Kizuna

Good afternoon!

I was explaining a little bit about Kizuna in a previous post and realized it needed more room than a small feature, so here we are.

Some of you may be wondering, what is Kizuna? I’m so glad you asked! Kizuna is the name of a zine that I created with the help of many friends. Now you may be wondering, what is a zine? A zine (short for magazine) is usually a compact, independently produced booklet or magazine. It explores diverse subjects such as personal narratives, artwork, poetry, social critiques, and specialized interests. Okay, I think I get what you’re talking about, but why did you make one? I made one because I wanted to try something new, and this was a fun creative outlet I had yet to explore.

The whole process began last summer (!!!) and we shipped out the orders the last week of January. There are so many ways to go about making a zine, but I will outline what went down for me.

First, an idea sparks! I couldn’t get it out of my head that I wanted to create a zine. Then, I reached out to one of my mutuals, Andie, and asked her advice. Soon, I created an instagram account, a carrd, and an application for Moderators. Moderators are the people who make up the Editorial and Production teams, if this were a real magazine. I sent the link out to all my friends and acquaintances and then hoped for the best. With a great amount of applications, I was able to create three teams: Media Management, Operations, and Artistic Outreach and Editorial. Each team consisted of two moderators and myself. We all had different roles, creating Kizuna graphics, creating social media posts, editing people’s pieces, communicating announcements, creating merch, layout, shipping, finances, etc. I could not have done this without a team helping me. Once we established the Mod team, we needed to come up with a name. We all submitted ideas, and after reviewing them, a zine to showcase creativity, connection, and community emerged. Andie suggested Kizuna, which means the enduring bonds between people—close relationships forged through mutual trust and support. What a perfect theme for our zine. After that we were off to the races.

After everything was in order on the backend, we created applications for the contributors. We acted like we needed to review them, but really we would not have turned anyone away (barring a loon in the worst way), and then we sent out acceptance letters and hoped people had not lost faith in the short week or so of our review period. We created a three month schedule for them so that hopefully they could integrate the creative process into their lives without stress. We also created a three month schedule because we know people procrastinate. As the progress check-ins came and went, I realized just how wonderful this zine could be. The stories are raw, emotional, unique, and interesting. The art is cute, powerful, and original. Once the creative period ended, the real fun began. Aka the complete unknown without any Timothee cameos.

LAYOUT
A beast and a beauty all in one. I had to download Adobe Indesign. And by I, I mean my coworker got a free trial of adobe and she let me use it for my zine. Bless your soul, Brinna! When I make another one, I will get adobe for myself. The layout was BRUTAL. I had to google just about every task in there from adding a text box, to saving the file. Who would’ve thought I used to work in IT? A few weeks later I finally had a finished design that I was mostly happy with. Asked the mods to review it for spelling and grammar because there’s no spellcheck in indesign. Then we needed to figure out how to print.

PRINTING
Based on friends advice and what I saw in my own online community, MIXAM is a great website to print a zine. It took a few tries getting the file uploaded correctly, where the pages matched up and the formatting aligned, but once it was in there it was so simple. We ordered the zines to be shipped to Oshadi’s house, and then we set the sales website live. The zines took a couple weeks to get to her house, but they arrived without a hitch.

SALES
We used Big Cartel for our online website. In addition to zines, we ordered stickers and postcards that people can purchase, as well as created phone wallpapers and a digital pdf. We setup a paypal account and linked it to our Big Cartel site and that has worked wonderfully. There are options on there for bundles, and different products. Ryan is the man behind the curtain for all things Finance, and I am forever grateful.

SHIPPING
Oshadi has all the zines at her house, as you know, and she is in charge of shipping them out. We had about 30 preorders initially, so once the zines came in, we did a bulk shipment of all the preorders. Now as the orders come in, she ships them out individually. She is able to put a personal note and bit of magic in each order, and it’s a wonderful experience opening one up!

I want to give a huge shout out to all of the Kizuna Zine contributors. Friends near and far created new pieces specifically for this zine, and now they are all published creatives! How many people can say they know someone that will spend half a year working on a piece like this for something completely extracurricular? I am sure it’s more of you than you think, but you just have to ask. One thing we need to do more of is invite Kizuna into our lives. Community is the key in these exceptionally trying times. If you can’t rely on your neighbor, who can you rely on? My friends are so special to me, and honestly so impressive. From cover to cover, this zine is something to talk about. Each piece is unique, and shows you a new perspective. I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but the feedback we have already received is better than we ever imagined!

I learned so much while making this zine, and while it was challenging at times, I most certainly want to make another one. I feel accomplished, proud, and hopeful ever time I look through my personal copy.

Kizuna Zines are still on sale at kizunazine.bigcartel.com if anyone would like to purchase one. If you have any questions at all, please reach out! If you are interested in making one of your own, I’m all ears and would be happy to help!