Skate Magazine - Jackson
Skate Magazine - Jackson
Don’t Waste Time
I spent two semesters in Propel developing my Skateboard Magazine Don’t Waste Time. In the summer before my first semester in grade 11, I spent a lot of time skateboarding and shooting photographs with my friends. I came to Propel with a large portfolio of photos. Previously, I made two issues of a short skateboarding photography magazine (Also known as a zine) which was called Don’t Waste Time.
I chose to take the time in Propel to work on the third issue. I focused on expanding the reach and quality of the zine. During the months of September and October, I compiled photographs, articles, and interviews into the zine. I promoted it on social media and contacted skateshops across Canada, trying to get the zine in their shop. At the end of October, I printed 280 physical copies. This was more than 4 times the amount that was printed for issue 2. Shortly thereafter, I released the zine alongside a promotional video. Within a week, copies were arriving at 15 skateshops across Canada as well as the doorsteps of individuals across the world. The zine was featured in online articles on the King Skate Magazine and SBC Skateboard Magazine website, appeared in the background of the Nine Club podcast and was featured alongside a classmate in The Lance.
I concluded my time in Propel by designing some T-Shirts for Don’t Waste Time. The graphic was sent to a local screen printer and was released on a newly made website, shortly after the Propel semester.
Over the summer I once again worked on building a cache of photos that would soon be put towards the fifth issue, marking the transition away from a smaller zine and into a higher quality magazine. I also worked on some other projects, like making hats, keychains and skate wax. In August I started talking to a new printer, Friesens and set a “File-In Date” in the fall.
I had built the foundation for the fifth issue throughout the summer, and now it was just time to produce. In the first couple of months in Propel, I secured advertisements with brands such as Emerica and Foundation, interviewed and wrote articles on local skaters, put together a submissions section featuring skaters from around the globe, conversed with skateshops resulting in pre-ordered copies, finalized my print specifications, ran numbers, did budget analysis, and kept everyone up to date on social media. After many rounds of feedback and revision, I sent the issue in to be printed in late October.
After the issue was sent in there was still a lot of work to be done. I edited together some skateboarding footage from the summer and created a 7-minute film, Two Times If You Know Me, to build the hype around DWT prior to the release. Throughout November, I had budgeted a portion of time to create the newest line of DWT Clothing. I reached out to two artists who created some fantastic designs. Halfway through the printing process, I had the opportunity to take a tour of the Friesens facility and watch my magazine roll off the press. With the mags and clothing out of the way, I began planning for the release. The main goal of DWT is to promote skateboarding in the community. I had always wanted to host a skateboard contest to give back, so that is what I did. I found a venue, The Edge Skatepark, gained sponsors such as Vans, Emerica, Stance Socks and Spitfire, and created a contest poster to go in skateshops. A week or so before the release I created some promotional content, shot product photos and scheduled everything to go live on my site.
The release was a big success! About 70 people showed up at the afternoon contest. With more than enough prizes, the winners of each section, Under 18, Women/Non-Binary and Over 18, went home with a lot of product. Overall I am very happy with how this fifth issue turned out. Within a month a full-page article detailing my process of making the magazine was released in the Free Press. I am very proud of this accomplishment and am thankful for those who helped make it happen. With the bulk of the work behind me, I spent the remainder of the semester continuing to market and sell the magazine as well as developing a photography portfolio website for my work.