Everyone wants to find their people! Zines are a form of expression, art, and communication that evolved as a way to get around the restrictions on mass publication. They allow for people to connect over the niches and pockets of interest not deemed marketable by large publishers and companies.
Join us March 30th @ 4:00pm on Zoom to reconnect with the counterculture and learn how to create your own zine. From the crafting mechanics, to organizing content, to browsing other zine works, we will walk through the quirky history of zines and their evolution into the present.
History
Zines sure have a unique origin story. Straight from the heart of nerd culture, zines began as “fanzines”, modes of interaction and communication for fan communities before the age of the internet. From Star Trek to comic fandoms, fanzines were copy shop reproductions of fan fiction, articles, and art of the most diehard fans.
The easy to create and replicate format quickly became the hallmark of the skate, punk, and activist community of the 80s. Seeing themselves as outside the main social culture, the cut and paste jigsaw of content and protest allowed the counterculture to grow by leaps and bounds.
The formative nature of these small time booklets and magazines quickly sparked the curiosity of libraries and archives and several print and digital repositories. Today, many major academic institutions have large collections of print zines around formative topics.
Evolution
Since anyone can access this method of print and publication, zines as a medium have grown and expanded. From school science projects, to coloring books, zines are rapidly crossing the print to digital divide cropping up as printable PDFs and digital freebies across the internet.
During the pandemic, zines have seen a renaissance as a means of information and advocacy around pandemic protocols. NPR’s Malaka Gharib has created an amazingly accessible series around sharing pandemic protocols with children in her zine series #quarazine.
YA Fiction with Zines Featured
eResources to Inspire You
- CreativeBug Courses
- How to Make Zines
- Working with Collage
- Scrap Maps
- Daily Lettering Challenge
- Lynda.com Courses
- Learning Canva
- Creating a font set