leaflet microgrants!

some things we learned from these microgrants!

I wanted to raise the bar for what people can do with Leaflet…it's a great tool for a lightweight things like a grocery list, but it really shines when you take the time to make ambitious things with more content and structure.

I think the micro-grants worked for this; we ended up with both ones in use cases we imagined being cool, and several that defy categorization, surprising sui generis delightful docs!

some things we learned from these microgrants!

I wanted to raise the bar for what people can do with Leaflet…it's a great tool for a lightweight things like a grocery list, but it really shines when you take the time to make ambitious things with more content and structure.

I think the micro-grants worked for this; we ended up with both ones in use cases we imagined being cool, and several that defy categorization, surprising sui generis delightful docs!

Some thoughts this experiment either reinforced or provoked—

theming makes a big difference; visuals matter!

all our winners customized the feel of their Leaflets, both fun and key for vibes; I feel like many became more memorable due to relatively simple but thoughtful themes

there's more we can do here; for one, we just added per-page theme settings :) we can also explore fonts etc.

nested pages work well for many reasons

both aesthetically and structurally; for both readers and writers — Nathan mentioned how it's great for "deep dives" that can branch, tree-like, a kind of more intuitive footnotes

useful both for adding asides to a main thing, and making an easily navigable hierachy of lots of content (e.g. in Substrates or Beeswax Wraps)

we can make complex things feel simple and approachable

feels like a real strength of Leaflet is making it feel easy and lightweight to make, and easy to navigate for readers, even when a doc has a lot going on

a few here that were pretty long and in-depth but didn't feel overwhelming / tedious to read the way they would in e.g. a google doc

a form factor beyond "documents"

there are lots of things that fit the mold of a Leaflet that we wouldn't typically think of as a "document" — detailed documentation, personal catalogs / archives, winding stories, evolving visual process logs…

documents give us a nice anchor but a Leaflet can be something more / different; we need to better describe that! best current attempt: between a doc and a website

a balance of making and sharing

Leaflet is both an artifact-maker and an artifact-sharer, and this feels like an important balance to strike going forward

again, it's fine for simple ~plaintext things but not what it's best at; easily sharing things that are not only fast but impressive — that's cool!

one balance still TBD is to what degree we focus on making collaborative creation / editing equally great

10 delightful documents — winners of our first microgrant experiment ✨🍃

On PARK POWER!! 🌳⛅️🤝🥤, by Ashley

"half case-study, half manifesto"; inspiring IRL collaboration; beautiful documentation on the power of parks…but really about solidarity & generosity & collective action

MANIFESTO for a life well lived, by Mia

fun personal manifesto; a series of self-reminders — to walk more, to pay attention, to seek inspiration, to make time for reading, to grow things, to learn…

Untitled Leaflet
The world opens up when you realize you can just do something cool at a park.
https://leaflet.pub/74734477-0aa2-4f53-b9ff-7eb7787673c4
MANIFESTO (❁´◡`❁) for a life well lived
~by mia makes it
https://leaflet.pub/b624dc50-1a1c-493a-965f-0f8d4c070d7c

Bisita Field Notes, by Nikki & Rachel

two friends making a public worklog for reimagining their web studio! great vibes; love the "manifestations" section with dream projects & questions…also, a custom playlist!

Between the lines, by Connie

cool nested narrative experiment…all inside a container mailbox! nice mix of docs and canvas, some fun easter eggs, and the theme definitely adds to the poetic vibes

Bisita Field Notes
bisita [noun] visitor; guest.
https://leaflet.pub/be980c86-f1f9-4473-875b-2481d155bcfd?refresh=48x75h
read memories in chronological order
this is a work of fiction
https://leaflet.pub/b6a7e7bf-edaa-4891-b294-345142f4491e

through the weltering dark, by Nathan

fascinating, unique, hard to classify; starts as oddball research project & turns into multimedia detective story…on eels?! great reading list & images & more

A Chronology and Study of Being Online, by Star

made in our "docs as gifts" writing meetup! nice premise for a syllabus (how to be online better) and I like the more casual "syllabus for friends" framing, more friendly and less academic (but can also imagine how it could grow)

through the weltering dark
Where can one spot an eel making its way across land?
https://leaflet.pub/02c1ccdf-a813-4fc4-8c38-950d7008d0f4
A Chronology and Study of Being Online
dedicated to my chronically offline friends
https://leaflet.pub/80a21e8c-ebdb-4138-a3f5-6acc6ba67fea

First in a series of musings called Urban Phenomena, by Sushma

a catalog of observations; the start of a tiny personal newsletter (w/ our experimental 'mailbox' feature); inspiration to observe + create…

Substrates, by Eileen

unique and fun to explore! an extensive personal collection of creative materials, with potential project ideas & creative possibilities / intentions implied…so many cool books, objects, and materials, like "toys that would make good daydreams"

First in a series of musings called - Urban Phenomena
Today I saw a Puncher Shop. I tried to take a picture of this shop. Against a dark green background yellow ochre letters stood out, spelling Puncher Shop. You wouldn’t know this until I told you because the picture is so blurry. But it is a great picture. Which is why I have shared it.
https://leaflet.pub/6c168567-7420-4f44-ade6-6799d2a4d3fe
Substrates
I hoard…a lot. My aim is to use the below for creative projects. Some I have some strong inklings, many I don’t really. This will be my repository that I hopefully return to from time to time when I want to start something new or expand an endeavor. I’ll provide dimensions at a later date and update as I come up with additional ideas. Send me a message if you’d like to share with me any feedback or you can leave a comment here . Happy making!
https://leaflet.pub/541e7b1c-1683-4f3b-8bcf-410f62dfc7ab

How I learned to stop worrying and love the process, by Laura

cool mix of research + design pages (color coded) arranged as a timeline (top to bottom) — I love that it's an ongoing WIP process log; fun to have as a running thread + see how it evolves!

Beeswax Wraps, by Jake

awesome DIY project + documentation; like a journal but also a recipe! lots of detail, from "prologue" to research and experiments to final product, and some fun detours on craft

How I learned to stop worrying and love the process
Documenting the process of redesigning my old blog
https://leaflet.pub/14aba696-e894-440a-9d06-917641a2bfce?refresh=814ndh
Beeswax Wraps
My name is Jake Fee. This beeswax project was started and finished on August 15th, 2024. You can find me here:
https://leaflet.pub/c8e79d8f-df0c-4a7c-9a14-78fe771741ce