After doing a bunch of workshops over the past few weeks, about zines and RISO printing, I just thought to reflect a little about the process of making zines and creativity as a whole.
I personally think a zine needs to be something personal. Maybe handmade is a good gauge, but laying out type and designing a whole layout is always good too. I love the aspect of zine making that includes the physical aspect of it, where something special is done by hand and by hand only. Binding maybe, or just trimming everything down.
If a zine becomes too finished, whatever line that might be, it becomes a little inaccessible. It should feel like magic, “How did heck did they make this zine this way? I want to try!” I feel that should the thought process. Maybe not just making but also “How did the artists even come to this thought? Or scene?” I like that direction a lot.
I don’t think a zine making should rely too much on external distribution. It could help, but zines should be made for giving, trading, and maybe selling to select audiences. I don’t think zines are intentionally mass made, if not they’d be magazines. The limited run also tells you a story on its own; budget limitations, or just the material was not meant to be so extensive.
These are really just my personal thoughts. They do affect some of the way I think and manage my zine stuff, but most of the time, I let each group decide what they want, and I will encourage them to produce a good amount, more because RISO itself benefits from producing in mass amounts.
I really just want people to make stuff a bit more than they consume stuff. Speaking to myself truly, I just wish I made more often than getting stuck on reels or another netflix binge (vince staples show now).
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