Two years ago, I discovered something I wished I’d known about in my teen years, zines. These tiny booklets, where everything goes. No limits. The first one I ever made, involved learning how to saddle stitch, which was fun but I needed something more practical, if I wanted this to be a monthly (or even weekly thing).

I’ve seen a lot of videos, on how to fold a mini-zine, and they’re all brilliant. I tried them out, and enjoyed the process. Sadly, it was just like anything else I learn, perfect and then just forget about.

I recently bought this book, and it was the reason I got back to making them. This time, I write down ideas for future zines, ask friends to collaborate with me etc.

Things you’ll need to create your folded gem: Paper, scissor/cutter & bonefolder/ruler.

Other stuff would include any medium you’re cool with. In my case, I used watercolors, micron pens and a metallic sharpie to create ‘NOT ALL MEN‘. I think my only problem was that I focused a lot on the folding being perfect, that it made me a lil anxious to go for it when it came to drawing/writing. I even left out two pages because I didn’t want it to be “too much” which was a bit of a mistake.

Best advice I can give is to have your content ready. You know you’ll have 8 pages (including front & back covers), so make sure you know what each page will contain. Draft it up on another piece of paper. OR don’t even listen to me, fold your zine and just go for it.

THINGS YOU CAN DO: 

Collage, paint, stick in polaroids, pressed flowers, use ink, dedicate one for a trip etc. There’s a lot you can do with these. Do it, and @ me (or mail me a copy). Since the back of the sheet is completely blank, you can make one large illustration/write a letter/journal entry etc.

Sarah Ahmed is the founder, and curator of the Middle Eastern e-mag, Jaffat El Aqlam. She listens to what her family calls ‘alien music’ and takes pictures of plants in her city. When she’s not stressing out about self-made deadlines, she experiments with glitch art and film photography. You can find her @glitchedplant