hey,
you found Cool Dzins.
This is a passion project that’s been hanging out in my brain for a while—a mix of design, storytelling, and whatever random things I’m obsessed with at the moment. It’ll be messy, nostalgic, sometimes deep, sometimes just dumb fun. Each issue will be different, but at its core, this zine is about creating for the sake of creating. No rules, no expectations—just some cool dzins.
The name? That comes from third-grade me. Back in grade school, I had to write tons of journal entries, and my mom kept all those notebooks. In 2023, I was flipping through them when I came across one where I meant to write “cool designs” but instead spelled it cool dzins. It hit me how fitting that misspelling was, given the career path I ended up following. For a while, I kept it in my back pocket as a possible name for a business—something for goods and wearables. But as much as I love many forms of design, editorial design is where my heart really is. So I finally found the perfect way to use it—as a zine!
Cool Dzins will drop once a month on the 23rd—because that’s my favorite number, so why the hell not?! Since I’m working with a free Issuu account, each issue will only be available for one month before it disappears into the void. If you’re interested, you better read it before it’s gone!
Thanks for being here. Hope you find something cool in these pages.
FOR MORE CREATIVE CHAOS, CHECK OUT: Instagram: @kropkreative | LinkedIn: Kayla Ermer kropkreative.com/links
I don’t do perfect, and I don’t want to. I love layers, textures, ripped paper, and type that looks like it barely survived a paper jam. This zine is a space to let things be a little unhinged—in the best way.
creative chaos
lives here
I can fixate on the weirdest things sometimes, and this zine will be my excuse to document them. One month it may be birds, the next anime, then suddenly we are deep in the history of anient Egypt. No theme is off-limits.
Cool Dzins started with a third-grade misspelling of "design," and here I am, still obsessed with creativity decades later. The things that shaped us as kids still have a place in our creative lives today.
origins matter
Not everything has to be created for a job or a portfolio. Sometimes, you just gotta make cool shit for you. This project is my reminder of that.
let’s make stuff just because
It’s in the way I feel at home in the woods, in the tattoos I get, or in the way I obsess over book covers for hours. It’s not just my job—it’s in everything I do.
No rules, no expectations—just a blank page waiting to become something new. This is my space to create without limits, and I hope maybe it inspires you to do the same.
Some of my favorite things I’ve ever made were mistakes at first. The best ideas come from embracing the imperfect, the unplanned, and the “what ifs.”
nostalgia runs deep
Old journal entries, family stories, obsessions—Ichildhood love seeing how the things that shaped me then keep pushing me forward, showing up in new ways as I create.
There’s no right way to be creative. Pick up a pen, rip up a magazine, open a blank document—just start. That’s what this zine is all about.
start anywhere