Zephyr Magazine is a free Illawarra-based zine and artistic platform that elevates local talent in visual art/design/creativity. Our mission is to inspire and legitimize creativity in areas where established platforms do not exist highlighting those who work and live on Dharawal Land using it as inspiration in their practices. We aim to support Illawarra creatives in a way that allows us to collaborate and tackle larger issues in the community (mental health, Indigenous stories, environmental issues) through a collated well-designed publication that feels more like a keepsake than your standard free publication. We want to create a space that brings all facets of community together, celebrating the immense amount of creative talent in the Illawarra region and recording it through a visual that can be collected and kept in bookshelves.

Zephyr magazine started in 2012 and was the first magazine in the Illawarra of its kind, the first to celebrate and focus on the creative community of the Illawarra region. We have a strong connection and passion to be present and involved in our community and we recognise the immense creative growth of the Illawarra over the last decade, we feel this growth means it’s the right time for its celebration and therefore our revitilisation. We are excited to bring back our beloved printed magazine with some much-needed financial assistance to reawaken something valuable to those involved and our wider community.

Supporting us through this ambitious project would help us kick start our re-launch into the community after a long hiatus out of print. We have so much to celebrate; artists, writers, photographers etc but limited opportunity for it to be legitimised and shared on a larger scale, and this tanglible publication makes this possible. 

Financing this project whilst also keeping the publication free is our biggest obstacle. We are passionate about keeping Zephyr a free publication so that it is accessible for the whole community. We also want a printed magazine over a digital publication to have something tangible to be held and discussed over coffee, in the library or on your trip to the local grocer. We want to create a collectable publication that is of valuable and relevant years later, having an impact on creative individuals, creating a new space for those involved to be seen, recognised and legitimised.

Distributing this publication at multiple local businesses eg. Cafes, local boutiques, bookshops, allows those businesses to be a destination for those seeking out the magazine and may create new customers for these businesses not previously aligned. 

What does the $ target cover? 

• 100% of our printing costs, printed locally in Wollongong. 
• Ability to make Zephyr's remaining 800 copies free for the community to enjoy. 

More than the target, NO WAY!? Oh how grateful we would be, any extra money raised in this campaign would go towards: 

• Helping to fund a launch exhibition with our creatives from past, present and future editions.
• A postive step towards being able to give deserving creatives payment for their time as we work towards issue 07.
• Design, editing & content contributions.
• Ultimately a chance for us to think about issue 07 a little less financially worried, with a kick start into the future of what we hope to be a yearly and/or biannual printed magazine.