📰 Noteworthy stories for today #31
The Crystal Hunters of Chamonix, How to speak K-Pop & Designing a Book Cover for an Author in Prison
It’s been a long couple of weeks, I admit I haven’t had much chance to read after starting at 48.1. But none the less here are something I have managed to read and loved.
The Crystal Hunters of Chamonix
Another addition to the list of jobs-I-didn’t-know-existed-but-now-want-to-do, Crystal hunting in the French mountains has ranked highly off the bat. I’ve never really thought too hard about where those little crystals I see adorning the windows of hipster boutiques and the tiktoks of hipster teenagers but there is a niche market for highly skilled alpinists to bring these crystals to market. In some places cristalliers are able to use explosives in their search but in France they must use wits, intuition, stamina and non-damaging methods and unfortunately as climate change has melted so many of the mountains - the cristalliers have been able to reach new and larger finds. Read on Outside Magazine.
How to speak K-Pop
I remember covering the economics of K-Pop band BTS at The Economist and the fascination with the K-Pop industry is still there despite never listening to any of it! 1843 (The E’s sister magazine) looked at the lingo of a K-Pop fan from sasaeng, chongong and dungeons its a fun glimpse into a culture I know nothing about. Read more and sound like a pro on 1843 and The Economist.
Designing a Book Cover When the Author is in Jail
Lastly, we have a two parter - Senior Designer at Alfred A. Knopf, Janet Hansen talks about the process of designing one of my favourite book covers Cherry. On Fonts In Use, we get a glimpse at the process for creating the typeface and on Lithub Janet talks us through the difficulties of designing a cover for an author who’s still currently in jail. Well worth a read for the process pics alone on Fonts In Use and Lithub here.
See ya soon
M