ZINES, ZINES, ZINES!
Overview: Students will learn about zines and explore their role in contemporary communication. They will work both collaboratively and individually to create their own zines about issues, ideas, etc. that interest them. At the end of the unit, the students have the opportunity to trade their zines with each other.
Big Idea: Communication
Key Concepts:
Communication invokes response.
Communication creates dialogue.
Communication can be verbal or visual.
Essential Questions:
Why is communication important?
What counts a communication?
Rationale: Self-expression is important part of adolescence; however, often times, students have trouble communicating their ideas and opinions with others. Exposing adolescent students to the idea of self-publication will encourage them to express their opinions and provide them with avenues by which they can do so.
Target Student Group: Art I
Specific Unit Objectives:
Lesson 1- Introduction to Zines
Objective: Students will discuss communication and its importance in society. They will then
be introduced to the concept of zines as form of contemporary communication. The
students will also watch a brief video explaining the purpose and production of zines.
Lesson 2- 30 Minute Zine
Objective: Students will have 30 minutes to create a unique page for a collaborative
classroom zine. The purpose of this activity is to familiarize students with the zine making
process and get them thinking about how they plan to approach their individual zine.
Lesson 3- Zine Workshop
Objective: Students will learn a variety of paper folding techniques used frequently for zines. After the demonstration, they will fold their paper and begin brainstorming ideas for the
creation of their own zine.
Lesson 4- Zine Making: Day 1
Objective: Students will come prepared to class with an idea in mind for their zines. They will
create a rough draft that outlines the plans for their final zine. They will be encouraged to
use text, drawings and found images.
Lesson 5- Zine Making: Day 2
Objective: Students will finish their zines. Zines should be ready for the photocopiers by the end of class.
Lesson 6- Zine Fest
Objective: Students will each receive five photocopies of their zines, in addition to a copy of
the collaborative classroom zine. They will have the opportunity to trade zines with their
classmates. They will then return to the idea of communication and discuss how their zines
served as an exchange of ideas. There will be a brief, informal critique, in which the students
discuss their classmate’s final zines.
National Art Standards:
Content Standard 5a: Reflecting upon and assessing the characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others by identifying the intentions of those creating artworks, explore the implications of various purposes, and justify their analyses of purposes in particular works.
Virginia Art SOLS:
AI.2 The student will identify and use steps of the design process, including brainstorming, preliminary sketching, planning, reflecting, refining, elaborating, and researching, in creative problem solving.
AI.5 The student will employ a variety of subject matter, including cultural or social concepts, to express ideas in original works of art.
AI.16 The student will evaluate how social, cultural, and historical context contribute to meaning in works of art and design.
Lesson 1- Introduction to Zines
Objective- Students will discuss communication and its importance in society. They will then be introduced to the concept of zines as form of contemporary communication. The students will also watch a brief video explaining the purpose and production of zines.
Materials- “How to Make a Zine” video, examples of zines
Instructional Input- There will be a brief presentation on zines, discussing their historical context and providing several examples (both digital and hard copies to pass around). There will also be a short video, “How to Make a Zine”, which gives a step-by-step breakdown of making a zine.
Zine: (n.) A zine is an independently created publication. It is often created by any means necessary and/or available, more often done out of passion for a subject rather than for commercial success. Currently, zines are typically photocopied, but there are many who utilize offset printing or create handmade zines with content made using collage, digital photography, silkscreen, lithography, hand-written creative writing, etc. A zine can be about any subject and done in any style imaginable. Some typical subjects for content are creative writing, comics, personal writings, fan-based writings, science fiction, literature, anthology/art, social/political issue-based writings and review, however it is completely open. Any person with access to a photocopier can be writer, publisher, and printer.
Examples:
A zine exploring the artist’s interests in the constellations.
A zine journaling the everyday experiences of a gay Vietnamese female (the artist).
A zine presenting the artists thoughts on street art.
Guided Practice- Discussion will revolve around the role zines play in communication. Students will first be asked to talk about the importance of communication and methods of communication that they are familiar with (verbal, non-verbal, etc.). The will be asked to discuss ways communication can create dialogue and invoke a response. They will then look at several examples of zines and discuss how they communicate ideas. The students will readdress the previous questions on communication; however, this time they will reference zines when answering. (For example, “How do zines create dialogue and invoke and response?”)
Closure- Each student’s ticket out the door will be use a form of communication to share something they learned about zines. This could be verbal, written, drawn, etc.
