A year ago today we sat in our 9:30am Sociology class. We sat in the back of the room with our matching coffee orders (medium iced vanilla latte with oat milk, if you were wondering), bored and completely zoned out. We really hated that class. We had to often restrain ourselves from skipping, and to be honest, we probably couldn’t tell you one thing we learned in it. But, it was in that dreaded class that we formed, what is now, Stupid Idiot Press, LLC.
With our 4 years of almost identical schedules, we became notorious note passers. Most times, our topic of discussion was nothing short of ridiculous nonsense. Other times, we conversed about class dramas.
However, on December 1st, 2022, we established our very own zine press. Now, to be fair, we didn’t start producing our first publication until February 2023 and it wasn’t released until March. And we only just became an LLC. But on that Thursday, we decided our name; we created our identity.
Now, it’s very clear that we don’t take ourselves very seriously and we are two very silly individuals, hence why we were drawn to naming our now business, Stupid Idiot Press. We knew when we settled on a name that our peers and fellow creatives would understand (and probably wouldn’t think twice about the name). However, we have gotten many questions, confused faces, and awkward laughs from business professionals, our parents and older relatives, and others outside of creative fields.
We understand that SIP is a ridiculous name for a company. But, if you’ve ever been an art major, especially one at a university that didn’t cater to the arts, you’ll know exactly why we chose this name.
Attending a university that cared more about expanding their engineering program by buying $100,000+ microscopes and constructing the prettiest (most sterile) building you’ve ever seen, all while the building across the street is filled with asbestos (allegedly), has 3 out of the 4 floors in commission, a death trap for an elevator, and darkroom equipment that alumni would recognize (but don’t be fooled, this building was home), was definitely difficult. When a school creates that type of hierarchical environment, they also teach their students that it’s okay to continue that hierarchy.
During our undergraduate career, we encountered many people who treated us less than solely because we were art majors. They didn’t care that one of our classes was the length of two of theirs, they didn’t care that in order to create our art we had to learn and understand the same things they had to learn and understand, and they definitely didn’t care that our grades were based on subjective opinions rather than objective rubrics.
We chose to follow our passion, and therefore, we were considered less than.
To us, the name Stupid Idiot Press is dedicated to all the people who treated us like we were ‘stupid’ because all we did was “push buttons on cameras and look at pictures all day.”
But you see, in the last year, we’ve published 2 publications, graduated college, moved back to our respective homes, started writing a newsletter (hey!), got jobs (that we didn’t particularly like – but like as we’ve been told, “that’s life!”), became business owners, and planned out another year's worth of content (!!). It has been a weird year full of change, but SIP has been some of the greatest change we’ve ever experienced and we are so so grateful.
So, Happy Birthday Stupid Idiot Press! Cheers to more publications, more collaborations, and cheers to all the art majors following their passions!
Thank you always for all your support! As a little birthday present from us to you, our entire store is 20% off from December 1st to the 31st! Go get your zines and stickers!
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And please consider submitting to our upcoming publication!