Desktop Wallpaper: July 2023

Austin, Texas-based URBS Studio is joining us for July’s Designer Desktop with a background that’s cool-tempered but energizing. Through her interdisciplinary design studio, Alyson Beaton explores the urban culture that surrounds her. The details and detritus observed all contribute to the whole of the studio’s work: grids, grit, signs, symbols, rhythm, scribbles, weeds, chaos, order, and more. URBS translates these visual tales of urban renewal and environmental sustainability through spaces, textile collections, children’s products, and more. The man-made environments that are part of our everyday lives are constantly evolving in different ways, and most of it’s nothing you or I have control over. But we’ll never tire of seeing creativity rise from the most unexpected of places.

For this month’s Desktop, Beaton shares her Glimmer design inspired by “The glimmer of light that reflects off the glassy buildings when the sun hits just right.” The trippy design is paired with the quote, “While you are looking, you might as well listen, linger, and think about what you see,” from Jane Jacobs.

Download yours with the links below!

DESKTOP: 1024×768 \\\ 1280×1024 \\\ 1680×1050 \\\ 1900×1200 \\\ 2560×1440

MOBILE: iPhone XS \\\ iPhone XS Max \\\ iPad Pro

Learn more about URBS Studio here and follow along on IG here.

View and download past Designer Desktops here.

For the Love of Comics: Bill Griffith Takes On the Iconic Nancy

The cartoonist discusses the subtle brilliance behind the comic strip, and the meditative experience of reading it.

Where Does An Inkophile Search For Ink And Pens?

Where does an inkophile search for ink and pens? Glad you asked. Twenty years ago there were so few inks on the market that I honestly thought I would eventually be able to try them all. Not a joke. I really thought that. Ten years ago it was not realistic but samples made it possible […]

Texas Senate Bill Bars College Profs from “Compelling” Students to Adopt Certain Political Beliefs

Critics say Senate Bill 16 is overly vague and will create a chilling effect that will prevent important conversations about race and gender. But Republican supporters say the legislation is necessary to protect conservative students who are self-censoring in the classroom. by Kate McKee The Texas Senate approved a bill recently that would prohibit a college or university professor from “compelling” a student to adopt certain political beliefs, a proposal belonging to a slew of legislation introduced this session that university and community college faculty worry will restrict academic freedom in the classroom. The bill now heads to the Texas […]

Better Call Someone [Anyone]

The indicted ex-President has gone missing.

Inside the Hush-Money Payments That May Decide Trump’s Legal Fate

Years of interviews with potential witnesses provide insights into the Manhattan D.A.’s case.

Notebook Review: Cortex Sidekick Notepad

A week or so ago Ana let me know she was sending me a new keyboard desk pad to try out. You may remember my fondness for desk pads, and my previous reviews of my Ruff House planners and the Original Crown Mill keyboard pad. Despite technology, I love having a place to write down my daily to do list, notes from meetings, etc. So when Ana sent me the Cortex Sidekick Notepad ($39), I was eager to test it out.

The Sidekick Notepad is designed by the one and only Myke Hurley, cohost of the Pen Addict Podcast. According to Cotton Bureau, “Sidekick Notepad is designed to sit comfortably with you and your keyboard. It’s ready and waiting for whatever you‘re working on. Capture all your tasks, action items, notes, and thoughts.”

Let’s get down to it. The Sidekick Notepad is listed as approximately 12″ wide by 7″ tall. (I measured the paper itself as 11.75″ x 6.25″ (30cm x 16cm). The Notepad has a sturdy cardboard backing and a cover made of a paper called “Extract” that is made from recycled coffee cups in London. It has scored edges so it can be folded over the back of the notepad while in use.

Inside are 60 sheets of Munken Lynx paper in a natural white color. There is a box for the Date at the top of the notepad and 2/3 of the pad has a dot grid where you can take notes, doodle, draw diagrams or the like. On the right 1/3 of the notepad is list where you can add and check off items.

I put the paper through its paces with fountain pens, fountain pen ink, brush pens, gel pens, fine liners and of course, Sharpies. The Sharpies always fail the test, but everything else didn’t show through, bleed or feather. Even the ink swab (which I did with cotton swabs) didn’t bleed through. You can see some distortion where the liquid was, but I wouldn’t expect a desk pad to be waterproof anyway (even though it might end up seeing some coffee).

