TOKYO Archi-sketcher Zine

​日本語の自動翻訳

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• Tokyo Archi-sketcher is a zine made by architecture illustrator Simon Kalajdjiev.

• Zines are self-published, small volume prints, not sold at book stores. Zine is short for fan-made magazine.

• Theme: hand-drawn fantastical architecture.

• Format: full color booklet, A5 size, 20-40 pages.

• You can contribute sketches, illustrations, notes, essays that are exploring architecture in an artistic, creative or radical way.

• Contributors get a few free copies, and can order more at print cost price.

• Proposals submission deadline November 30 

• Finalizing submitted content by December 20 

• Zine launch January 10 or 17, 2026

• Zine will be distributed between friends and promoted at zine events, like Zine Fest.
   

Read more:

Tokyo Archi-sketcher Zine: Build between the lines.

 

What is a zine?

A zine is an informal, self-published mini-magazine on a narrow and often alternative topic. Physical zine culture is having a big revival in Japan and in the world as more people are looking for ways to be honest, creative and connect with others through physical media formats and in person, not having to rely on online media to share their thoughts and connect. 
 

What is the Tokyo Archi-sketcher Zine?
The title Archi-sketcher is short for architecture sketcher. It is focusing on architectural drawings, sketches, illustrations and visuals, mostly hand drawn, with interest in the fantastical and critical approach to architecture. It is based in Tokyo and centered on Tokyo, but not completely exclusive to Tokyo, allowing interesting visuals related to other places to be featured if they bring significant value. 

 

Who is making this zine?
I am Simon Kalajdjiev, a painter from Macedonia, living in Tokyo and working as an architectural illustrator at Nikken Sekkei. Tokyo Archi-sketcher is a zine made and curated by me and featuring architectural sketches by several contributors. Based in Tokyo, and inspired by Tokyo, I am interested in exploring and showcasing the works of fellow artists, designers and sketchers who also depict Tokyo, in various hand drawn art media. 

 

What is the main theme?
The main theme is fantastical architecture. I am looking for sketches in which creative people reflect what they see around them mixed with what they imagine in the city. I am looking for the strange in the mundane. Futuristic ideas, impossible geometry, impractical aesthetic, illogical engineering are not only allowed but valued. Through sketching we open a gate to bring the impossible into the visible, and this can always become the start of innovation. 

 

Why am I making this zine?

There are many people from various backgrounds that are passionate about architecture sketching, and this includes architects, students, artists, hobbyists, urban sketchers, painters, illustrators, animators, game designers, comic book artists and many more. We have many books and magazines about architecture but very few outlets to explore more experimental, radical, imaginative, expressive or artistic concepts. There are many artists who explore aspects of the city that are invisible to others or are in some way taken beyond the realistic into the fictional. Archi-sketcher is a zine that brings these various visions together to show us the power of creative expression that is inspired by the love for the city. 

 

How to join?
You can contribute to the zine by submitting your work, which may be sketches, illustration, visuals, writing, notes, essays, on the topics of urbanism, architecture, architectural design and illustration, urban sketching, fantastical architecture. It is ok to send in previously published works. All works will be properly credited. If you are not sure what to send we can have a chat about it, think about it together and see what will work. You can also recommend other contributors, spread the word, and help grow the group.

What to submit?
Your drawing and/or writing. You can use old work you have or make new work for the zine. You can talk about what influences your work, who inspires you, how you learn, what is your creative daily practice, what is your workflow. If you like, you can show what is your process from idea, to sketch, to development, to completion. You can show stages of your work or your work in stages, work in progress, talk about your favorite tools or techniques. You can talk about influential books or authors, tell an anecdote related to your visual work, give tips, talk about locations you find interesting, talk about culture or ideas that reflect in your visual work. 

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Hand drawn works only

I am looking for hand drawn works, which may be done on physical medium, like canvas and paper, or digital works, like works drawn with a digital tablet. Digital works can be done on drawing software, like Photoshop and Procreate, but need to be drawn, sketched or painted by hand and not made using photos, collage, 3D modeling software or any sort of AI generated material. Depending on the style and case we might make exceptions about some mixed media. 

3D renders and AI generated images are not accepted at any case or any degree.

Review of others’ works
Beside submitting your own original work, you can also consider introducing someone else’s work, do a review or analysis of works of artists or authors from history, or feature an artist who is active, do an interview or a curation with their permission. 

 

Zines can be avant-garde, critical and ground breaking 

Zines are a great space to share unusual ideas or talk about controversial topics, to be more bravely critical, analytical or innovative without worrying too much about the image of a brand, feasibility or financial justification. Zines offer room to publish concepts that can’t fit into publications for clients, formal journals, mainstream publishers. This lets us talk more authentically about our relationship with the city.

Zines have no formal publisher
Zines have no publishing house, no ISBN code, and are not sold in book stores. They are handed out to friends, or promoted at special zine community events, like zine expos, zine markets, zine fairs. 

 

No profit

Zines do not aim to make big sales or big profit and when not given free are usually sold at low prices to only cover basic expenses like printing costs. Contributors don’t get a fee, but they get a few free copies. Besides the few free copies, contributors can get more copies for themselves at the cost of print per copy.

Zine format

Zines vary greatly in format, in paper types, in page numbers and in ways they are made, because they are self-published and usually in small numbers that allow for a lot of freedom, experimentation and innovation, and it all depends on the theme and the character of the contents. Archi-sketcher will be a collection of architectural visuals, so it is best fitted to make it similar to an art catalogue, picture book, or an art magazine. It will be printed in full color, CMYK print, possibly in one of the big and easily available printers in Japan. It will be A5 size and possibly somewhere between 20-40 pages.

Who are the contributors?
The profiles are varied and we want to include people from various backgrounds to connect and breach the gaps, expanding an artistic community. It is mostly people who live in Tokyo, in Japan or have lived here, or are inspired by Tokyo and Japan in some way. Any age group, profession, skill level, is welcomed. In the first issue I plan to feature 5-10 contributors, and hopefully keep including more people in future issues.

Events and exhibition

I often take part in zine events in Tokyo to promote my zines and I will do the same with Tokyo Archi-sketcher Zine. In addition many of the people who agreed to contribute so far have asked to have a gathering event and even a group exhibition. This is a wonderful idea, since the best thing about zines is bringing people together. I will love to host events and exhibitions for the Archi-sketcher zine contributors. 

 

Schedule

• Proposal submission deadline - November 30
  You can send a rough idea and a selection of proposed works first. 

• Finalizing submitted content - December 20
  Phase 2 we will finalize the layout and confirm all content, check before print. 

• Printing Zine - December 28
  The target date for sending the zine to print is December 28.

• First promotion event - January 10 or 17
  We will have our zine launch party.
  
  Please feel free to ask any questions and send me a proposal as soon as you can!
  
  Here are a few examples of layout templates we could use for your submission. Click to expand: