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Trans Awareness Week Zines

This guide accompanies a guide created by zine librarian Jenna Freedman for a Trans Awareness Week workshop offered at Barnard College by the Student Engagement and Experience department.

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 one-page folding zines.

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

  • Yelp reviews of queer flags
  • DIY joy
  • Ode to your favorite or least favorite tran TV show, celebrity, politician, sports figure, family member (including animals)
 

[/new conten

photo of piece of paper folded in 8
photo of brown hand using scissors to slit the piece of paper; photo of the slit piece of paper
photo of brown hands folding the paper into a zine; photo of folded zine

Photos from How to Make a Zine: A Kid-Friendly DIY Guide by Celia C. Pérez

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.