Johnny America is a web site and print zine that has been published once or twice a year since the project began in 2003. Editorially, the zine’s focus is on the short (and very short) forms; the longest story they have ever run was just under 6,000 words – the briefest, less than a page. They publish fiction and humor. The publication has an interest in sophisticated-but-handcrafted design. The team silk screens their covers, for example, and binds each issue by hand. They printed a Halloween issue with glow-in-the-dark ink, and have sewn mini-comics into the binding of their main publication. This Rocket Grant will enable Johnny America to push their aesthetic package even further, bolster the percentage of local content in their pages, and bring more regional artists and craftspeople into the mix. They have long daydreamed about doing a “sensory issue,” with scratch-and-sniff graphic elements accompanying related prose, while avoiding a prohibitively expensive sticker price, and this funding will enable them to experiment in this way.
Visit Johnny America for more information.
About the Artists:
Patrick Giroux
Jonathan Holley
Emily Lawton