Q and A — Archive on Zines

Based in Brooklyn, NY

What is the Archive on Zines?

Archive on Zines is a collective project working towards digitizing and preserving a large collection of independent artist and designer made zines. We recognize that zines are an important essential to the proper communication and dissemination of information within underground spaces, and we are working to document and share these capabilities with a larger audience.

How does the Archive on Zines operate?

Archive on Zines operates through submissions from participants as well as personal projects by the creator about zines. The archive is independently run and funded, and aims to achieve a broad reach of both participants and audience. Through this collection and documentation of the zine world, the Archive on Zines hopes to expand the audience of zine readers and creators alike.

What is the goal of Archive on Zines?

The primary goal of the Archive on Zines is to share and document zines that are being made by independent designers throughout the world, as well as make them more accessible to a wider audience while remaining independent. Through this documentation of independently made zines, the Archive aimes to provide broader access to the vital information disseminated within the underground publishing world every day.

How can I particpate in the Archive on Zines?

Archive on Zines is an open collective calling all designers, artists, zine makers, and human beings to participate! If you have a zine that you would like to share in the collective, email us a pdf of the scanned zine or any other documentation you have of the content and we will add it to the collective. Please also include the size of the print zine, the number of pages, the edition size, the publication year, and your name if you wish for it to be included alongside your work. The inclusion of the author or artist’s name along with the zine online is completely optional, anonymity is completely acceptable!

What sorts of submissions does the Archive on Zines accept?

The Archive on Zines is completely open for everyone to participate, no matter where you are based in the world or what topics your zines are about. We do ask that all submissions are printed in some form in the world, and that they are a zine in the loosest sense of the word. If you, as the artist and creator, define your printed work as a zine then we will accept it. Feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns along the way and we hope to see you soon!

Zine production and distribution massively influences culture.
The zine’s inherent and unique properties allow it to serve as a medium through which the graphic designers and artists authoring them have a hand on culture.

Designers, as the voices in the zine, have a critical role in the proper communication of these beliefs as well as the spread of them, giving them a hand on society and allowing them to shape organized interests as well as respond to changes in economic, political, or religious conditions that may be affecting society as a whole.