Zines 101: Why make a zine?

Zines don't have to have to be serious and can be cathartic to make, allowing you to express yourself. This article outlines a handful of reasons you should consider making a zine for your own personal benefit.

Gathered in this article are over a dozen testimonials from zinesters, relating why they make zines and why they're important to them.

This article offers a more academic analysis of art books and artists zines, while also offering historical and contemporary background.

This article offers 7 reasons why photographers should consider making zines. The reasons apply pretty well to any other kind of artist, though.

One notable benefit of zines is the self-publishing aspect. This gives the creator total control over their zine, and this article goes into more detail about why that is so important.

This article argues for the use of zines in academic publishing. They make the point that the typical publishing structure in academia can be difficult to get into, and also often means that the published articles/research are stuck behind paywalls, which means not everyone can access it. Using zines is a way to get out of the academic publishing world and self-publish on your own time and terms.

There are a lot of reasons to teach with zines, and this article will clearly outline many of them. In short, zines offer an incredibly versatile medium which allows for a range of images and text which students can utilize as they feel comfortable.