All the beautiful Zines from the first ever Electric Zine Jam (and the recorded stream)

This last week IndieCade ran a small event for the Electric Zine Maker. This is what was done in place of the E3 showcase that the Electric Zine Maker was chosen for.

I’m honored and deeply touched by the amazing work they did in organizing this.
I have an interview with Celia. You can see that here: Part 1, and Part 2
where we talked about the Electric Zine Maker, many of the ideas that went into it, and Celia ended with some profound thoughts on preservation. It’s a good talk!

IndieCade also organized a few streams where guests made zines using the Electric Zine Maker, one of which was with Pendleton Ward (creator of Adventure Time) and Jamie Parreno (an all around cool artist) both making a zine together.

You can see the recording here…
Part 1 and Part 2

And here is the accumulation of their effort:

Ian Hinck also made a zine! Link here.

and Martzi Campos & Jesse Vigil also collaborated on one, you can see that here… Part 1 and Part 2

So this was all very beautiful!
I also logged a bunch of bugs, so will be putting out fixes in the next update…

The highlight of all this HAS to be the Electric Zine Jam that IndieCade helped organize.
It received many beautiful submissions, ranging from personal stories, poems, tiny games, curation, and just beautiful art…

Since they’re all so beautiful I thought it fitting to celebrate each by highlighting them here.
From the twenty eight entries it was hard to choose, so I’m not choosing. I’m sharing them all!

The artwork and stories in some of these is truly special… which is what zines are all about.

So here they are! If you enjoyed one be sure to follow the creator on itch, or pay for the zine.

Sadgirl (link)

This one is… I have no words.
I agree with the comment on the itch page. It really hit hard. It’s sad, and I deeply appreciate the story shared. I have a lot to think about now…

It’s a short story, an excerpt from someone’s life, and it’s a tiny thing that hits very hard on a lot of levels.
Highly recommended. Deeply appreciated.

Two Zines (link)

Oh. My. God. I am AMAZED by the art in this one!!
The fact that someone was able to pull off such beautiful character art… The art in these two zines is stunning.

They’re both beautiful short fictions. I love them.

To me, it’s one of those that amazes me with what someone was able to pull off in the Electric Zine Maker. I recognize some of the brush tools being used, and seeing how they’re used in combination is really inspiring. The end result is so beautiful. I’m honored lol.

> help: a how-to intro to text adventures (link)

A zine made to help you play parser IF (for text adventures).
It’s like an adorable tiny manual to help you understand how to play text-only games.
Reading this zine gave me a tiny surge of joy. I love the writing in it too!

This Old Lady (link)

“I found a box full of pictures in my street. They all tell a fragment of an old lady’s life. She once was young and had a lively existence. Original pictures were taken from 1929 to 1936.”

The idea behind this zine is amazing! I love the concept of turning some unknown old relic into a zine. It’s so perfect.

I love what was done to the images. The use of the art tools here kinda blows my mind with how they’re applied. Like lol I made the Zine Maker, and I’m always surprised by how people apply all these art tools in such unique ways. It’s one of the biggest joys of making an art tool: being surprised by the imaginative ways that people use it.

Sociopaths of Industry: Leaded Gasoline (link)

A meaningful zine about imagining

“a world where
human well-being comes before corporate profits,
with care instead of competition,
with artistic expression as our goal, not exploitation,
community instead of consumption
Who’s in our way? The Sociopaths of Industry”

It also lists stories of capitalist exploitation (profit before human life)…
It’s really good. The thoughts in it are meaningful. It’s the type of zine that I appreciate.

comfy channels to relax and go to bed to zine (link)

I find this one relatable. My own bedtime ritual involves answering whatever texts I have left to answer over social media (if I’m not too socially anxious and avoiding people) and then (always!) watching food videos on instagram. Seeing food being prepared before bed is weirdly soothing.

So I LOVE that there’s a zine about what to watch before sleeping.
This one is so cute too!
The itch page includes a playlist of featured channels.
I’m sure if you read this zine before sleeping, you’ll dream of hamsters in giant cardboard worlds.
Overall, this is a good public service.
It makes me happy.

Programming TriceraTips (for beginners) (link)

Speaking of public services…

This zine is an adorable collection of positive programming tips (from a triceratops). I love this!!
It made me smile and I’ll probably be thinking of this for a while when I program.
Who thought programming tips from dinosaurs could be so useful.

Dugongs (link)

When I was younger… like pre-teens… in the 90’s (I’m old, sorry) I used to make animal zines using a photocopy machine and scanner. I’d scan images of endangered animals, cut them up, tape them on paper, and write little things about them. Then I’d give them away to The Adults.
The concept of extinction scared me and I thought I was helping remember, or save, the animals by doing that… so OK that’s a small story, but this is why I appreciated this zine.

It’s a tiny photozine dedicated to a cow-like sea mammal. I didn’t know they existed, or ever saw one before.
I learned something new from this zine!

Plants: a parable (link)

“This is a zine that accidentally became a parable about the resistance going on right now, and the resistance that has always been.”

A small zine that goes from discussing hydroponic gardening with alien hovercrafts, to punching fascists. It’s a wild ride. It’s good. I agree.

