Personal Atlas: Of zines and treasure hunt maps

Hello!

It’s been a few weeks since I sent this Personal Atlas newsletter out - life has been, well life. So thank you for joining me here for another dive into personal maps and story telling.

This letter is divided into two parts:

1. The personal map and story (free for everyone to read)

2. Map your own journey (available to paid subscribers only)

Last time I mentioned that when I made the atlas container for this project, I used a zine folding technique on a bigger piece of paper. As my freebie map is also a zine, I thought I’d share a little about my love of zines and how they connect to my maps.

Why zines?

At the end of 2022, I was looking back through all the small journals I made during lock down in 2021. Many of them were monthly or based on a theme. They inspired me to do set myself a 52-week challenge for 2023, where I make one a week as a way to document my life using art!

I loved and followed Jo’s (@jofyjo on Instagram) #52bitesizedbooks project in 2022 and it was her project that sparked me to look back at what I've created in the past!

Austin Kleon

(who writes his newsletter here on Substack) is also a zine lover, and a source of inspiration for my project. You can find most of his fun ideas here.

I started 2023 with this project, making one zine a week from a piece of A4 paper, adding some life things, intentions, doodles, collage, pockets and anything else that took my fancy that week.

Maps made themselves known

I soon started including mini maps in my zines (paid subscribers can see a video montage of these and some ideas for creating their own below). In week five I included a treasure hunt map and in weeks 7, 14 and 15, I made the zine from an old maps bought in charity shops.

Week 5/52 Treasure Hunt Map © Deb.Aura.Art 2023

Share the love! If there is something in this letter that you loved/liked please share it with someone.

A reader used my “A Day With” zine 😊

I was delighted to get some feedback from someone who printed and used the zine:

I used my zine on my birthday weekend to showcase and commemorate a small, but delightful, walk with one of my close friends.

It captured our little journey through the city and helped me remember the important things from the day; something I'm prone to forgetting!

I just wish I'd written smaller so I could've fit more in!

A reader's completed "A day with" zine

Did you download, print and make the free zine? If not, you can grab it here.

• If you’ve used the zine, head to the comments let me know who you spent the day with and how it went!

• If you haven’t yet, are you planning to?

Well, that’s it cartophiles! I’ll be welcoming you back into this space in two weeks time. If you’re a paid subscriber, read on for a fun treasure mapping activity.

Other maps and stories in this series

Head to the Index Page for all the stories so far. All stories are free to all subscribers to read, whilst paid subscribers have the opportunity to find out how to use maps to document your own journey.

By sharing this letter and by referring friends you’ll receive special benefits such as complementary paid subscriptions.