Meet the maker
A Life Spent Making Things.
An Appreciation for Things Well Made.
I’ve always believed there’s something special about making things with your own hands. Taking an idea, figuring out how to bring it into the world, and eventually standing back to look at something that didn’t exist before you started. There’s a satisfaction in that process that I’ve never quite been able to find anywhere else. I love the challenge of figuring things out, learning how different materials behave, and discovering what becomes possible when you combine a little curiosity with the willingness to put in the work.
I’ve also developed a tremendous appreciation for people who know how to make things well. The carpenter who’s spent forty years learning his trade, the machinist who can reproduce a part that hasn’t been manufactured in decades, or the leatherworker whose work will probably outlast him. There’s something remarkable about the knowledge and experience those people carry, and I hope I never lose the desire to learn from them. I think there’s a great deal of value in preserving those skills, sharing what we know, and continuing to find new ways to put them to use.
I’m Zack Harrison, a maker from Conway, Arkansas, and I’ve spent most of my life following that curiosity wherever it happens to lead.
The beginning
I Make Things. I Always Have.
As far back as I can remember, I’ve been interested in how things work. I’ve always enjoyed taking things apart, figuring out what makes them tick, and occasionally discovering that putting them back together is a little more complicated than taking them apart in the first place. I grew up around tools, equipment, and people who knew how to work with their hands, and somewhere along the way, I decided I wanted to be able to do those things myself.
That curiosity has taken me through quite a few different trades and creative disciplines over the years. I’ve worked with wood, metal, leather, electronics, and just about anything else I could get my hands on. I’ve built furniture, fabricated signs, restored old equipment, worked on vehicles, produced films, and taken on more than a few projects that required me to learn something entirely new before I could even begin. Some of those experiences became the foundation for a career, while others simply became things I enjoyed doing. I’ve never been particularly concerned with fitting all of it into one category. I just enjoy making things.
A life of making
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Woodworking
Furniture, cabinetry, and one-off builds for home and shop.
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Sign making
From hand-painted to built-up letters, signs have been a big part of the journey.
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Audio & production
Years in the studio and on the stage, from recording albums to running live sound.
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Retrophile
Restoring vintage radios and reimagining them with modern audio for a new life.
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Leather goods
Simple, functional pieces made with quality leather and traditional techniques.
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Photo & film
Telling stories through photography and video, in the workshop and out in the world.
The trade
Learning by Doing.
For much of my professional life, I owned and operated a signmaking and fabrication business here in Arkansas. It gave me the opportunity to work with all kinds of materials, solve some interesting problems, and make a living doing something I genuinely enjoyed. The work wasn’t always easy, and there were plenty of occasions when I found myself staring at a project wondering exactly how I was going to pull it off. But those experiences taught me an awful lot, and I’ve come to appreciate how much of what I know today came from simply being willing to figure things out.
Over time, I began to recognize that the skills I was developing weren’t limited to any particular trade. The principles behind designing and building a piece of furniture aren’t all that different from those involved in restoring an old radio or making something out of leather. You have to understand the materials, think through the process, pay attention to the details, and be willing to make adjustments when things don’t go according to plan. I’ve found that the more I learn about one discipline, the more it tends to help me understand another. It’s one of the things I enjoy most about working across so many different mediums.
The workshop
Where Tradition Meets Curiosity.
I’ve always had a soft spot for old things, particularly objects that were made with the expectation that they’d be around for a while. An old piece of furniture that’s been passed down through a family, a hand tool that’s still doing its job after nearly a century, or a vintage radio that someone once gathered around to listen to the evening news. I enjoy thinking about the people who made those things, the decisions that went into their construction, and the lives they’ve been part of since.
That appreciation has shaped the way I approach my own work. I love traditional tools and methods, but I’m certainly not opposed to modern technology. My workshop is a mixture of old machinery, hand tools, electronics, and equipment that would have seemed like science fiction to the people who built some of the older tools I use. I think there’s room for all of it. I’m interested in understanding why something was made a certain way, what we can learn from the people who came before us, and how we can use that knowledge to make something worthwhile today.