Lesson 2- 30 Minute Zine
Objective- Students will have 30 minutes to create a unique page for a collaborative classroom zine. The purpose of this activity is to familiarize students with the zine making process and get them thinking about how they plan to approach their individual zine.
Materials- paper (cut into half sheets), pens, pencils, magazines, scissors
Instructional Input- There will be a brief presentation reviewing the content from the previous lesson. It will go over what zines are and discuss the different ways in
which zines can be approached (mediums/materials, subject matter, etc.). Students will be encouraged to discuss the examples and compare and contrast the effectiveness of the different approaches shown.
Guided Practice- The students will each be instructed to create a zine page for a collaborative classroom zine. The page could be something they want to further explore in their individual zines (which they will begin next class) or something they only wish to explore today.
Independent practice- The students will have 30 minutes to create a unique zine page using their choice of materials.
Closure- Clean up. Students will be encouraged to share what they learned about zine making during todays activity. They will also be asked to think about a topic for their individual zine before next class.
Lesson 3- Zine Workshop
Objective- Students will learn a variety of paper folding techniques used frequently for zines. After the demonstration, they will fold their paper and begin brainstorming ideas for the creation of their own zine.
Materials- paper, scissors, stapler, pencils
Instructional Input- There will be a brief presentation looking at various examples of zines. Students will be asked to note the construction and materials used for the zines and discuss the different techniques and their successfulness.
Guided Practice- There will be a demonstration showing students several different paper folding techniques that they can use to create their individual zines. The methods include: “insta-zine”, accordion, “do-si-do”, and traditional. The video below demonstrates these methods.
Independent practice- Students will try out the various paper folding techniques and decide on one that they want to use for their final zine. Their final zine must have at least 8 pages. After they have completed their folding, they will use the remainder of class to brainstorm ideas for their final zine.
Closure- The student’s ticket out the door will be to list at least two paper-folding techniques that they learned today.
Lesson 4- Zine Making: Day 1
Objective- Students will come prepared to class with an idea in mind for their zines. They will create a rough draft that outlines the plans for their final zine. They will be encouraged to use text, drawings and found images.
Materials- paper, pencil, scissors, magazines, pens
Instructional Input- There will be a brief presentation on how to make a successful zine. Students will be encouraged to pay attention to craftsmanship and the readability of their text and drawings in order to effectively communicate their ideas. They will then be instructed to plan and outline their individual zines using pencil.
Guided Practice- Before beginning their zines, the students will readdress questions such as “How are zines a form of communication” and “How do zines create dialogue and invoke a response”. This will reinforce the purpose of zines and encourage the students to think hard about how the plan to approach their chosen subject matter.
Independent practice- Students will outline their zines using pencil. They will be encouraged to use a variety of text, drawings and found images.
Closure- Clean up. Students will be encouraged to continue to think about how they plan on finishing their zines next class.
Lesson 5- Zine Making: Day 2
Objective- Students will finish their zines. Zines should be ready for the photocopiers by the end of class.
Materials- paper, pencil, scissors, magazines, pens
Guided Practice- Students will be instructed to trace over their pencil lines with pen. They will be reminded to make their text and drawings clear and easy to read in order to ensure that they will successfully communicate their intended ideas.
Independent practice- Students will finish their zines by tracing over their pencil lines with pen, collaging on any found images and adding any final details.
Closure- Clean up. Each student’s ticket out the door will be to write down how their final zine communicates an idea, creates dialogue and/or invokes a response.
Lesson 6- Zine Fest
Objective- Students will each receive five photocopies of their zines, in addition to a copy of the collaborative classroom zine. They will have the opportunity to trade zines with their classmates. They will then return to the idea of communication and discuss how their zines served as an exchange of ideas. There will be a brief, informal critique, in which the students discuss their classmate’s final zines.
Instructional Input- There will be a short presentation on zine sharing and trading. The students will look at “zine fests” from various cities and discuss how these events act as an exchange of ideas.
Guided Practice- During the zine fest, the students will be encouraged to discuss their zines with their classmates. Conversation should revolve around how their zines approach communication and different techniques used to do so.
Independent practice- Students will walk around the classroom sharing and trading their zines with their classmates. Each student will have five zines, they will keep one for themselves and trade the other four.
Closure- There will be a brief informal critique in which students will be invited to share with the class their newly acquired zines. They will discuss why they were interested in the zines they traded. They will also return to the questions “How are zines a form of communication” and “How do zines create dialogue and invoke a response” when discussing their classmates zines.
SAMPLE ZINE
