Self-Published: Make Your Own Zine
Self-Published: Make Your Own Zine
Our August Catalog is special one. Not only does it showcase our favorite fall styles, but it also includes interviews, styling tips, and inspiring imagery – which is why we like to call it the “Magalog.” Flipping through the pages of it made me think back to about a month ago when I was in New York, and spent the day browsing self-published works at a zine fair. Located on the top floor of a building in Koreatown, lights were low, music was playing, and authors set up their zines on covered pool tables. Each one I flipped through was unique. Some made sense, others didn’t. Some had words, and others let images tell the story. Filled with whatever the author desired, these self-published works that I spent hours flipping through left me inspired.
I often have the urge to create. It’s a hard feeling to describe, but it’s powerful, and one that I have to tend to.
I’ve gathered quite a collection of images over time – my own and imagery by others that inspire me. My job requires me to do so, and I’m left with is a folder on my computer titled, “Inspiration Tears.” When I get these creative urges, this folder is the first thing I think of. Rather then just having the pictures exist there, I like to actually put them to use. Making a Zine is a way that I can turn the digital images I normally look at on a computer screen into something that I can actually hold, flip through, and keep forever.
A lot of mom-and-pop bookstores have collections of self-published works that you can browse. The authors are normally local, and I like that you can get a taste at just how creative the people you share a city with are.
That inspiration folder on my desktop was getting pretty full, so this past weekend I gathered up some of my favorites images, and self-published something of my own.
I drew, I collaged, I painted, and I wrote. A jumble of mixed-mediums, each page is unique to itself. Call it a zine, call it a book, call it whatever…
A little piece of your imagination is binded in the pages, so it’s whatever you want it to be.
If you’ve never made anything like this before, give it a shot. It’s so much fun to get creative with it, and there’s no right or wrong way to do it. This is such a fun way to look back on memories from the summer, or from a trip you’ve taken. Or it can be an exercise just to get some of those jumbled up thoughts out of your brain – the options are endless.
It’s all up to the author – you.
Have fun!
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