The thing that makes zines so cool is there are no restrictions to what you can do or say in them (except color might be a little expensive to photocopy). Just about all other printed media has editors, art directors, or publishers who control what you say, how much space you get, etc., but with zines you have far more creative control. The problem with this, however, is there is often far less quality control.

Some people think that zines are less thought through than glossy, "real" print media. That's because there are some people who make horrible, mindless, pointless zines that make everyone else look bad. I guess it's a lot like any other form of art. Some people are just mesmerized by the fact that they can create something that they make anything. This is definitely a necessary experience - my first zine was a comic about toxic squatter-goblins battling obese McDonald's patrons. Looking back, that was a very large waste of paper, but the experience of creating anything was enough to make me decide I wanted to seriously learn how to draw. Some people though, never reach a point where they decide to get better... they just keep going, making zines that are illegible, cut-off on every page, have no substantial, educational, creative, intelligent or even entertaining content.

Zines are an art. In fact, zines are several forms of art rolled up into one super-art. If I were to give any advice to people beginning to self-educate themselves in art (which I've been doing for the past 2 or 3 years) it would be this:

1) Art, it has been said, is a measure of intelligence. Neither knowledge nor wisdom, which make up a the vast majority of intelligence, are things you are born with, they are acquired. Just about every artist who got anywhere had to study a lot. Picasso was born with natural talent. Van Gogh had almost no real skill initially, but he learned and struggled all the way until the end. Far more artists will tell you they identify with Van Gogh than Picasso.

2)The word "creativity" used to be a word reserved for divine inspiration. While man "made" things, God "created" things. In fact, Michaelangelo thought that God was speaking directly through him. Nowadays, kindergarten teachers pass out glue sticks and sparkles and tell their class to be be "creative". My definition of "creativity" is something in the middle. It is attainable by anyone with strong enough will power and the right state of mind, but not everything art-related is "creative".

3)"The sooner you make your first 5000 mistakes, the sooner you'll be able to correct them." -Kimon Nicolaides. That's been my mantra ever since I read it. In the case of zines, just don't photocopy your first 5000 mistakes.

My point is to take this project seriously... it is SO frustrating to have to weed through racks and racks of zines to find good ones. That's all! Check out the forum thread, where you can help decide what we're actually gonna do in this group...