The Radical Uprise #005: DIY Culture Cut and Paste
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https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheRadicalUprise

On the eve of International Zine Month, I thought it was only right to review a zine that is all about the love of DIY.

One thing I truly love about zines is when someone is able to put things I feel so strongly about into word better than I could have ever hoped to. On the very first page of this zine, there is a section about creating things and being in artist that expresses my own feelings so, so well.

Talk about a good start to a zine.

The Radical Uprise #005 is DIY from self to self-sustainable with pieces about making things to supporting creators. There’s plenty to check out above and beyond the zine with interviews with interesting people who have shops and distros.

This zine is a bit Etsy-centric in that it’s the only platform really talked about. I would have liked to hear success stories using other platforms. But I also fully admit that I’m probably only mentioning it because Etsy’s money-grabbing (especially of late) makes me angry.

The Radical Uprise #005: DIY Culture Cut and Paste is not simply an excited yell out into the night about how wonderful it is to DIY in your life. This zine covers why it’s good for you, good for the people who do it, and even why it’s good for the planet. It’s a great way to look at DIY from multiple ways.

Check it out.

My Thoughts Will Kill Me
Miss Muffcake
www.missmuffcake.com
@missmuffcake

For today’s review, we have a sad but strong mini zine about living with mental illness.

My heart hurt reading this zine because I’ve been there so much. Buzzing thoughts that more often multiply than go away… It’s strangely easy to forget that you’re not alone, so my heart breaks every time I read about someone else’s experiences.

The thing that I found so interesting with this zine is that MissMuffcake never mentions a specific mental illness. I actually went back to read through again and check because I’d automatically started applying her words to my own mental health struggles. It blew me away when I looked back and realised that, even though there are so many different labels, we still have so much in common.

I am just one in many who have a mental illness. I am not alone.

While it was sad, it was also comforting to read the quote above and know that Miss Muffcake knows she’s not alone.

Even better? That through it all, she still finds humour. (Cake is a wonderful motivator.)

Definitely check this little zine out whether you are dealing with mental health issues or want to better understand friends who are.

Ground
Lee Taylor
@thescreeverzine
www.facebook.com/thescreeverzine

Ground is the first zine in a sweet comic series about love, life, and working in a coffee shop. (Spoilers: I love it.)

I couldn’t help but be taken in by the physical qualities of this zine straight away. The cover is made of what looks like recycled paper (I’m pretty sure it is…) and is bound by string wound through triangular-shaped holes in the spine. The square you see on the cover in the picture above isn’t something stuck onto the cover but is actually a square cut into the cover.

I could get into the possible thematic implications of cutting the square into the cover to reveal some of the first page, but then I begin to wonder if I’m getting a little deep into it right from the get to.

With such pleasant expectations set up by the physical side of the zine, I began to wonder what I would find inside…

The humour in Ground is a ‘softer’ humour that I enjoyed. There were little things that made me smile and care about the characters as well as things that felt like ‘inside’ jokes for working in a coffee shop but that I still understood. (‘Can I just have a normal coffee?’ made me smile.)

The art in Ground is lovely with attention to detail and a lot of soft lines involved. You are introduced to the characters involved by getting a peek into the work lockers. I’m a bit of a nosey nelly, and I really liked that choice for introductions. I also enjoyed how Lee used both single panels as well as single pictures over multiple panels.

(Just looking at that pour makes me want a coffee.)

While it’s definitely a beginning – a chapter one, if you will – I like that it didn’t just cut off in the middle of things. There’s certainly more story implied, but this first zine has a beginning, middle and end. I definitely want to read more, but I’m not left feeling rudely interrupted. At the same time, everything is set up for a series ahead.

All up, this is a lovely zine, and I already know that I want the whole series from start to finish. I recommend checking it out.

PS. I try to regard a zine in and of itself. That being said, this zine did come with a loyalty card on which you can stick letters that you collect by buying the Ground series zines. I really love this idea in and of itself, but the fact that it ties into the coffee shop theme makes it even more fun.

Side Project #5
Samantha EE, Teresa Watts, Sabrina Wong, Sophie Raynor, Evelyn Paolino
www.sideprojectmag.com
@sideproject_mag (Twitter/IG/FB/Pinterest)

Side Project is a series about DIY and living creatively. In this issue, there are artist interviews, how-to instructions for a couple crafty projects, and various articles. This zine is the magazine that I always wanted to read growing up.

At $10, Side Project is definitely in the higher price range for a zine. However, for the price, you are getting a full colour, 46 page zine printed on nice paper. Aesthetically, it’s a very pretty zine. Everything is very neat, colourful, nicely laid out, and readable. It’s chock full of information and is a zine you can sit and pour over for hours.

In layout and feel, it’s very much a magazine. Those can be fighting words in the zine arena, but with ‘a zine for creatives’ on the cover but ‘mag’ in the URL, I don’t think the Side Project team is going to take it badly. I think they understand that they walk an interesting line.

Side Project puts me in a very strange space that I’ve never been in before. On one hand, it’s a zine. On the other hand, it’s almost not. It’s so perfectly well put together and perfectly created that it almost throws me a bit. There is often a sort of grit – a misprint here or a wonky staple there – and handmade feel to zines that Side Project doesn’t have because of its production.

That’s by no means at all a bad thing – please don’t take me wrong in that. And I certainly don’t mean to say that all zines have misprints or wonky staples. I only mean to say that Side Project is certainly different to my usual zine read.

In many ways the magazine-like qualities work very much in its favour. The combination of the aesthetic with pieces about creatives who live in Australia and sell on Etsy was really inspiring. It made me feel like homegrown creators can get the real recognition they deserve. I loved reading about talented people I could identify with as a creator and enjoyed articles on subjects I give a damn about.

On that note, my favourite piece of the entire zine was definitely the piece on Imposter Syndrome. I didn’t know that the feelings I hold all the time actually had a name and that other people feel them, too. I like that they didn’t just write about it but also added on some tips for making your imposter feelings work in your favour.

All up, this zine is gorgeous to look at and enjoyable to read. I can think of a few DIY friends I’d like to get copies for. DIY, Etsy sellers, and other creatives will enjoy it.