Roots Zines

Roots Zines

Roots Zines is an award-winning modular publication system that employs the zine format as a vehicle for ethnographic storytelling, specifically documenting the experiences of new immigrants navigating cultural connection and belonging through the social spaces of New York coffee shops. Designed by Xun Zuo and recognized with the Bronze A' Design Award in the Print and Published Media Design category in 2025, Roots Zines represents a sophisticated intersection of editorial design, cultural research, and emotional branding that challenges conventional approaches to published media by treating each component as both an independent narrative artifact and part of a larger, evolving archive. The project comprises six individual zines totaling 120 pages, each measuring 203.2 millimeters by 139.7 millimeters, with the collection employing diverse paper stocks, printing methods, and binding techniques including sewn and Coptic binding approaches that were specifically selected in response to conversations with the storytellers featured within. The physical construction of Roots Zines deliberately evokes impermanence and emotional tension through its loosely sewn structure and vacuum-sealed packaging, a formal decision inspired by the Chinese Red Thread legend that metaphorically represents the connections and distances between individuals in diaspora communities. The visual language of each zine reflects the personal identity and aesthetic sensibility of its featured storyteller, creating a polyphonic design system where typography, layout, color usage, and material choices function as extensions of individual voices rather than imposing a singular editorial vision. This approach to print design demonstrates how published media can serve as a platform for inclusive storytelling by allowing the design language itself to become responsive to the cultural backgrounds and emotional states of participants. The research methodology underlying Roots Zines combined qualitative and quantitative approaches, gathering data through interviews, questionnaires, and cultural probes with over forty participants to explore how coffee shops function as social anchors for foreign individuals seeking connection in urban environments, and how the branding and environmental design of these establishments influence consumer decision-making and feelings of belonging. The project addresses a significant challenge in ethnographic design research by conducting interviews in a neutral, non-leading manner that allowed storytellers to articulate their relationships with coffee culture and local community without predetermined narrative frameworks, a methodological consideration particularly important when working with non-native speakers whose perceptions of environmental and brand design influences may be indirect or difficult to articulate. The modular structure of Roots Zines positions the publication as an ongoing, expandable archive rather than a finite editorial product, with the final zine in the collection providing guidance for reader participation and contribution, while a business card affixed to the vacuum-sealed packaging offers submission details, thereby transforming passive readers into potential future storytellers. This participatory dimension reflects broader trends in contemporary editorial design toward open-ended, community-driven publishing models that challenge traditional author-reader hierarchies. The project's focus on small businesses as sites of social value and emotional connection represents a significant contribution to discourse around place-making, community design, and the role of commercial spaces in facilitating cultural integration, particularly relevant in contexts of increasing global migration and urban diversity. The tactile qualities of Roots Zines, from its varied paper textures to its sewn bindings and vacuum-sealed presentation, emphasize the continued relevance of print media in an increasingly digital publishing landscape, demonstrating how physical materials and production techniques can convey emotional content and conceptual meaning that digital formats cannot replicate. The design's recognition by one of the world's most prestigious design competitions, the A' Design Award, validates its innovative approach to combining ethnographic research, emotional design, and inclusive storytelling within the print and published media discipline. Roots Zines exemplifies how editorial design can function as a form of cultural documentation and social practice, using the affordances of print media, binding techniques, material selection, and visual identity systems to create spaces for marginalized voices while simultaneously investigating how design itself shapes human relationships, belonging, and community formation in contemporary urban environments.

Print and Published Media Design, Ethnographic Research, Modular Publication Systems, Immigrant Narratives, Community-Based Design, Emotional Branding

— Adam Dawson

CITATION : "Adam Dawson. 'Roots Zines.' Design+Encyclopedia. https://design-encyclopedia.com/define/roots-zines?E=482773 (Accessed on October 14, 2026)"