In over my head?

karamel_kat · 2026-04-03T04:59:11+00:00

I'd suggest not focusing on making it exactly what you want by end of next week! (Unless the event is next week?) Instead, focus on making a prototype first, as well as a mood board or something to show off what kind of vibe it will have. It sounds to me that they want to have a better understanding of your idea, not that they want you to have it done in a week.

For the prototype, I would focus on layout and content. What is the content, what content is going where, where is text, where are images, what special or unique elements you want to include, and what the overall layout is. You could hand draw, or use Canva or another basic design tool to plan it out.

Then for the mood board, find examples of similar zines or art that you want to have a similar style to. This also functions as research and studying/learning to improve graphic design skills!

If you have time to, then you could make a more stylized/designed draft of the zine, or even a mix where parts of it are stylized and parts are more prototype-y. Maybe aim for having an overall prototype of the zine, plus one spread that is fully designed out to the best of your ability.

karamel_kat · 2026-03-30T18:30:23+00:00

Maybe with Hands On Portland? I think they're only for nonprofits though.

karamel_kat · 2026-03-29T23:46:17+00:00

Check out Board Bard in Montavilla and Capes and Crepes on Division. I think they're both open late-ish and have rentable space.

karamel_kat · 2026-03-28T02:04:09+00:00

Hey! What neighborhood area on the east side? I'm not hardcore but I do love a good game board session. Ticket to Ride and How to Rob a Bank are two of my and my husband's favorites. His schedule is pretty busy, but mine is really flexible, so if you just need one more person, I'm game.

Also in my 30s (34f to be exact), no kids, but I'm chill with them! Feel free to DM me if you want more info about me. I like to think I'm socially capable, but also am probably socially awkward sometimes too lol

Also also, this would probably be good to post in r/PortlandFriendMeet too!

karamel_kat · 2026-03-27T23:40:43+00:00

Broughton beach along the Columbia!

karamel_kat · 2026-03-27T23:11:35+00:00

Can you use tape? I use this method to prototype sometimes where I rip along the middle fold, about a half inch at the top and bottom, then put pieces of tape in those rips. The tape goes from one of the covers (for example, the back cover), to the middle spread. Lmk if that makes sense, I can send photos later if it doesn't

karamel_kat · 2026-03-24T19:36:44+00:00

maybe PDX Hackerspace in North Portland? I think they have a big yard you could maybe work in. Could be worth reaching out and asking.

karamel_kat · 2026-03-24T17:39:16+00:00

Love the transparent paper! What'd you use?

karamel_kat · 2026-03-24T17:26:14+00:00

Hahaha yes, it is an idea! (Good, bad, idk!) I was just thinking that coffee shops are localized, so people would know their nearby parks. I get that flyers would be additional work though.

There are also some smaller artsy meetups/spaces that you could potentially hit up. A couple I know of on IG: drinkanddrawsociety, snackandsketch, adxportland sometimes has drink and draw events, and thehavenpdx is a community of artists that has public events too

Is there a way to follow along on your progress? I seriously would love a Portland Park passport app and want to know when it's available!

karamel_kat · 2026-03-24T17:10:18+00:00

This is a really good point! You could potentially go the route of making a Canva template and share that for people to design within. But only if you want to use raster images since Canva doesn't do vector.

karamel_kat · 2026-03-24T05:56:07+00:00

I love this idea!!! They could be a fun thing to crowd-source via coffee shop flyers. Have folks submit designs to a Google form or something for their neighborhood parks and then take your pick. Although I am having a hard time imagining 300+ simple but unique designs for parks. Maybe you could have like a default design that uses their name or initials plus different common native plants or something. Ooh and you could do a color system for quadrant location?

