In many cities, small restaurants and coffee shops are abundant but often overlooked in favor of big chains or trendy destinations. Their cultural contributions, family histories, community connections, and local impact rarely make it into mainstream narratives or visible platforms. Without intentional design, their stories remain hidden, and their role as community anchors goes unrecognized.

Local Matter

This semester I created Local Matter, a printed zine developed as part of my MFA in Design thesis at The University of Texas at Austin. The project examines the cultural role of small local businesses and how they shape the identity, sense of belonging, economic resilience and everyday safety within neighborhoods.

While government and economic institutions tend to define small businesses through numbers — employees, revenue, or profit — Local Matter looks beyond metrics to understand their deeper meaning. These places are not only economic actors; they are cultural anchors where daily rituals, personal stories, and community ties take root.

It was also my first experiment with hands-on printmaking and layout design — learning to plan and compose the spreads, print, trim, and bind everything manually.

Sharing it here feels like a small milestone in my thesis journey — a tangible reflection of how design can both study and celebrate community life.

This project taught me a lot — not only about design, but about the complexity of defining what “local” really means. As my research continues, I’ve realized that many local businesses, even when they grow beyond the category of “small,” still carry a strong cultural impact and shape the character of their communities in meaningful ways.

There’s still much more to explore about the relationship between small and local businesses, and how both contribute to our collective sense of place. I look forward to continuing this research and sharing more reflections along the way.