Zinester Interview 05

Zinester Interview 05

MixTape is produced by Justine Telfer and Nichola Prested

Design: Simon Telfer @ Motor, Australia

Justine Telfer responds:

How would you describe your zine?
MixTape is a craft maga(ZINE) about making time for the small things! MixTape is a collision of craft, eco-cool and pop culture kitsch.

What can your zine do that a mainstream publication can't?
I can publish anything I want - I am not dictated to by hierarchy or trends.

Does the look of a zine matter?
Yes, I think it does! Mind you I live with a graphic designer (my husband). It's got to look good but also have great content.

Please recommend a zine for us and tell us why.
I love pretty much everything by Gracia & Louise:www.gracialouise.com/zines.html
Lovely chicks who produce awesome zines.

Zinester Interview 06

Zinester Interview 01

Manzine is produced by Kevin Braddock, Peter Lyle, Mark Hooper and Woz www.themanzine.com

Kevin Braddock responds:

How would you describe your zine?
Manzine is a men's magazine in a fanzine format; it's also a Dada folk magazine for men; A Publication About The Male Phenomenon; and several other things.

What can your zine do that a mainstream publication can't?
Manzine talks about the modern masculine experience as it actually is, rather than how it is supposed to be.

Does the look of a zine matter?
Of course. Manzine is a non-aspirational publication that engages with the reader in a non-hierarchical way, and it is vital that that idea is embodied in the design and format as well as the content, which is friendly, amateur and rootsy.

Please recommend a zine for us and tell us why.
Smoke: A London Peculiar is a fantastic fanzine about London. Manzine has also been a fan The Shoreditch Twat, 032c, The Rig Out and Bugs & Drugs.

The First Blog Entry

Putting down your first words on a new blog isn't easy. You don't have any readers yet. Blogging is a kind of writing where you are revealing something about yourself to persons unknown. How do you know "what readers want to know?" and, does anyone care?

I am in awe of zine producers who - whether writing about their interests in digital or print form - are making their first foray into self-publishing. This is my first blogging effort, although I have published in mainstream magazines and academic journals. Writing can be nerve wracking at the best of times. But if you feel you have something to say to someone (although it may only be to a handful of like-minded individuals) it's important to find a forum for sharing your thoughts and opinions. This is what zine producers have done historically, creating their own spaces to write, design, produce and self-publish. It can be liberating to work outside the conventions of mainstream publishing: no worries about publishing schedules, fewer concerns about grammar, spelling, punctuation and the protocols of design layout, grids and typography.

Most zine producers are amateur publishers. There are exceptions, however, where professional journalists and designers have crossed over into the world of independent publishing, including science-fiction writers and a few ex-punks who are now mainstream media presenters and journalists. What I appreciate about zines is the immediacy of the message offered up by the way in which zinesters write (their tone and mode of writing) but also in the subjects that they cover. This can be anything from pez dispensers, or football to thrift shopping and animal rights. Zines can be about consumer culture, typography, politics, or very personal takes on everyday life. You have as many subjects as you do individuals. (As an aside, it is estimated that over 10,000 soccer titles exist in the UK.)

So before I continue any further with this first entry, it is worth saying what this blog is not about: it is not a zine, nor is it a meta-zine (a zine which reviews zines). Rather my intention here is to explore the do-it-yourself revolution offered up by zines through my own lens as a historian and collector. Of course, I have great plans as to how I eventually might achieve this! But, in the first instance I thought I would keep it simple by looking at a few publications and the history of the medium, maybe conducting a couple of interviews with contemporary producers. Perhaps also show a few zine covers and page interiors to indicate how the graphic language of zines tells its own visual story.

I know that by calling this blog 'Zine Weekly', I was also setting up expectations. I can just about manage an entry a week (knowing how ambitious it might be to promise something everyday). There are so many wonderful zines out there, I am not lacking in material to write about. So dear reader, I hope you are out there and have some interest in what I will be saying.