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CLLT 3126: Zine Library Guide for Queer Classics: Desire, Embodiment, Back

Zine Librarian Jenna Freedman made this guide to support Cat Lambert's Classics course in Desire, Embodiment, Backward Glances at Columbia University. Fall 2021

Zine Elements

photo of person drawing with a white cat next to them. Covers

  • color
  • construction
  • relief prints

Binding

staples * sewing * stab * pamphlet * paper types* materials

Graphics

  • illustrations
  • fair use/copyright
  • photographs
  • typography/handwriting
  • backgrounds

Elements

Essay * Poem * Review * Drawing * Collage * Personality Quiz * Crossword Puzzle * Playlist * Top Ten List * Likes/Dislikes * How To * Comic * Rant * Blank Space * Art * Handwriting * Typewriting * Design Software * Stick Figures

Metadata: author, title, publication location, publication date, freedoms and restrictions

Genre

  • personal
  • political
  • art
  • literary
  • split
  • compilation
  • minicomics
  • DIY

Pro Tips

  • Leave a 1/4" margin around your pages
  • Remember your zine will be copied or scanned, so light text and images may not reproduce well
  • You do you

Make a Zine

Today we're making quarter size zines. The layout may mess with your head. That's okay; breaking your brain while making a quarter size zine is a rite of passage! This zine is for practice to share or not as you like!

photo of a black and white cat on a banner that reads "Zinesters in Residence."Suggested Themes

  • Tiny tale from classics
  • DIY some niche thing you're good at
  • Ode to your favorite or least favorite TV show, celebrity, politician, sports figure, family member (including animals)

Templates

With help from Milo Miller, famed QZAP co-founder, I've developed a zine template for myself for making a quarter-size zine that's eight pages long in InDesign. (This is not a template for a one-page folded zine. Those are easy to find.)

indd file

pdf file

docx file

Or this Google slides half size template

[/new conten]

Cover

Selfie or brain map

Page 1

  • Introduce your zine (pro-tip: you might want to do this at the end, so you know what you're introducing)
  • Metadata: contextualize for the reader and history
    • Could be s nom de plume
    • Date
    • Publication location
    • Contact information
  • Freedoms and restrictions
    • Do you want to claim copyright?
    • Assign a CC license?
    • Reject copyright?
    • Control digital reproduction?

Page 2

Rant, I statements

Page 3 (left side of centerfold)

Cartoon, sketch, art, doodles (be bold! draw stick figures!), collage

Page 4 (right side of centerfold)

continue from page 3

Page 5

Pencil game: maze, crossword puzzle, word finder, quiz, survey, matching

Page 6

Recipe

Back Cover

Credits, playlist, reviews or recommendations

Another pro-tip: number your pages. This will help when you are assembling your zines.

Your zine can be for this class, for yourself, or for a project like Quaranzine or Social Distanzine. Who better to document this experience than you?