Love is a Verb
4” x 6”
Collection of stationary + zine


It’s no grand revelation that kids living in a transient city like New York are some of the quickest adopters of convenience infrastructure. How could we not be? Why cook with your roommate when you can UberEats to your door? Why browse for a thoughtful birthday gift when you can just check their Amazon wishlist? These tools make life more efficient while normalizing comfort over connection. As we grow used to speed and ease, that expectation begins to leak into our relationships. We forget that connection takes effort, time, and attention, and when it doesn’t feel instant, we don’t choose it at all.

This project interrupts that pattern by asking what happens when we reintroduce friction on purpose. It began with an intimate dinner designed to explore how connection unfolds without digital shortcuts. Guests were invited to “write something you’d usually text,” prompting reflection on what makes a message feel meaningful beyond its content. Afterward, participants received punch cards with actions such as cooking a meal together, teaching a skill, or introducing friends. Completing three actions earned a screen-printed T-shirt.

From invitations to letter sets, punch cards, and earned merchandise, all design components are produced through analog, labor-intensive techniques such as risography, hand lettering, and screen printing. This insistence on effort stands in direct contrast to the smoothness and optimization of convenience culture, and asserts that connection, like design, gains meaning through participation, time, and the visible trace of human hands.