that paper joint:
success from a world at hand
Made in Brunswick
that paper joint: success from a world at hand
The second story in the ‘Made in Brunswick’ series features a cosy place for social collage.
The second story in the “Made in Brunswick” series features a cosy place for social collage.
Kevin Murray
Monday, October 10, 2022
WALKING up Sydney Road, Brunswick, on Friday night is a treat. The air is filled with the aroma of pomegranate wafting out of the Shish bars. Twenty-somethings are heading off for some cheap Lebanese. And shops are filled with people making stuff: sewing, throwing clay, painting and… collage.
That Paper Joint offers an enticing spectacle. From the street, you can look through the bookcase at the front to see the convivial scene where people are sipping wine, eating food, and wielding Stanley knives. Curious to learn how this unique place came to be, I spoke to its owners, Max and Zoe.
It’s a romantic story. Max Malone grew up in Southampton, then studied art and design in Bristol where he developed a passion for collage. He describes collage as “mixing and re-inventing imagery… I’m a visual magpie.” For Max, collage introduces an element of serendipity that is hard to find in the digital realm. “I had a reluctance to be too bound to the computer”.
Zoe Crook grew up in the regional town of Geraldton on the WA coast. She left about ten years ago: “I just wanted to see what the other side of the Earth looked like.”
Zoe met Max on a beach on the south coast of Devon. In 2013, they started running a Collage Club together at a local pub, the Crofters Rights. It was a great success. Collage had broad appeal, especially after a couple of drinks.
Max and Zoe returned to Geraldton before deciding to move to Melbourne. From 2017, they practised design from a warehouse in Brunswick. Zoe worked as a graphic/digital designer while Max freelanced. When work dried up during lockdown, they started making collage packs, which proved successful.
In 2020, they found an old medical clinic in Sydney Road where they could live and work together. They had a room divider built by a local who runs the Brunswick nursery and gathered furniture from the local Good Karma Network.
that paper joint started hosting evening classes in November 2021. It was a welcome respite after COVID isolation. “For many, it was their first experience out after lockdown.” Some have come from regional Victoria and multiple times.
Max is surprised at how quiet it gets: “It’s so kind of Zen. The atmosphere is just so cosy.”
Their guests can enjoy the fruits of Brunswick. This includes a cheese board from Harper and Blohm, bread and pastries from Ovens Street Bakery and pizza from Green Acre around the corner. A local florist comes fortnightly to switch flowers.
Max and Zoe’s dog Franky made the trip over from Geraldton with them and is now very much a star in their show.
As well as a place of paper collage, that paper joint is itself a collage of the neighbourhood.
This article was originally published on‘Culture Makers’, a newsletter written by Kevin Murray.
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WALKING up Sydney Road, Brunswick, on Friday night is a treat. The air is filled with the aroma of pomegranate wafting out of the Shish bars. Twenty-somethings are heading off for some cheap Lebanese. And shops are filled with people making stuff: sewing, throwing clay, painting and… collage.
That Paper Joint offers an enticing spectacle. From the street, you can look through the bookcase at the front to see the convivial scene where people are sipping wine, eating food, and wielding Stanley knives. Curious to learn how this unique place came to be, I spoke to its owners, Max and Zoe.
It’s a romantic story. Max Malone grew up in Southampton, then studied art and design in Bristol where he developed a passion for collage. He describes collage as “mixing and re-inventing imagery… I’m a visual magpie.” For Max, collage introduces an element of serendipity that is hard to find in the digital realm. “I had a reluctance to be too bound to the computer”.
Zoe Crook grew up in the regional town of Geraldton on the WA coast. She left about ten years ago: “I just wanted to see what the other side of the Earth looked like.”
Zoe met Max on a beach on the south coast of Devon. In 2013, they started running a Collage Club together at a local pub, the Crofters Rights. It was a great success. Collage had broad appeal, especially after a couple of drinks.
Max and Zoe returned to Geraldton before deciding to move to Melbourne. From 2017, they practised design from a warehouse in Brunswick. Zoe worked as a graphic/digital designer while Max freelanced. When work dried up during lockdown, they started making collage packs, which proved successful.
In 2020, they found an old medical clinic in Sydney Road where they could live and work together. They had a room divider built by a local who runs the Brunswick nursery and gathered furniture from the local Good Karma Network.
that paper joint started hosting evening classes in November 2021. It was a welcome respite after COVID isolation. “For many, it was their first experience out after lockdown.” Some have come from regional Victoria and multiple times.
Max is surprised at how quiet it gets: “It’s so kind of Zen. The atmosphere is just so cosy.”
Their guests can enjoy the fruits of Brunswick. This includes a cheese board from Harper and Blohm, bread and pastries from Ovens Street Bakery and pizza from Green Acre around the corner. A local florist comes fortnightly to switch flowers.
Max and Zoe’s dog Franky made the trip over from Geraldton with them and is now very much a star in their show.
As well as a place of paper collage, that paper joint is itself a collage of the neighbourhood.
This article was originally published on‘Culture Makers’, a newsletter written by Kevin Murray.
Sign up for our mailing list
Get our latest articles and current events around Brunswick straight to your inbox.
WALKING up Sydney Road, Brunswick, on Friday night is a treat. The air is filled with the aroma of pomegranate wafting out of the Shish bars. Twenty-somethings are heading off for some cheap Lebanese. And shops are filled with people making stuff: sewing, throwing clay, painting and… collage.
That Paper Joint offers an enticing spectacle. From the street, you can look through the bookcase at the front to see the convivial scene where people are sipping wine, eating food, and wielding Stanley knives. Curious to learn how this unique place came to be, I spoke to its owners, Max and Zoe.
It’s a romantic story. Max Malone grew up in Southampton, then studied art and design in Bristol where he developed a passion for collage. He describes collage as “mixing and re-inventing imagery… I’m a visual magpie.” For Max, collage introduces an element of serendipity that is hard to find in the digital realm. “I had a reluctance to be too bound to the computer”.
Zoe Crook grew up in the regional town of Geraldton on the WA coast. She left about ten years ago: “I just wanted to see what the other side of the Earth looked like.”
Zoe met Max on a beach on the south coast of Devon. In 2013, they started running a Collage Club together at a local pub, the Crofters Rights. It was a great success. Collage had broad appeal, especially after a couple of drinks.
Max and Zoe returned to Geraldton before deciding to move to Melbourne. From 2017, they practised design from a warehouse in Brunswick. Zoe worked as a graphic/digital designer while Max freelanced. When work dried up during lockdown, they started making collage packs, which proved successful.
In 2020, they found an old medical clinic in Sydney Road where they could live and work together. They had a room divider built by a local who runs the Brunswick nursery and gathered furniture from the local Good Karma Network.
that paper joint started hosting evening classes in November 2021. It was a welcome respite after COVID isolation. “For many, it was their first experience out after lockdown.” Some have come from regional Victoria and multiple times.
Max is surprised at how quiet it gets: “It’s so kind of Zen. The atmosphere is just so cosy.”
Their guests can enjoy the fruits of Brunswick. This includes a cheese board from Harper and Blohm, bread and pastries from Ovens Street Bakery and pizza from Green Acre around the corner. A local florist comes fortnightly to switch flowers.
Max and Zoe’s dog Franky made the trip over from Geraldton with them and is now very much a star in their show.
As well as a place of paper collage, that paper joint is itself a collage of the neighbourhood.
This article was originally published on‘Culture Makers’, a newsletter written by Kevin Murray.
Sign up for our mailing list
Get our latest articles and current events around Brunswick straight to your inbox.