Happy Fall to all of our blog followers! Check out these 10 illustrated zines and books to collect this fall! Every artist has contributed a blurb about their zine; some are simply for fun, others highly personal. Give them a look and maybe buy a few 🙂
Elisha Rush | “Ghosts”
“I decided to create this zine as a way to get some creative people together to make something fun for Halloween one year. I love every piece of work that’s in it – poems, comics, photos, and so much more all submitted by creators from Appalachia. It was a fun project to introduce myself and many of my friends to zine making – I hope it inspires others to do the same!”
Erika Rier | “In the Middle or the Beginning or Perhaps it was the End”
“In the Middle or the Beginning or Perhaps it was the End, is a zine that started first as a concept regarding the unique structure this booklet has. I wished to create a tall, narrow zine with many fold out pages which felt like a journey filled with hidden details to unfold. While designing the structure I found myself ruminating upon the nature of war, both modern and historical. Specifically, I found myself thinking about how our enemies often become our allies only to become our enemies again. I decided to tell this story through a band of girls who sets out on a journey in a wordless story. The girls stumble upon another band of girls and they fight. After the battle though, they make peace and their two bands become one, only to have the story begin again once the back cover is reached.”
Charlotte Madison | “Alone (thank God)”
“Basically the zine was the final outcome from a uni project earlier this year. We could create a zine around any theme to do with social/cultural things, so I chose to do introverts in student culture, as I noticed living with other people my age that I was far more introverted than I thought. It was very much a emotion based project which I think fits well with the zine format. I also couldn’t find any zines that I could relate to in that sense, so it was nice to create something I could see myself in also.”
Lyndsey Green | “A to Z of Feliformia”
“My book “A to Z of Feliformia” was an idea that first began several years ago while I was studying illustration at university, and Kickstarter helped me to bring it to life. I’ve always loved alphabet books and I have a huge passion for animals. I really wanted to illustrate some of the more unusual animals that people may not have heard of whilst also raising awareness, as many of them are unfortunately endangered. I chose the animal group Feliformia (“cat-like” carnivores) as it includes a diverse range of carnivorans both small and large, which live in all kinds of habitats from tundra to desert. I think it’s fascinating looking at how these animals are related to one another, and it doesn’t just include the obvious cats such as lions and tigers but also animals you might not expect such as hyenas and mongooses! I was blown away by the support my book received on Kickstarter and delighted to be able to see it printed as a finished book.”
Kim Siew | “The Unbeknownst”
“The Unbeknownst was brought about because I wanted a fun way for people to read a story. How they interact with the page is up to them. They can unfold it in a variety of ways, stand it up and create their own narrative. I really enjoy reading all sorts of story books – graphic novels, comics, children’s books – and since making zines I have enjoyed thinking about the form of the book as becoming part of the story also. My making process sometimes begins with a paragraph of my own that has popped into my head that will then lead me into making images, or sometimes it happens the other way around.”
Lucia Soto | “Home Away From Home”
“After 3 years living away from my family, I went back for a short break. What struck me most was the familiarity and strangeness of coming back to a place that you know so well but that at the same time somehow feels foreign. This made me think about the concept of ‘Home’ and how ambiguous it is, how much it’s linked to the people we love and the memories we cherish. I have lived in different places during my life, all these places are home to me and maybe someday I’ll find a new place to call home.
That’s the main theme of the zine. It’s set in London (UK) and Alicante (Spain), it features my little family, a few doggies and a recipe for vegan paella. It’s the most personal work I have ever done and I’m quite proud of it.”
Amanda from Close Call Studio | Tearable Zine Vol. 1 “Halloween Edition”
“Last fall I started “The Tearable Zine” as a monthly illustration challenge for myself plus a great opportunity to get back into bookmaking. I studied photography and bookmaking in college but have primarily worked in fiber art and illustration in my years since graduating. The zine ended up being a 6 month project with each month taking a different theme full of illustrated puns. October, aka Vol 1 is full of Halloween puns that are probably more cheesy than spooky. The zine is “tearable” because all the pages are perforated so they can be torn out and framed, colored in, gifted, whatever! It was a super fun passion project and an excuse to make some silly zines!”
Holly from Peppermint Pop UK | “Reasons Why Autumn is Great!”
“Summer’s great. It’s a time for holidays and adventures, sitting poolside drinking a cocktail (or three) or just enjoying the sunshine with a good book. So when the days start to turn cooler and the dark nights draw in, it can be a little sad knowing summer is over, which is why I made this zine. Summer may be drawing to a close, but that doesn’t meant the fun has to end. In my zine I point out some of the fun things autumn has to offer, from cozy clothes to drinking your weight in hot sugary drinks!”
Katie Ravenscraig | “Place”
“This zine is actually the first in a series I plan to make, collating the photographs I take whilst exploring new places. The next installments I am making are about my adventures in Japan and Spain. They are all going to be photo zines, showing snapshots, moments, and the feeling of a place.
Last year I had the fantastic opportunity to make work on an artists residency at Cleveland Print Room. They are a community photographic darkroom and gallery, and whilst there I worked on large scale black and white photogram pieces. A photogram is essentially a camera-less photograph. I really used my time there to explore experimental ways of using photography in my own work. I did, however, take a whole lot of normal photographs when exploring the Midwest! And I knew that when starting this series of zines I had to use these ones first.
Most of these are instant photographs, printed at their actual size. This informed the shape and size of the zine. It is printed in black and white to reflect the darkroom processes I was using at the time. It is hand bound, and I chose to use a semi transparent paper stock for the cover. Once you open it, the photograph underneath becomes clear. I wanted it to feel kind of like remembering a dream.”
Kristyna Baczynski | “Make Your Own Fun: A Zine About Making Zines”
“I was running a zine workshop in 2016 and realized that everything I wanted to convey about the power and potential of zines just wouldn’t fit into two hours. So I put everything else into this zine and made copies for the workshop attendees to take away with them, so they could continue to explore the medium after the two hours were up.
I included everything that I wished I knew when I started getting interested in self-publishing; a bit of history; enthusiasm and encouragement; technical help with formats, printing and binding; ideas for themes and content and also what to do with the zines once you’ve made them. I’m acutely aware that my own experience and view of zines is limited, so I included a lot of references to other great books on self-publishing perspectives in a ‘Lending Library’ section at the back. Zines are too big a subject to fit into a zine, but I tried!
My favourite thing about this zine is that people get in touch with me after they’ve bought a copy and show me the amazing things they’ve self-published. I love it.“
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