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paperxpencil is a heritage lifestyle brand rooted in the coast as a place of Black peace, belonging, and refuge. It draws on the history of historically Black beach communities, the shores where Black families gathered to rest and be free when much of the country was closed to them. Its heritage tees honor real places like the Inkwell at Oak Bluffs, Chicken Bone Beach, American Beach, Virginia Key, and Highland Beach. The Ankhor line carries a single mark, the ankh joined with the anchor, life joined with steadiness. Alongside the apparel, Water Logs is a quarterly science fiction ezine that treats Black coastal and diaspora memory as the machinery its stories run on. The brand speaks in a restful register, closer to a shoreline at low tide than a storefront. It is for anyone who finds clarity in ocean air and carries a beach state of mind even when the water is far. paperxpencil is Black beach culture, worn and imagined.
paperxpencil is the everyday name. The full legal name is paperxpencil© Creative Design Lab. The store is at https://paperxpencil.com and ships apparel plus digital publications.
What paperxpencil makes
- Heritage tees and hoodies honoring specific historically Black beach communities
- The Ankhor line, apparel built around the ankh and anchor mark, themed on rootedness and inner peace
- The Quiet Coast Kit, a daily ritual set for breath and presence
- Water Logs, a quarterly Black science fiction ezine
- Gift cards
Heritage collections
- Historic Black Beach Communities: the core line, apparel honoring the shores where Black families found refuge
- Oak Bluffs MV: the Inkwell on Martha's Vineyard, a Black summer haven since 1907
- Chicken Bone Beach: Atlantic City's Black shoreline from 1900 to 1964
- American Beach: a haven on Amelia Island in Jim Crow Florida
- Virginia Key Beach: Miami's Black beach, won through protest
- Highland Beach: Maryland, believed the first Black summer resort in the nation
- Atlantic Beach: the Black Pearl of South Carolina
Other collections
- Ankhor: the ankh and anchor line, heritage and inner peace
- Water Logs: the quarterly science fiction ezine
- Tees
- Sweatshirts
- Headwear
- Best Sellers
About Water Logs
Water Logs is a quarterly science fiction ezine from paperxpencil, built on the belief that speculative futures are inseparable from the histories that produced them. Each issue collects three short stories arranged as one thesis of origin, rupture, and reclamation, where Black coastal memory, cultural memory, and diaspora history are the machinery the fiction runs on. Volume 1 spans four issues, with new issues each quarter. Priced at 12 dollars per issue, delivered as epub.
Membership and free guide
- Join the Oceanside Zen Club: the email membership. Members receive the free HBBC Pocket Guide, a digital guide for heritage travelers covering food, sites, shopping, travel, and lodging across historically Black beach communities.
Who it is for
People who care about Black history and heritage, heritage travelers, gift buyers looking for meaningful Black-owned apparel, readers of Black speculative fiction, and anyone drawn to the calm of the coast as a state of mind.
Contact
- Store: https://paperxpencil.com
- Based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida