YouTube founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen seem to have a new project up their sleeve. The service, called Zeen, is apparently designed to enable users to "discover and create beautiful magazines," and it's coming soon.

Technology blog Fusible, which focuses on discovering the latest news through domain name acquisitions, sales, and trademark filings, was the first to discover the new project. On April 7, Fusible noticed a teaser page for the Web site, with a few features already available.

Current Features on the Zeen Web Page

The Zeen Web page features a box for users to reserve a username, links to its Facebook and Twitter pages, as well as links to a page of job listings and a privacy policy. The opportunities listed on the jobs page include about half a dozen posts for programmers and designers.

Once the account is created, users can link it to their Facebook or Twitter accounts. Also, those who signed up will receive email notifications when the service is actually available for use. Meanwhile, the company offers some rather vague updates on its own Facebook and Twitter (@zeen) accounts.

After signing up and requesting a username, users are congratulated with a similarly vague message:

"Thanks for signing up!

We're really excited to show you what we've been working on, and we'll send you an email when it's ready to go. In the meantime, we sent you an email to verify your email address. Please click on the link in the email so we know you're you!

Bye till then!"

Your Own Digital Magazine

As Cnet points out, last March, talking at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Hurley said that he was "dabbing with new ideas" for a start-up with Chen. Hurley said they were looking at what they could do with the "basic components that every Web site needs to get off the ground," and another idea involved indexing videos, writes Cnet.

Current user interfaces, especially those for mobile devices and touchscreens, focus on the glossy print aesthetic. Considering the current focus on fabulous, magazine-like design, this idea could become a huge hit. Offering consumers a refreshed, easy to use do-it-yourself version of a digital magazine with a clean and minimalist look and feel could be the greatest thing. After all, who wouldn't want his/her own digital magazine?

(reported by Alexandra Burlacu, edited by Surojit Chatterjee)