Do you want to make zines? Don’t know where to start? Or you’ve made one and now you don’t know what to do? Here’s a list of handy resources Julia has gathered over nine years of making zines and five long years of comics retail. Hopefully some of it is useful to you!
WHY SHOULD I ZINE?
Let’s be real here, making art is scary as all hell. All that hope that you’ll manage to make something perfect, then all that imperfection that happens when you try to get what’s in your head on paper. Sometimes it feels like you don’t want to make anything at all until it’s Exactly What You Want, but it’s also impossible to get there unless you just Make Shit And Learn. Well, my friends, here’s how I deal with this fear: WELCOME TO MAKING ZINES.
Zines became incredibly popular during the punk movement in ’79 and then again a decade or so later during the Riot Grrrl movement (though they have their roots in pulp science-fiction publications of the early 20th century). They were a great and cheap way of sharing your views and art under a DIY ethos. But I’m not here to give you a history lesson, just head to Wikipedia for an introduction.
What I’m trying to say is, zines are quick and cheap to make and you can experiment and try things out without much damage to your time or bank account. There are many beautiful, professional and perfect zines out there, sure, but no-one expects that from something you’re making in your bedroom because you just HAVE to get your guts out on paper – even if you just hand it our for free to your friends (or enemies, I’m not going to tell you what to make your zines about). So have a look at the drop-down menu above and get started!
onebeatzines.com 