Dear Reader,

As a publisher, I am very “time sensitive.” The minute the files for this issue are sent to the printer, the clock starts ticking for the next issue! With 16 years’ worth of quarterly issues stacked on my shelf, it is safe to say that I thrive with this predictable framework. Although the schedule might be the same year after year, the intellectual and creative challenge of curating a new issue multiple times a year keeps me motivated. 

Likewise, as a graphic designer, a good grid has been the foundation for every page of this magazine since it began. Upon it, I’ve laid out hundreds of pages and developed my skills. Each issue is the same, yet different. New fonts, returning favourites, trying new things and quoting the past. It is all part of transformation and transitions over time, which are indeed the themes we explore in this edition. 

When I was little, I pretended to be a publisher by making tiny books and magazines that I would write and illustrate. In a cardboard carrying case covered in wrapping paper, I would bring my publications to family gatherings and get my relatives to sign them out of my “library.” 

Some books were stories, but many were non-fiction titles about hands-on making: In Let’s Sew! I show the steps in making a flat, turtle-inspired chair cushion. In Things to Make, I showed how to make a little stapled book. (Very meta!) I also made a tiny booklet about crafts that came out every few months—suspiciously very much like a magazine!

With this quarterly magazine and my UPPERCASE Encyclopedia of Inspiration book series, I am living my childhood dream! 

Thank you for being part of the family.

Janine Vangool
publisher / editor / designer