Hot off the press! 9 newspapers to inspire you in June

Every month, we put together a roundup to show all the different ways our creative customers use newspapers.  From a zine published by the world's largest library of artist's sketchbooks to a newspaper celebrating Mailchimp's 20th anniversary — keep scrolling for 9 projects to keep you inspired through June.

Mailchimp memories

Mailchimp is turning 20! To celebrate, they’ve launched a quarterly internal newspaper sharing some of the odd stories and history of the company from the past two decades. All orders from Mailchimp’s online employee gift shop, called the Rainbow Room, will include a newspaper while supplies last.

"It’s so nice to read printed words, not pixel words, while we’re all still remote and glued to our computers."

“Newspapers are analog, environmentally friendly and easy to ship — a perfect medium for a project like this,” says producer Cait Lovelace. “It’s so nice to read printed words, not pixel words, while we’re all still remote and glued to our computers. Plus, it’s great for swatting mosquitoes when you finish reading it.” Printed on our digital tabloids.

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Sketchbook stories

Founded in 2006, the Brooklyn Art Library is a non-profit library with over 45,000 artist’s sketchbooks — the largest collection in the world. To help fund the project, they sell physical sketchbooks for participants to fill with work and send back for inclusion in the library.

This digital tabloid, printed on salmon newsprint, is sent with sketchbook orders. Published quarterly, it highlights different artists and offers prompts to kickstart creativity. “Print is the most tangible form of design and communication,” says designer Emma Harris. “It only felt natural to include a newspaper with our orders so that participants can find inspiration. Newspaper Club made the printing a breeze.”

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Fascinating folks

Artist Jonny Hannah created this newspaper to coincide with his Northumberland Folk project, commissioned by Museums Northumberland. From lighthouse keeper Grace Darling to social reformer Josephine Butler, “Haway the lasses!” is a celebration of fascinating Northumberland women throughout history, including “women I've met on my travels in the county,” says Jonny. Printed on our traditional minis.

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Lively lookbook

Bephies Beauty Supply (BBS), an online marketplace showcasing designs from emerging WOC-owned brands, printed this lookbook to coincide with a recent capsule collection for Nordstrom. Shot by fine art photographer Clifford Prince King, the lookbook is a photo essay capturing family, friends and colleagues wearing pieces from the collection.

"The imagery was too beautiful and dynamic to just live online. They wanted to create an experience."

“The imagery created for the lookbook was too beautiful and dynamic to just live online,” says designer Lorenzo Diggins Jr of colour bloc creativ. “They wanted to create an experience and the newspaper format was the best way to do that.” Printed on our digital tabloids.

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Bright broadsheet

This spring, arts organisation LeftCoast was tasked with creating a project to engage with isolated and digitally excluded elderly people living in Blackpool. The Upside, printed on broadsheet newspapers, is the result.

"The newspaper has given the local community the chance to celebrate the small things that have had a big impact this year."

"We were keen to create something joyful that would provide gentle support to Blackpool’s most socially isolated as we transition out of lockdown," says designer Nick Steel, who shared a photo of the eye-catching van they used to deliver the newspapers:

"The feedback has been tremendous," says Nick. "The newspaper has given the local community the chance to celebrate the small things that have had a big impact on the people of Blackpool this year."

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Pioneering prints

Grosvenor Gallery in London recently exhibited prints created by artist Parviz Tanavoli, one of the founders of modernism in Iran. This newspaper, designed by Laura Moore, was printed to accompany the show — the first time Grosvenor Gallery has used newsprint.

“For this special project we wanted to produce something tactile and different to our regular publications,” says Laura. The newspaper also presented an opportunity to interview the artist and “pull out previously unknown information.” Printed on our digital minis.

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Creative comforts

Potli, makers of hemp-infused honey and other pantry staples, celebrated AAPI Heritage Month with a special “Courage Over Comfort” care package  supporting their non-profit partner Alma Backyard Farms. It included this zine, featuring stories, recipes and interviews that transform “feelings of collective grief with the rise of Asian hate crimes into something beautiful,” as editor Ujin Kim explains. “Readers love it. It is so validating to share it with people who may be seeing their stories in this format for the first time.” Printed on our traditional broadsheets.

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Quiet comic

Sunday is a new comic written by Jack Dunleavy and illustrated by Lawrence Dodgson. The story begins with this 16-page instalment, an intimate but mysterious conversation between a couple in bed told through black and white panels.

“When you've got something important to say, the only way to say it is newsprint,” says Jack, who adds that the best part of the process was “opening the package from Newspaper Club and seeing the beautiful, inky, smear-free black print in our work.” Printed on our digital minis.

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Zoom to zine

This zine, a class project from students enrolled in Programming Design at Washington University in Saint Louis, started with a prompt of random phrases: "favorite drinks, thanks!, psychedelics + music, plants, and sustainability".

"After a year on Zoom, having something tangible to take with them and give to friends was a joy."

Using these phrases as a starting point, each student designed a spread and a page using only code in the Drawbot environment. The output was to change each time their code was run, making a final printed form determined by the last run of their scripts.

“The class looked at a couple of different formats, but all were drawn to the mini newspaper as something that has a great page size and great texture but didn't feel high-stakes,” says course director Ben Kiel. “After a year on Zoom, having something tangible to take with them and give to friends was a joy.”

Featuring work by: Brooke Adler, Zoe Altus, Jules Blatner, Tina Chen, Nina Crosby Walton, Arianna Goldman, Bridget Halliday, Yuxin (Iris) Hu, Max Jack, Madi Kang, Ben Kiel, Alex Koehl, Jack Lamarre, Min Lee, Leslie Liu, Griffin Orser, Seri Park, Taylor Pirtle, Nathan Springman and Griffin Xu.

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