class 21  make zines


As big magazines lose readers, home-made “zines” are springing up.  Countercultural titles, assembled on kitchen tables with staplers and glue, are enjoying a boomlet. Economist, 10/14/17 https://www.economist.com/britain/2017/10/12/as-big-magazines-lose-readers-home-made-zines-are-springing-up

For our last two weeks, we will create hand-made zines.

Some goals:

  • Develop techniques in zine-making, a DIY youth expressive practice that comes out of the 1970s punk-indy media scene in the UK and US.  
  • In an informal, free-style genre, express your perspectives on youth, democracy, and the entertainment industries.
  • Experiment with combining words (writing) and images to create dynamic media.
  • Do simple, hand-made art as an alternative to digital screen time.
  • Use art to connect with affective/cognitive sensorium (feelings/thoughts) and through sharing this work, connect with each other.

Zines are typically made using 8×11 paper, folded in half, horizontally.

For this assignment do a minimum of 4 zine pages – which means filling the equivalent of 2 pieces of paper.  See class 20 zine assignment guide for pdf examples of this typical zine formatting and videos.  While you have the option of doing any topic you want, you’ll be sharing your work in the topic-issues group of which you are a part.  The topic groups include:  social media, diversity in representation, student debt/consumerism, gender inequities, incarceration, climate crisis.  It’s possible that some people may end up collaborating but it’s not required.

Here’s more specific guidelines:

Topic options:

  • In relation to the topic group of which you’re a part, use the praxis model to guide  your zine words and images:
    • Naming issues
    • Analyze for root causes
  • Make a zine about whatever you want that somehow relates to questions of youth, democracy, and the entertainment issues we’ve raised in class. This might cover:
      • Personal connections, e.g. creative work you do as a maker: music, journalism, dance, fashion, social media, sports, what else?  Social groups of which you’re a part; media pleasures and perils.  What questions of democracy in relation to youth & EIs are raised?  
      • Other YDEI issues we may or not have covered..
        • Issues of democracy (lack thereof) facing youth
        • Issues facing youth in relation to the EIs
        • What else?

For whatever option you select, some guidelines:

Make 4 zine pages on 8×11 paper; exam books were distributed in class as one template to work on.  But any 8×11 paper will work. 

    • Use your rolling Google doc to do preliminary free writing of text.
    • Then hand copy and/or print out and cut as paste onto zine pages.
    • On horizontal view, divide 8×11 page in half.  For the zine, each side (half page) is considered one zine page.
    • Incorporate some form of non-written visual elements, e.g. doodles, simple illustration, framing, what else?  
    • For this illustration, consider using images cut out from magazines, newspapers, adverts, what else?  This begins a process of collage we’ll do more of next week.  
    • Photocopy and bring the original and photocopies to class.  Best to make several sets of copies (3-4 or more) to share with others in your group.
    • Scan the zine pages and upload to your rolling Google doc.  You can use your smartphone camera for this.  Send link to instructor.      
    • Bring coloring tools to work with in class, to color the black and white photocopies: markers, crayons, colored pencils, what else?


11 Intersectional Feminist Zines and DIY Guide (with Template) https://disorient.co/intersectional-feminist-zines/