📚 zinestack + zingerman’s + OG3

Three things I am making, loving + thinking about this week

Jul 07, 2024

This past week, I have been making steady progress on

: a community and resource hub for Substack writers, artists, and creators who are interested in publishing zines and connecting with other zine makers. This is a project that I’ve been noodling and knocking around for a few months. I started with the branding of course; I always start with the branding 😉. I want the logo and visual identity design elements to convey the DIY, handmade, and tangible aspects of zines:

The logo and logotype are handwritten in black Sharpie
Photographs are mocked-up in 3D, rather than flat
Additional 3D elements like buttons and pens are scattered about
Content dividers are hand-drawn and organic

Over the course of this month—to coincide with International Zine Month—I will be adding posts, videos, and more. If you’re a zine creator, a zine collector, or simply zine curious, subscribe to stay in the loop!

02 | loving

Speaking of brands that begin with ZIN… every year I anxiously await the annual Zingerman’s Summer Sale. When I’m on the website, I feel like a kid looking through the Toys”R”Us catalog and picking out my Christmas-in-July presents. I load up on pantry essentials that I know we’ll go through: a case of Koeze Cream-Nut peanut butter, packages of spicy cashews with lime leaves, a bottle of aged apple cider vinegar, and loads of tinned fish (tuna, smoked trout, mackerel and salt cod). I also use this as an opportunity to try out new-to-me ingredients like pickled green tomatoes, white cat popcorn kernels and Suehiro ponzu citrus & soy sauce. The Summer Sale runs through July 31. Go ahead and treat yourself! You’ve been a good kid this year, right?

03 | thinking

You would think that only writing about one thing every week would be easier than coming up with three, but it turns out it’s actually harder. It seems counterintuitive, but when I tried sharing just one thing that I was making, loving, or thinking about, I put a lot of pressure on that single feature to be really interesting or really good. Whereas when I share three, the focus is spread out, and maybe one or two of the items are more robust or developed than the others. On weeks when I am short on time or energy, the three things collectively—even if they are individually simple or short—work together to make something greater than the sum of their parts. But this is how we learn; we try new things, and sometimes we end up coming full circle. Welcome back, my old format friend. ❤️