Abstract
This paper introduces Zine Labs (ZLabs) as centers for public-interest communication design that treat as practices that foreground making, collaboration, and community knowledge. Launched in 2024 with multi-institutional support, the project established parallel ZLabs that partner with local artists, libraries, and community groups to run pop-up, hands-on events in flexible, welcoming spaces. We show how ZLabs prioritize process over product, negotiate privacy and anonymity alongside inclusion. We also resist top-down branding so community identities can lead. We report classroom applications, courses in AI, information design, and public writing, where students used zines to connect questions of technology, access, and ethics to lived experience. Our goal is to slow down to make and to reflect. The paper names persistent challenges (introducing the genre, curating relevant examples, compensating creators who may keep their work, sustaining volunteer partnerships in shifting political climates) and offers practical guidance for building ZLabs, hosting events, and integrating zines into curricula.
Recommended Citation
Bikmohammadi, Mina, Abigail Boafo, Ryan Cheek, Rachel Schneider, Carleigh Davis, and Erin Clark. "Zine Labs as Centers for Public Interest Communication Design." Proceedings of the 43rd International Conference on Design of Communication SIGDOC 2025, Association for Computing Machinery, 2025, pp.227-230.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1145/3711670.3764648
Department(s)
English and Technical Communication
Keywords and Phrases
Gender justice; Zine lab network; ZLab
Document Type
Article - Conference proceedings
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2025 Association for Computing Machinery, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
24 Oct 2025
Included in
English Language and Literature Commons, Rhetoric and Composition Commons, Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons
Comments
East Carolina University, Grant None