Bacon

This week I found more than one website having to do with one of my favorite all time things, bacon. It’s a bit off my usual topics but I thought I had to say something about it.

I have always loved bacon. Bacon is the ultimate comfort food. Savory and chewy (or crispy if you’re into that), it is the perfect addition to any meal. Bacon accompanies flavors you would not think it would, after trying a bacon chocolate bar I decided to attempt a new remix on the the bacon burger.

Why am I talking about bacon you ask? What does this have to do with design? This week I stumbled upon a photographer, Henry Hargreaves, who thought it had enough to do with it to make a blackletter typeface out of bacon. Check it out here.

Sometimes the best inspiration for projects comes from things that you love, whether they seem relevant or not. If you think about anything you enjoy and study it deeply enough you will find lessons that will apply to any project. For instance, think about which cuts of meat produce the bacon you enjoy most and what other cuts might be available. I did not know until recently that the bacon I have eaten my whole life as an American is pork belly. There are other cuts of bacon I did not even know about that I now wish to try. This is something to keep in mind when starting a design project. It can be easy to forget that the inspiration you use to inform your work is limited to what you have seen and studied. There is always more to learn and to discover, like back bacon. Any craft done well has something to teach.

Now go order some bacon muffins from my other recent bacon related discovery, the Baconery, and learn from something you love.