My first zine
And what I learned from the process
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Early followers of Art Life Balance may remember a blip in time when this newsletter was called SELF HELP, named after a series of comics I began creating around 2018. The rationale behind that name change was simple: I was gathering up those old comics to create a book. And this newsletter would be the vehicle for documenting that process.
As it turned out, that book never materialized, which might have something to do with the fact that books don’t materialize — they come together slowly, bit by bit through consistent time and effort. I wasn’t ready for that level of commitment, and I quickly became frustrated with the paltry results of the efforts I did make. When I realized that the project was bringing me more consternation than gratification, I dropped it and returned this newsletter’s name, appropriately, to Art Life Balance.
That was more than two years ago, and I haven’t thought about it since.
Until a few weeks ago.
In my adventures in Substack Notes, I began running into lots of Zine content. For those who don’t know, a Zine is like a book’s eccentric cousin. It’s probably smaller, usually contains handmade elements, and often combines images and text in unconventional ways.
Seeing that Substack has become the de-facto anti-social media social media club, it was only a matter of time before Zines took it by storm. They signal a merging of physical and digital processes, celebrate the quirks of individual expression, and, through the ways they can be shared and distributed, foster an interpersonal intimacy more authentic than that which can be forged through liking or sharing a post.
Anyway, I decided I wanted in on the fun, and I had just the material to do it.
I gathered a few of my comics that had a similar aesthetic and theme, and began to structure a 20-page Zine around them.
This is the part where I could list each step of the process, essentially making this post into a tutorial. At the risk of creating more confusion than I alleviate, I’ll simply share the resource that helped me the most:
If you do plan to create a Zine, I strongly recommend you watch this video or some other how-to guide first instead of doing what I did (try to figure it out on my own and waste a lot of time and paper). Like most things, this project isn’t as easy as it looks. Figuring out how to organize and orient pages for printing is not intuitive, and it’s beneficial to know some tips and tricks in advance. On the bright side, once you “unlock” the process, it will never be as difficult as it was the first time.
Before I share a few more images, I can’t resist explaining what I learned from this experience. (If nothing else, you can count on Art Life Balance posts to be loosely structured like a children’s TV show.)
Three key takeaways:
Physical media is cool. There’s something incredibly satisfying about seeing your work in print, as a tangible touchable object. I think I wanted to create a book so badly because I instinctively understood this even then. It just doesn’t feel real until it exists in physical space, ya know? Practically, this also means paying attention to materiality: the texture, weight, and size of the paper, the style of the binding, etc. Selecting and working with these elements is an art in itself.
Doing new things is hard. The fact that I was sure I was going to create a book years ago reflects the fact that my work then existed almost exclusively online. I knew making a book would be hard, but my frame of reference was posting on Instagram, so I had little appreciation for just how challenging it would be and little humility regarding my ability to see it through. I’m not saying I’ll never make a book, but a zine is my speed right now, and that’s okay. More than okay! I think it’s important to choose creative challenges wisely, taking one step outside our comfort zone instead of one giant leap into the unknown.
Sharing IRL is fun. If art is created primarily to be experienced offline, does it really exist? To quote Jane Bennet from the movie version of Pride and Prejudice, “Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes!” Of the few copies of the zine I made, I brought one into the office to show a work friend, gave one away to a college friend who said he will read it on the toilet (high praise), and put a few on my shelf at the local art gallery labeled for sale for $8. I don’t know if this will be anyone’s cup of tea, but I like the thought of strangers rifling through it out of curiosity. These acts of sharing feel at least as substantial as the sharing I do online, reminding me that there is a wide, weird, and (often) wonderful world beyond the screen.
And now, for those images:
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Looks cool.
OH MY GOD OF COURSE PHYSICAL MEDIA IS COOL! Sorry for yelling, but I think it's important. We're human beings... we need to make things and touch things and share *things* that can be held in our hands. Also! Do you follow Austin Kleon? If not, you should. He's all about zines, and so so so much more.