Good to Know Issue #1 Creativity
Amy
http://www.pikaland.com/good-to-know-project/
www.pikaland.etsy.com
As a creative, I knew that Good to Know Issue #1 Creativity was going to be a valuable zine to me personally. It’s all about people sharing things that stop them or hinder them from being their creative selves and making their art.
From fears of getting back to it after a break to too many restrictions to battling with distraction… Many voices have come together to create this zine.
One thing that was a stumbling block for me is that I didn’t know what the zine was called. With the ‘make your own rules’ nature of zines, I wouldn’t have thought it was a big deal, but I found myself searching for the likely title. Looking back, is is somewhat obvious that ‘Good to Know’ is the title (it’s on the first inside page as well as on the back). It was only when I looked at the site and saw that this zine would usually come with a coloured band of paper proudly wrapped around it.
I only mention this because it’s something to consider that I hadn’t considered before. I received this zine secondhand and have given many zines to friends. It’s an important consideration that any ‘wraps’ or otherwise disposable bits might fall off or be torn off your zine…
Aesthetically, this interior pages aren’t ones that are going to grab your attention. This is a text-only zine (with the exception of the front cover). I’m someone who can be easily distracted from what I’m doing, so I appreciate visuals that can keep me engaged with the text. That being said, I completely understand why the words and what is being read is what’s important to this zine. Words I found quite valuable.
I’m not sure what I enjoyed more – the ‘oh, me too!’ moments or the ‘oh, I hadn’t thought of that’ moments.
Even better, each response comes with a link or links. So if you really connect with someone’s response, you can go and support their art.
Of course, I’m not going to dislike a zine simply because a coloured paper band is no longer around it (or because I’m a bit silly/slow when it comes to finding the title). This zine goes firmly in my collection. There are many different ways to be creative out there and many different creative blocks to overcome. This zine reminds me that I’m not alone.