The Poleee - Zine

A lighthearted zine about a location marked through google maps, and the culture that sprung up around it.

Publication Design
Guerrilla Geography
Risography
Gallery
Description

The Poleee is a zine about a pretty forgettable place. you might have seen it, but probably forgot about it as you kept on driving. It’s a tall round white pole, tipped with red, standing tall on the west side of I-5 somewhere near Kettleman City.

However, if your experience was mediated through google maps, you will have seen something completely different. A marker, listing this as The Poleee, and many reviews. I made the marker, but I don’t know the people who left the reviews. The reviews are funny, fantastical, imaginative, and completely made up. Really, the listing is actively in conflict with the goal of google maps, which is to document the world and make it easier to find your way between real physical locations. The structure is there but the culture created in these reviews is not. In my view, the listing serves a different purpose: to make people laugh. It adds some humor to an otherwise monotonous drive through rural California, and that humor is what I have captured in the pages of this zine.

I designed the zine to be printed in four color faux CMYK on a Risograph printer, using custom mixed ink palettes in InDesign in order to export reliable color separations. Printing this zine was somewhat of a herculean effort, and it was completed just days before the exhibition opened. This was the main reason I decided to display the zine on the wall the way I did, so that viewers wouldn’t smudge it.

the interactive component of the installation, a chair sits in front of a bulletin board with maps pinned to it, and beside a table with a brochure holder holding copies of the zine.
The design of this zine was inspired by 70s and 80s maps and travel guides, with their bright colors and bold typography. To support this aesthetic, I added an interactive element to my installation, with a chair, bulletin board, and brochure holder. The scene I created is reminiscent of waiting areas in rangers stations, gift travel agencies, and concierge offices.
Click on this figure to open up a gallery where you can read the full zine.
This map shows the location of the poleee. If the location listing is still there, you can read up on reviews that have been posted since I made this zine.