Pouch: Issue One
VRK
50 pages
https://www.instagram.com/pouch.studio
https://pouch.studio/links/
Pouch: Issue One is a full-colour A5 zine chock full of all sorts of things stationery and stationery related – journaling, supplies, planners, DIYs, and more.
While Pouch identifies itself as a magazine rather than a zine on the cover, VRK does call it a zine inside. So I’m going with zine for the purpose of this review and, frankly, because I love it and wanted to write about it. (There’s your TL;DR if you’d prefer one. Haha.)
Pouch opens with a lovely table of contents on the inside cover and a letter of introduction and welcome. If I hadn’t already been convinced I would love this zine before even reading it, then this first spread would have convinced me. The table of contents page pulls a few things out of the list and places them, with pictures, around the page to add plenty of visual fun. There is a QR code to find links to all the stationery and creators featured in the issue, and the welcome letter? Has cute little stickers on it. Absolutely adorable.
From there we go into ‘Pouch Picks’ with fun stationery goodies to buy and/or try. (MU Inky Pens, welcome to my wish list.) In pages following, we have a thorough review of a label maker (thank you!), ideas for using up your notebooks, being kind to your hands while writing, an in-depth interview with Nikki Chan about journals, goals, and more… At fifty pages, I could write paragraphs about everything included in this zine. Needless to say, there’s so much to enjoy!
Yes, there is also some sticker talk, which I thought was fun in and of itself but also to follow the Sticker Culture Zine review yesterday. I also mentioned in that review how much I love an interactive zine, and Pouch is interactive! There’s a page included of drawn images to cut and paste if you like as well as a fun kuchipatchi coaster pattern to make! (And a crossword puzzle. Can’t forget the crossword.)
The aesthetic of Pouch is lovely and cute. There are plenty of little details to delight your eyes, journal and planner layout examples (and my bias is that I absolutely adore looking at what people create in their planners and journals).
All in all, Pouch is such a lovely zine that is jam-packed with goodness. Even better? There’s Pouch Issue Two already out in the universe for you to enjoy as well. I think you’ll know by this review if you’ll love the zine. If you have even an inkling you’ll enjoy it, pick it up! I’ve been pouring over it again and again. (And it will be staying on my desk for future inspiration.)
