Zine Scene

Independent publications such as zines never went out of popularity it seems. I've been thinking about them for a while, looked up blogs about them and generally wondered how does one get into the zine scene.

I love the homemade nature of a photocopied booklet with ramblings, writings and general outside art.

They retain their DIY aesthetic by multiple photocopying and hand-drawn illustration. But really they are a platform for whatever you can think of -articles, art, collage, interviews- after all your the editor, reporter and publisher!

I went in search of zines in Hamilton to get ideas before I took the plunge. I only found one at Auter House. I've seen a couple in Wellington and know there is Cherry Bomb comics in Auckland, that sell zines. Must have a look next time I'm up.

So I decided to give it a try, make my own personal zine as its only a couple of A4s. But I wasn't sure what topic to write about, which is also true of this blog!

I joined the zinesters website http://www.wemakezines.ning.com/ just to give me an insight. There is lots of help out there from old-hat zinesters to noobs (newbies).

Its called 'Transmission', but I have hardly included any articles in it, even though I'm a journo. Think I wanted to see if solely imagery and a brief cartoon would carry the zine.

My family like it but I pay them well.
The next step is sending it on to a 'zine distro' and spreading my message to the world. But since there are hardly any words, my message isn't exactly loud and clear.

I was thinking of doing another 8 page zine about the hot spots of Hamilton after all the positive feedback.