Each sheet is perforated on the top meaning when you’re done, tear it off and start again on a fresh page.

I wanted to take a brief moment to compare the pad to a few others that I have tried.

Functionally speaking, the Sidekick Notepad is more or less the same size as my Ruff House planners. The format is different (the Ruff House planners have weekly undated planning pages) whereas the Sidekick is a bit more freeform. However, they are roughly the same size and weight, which I know does work for me.

The Original Crown Hill keyboard pad is more what I think of as something to keep right under my keyboard and handy for notes. It is much wider and thinner – it measure a whopping 16.5″ x 3.5″ (42cm x 9cm) and is a more convenient alternative if what you want is a notebook right under your keyboard.

The Sidekick won’t fulfill quite the same function as my daily planner, but I do think that it will be a useful addition to keep next to my computer, along with my planner, but better for notes in meetings, random thoughts, etc. With 60 pages, it’s likely to last for a while, though I suppose that depends on how active my days are and how many notes I really take.

I do like the paper – it is nice and smooth, and will handle any pen that I grab at my desk (I rarely use Sharpies so that’s not really a concern) and I think I’ll enjoy using it. The only question I have in my mind is whether I would continue to buy a notebook I just use for jotting down notes at $40. I should say, I don’t think it’s overpriced since it uses premium paper, recycled materials and is imported to the US from London. But if I were to use a page a day, a Sidekick would last me only 2 months so I’d have to decide if I’m enough of a devotee to keep going back for more. Let’s see how I feel after a few months and I’ll report back!

The post Notebook Review: Cortex Sidekick Notepad appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

Ink Samples Saved Me A Bundle

Ink samples from Federalist Pens saved me a bundle. Eight of them and not one suited my regular rotation so bottles of these inks would have gone to waste.   Edelstein Apatite and Laban Zeus are saturated colors that will please many people. Colorverse Butterfly and NGC 6302 along with Laban Hermes are pale and […]

Putting Words in Their Mouths

The best words, mind you.

Sammy Harkham’s Unbleached Perspective on an Oft-Maligned Medium

In “Blood of the Virgin,” the cartoonist chronicles the spectrum of surprises that his protagonist encounters at home and on set in Hollywood of the nineteen-seventies.

The Silicon Valley Bank Catastrophe

Who didn’t see this coming?

Life Imitates the Oscars

Reach out and slap someone.

“In the Dark,” the Acclaimed Investigative Podcast, Joins The New Yorker and Condé Nast Entertainment

As part of its expansion into long-form audio journalism, the magazine is now home to the award-winning series’ first two seasons and will release its third.

An Abandoned American Hostage Finally Makes It Home

After more than two years of neglect by the Trump and Biden Administrations, Mark Frerichs describes how he survived Taliban captivity in Afghanistan.

Remembering Ian Falconer, the New Yorker Artist and Author of the “Olivia” Books

Falconer won a Caldecott medal in 2001 and contributed more than thirty New Yorker covers.

Fox News Protects Itself

The network’s new on-air tactics.

Desktop Wallpaper: March 2023

It’s a new month, so it’s time to refresh your laptops and screens with our latest Designer Desktop! This month’s artwork is by Mario De Meyer, a graphic designer and artist from Ghent, Belgium best known for his typography-based artworks. He has worked with clients including Adobe, Speedo, Penguin Books, Bloomberg, Fortune, Inc., Ogilvy & Mather, IBM, Wired, Henkel, and more.

De Meyer also experiments with abstract creations, one of which turned into this month’s trippy and eye-catching desktop wallpaper. Download it below for all your tech devices!

DESKTOP: 1024×768 \\\ 1280×1024 \\\ 1680×1050 \\\ 1900×1200 \\\ 2560×1440

MOBILE: iPhone XS \\\ iPhone XS Max \\\ iPad Pro

Learn more about Mario De Meyer here and follow him on IG here and here.

View and download past Designer Desktops here.

Biden Beset by Balloons

Someone’s bubble is about to burst.

Iris DeMent’s New Album Is a Sustained Political Statement

“Workin’ on a World,” her first record of original material in more than a decade, calls on listeners to keep “building the beloved community.”

A Big-Tent Party at Madison Square Garden

Dance music is full of divisions. But a recent show with Skrillex, Four Tet, and Fred again.. felt like a big coming together.