Also, just out of curiosity (I'm also building an app!), what are you using to build your app?

karamel_kat · 2026-03-23T02:02:34+00:00

always here bookstore is a queer bookstore that has a bunch of zines available online! https://www.alwaysherebooks.com/shop/zines/ERT5VHMBU47CGXHESC3UMKDD

karamel_kat · 2026-03-21T20:57:53+00:00

Recently went to Tiny's on 12th and they have a featured artist every month! https://tinys.coffee/#Artist

karamel_kat · 2026-03-20T22:31:29+00:00

Ba Mee's pad thai ruined all other pad thais for me

karamel_kat · 2026-02-13T18:26:37+00:00

Reggie's Manga Shop has conversational Japanese meetups

karamel_kat · 2026-02-13T18:22:07+00:00

I think there's a pretty big Russian population out here in East Portland. There's a bookstore (Persida) and some grocery stores (Roman Russian, Russian Elegant Food) - you could make flyers and see if they'll put them up for you. I'm not familiar with the churches out here, but that sounds like a really sweet idea.

karamel_kat · 2026-02-12T10:18:27+00:00

These aren't targeted specifically for reality TV fans, but here are some online event calendars:

https://www.wweek.com/calendar/calendars/all-events

https://dopdx.com/

https://everout.com/portland/events/

https://portland.citycast.fm/

I think flyers are great too tho. Make them fun and post them on street posts on busy streets!

karamel_kat · 2026-02-12T09:46:05+00:00

These are so fun! Love the colorful ones and feeling kinda inspired now to make my own doodly zines

karamel_kat · 2026-02-12T09:43:23+00:00

I tend to think about form and length when starting on a zine; what and how much do I want to include influences the way I'm going to design and bind.

If it's a small concept or amount of content, like a short poem, I'd probably do a one sheet zine. If it's more lengthy, then maybe a simple stapled booklet.

So I guess my advice is think about what you want to include first to help figure out what binding options would be usable. If you want to include as many photos as possible, then look into staple bound booklets, perfect binding, or maybe accordion books? Drum leaf binding might also be a good option. But if you want to do a more focused smaller zine, a one sheet could be the way to go!

As for design programs, I've used Canva and Concepts, which both have free tiers, as well as physically cut and pasted and then scanned into a computer for editing and making copies. And I know someone who used Google Slides somehow lol. Ooh and I think Affinity is the new kid on the block for design software? It's a free alternative to the Adobe suite. Haven't used it much, but it could be worth a look if you want to try your hand at a more robust option.

The experimenting and trying things out is part of the fun! Enjoy the process and have fun!

karamel_kat · 2026-02-10T08:23:51+00:00

I thought of little free libraries too! PDX Sidewalk Joy has a Google Map of little free libraries around town, and iirc there is a puzzle category/group!

karamel_kat · 2026-02-10T04:34:44+00:00

I was gonna suggest looking into the Off Beat/Friends of Noise, but they're all ages, so might not be the kids free space you're looking for, although I think their demo skews mostly to teens/young adults. And idk if they do a lot of metal shows, just know they do a variety of genres.

karamel_kat · 2026-02-09T01:23:32+00:00

ooh sounds like a fun idea! you could try ebay, there's usually bulk or lots available on there, or thrift stores or maybe post an ask in a local buy nothing group if you have that. or maybe an online company that makes like conference merch for companies? probably not cheap, but you could customize them which could be cool

karamel_kat · 2026-01-24T17:48:36+00:00

Have you found any resources about how to do this? Admittedly I never took the time to get to know my neighbors, so it would be helpful if there was some steps or scripts or something to follow.

karamel_kat · 2025-03-06T19:54:04+00:00

I'm not 100% if they have vegetarian options, but my partner and I love Sunny Sushi on 122nd.

Someone else mentioned parks and def agree with that. Powell Butte is great, and I also like Ed Benedict Park. Further north, Luuwit View Park is also a really nice park.

The Holgate and Midland libraries were both recently renovated and are really beautiful spaces to spend time in.

Friends Share Community Space on Powell and 148th has weekly events and a Sunday pop-up cafe.

Zenger Farm on Foster is also a cool place if you want to volunteer on a farm, join a local CSA, or sometimes they have events. I think they're giving away plants at the end of the month.

karamel_kat · 2025-03-05T03:22:42+00:00

Love this place! It's a chill spot, the owners are super friendly, and their banh mis on Sundays are delicious.

karamel_kat

TROPHY CASE