you just need to draw a few eggs.

🗞️ A collection of fruit stickers by Roxane Gataud

I love a designer with a random little hobby. Roxane Gataud is a French typeface designer who collects fruit stickers, also known as legufrulabelophilia. Such a charming way to find great design inspiration in the small things.

🗄️ How designers describe themselves by David Wise

A collection of designer bios. Really helpful if you’re working on your portfolio and need a jumping off point for your about page.

🛠️ 70+ tools for folks who like to draw by Becky Simpson

From pens to tripods to scanners and cloud storage, this guide is a thoughtfully in-depth kit for all your drawing needs.

🗄️ For my texture heads by Karim Dulatov

It seems that designers fall into two camps: those who use textures in their work and those who do not. I do not, but I keep textures saved in case I ever have a change of heart. These are some good ones for free.

🔤 Vibes-based Google fonts by Smith & Diction

Display fonts, fancy fonts, tech fonts, serif fonts.

🔤 Free typefaces by Collletttivo

An open source font catalog.

💿 Color disruptions by Vanzyst

A collection of 96 abstract abstract bitmap vector graphics. Beautifully pixelated.

📖 The Look of the Book by Peter Mendelsund and David J. Alworth

A great coffee table book on book cover design, what it says, and why it matters.

Some more things worth noticing:

📹 The Candy Factory by Cory Jacobs and Jason Schmidt

A short documentary of a tight-knit artist community held together by their landlord/fairy godmother that feels like a glimpse into bygone era. I recommend scrolling through the sweet comments after you watch.

🗞️🎾 A history of tennis style: men’s and women’s via Rake Magazine and Allure

A little overview of tennis uniforms through the years. In the stands and on the grounds at the US Open, I noticed a lot of spectators in tennis whites this year…I’d just like to remind everyone that you’re allowed to dress fun for this one…

🌀 Wind map by HINT.FM

A visualization of wind in the US.

🗞️ Sara Hagle on her practice and not thinking about authenticity via Colossal

A lovely interview with an artist I admire. She talks process, depicting present feelings in her work, and the distractions of following other artists on social media.

“There was a time, especially in school and when working as a graphic designer, when I was very diligent about exploring a variety of work. This was usually via Pinterest. It can be really inspiring, but sometimes it made me feel like everything had been done, which to an extent is very true, but not the best thing to be thinking about when you’re trying to express yourself.”

🖼️ Teenagers in their bedrooms in the 1990s via Flashbak

A collection from Adrienne Salinger’s new edition of Teenagers in Their Bedrooms. Let it fill you with nostalgia for a simpler, angstier time.

“Bedrooms contain the past, the present and the future; they are sites of continual transformation. Popular culture and fashion continually change and recycle. While specific objects of decor change over time, teenagers' bedrooms are still private sanctuaries: spaces for safely experimenting during a time in life when one is forming and expressing ever-evolving identities.”

🗞️ Iona Judd’s buttoned up bodice via Vogue

Here at Staring at the Ceiling, we <3 buttons and I was immediately enchanted by Iona Judd’s wedding bodice. Ellie Misner embroidered hundreds of the bride’s family’s collection of mother-of-pearl buttons onto the bodice to create one of the most beautifully unique wedding dresses I’ve ever seen. The Button King would be proud.

🖼️ Erasure notebooks via The Paris Review

Mixed media poetry by Mary Ruefle.

“Ruefle, who is based in Vermont, has been making erasures, which she illustrates with collages, almost daily since 1998. Usually working on two pages a day, she has completed more than one hundred and twenty-five erasures to date, a selection of which are now on view through September 6 at Poets House in Downtown Manhattan.”