MAKING
T-minus eight weeks to Chicago Zine Fest. I made solid progress this week, checking off a bunch of to-dos and prioritizing anything that needed to be ordered and shipped:
✓ Finalized the Rum Ball zine layout and prototype, see above
✓ Placed (and already received!) a Paper Source wholesale order
✓ Ordered a replacement Dymo label maker
✓ Stapled and trimmed Brownie zines
✓ Proofed and edited the Potlucks zine
✓ Placed a packaging order
✓ Scanned artwork for the Strange Gardens reprint
✓ Prototyped a cover idea for the Retrobotics Field Guides
THINKING
Print you hold on to.
Over the past few months — and especially the past few weeks — I’ve been thinking a lot about print. I’ve been caught up in the logistics: pagination, paper supplies, toner levels. But I’ve also been reflecting on a deeper question: what does “print” really mean to me? What do I mean when I describe Makeist as a bespoke design + print studio?
I realized that thinking only gets you so far. It wasn’t until I was on a call Friday, talking about Makeist, that I finally put words to what had been turning over in my head. “Print you hold on to” — that’s how I described what I do.
Yes, of course you hold printed materials in your hand. But what I really mean is: I design pieces you want to hold on to. Pieces you’ll tuck away, put on display, set on your bookshelf, or keep by your desk. You hold on to them because they mean something. They trigger a memory. They make you smile, or laugh, or cry.
And sometimes, they’re so meaningful or delightful, you pass them along — slip them into an envelope to send to a friend or your sister, because they’re too good to keep to yourself.
That’s what Bespoke Design + Print means to me — not just paper and ink, but meaning, memory, and connection. That’s the kind of work I want to make. That is Makeist.
LOVING
Another great zine+ haul over the past couple weeks. Some were bought, some were gifted, all of them are appreciated. 🩷
Pictured above (left to right): Substrate Zine by
, Rules to Live By by , The Dirty South: Southern Vegan Eats by Vanessa Johnson, Character Arc and sticker by , Postcard Club by , and Life Lessons I Learned From Being a Line Cook by Ari Weinzweig.
THIS WEEK ON ZINESTACK
Thanks for the shoutout, Jen. I hope you enjoyed the zine.