Bundle Highlights Zine (link)

Not too long ago (as of writing this) itch.io ran a charity bundle called the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. It raised around 8 million dollars.
It was one of the largest bundles in game history with thousands of games donated.

This tiny zine highlights a tiny handful of these games!
Over Twitter, the author commented that when they where seven they wanted to be a game reviewer but got told they couldn’t.
Now they are!
I’m very appreciative of this tiny piece of literature. The games curated in it are very good too! They are a good reviewer.

LOCKED – mental illness poems zine (link)

This is a meaningful zine about mental illness during the pandemic.
I really appreciate this one.

Zine For Chat (link)

This is a beautiful zine filled with really beautiful implementations of glitch art. It feels a lot like a visual poem. It’s lovely!

HeartsView (link)

This tiny zine is a thoughtful and heartfelt one (as so many of these are).
I don’t want to mince words so I’ll quote from the author’s page:

“It’s about radical love for people and the world, specifically in times of oppression, and as relates to abusive relationships, abusive households, abusive and oppressive governments, neurodiversity, disability, queerness, transness, and trying to survive.”

There are poems in it. I appreciate everything about it.
For more by this author visit https://chloesnow.itch.io

ZinePosting02 (link)

A tiny collection of fragments.
There is no such thing as a bad zine. Like all the others, this one is good too!

Captain Ersatzine (link)

A zine about the author’s music, which you can visit here: https://captainersatz.bandcamp.com/
This one gives me joy too because well… we have zines about all sorts of things in this jam and now we also have self-promotional zines! (I almost said “autobiographical” but that might be too big of a word for something like this)

OUR ELECTRIC ANGEL (link)

“a hatsune miku death cult religious pamphlet”

Everything happening here is GOOD!

stagnation (link)

This is the 2020 quarantine mood.

“it could be the
never-ending
doom spiral
of our current
political climate”

binary-zine (link)
you can download it here: https://itch.io/jam/electric-zine-jam/rate/684711

A zine about gender fluidity and dysphoria. I found it relatable. It’s a meaningful little thing… Like so many of these zines here, I appreciate this one too.

two small zines (link)

Two small zines are, as the name implies, two zines. About abandoned virtual worlds and the other about the author.
The artwork is beautiful melancholy with small bits of writing.

“in the distant years onward, when all the sites are down, the worlds erased, and rendered unvisitable…
from the obscure, to the loved, or those never seen, please don’t forget…
when we are gone, who will remember us?”

Dungeon Blitz (link)

“A quick “pick something and GO” storytelling RPG for 1-5ish players. Describe something quick and let the dice rolls determine the flow of the story. Quick random settings and goals give a launching point. Requires some dice!”

This one is a game! This is so delightful. It involves a dice and there are instructions included for rolls. On every round you decide what kind of monster, puzzle, or character conflict must be overcome. Narrate the outcome based on the dice roll. Mini-games like this are beautiful. It’s a wonderful thing to turn into a zine.

How to Remember How to Be Human (link)

About growing and learning in weird difficult times. About slowing down…
It’s beautiful and kind of like a tiny poem.

Stories In The Stars (link)

An adorable tiny piece of fiction, Stories In The Stars is a zine about constellations. There are beautiful illustrations with a tiny poetic description about each.
It’s beautiful. Reading it was touching and sweet.

My Plush Pals and I (link)

A really sweet zine about stuffed animals. You meet them all in this tiny zine!
It made me smile. It’s really cute.

Every Leaf Lands Somewhere (link)

A small poetic story that starts with a leaf and ends with the ocean… The writing is lovely. It’s a beautiful little relic.

Now With Unintelligible Screaming!!! (link)

A zine for which the Electric Zine Maker was used as, to quote:

“a venting apparatus for inner turmoil and rage brought on by COVID-19, The Police Riots of 2020, Police Brutality and White Supremacy in general, and my own shit I have yet to work through!”

I find this very relatable. Maybe you will too!

ancestors (link)

“speculative queer writing with very little editing”

I love the thoughts shared here.

Bears! A Zine (link)

This zine was made by Ian Hinck during the stream! It was so fun to watch it being made, and validating for the type of tool I set out to make.
This zine is all about bears, and includes a Color By numBEARS page…

The Gummi Image (link)

“The body only brings pain so I search for worms.”

I love the application of the Zine Maker’s art tools here. It’s, like so many of these, a beautiful little thing to browse through with some small poetic musings. This is a personal one. I appreciate it.

flower opinions (link)

“I missed the Electric Zine Jam by a day, fiddlesticks… .
but i made one anyways, it’s about flowers and opinions”
– The author

I’m including it anyway because it’s a really cute little thing about flowers… and the author’s opinions on each. (It’s sweet and made me smile!)
I’m not sure if I agree that daisy’s are stinky, but oh well that’s my strong flower opinion.

…—…—…—…—…—…—…

Thank you everyone that participated! This was beautiful.

If you missed the deadline, the answer is “yes”… I’ll be running another Zine Maker Jam. Someone asked and I think it’s a great idea.

I’ll be thinking of ways to honor the work that people submit. Maybe I could make a collection on itch with all submissions ever and link to that from within the Electric Zine Maker. It would be great to showcase people’s stuff.

Ok… that’s all for now. I’m working on an update (as usual) and hope to have more to share soon.