Brian Hornfeldt 

Arts and Entertainment Writer, Social Media Manager   

Image credit: The Obscenely Loud 

If you’ve never heard the term “zinester,” you may be wondering what exactly it is. It certainly isn’t a common word, but chances are you’ve probably encountered zines before!  

First, what is a zine? It’s short for fanzine, which is a small run of an independently published work. Zines can range from illustrations to short (or long) fiction, personal essays, or even DIY instructions. Simply put, a zine is a collection of material that is important to its creator, who then publishes and distributes it. So, a zinester is someone who creates or publishes a zine.  

“But Brian, why do I care about what a zine is? Why does this matter to me?” I’m glad you asked!  

Underground or marginalized groups often use zines to make their voices heard. Sometimes, this is essential to ensuring that people recognized them and that their opinions, beliefs, and commentaries are available to the public. Zines typically undergo changes in audience and creators according to the current sociocultural climate. In the 1990s, for example, punk dominated the zine scene. Today, we’re seeing an upsurge in zines from queer creators. However, that isn’t to say that there aren’t (or weren’t) other voices behind zines. 

I’m a bit of a zinester myself. I made a zine for a final project in a class on civil rights and liberties. The publication contained a number of personal essays and statistics. Also, I’m currently making a new zine focusing on literary and artistic works, aptly dubbed by the community as a litzine. If you need a creative outlet or there is a particular issue or movement you’d like to give voice to, zine-making might be for you. 

If you are worried about the time or effort making a zine requires, allow me to help dispel those fears. Zine-making can be as simple as taking a single sheet of printer paper, folding it in half, and doing an illustration on the cover and inside. Here are some basic requirements for becoming a zinester:  

1. A writing or drawing tool of some kind (pencil, pen, computer and printer, etc.)  

2. An idea  

3. Paper  

The biggest limitation for turning an idea into a finished zine is yourself. I’ve been there; I know the feeling. My zine needed to be perfect. I had to have the highest quality materials, fancy paper for a cover, hand-drawn illustrations, color printing—the list goes on. In fact, with my current zine, I’m finding myself running into the same perfectionist dilemma as I struggle through formatting. But, we should put the idea of perfection aside. The important thing is to create. 

“Well, now I know what a zine is made of and how easy it is to do, but I don’t know what to make one about. What would people want to read about or look at?” Easy! It doesn’t matter what other people want to read or look at. It’s all about what you want to write or draw. No, really, I mean it.  

Zines are short for fanzine for a reason. They are made by a zinester for themselves, despite being shared with others. As Andy Warhol famously said, “Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.”  

If you want to make a zine about cats, do it! If you want to make a zine about Gothic architecture, make it! The possibilities are limitless. You can hand them out to friends and share your creations with others, but by no means does your zine have to go public. Ultimately, zines are one of the quintessential forms of self-expression, as they allow you to have undeniable freedoms in a creative process that you then present (or not) to the world at large.  

Good luck, have fun with your zine-making journey, and be sure to tag @carolinianuncg on Instagram with your creations!