Zines!

All about zines!

Had so much fun participating in an online protest zine workshop by Camilla Fanning

I attended my first (online) zine workshop, and it was run by Camilla Fanning.

Event dets:

I created a zine called “Human-centred AI Matters!”, it’s a 6 page half-page zine plus front and back covers. After the workshop I continued making to finish it. I scanned the zine so I can make copies of it and also make a mini-zine!

It was quite cathartic because I was raging from an article I read a couple of days before the workshop that sparked this specific topic on many issues coming from this hyped technology.

It was such good fun, you know you are having a great time when your desk is a wonderful mess afterwards! 🥰

Note: That some of the images used were from old ImagineFX magazines and were by amazing artists, but with all the excitement of cutting and tearing things out, I forgot to note down the artists names, so if you see your image here, please let me know at vicky[at]eventgeek[dot]ie.

Here are some photos of side-by-side of my OG hand-made zine and the copy I printed out after I scanned it. There’s also a pic of my mini-zine.

For those wondering how I made my PDF:

  • I created A4 Portrait doc on Canva, and uploaded each image into its own page
  • Saved the PDF
  • Used Zine Arranger (free) - selected half-page and A4 options before I saved the PDF after it did its magic.
  • One thing Ihad to do was rotate every 2nd page 180 degrees as my own printer that handles double-sided printing and it printed every 2nd page upside down and you folded the zine. So if you are doing it, test in advance.

For the mini-zine:

  • I used Canva, and I already have a custom-made template for 8-page mini-zine
  • I pulled the already uploaded images (from before) into the template
  • Then I exported it, and chose PDF Print for printing.

I also just created a Flickr photo album for my zines: https://www.flickr.com/photos/whykay/albums/72177720333154260/

My Creative Learning Reflections Journal Zine

I made a physical zine, the biggest I’ve ever made for my Creative Learning Course (NCAD). It’s my reflection journal, I still don’t know if I made one correctly, but there was an option to submit a physical copy… so I did! My last hurrah as an art student. And here’s the digital version, enjoy!:

If you have problems viewing the zine, you can go directly to https://heyzine.com/flip-book/a5c963ac08.html.

As part of the short course, I created a couple of things on the side and included in the reflective journal:

I used Decker (which some folks have used for interactive digital zines) to create a little interactive story based on the object, a Nintendo Famicom cartidge, which embodied my creative journey. Note: That Decker is not mobile-friendly, view via laptop/desktop computer.

A mini-zine I created based on the reaction from one of the activities where we address and distill large issues to single words. Chanting them out loud during class, a very cathartic exercise which stuck with me leading me to design and make this mini-zine.

Behind the scenes zines

Some behind the scenes of the zine workshop I’m proposing. Pics taken by myself and Mick. Also printing the Dublin Maker 1-page mini-zine. 💖

Quick video of the final mini-zine

Link to video: [youtu.be/jMKQHCvlf…

(Originally posted on 2025-06-15)

Zines! Why are they so compelling?

Just as what the title says, why is it compelling? For me anyway, it’s getting away from “doom scrolling”. it doesn’t remove me from my digital device as I can read zines online. But let’s roll back a bit first, what is a zine?

What is a zine?

A zine (pronounced zeen) is short for magazine, zines are self-published magazines with none of the ads you normally see in magazines (physical magazines, some newsagents and supermarkets still sell them but dramatically reduced over the years due to easy access to information with ubiquitous smart devices that (barely) fits in our pockets or hands.

You’ll find its origin stories from sci-fi fans producing zines of their favourite genre to punk including movements like Riot grrrl who brought feminism to punk scene, and used zines as a means to share and circulate information that normally would not be published in mainstream media.

Ok, ok, so why is it compelling?

🙌 Anyone can make a zine, the bare minimum is one sheet of A4 paper 📃, a pen 🖋️ and a pair of scissors✂️. And woohoo, you already nearly there making one of the popular zine formats… a mini-zine!

🪄 It may seen like magic, all you need to do is a few creases, one snip and fold it and the piece of A4 paper turns into an 8-page mini-zine!

Examples of a mini-zines

PyLadies Dublin Zine by whykay whykay.itch.io

References