Fisty

Overview

A handheld book about sleight of hand.

Fisty is a designed booklet about close-up magic — the kind performed inches from the audience, where the only props are your hands, a coin, or a card.

It is part instructional, part editorial. Each spread is laid out so the reader can practice the move while reading it, with illustrations that explain the mechanics without giving away the feel.

My role

What I did.

• Wrote and edited the material.
• Designed every spread — type, grid, illustrations.
• Prepared the final PDF for digital distribution.
• Built a small audience around the niche.

Lessons

What this taught me.

Niche audiences reward depth. Fisty was never going to be a mass-market product — and that was the point. Designing for an obsessive reader is its own kind of generosity.

That mindset has shaped every long-form thing I've written since.