It’s kind of weird that I never really got into zine-making when I was younger, because I was definitely the target demographic: GenX, artistic, creative, into counter-culture movements, loved going deep on my latest obsession, … the list goes on. But for whatever reason, I never really made many zines beyond just learning to make them.
My theory for why I wasn’t making zines back in the 80s and 90s is that I took a different but similar path: mixtape art. Everything you can do for a zine (a little rectangular booklet made of paper that folds out to reveal vibes and information), you can do for a mixtape insert (a little rectangular booklet made of paper that folds out to reveal vibes and information).
Since music was pretty much my holy grail, I was spending most of my time obsessing over anything that had to do with musical artists, albums, songs, lyrics, MTV and VH1 videos, etc. In my high school art class for a section on drawing and scaling portraits, I drew a huge portrait of Skid Row’s Sebastian Bach, which I hung over my bed because the walls were too full of all my Metallica posters.
I loved making mixtape art, not only because it let me go deep into a particular set of songs I was currently obsessed with, but because it was such a freeform art. I could draw, collage, cut out typefaces, and create a whole vibe. Most often, these were to share with friends, meaning I don’t really have many of these mini-masterpieces. And that was another great thing about mixtape art that reminds me of zines: zines can be made for yourself, but at their core they are for sharing. They are for contributing to the sharing economy where books and art and mixtapes of recorded music are for everyone— not just those who can afford them or have access to them.
Sadly, physical music media is less a part of my life than it used to be and I don’t really need to make mixtape art these days. But I can satisfy the part of myself that loved making cassette and CD covers by making zines instead. And what’s even better is that with zines, I’m not limited to talking about one set of songs, one artist, or even one genre like music.
Lately, I’ve been excited by the idea of making zines to process information or remember main points of something I’m learning. I was recently diagnosed with ADhD and in thinking about unconventional ways to synthesize new information, I realized that zines not only allow me to take and organize notes about what I’m learning, they can help me think about what’s most important to remember and how best to organize it into a simple structure. When I’m finished, my little zine is a lot more fun (and helpful) to look back over than I page full of disorganized notes.
Now I’ve been thinking about other ideas that could be fun to make into zines. If I can turn a podcast episode into a zine, why not a movie or show? Maybe an album as a little zine? Or a zine of a recent trip I took?
So, here are some ideas to light you up when you want to make a zine— or when you’re super pumped about something you’re learning/listening to/watching/feeling/experiencing, and you want to turn that feeling into something cool and tangible:
ZINE IDEAS
- A Podcast: The “Clipsnotes”
- A Book: The Zine
- An Album: The Zine
- A Band: The Zine
- A Movie: The Zine
- A Documentary: The Zine
- A Person: The Zine
- Song Lyrics (include a link or QR code to the song or a playlist with different versions of it)
- A Mixtape (include a link or QR to the song)
- A Poem / Poetry
- An Art Zine
- A Collage Zine
- A Tiny Storybook
- A Zine Photo Album
- A Trip to ______
- An Experience You’ve Had
- How to Do a Thing
- A Thing You Are Obsessed With
- A Vibe Zine
- T.I.L. (Today I Learned)
- A Topic - Thoughts and Info/Advice/Wisdom
- Radiowaves: A Zine of Listening to the Radio
- A Calendar/Diary Zine (of a week/month/year, etc)
- A Zine Memoir
- A Band + Your Favorite Albums/Songs + Lyrics + A Playlist link
- An Actor/Director + Your Favorite of their Movies + Lines/Dialogue
- An Art + Poetry + Vibe Zine
- A Tiny Storybook Collage Zine
- A Photo Album Zine of a Trip + Calendar/Diary Entries
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