The Zine Method

The Zine Method utilises a multi-page technique from the graphic arts, the zine, as a space where elements of a problem area or a solution can be mapped via the visual plane. Going beyond the single page format, the zine allows for multi-page and multi-dimensional expressions to come into contact with each other; for example, visual notions that have not been connected in the mind of the participant can be juxtaposed via this approach while still retaining their individual integrity in the single page.

This format allows for notations to be made on the single page plane, so that focus can be applied to the singularity of that image, while at the same time allowing for an overview of the project to happen via the cuts and folds built into the construction of the zine. These allow for multiple ways of structuring and ’reading’ the information and for various juxtapositions to be made depending on proximity of spreads. There is an element of chance built into this design that frees the participant temporarily from making causal relationships between elements, and allows those relationships to emerge depending on how the structure is presented. It is a method that encourages intentional play, much like a game or a puzzle.

Via the Zine Method, complex sets of elements can be represented in one package (the zine) letting ideas emerge from the active handling of the paper matter; by folding in different ways, by setting up the zine into a three-dimensional structure that refers to a larger concept taking shape in the mind of the participant. It is an emergent framework that expresses as an active process the subjective engagement with complexity and ambiguity in problem solving.