adventures in zine-making (for you)
I have made something! It’s a zine!
PJ texted me last week to ask me about starting a blog. I decided to make a little zine for her and while I was making it, I figured I might as well give it a place to live on the blog.
It contains a little guide to Bearblog, indie web directories, and a shoutout to 32bit.cafe.
So here’s the cover:
Here's the first two pages:
And here’s the link so you can download it and re-print it yourself. It’s double sided and one page. Fold it once in half, the vertical way, and then again, horizontally. Give it away to all the people in your life who'd like to blog!
Obligatory disclaimer just in case: please don’t make money off of this and please don’t take my name off of it! Thanks!
Why Zine?
I have long been flirting with the idea of making a zine. My wonderful physical world artist friends Maddog, Kayla, and Aly have been making zines for many years now and I have long loved consuming the things they make. More recently, I found Vero through Bearblog, and picked up a few of her super dope zines and I totally recommend that you take a look at them too - they’re fab. All of these artists have had me feeling very very inspired indeed :)
Last Friday, my friend Megan hosted a craft night for our bi-monthly girlies night. Megan is the sort of person who collects plenty of bits and bobs that adorn her entire apartment. Sitting on her couch, I’ll always find something new to stare at, or some funky drawer to open to reveal some little bizarre collection. Craft night is the perfect sort of activity for her to host, as it means plenty of fun things to choose from when we sit down to collage or make bracelets or keychains or bejewelled cigarette cases.
So, in Megan's whimsy apartment, surrounded by friends on a hot night in June, I made my first zine - a personal one. I’ve called my personal zine series “Hardly Doing Much.” I’m hoping to make a new one every season, I’ll post my first edition on the blog eventually. The zine series was named as such because the reality is that I’m always doing a billion things, so much so that I didn’t really have enough room in my 8-page mini zine to give a snapshot of what my life has looked like over the last few months. Oh well - oversharing is what this blog is for.
And I've decided to call my little zine studio "extra punch press." I found an old newspaper at Megan's that had "extra punch" written on a page with a cool image of these two guys in a boxing fight. I liked the many meanings behind extra punch - whether it's literally in a fight, or like the beverage, or just more of something. I'm hoping that my zines will be many different things, and hopefully a bit punchy.
the get on the small web zine - the second of its kind
The zine I’ve shared here is only my second ever zine!
I’ve been finding that blogging has been the subject of many of the irl conversations I’ve been having with new friends and strangers. I’ve been directing people to the same resources over and over, so this zine will certainly be helpful in my life.
These included tips are just my go-tos when trying to teach people about the small web, and by no means should they be considered a comprehensive guide to this little world. I've always thought that when you give people some basic tools, they will often find their own ways to make cool things, surpassing all expectations. I’m looking forward to seeing what people make, once they’ve got this as their jumping off point!
Lots of people I’ve talked to have also expressed the difficulty in leaving social media or generally just reducing their time on the big web. It’s not always memorable when things come up in conversation and then are later dismissed so I figured giving someone a physical thing to hold in their hands would maybe be more effective at pulling them over to the small web from the big social media overlords.
If you find this is at all useful to you, or if you decide to print a few copies for yourself please let me know! Would be cool to see this being used!! You can contact me here.
And lastly, this zine is dedicated to my lovely friend PJ, who may soon make her Bearblog debut and bless us all with her beautiful poetry!
Happy July and Happy Blogging!
love n hugs,
sam