We Made A Book (!)
An offhand comment fueled a fun and rewarding project, Disarray.
Wow, I am so beyond thrilled that this day has arrived… that I’m typing these words and finally sharing the news with you.
Around Christmas of 2022, I randomly came across some word search puzzle books and purchased a large stack to entertain myself. I wanted to take a real, restful break over the holidays, and find something different to do that could engage my brain away from the phone, computer or TV. I enjoyed it so immensely that I encouraged a couple of my closest friends to join me on my puzzle journey.
A month or so later, my husband Dan was traveling and I found myself (again) reaching for the cheesy, nerdy titles like Brain Games or Mindworks, getting lost for hours in word search puzzles. It was good for my nervous system, and for my spirit. Over the phone one night, Dan made a lighthearted comment about how we should make our own “cool” version.
Little did we know that this small, offhand remark would cultivate into an incredibly fun and rewarding project, our Disarray Puzzle Book. Slowly developed over the course of the past year, Dan and I spent many late, weed-gummy-filled evenings together, laughing our way through the process of concepting themes and word lists, populating puzzle after puzzle. We quickly realized that we were on to something, so we honed in on 50 special word searches, and asked our dear friend Zachary Gray to shoot some accompanying imagery.
Disarray is a workbook that combines word search puzzles, photographs and text designs. The puzzle themes range from palindromes to early 2000s internet to various types of noodles. It’s part nostalgia, part humor, part self-reflection and loads of entertainment — if I do say so myself (I do). It’s 100 pages for practice, perspective and presence. It looks great on a coffee table, makes a thoughtful gift, and provides mental stimulation away from the distraction of a screen.
Last summer, we invited the talented team at 1 of 1 Studio into the mix, and their distinctive designs and immersive layouts took everything to the next level. The New Zealand-based creative studio, led by Natasha Mead, specializes in design, development and direction. You may recognize their work with some favorite brands like OZMA, F. Miller, Lesse, J. Hannah, Baina, The Moon Lists and so on. We knew they’d be the perfect design partners as we looked to marry analog and digital, chaos and order, tactility and mystery.
Self-publishing a book comes with a lot of costs, time and headaches, but Dan and I are extremely proud to officially launch Disarray into the world today. We have big plans to see it in big places around the globe (my ambitious goal is to get it into 100 stores this year)!
We are living in these strange, algorithmic days where it can be hard to capture or hold anyone’s attention. So here comes my ask: would you be willing to help us spread the word in any way, shape, or form? Text it to your friends! Tell your local shop they should carry it! Shout it from the rooftops! An IG post, like, comment or share goes such a long way these days. Better yet, preorder one of the very first copies. Our initial run of books is being made in Los Angeles, about 10 miles down the road from us, by Sorella Studios. They are expected to ship in 2 weeks.
This is the first publication from Duende Press. Our website is back up and running after a brief hiatus, along with the hand-sculpted Moody Incense Holder from our collaboration with Rebekka Seale of Finea in Nashville, and another brand new item — the Paper Fortune Teller Poster. I have 5 personal tattoos (and counting!) from artist Carlos Darder of Rainblow, and knew he’d be the ideal partner to implement my vision of the childhood pastime, also referred to as a “cootie catcher” (haha). There are 2 Digital Download offerings, so you can print a set of puzzles or a fortune teller at home, too. These PDF files are free for a limited time to all you lovely Substack subscribers, with code SUBSUBS.
Thank you for being a part of my creative process and community. Here’s to opening our palms and allowing projects to evolve in countless ways.
Love,
Elise
NOTEWORTHY
—A behind-the-scenes look at the Paper Fortune Teller Posters being screen printed by Press Friends in LA.
—One of my favorite images in the Disarray puzzle book, from Ron Finley’s garden, by sir Zachary Gray.
—My friend Hayley mentioned our shared love of puzzles in an interview with The Guardian, lol.
PLEASURE
My current favorite incense for burning in the Moody Incense Holder.
This song, full blast, windows down, on repeat.
Seeing Duende’s logo (by Carlos Darder) in tattoo form brings so much joy.
CONTEMPLATING
Does Stanley Actually Do His Crossword Puzzles? I went down a Reddit rabbit hole, and found that in a 2020 interview Leslie David Baker said that over the course of filming The Office, he completed over 60 books… impressive.
Julia Gets Wise With Carol Burnett. I’m obsessed with Julia Louis-Dreyfus and her podcast Wiser Than Me. The dialogue around Wordle in this episode really had me laughing (and relating).
How Gen Z Made The Crossword Their Own. I love reading about other puzzle enthusiasts, so this headline recently caught my attention.
Photo Credit: “Disarray” digital book mockups by Kaela Rawson.
Yeowza!!