I suppose that’s part of what I hope people recognize in the things I make. Whether it’s a leather wallet, a restored radio, a piece of furniture, or something that doesn’t fit neatly into any category, I want it to be something that was thoughtfully made and serves its purpose well. Something you enjoy owning, using, and hopefully keeping around for a long time.
AR Maker Industries
A New Chapter in Making.
In 2026, I established AR Maker Industries LLC as a new home for my creative work. After years of operating primarily within the signmaking and fabrication industry, I wanted to give myself the opportunity to pursue the broader range of things I’ve always enjoyed making. I still appreciate that work, and I continue to take on select custom projects, but I also wanted to spend more of my time developing things that come from my own curiosity and imagination.
Today, that work is taking several different forms. The Sage Collection is my line of handcrafted leather goods, built around thoughtful design, quality materials, and an appreciation for things that become more personal through years of use. Retrophile is dedicated to giving vintage radios a second life, preserving their original character while making them useful in a modern home. I also work with brands through photography, filmmaking, and product storytelling, something that allows me to combine my experience making physical things with my interest in telling the stories behind them. More recently, I’ve been spending time painting and beginning to explore sculpture, two disciplines I’ve admired for years and am looking forward to learning more about.
I realize that’s a fairly wide range of interests, but to me, they all belong together. Whether I’m sitting at a sewing machine, working on an old radio, standing in front of an easel, or building something out of wood or steel, I’m still doing what I’ve always loved doing. I’m making something, figuring something out, and hopefully getting a little better at it along the way.
Looking ahead
Something Worth Building.
Over the last few years, I’ve spent a good deal of time thinking about what I want my life to look like. Not just what I want to accomplish professionally or what kind of business I want to build, but what I actually want my days to look like. Becoming a husband and father has certainly given me a greater appreciation for that distinction. I’ve learned that there’s a difference between building a successful business and building a life you actually enjoy living, and I don’t want to lose sight of one while pursuing the other.
Eventually, I was able to put that ambition into words, and it’s become something of a North Star for me:
“I want to build a life where making beautiful physical things is what I do, and where enough people value those things that it supports my family and leaves me enough time to actually live.”
That’s what I’m working toward. I want to spend my days doing work I genuinely enjoy, developing the skills to do it well, and making things that people find beautiful, useful, or meaningful enough to bring into their own lives. I want to build a workshop where I can move between different disciplines, where there’s always something interesting happening, and where I have the freedom to follow an idea simply because I think it might be worth exploring. Just as importantly, I want to be able to close the doors at the end of the day and enjoy the life and family that all of this work is meant to support.
I’d love for my son to grow up around that kind of environment. A place where he can explore his curiosity, learn how things work, and discover what he’s capable of making with his own hands. I also hope that, as AR Maker Industries grows, it might become a place where other makers and craftspeople can share their knowledge, work together, and learn from one another. I’ve benefited tremendously from the wisdom and generosity of people who know more than I do, and I’d like to be able to offer that same kind of encouragement to others along the way.
I don’t know exactly what all of this will look like ten or twenty years from now. There are still materials I haven’t worked with, techniques I haven’t learned, and things I haven’t figured out how to make. I hope there always will be. I don’t particularly want to reach a point where I feel like I’ve learned everything there is to know. I just want to keep making things, keep learning, and do the best work I know how to do while building a life that leaves room for the people and things that matter most.
A personal note
Glad You’re Here.
I appreciate you taking the time to learn a little about me and the things I’m working on. Whether you’ve found your way here because of something I’ve made, you’re interested in having something built, you’re considering working together, or you simply share an appreciation for things made by hand, I’m glad you’re here. I hope you’ll take a look around, explore some of the work, and maybe find something that speaks to you. I’ve still got an awful lot I’d like to make, and I’m looking forward to seeing where all of this goes.
After all, I’m just a simple man MAKING my way through the galaxy.
— ZH