13 things I made recently
13 things I made recently
Another one mostly about cleverly folding paper in half
Dear Internet,
It’s me, Ben Brown. I am writing because if I don’t manifest something new into the universe every few hours, I will deflate like bad quiche. Writing is a muscle that you have to exercise and email newsletters are like radio shows you just say some stuff and then move on to the next one. HERE GOES.
I have continued making “Benzines.” Sometimes they erupt from my brain in a single session, hot scribbles and angry cutouts on folded paper. Sometimes they take days and days in paper, ink, screens to bring together. They are fun to make! I highly recommend it.
My process goes something like this:
Decide to make a new zine
Fold a piece of paper into 8 sections
Put stuff on page 1. Some words or a drawing.
Put stuff on page 2. Hope that maybe some sort of theme is emerging.
Put stuff on page 3. Wait should page 3 and 4 connect? Shit.
Decide to do a paste up spread on 3 and 4, covering up the original content of page 3 with pictures downloaded from the internet, printed, cut and glued to the page
Now pages 5 and 6 should be a thing? Or maybe not.
Ok so did a vague theme somehow materialize? There’s the front cover
Oh crap I need a back cover too, wait did I draw a selfie yet? Boom.
Off to the printer!
Here are the 7 I’ve made so far. Each has 6 tiny pages and a front and back cover. However small in size, they each carry a massive psychic payload.
I have also made a variety of small things to include with my zines when I give them to friends.
I made keychains featuring my Angry Cloud character. I had to put the chains on each one! It made my fingers hurt.
I made a Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy babelfish sticker that was intended to look like the fish was packaged in a cup with a peel-off lid like on pudding cups.
I made stickers featuring Blank Reg, a character from Max Headroom. He is my style icon.
I made these holographic skulls, and then made some more of them after people liked them and now I have too many.
I made a second cryptic minidisc stickers that says “Disc 02” to go with the original that says “Disc 01.” It is pink and holographic.
Most recently I made these Benzine fridge magnets. Frankly, magnets are pretty magical things! Atomic forces in the palm of your hand!
I made all these things using Sticker Mule. They have regular discounted deals where 50 stickers are only $30 which is a great excuse to get stickers made. If you use this link to sign up, I can get make more
I post a lot of process pictures of the zines while making them using Instagram stories. You can see collections of them at the top of my profile.
WORK RELATED NON SEQUITUR: I recently appeared on the official Microsoft Developer livestream to talk about chatbots. You may find it amusing!
I hope that was mildly enjoyable! I will write again soon. ABOUT DEMONS.