Zines (Magazines)
Overview and Featured Projects
Youth interested in visual arts and narrative writing constructed zines. Short for “magazines,” zines outside of the classroom are often self-published, countercultural, and distributed by hand in community-based settings. Zines have a history of giving a platform to underrepresented or silenced voices, especially compared to mainstream media (Duncombe, 1997). Here, we see zines as a ripe space for youth to get their voices and perspectives out into the community.
At T-ReCS, youth were provided with example zines from the local community around their school, as well as the narrative styles and artistic examples of children’s literature. Using traditional zine techniques like found-object collage and hand-drawn art, as well as digital art created in ProCreate on iPads, youth brought their stories and ideas to life. In addition to the visual component, youth were encouraged to think about the message structure of their story–that is, its point of view, plot, setting, and the kinds of responses and actions it could invoke from their audience.
Best For:
Creative storytelling
Communicating science visually
Highlighting overlooked perspectives
Tangible, shareable artifacts
Exploring lived experiences
The Snappy Story of Rocksanne Sticks
A charming illustrated comic following Rocksanne, a crayfish living in Mill Creek, as she greets her creek friends—Myles the Mayfly, Lucille and her scouts, and Terry—and helps rescue a fellow creature tangled by pollution. This sweet, kid-friendly story brings Mill Creek's ecosystem to life while highlighting the real dangers trash and pollution pose to its wildlife, and the power of neighbors helping neighbors. Created by Ev, Carolina, and Stella.
8 Possible Futures
An imaginative illustrated zine exploring eight radically different futures for Mill Creek—from a thriving, healed ecosystem to visions of tech overload, invasive vegetation, trash overflow, desert transformation, and construction destruction. Blending vivid original artwork with thoughtful reflections, the author invites readers to consider how today's choices shape tomorrow's creek, closing with an encouraging call to action: you can be the change. By Carley Gray.
