Hi zinesters! I can’t believe it’s winter already, time passes so weirdly during the pandemic. In this new blog post, we are featuring zines in unconventional or unique format. Some time ago, I discovered there’s a mystery snack vending machine in Akihabara, Tokyo. The snacks are concealed with paper, the potential customer can read stories on the paper box and decide which box should they purchase. Those stories are most likely urban legends or confessions written by anonymous authors, some are wholesome, and some can send chills down your spine. So to me, this is like a mystery zine vending machine with snacks, which inspires me to look for more zines in unique format.
Here are the featured zines:
Crime Zine by Trevor Yardley-Jones
Trevor’s zine tells a story of a crime scene at an apartment, the reader can “unfold” the crime scene by opening the pop-up zine to study each room in the apartment and the floorplan layout. He also created different colour versions of this zine, which you can check out at his Behance portfolio.
Trevor is a illustrator from Montreal, Canada.
To see more works from Trevor, head over to his website:
& Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/trevoryj/
Sabrini the Teenage Witch by Jordan Reg. Aelick
Jordan is a huge fan of the original 90s show, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and so he created a Sabrina inspired zine. The zine is a scroll, which definitely gives us a magical witchy vibe! In this video, it shows how long the scroll is. It came with a red pouch/sleeve for the copy at The Beguiling bookstore. Sabrini the Teenage Witch tells the story of Sabrini in a modern and also relatable way, which includes her cellphone addiction, peer pressure at a party and encounter with a catcaller.
Jordan is a comix artist in Toronto, Canada. He is also a volunteer at Toronto Zine Library, and he is part of the Canada Comics Open Library‘s team.
To see more works from Jordan, head over to his website:
& Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/endlessfret/
Bottle Zines by Remi Germaine
One day, Remi found some tiny bottles at her old garage, she decided to use them for making zines. Each bottle contain a message with little charms. These Bottle Zines are cute and also mysterious! You can get a sneak peek on her IG Stories .
Remi is a letter writer, zine maker and illustrator from Utah, US.
To see more works from Remi, head over to her website:
https://www.peachykeenpress.com/
& Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/peachykeenpress/
Unfolding the Saree by Mira Malhotra
Mira’s zine explores the concept of how Indian women in Saree are associated with modesty and tradition, and yet they also have been sexualized very often in pop culture. The zine is a scaled mini Saree in Pallu pattern hung on a mini wire hanger. It is printed on the Belapur colour paper with the one colour silk screen printing technique, which is a common printing technique in promotional flyers in India.
Mira is a visual artist, illustrator and graphic designer from Mumbai, India. She is the founder of Studio Kohl.
To see more works from Mira, head over to her website:
& Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/studiokohlindia/
I hope you all enjoyed these featured zines! I also would like to thank all the artists who allow me to share their work on the TZL blog.
If you’re curious about the Akihabara mysterious vending machine, you can watch Safiya Nygaard’s video about it, starting at 15:29.
Please let us know if you want a Part Two of unique/unconventional zines, you can leave a comment on our Instagram post.
