“CASUAL” zine: Triumphs, Challenges, and Lessons
Unsinkable Storytelling Author: Marley Melbourne
When I was 11 years old I watched the movie The Intern and was instantly in awe of Anne Hathaway’s dominant character, Jules Ostin. At her startup fashion ecommerce site, Jules served as a young female CEO who was both creative and authoritative; both driven and overlooked. Her character really struck me, and from that point forward I’ve always aspired to be somewhat like Jules. Now, as a 16 year old girl surrounded by inspiring educators and uplifted by supportive parents, I’ve found myself in the position to shadow Jules as an entrepreneur. It’s always been a goal of mine to graduate high school as a small business owner.
However, I never wanted to force myself to start a venture I wasn’t passionate about. Over the years, my dad and I have had a multitude of conversations brainstorming the startup possibilities available to me. It wasn’t until my Grade 10 Visual Arts course this past year that I discovered the entrepreneurial project I felt truly excited about.
Backstory
The theme for my final Visual Arts assignment was “JOY” which I translated to “The Purest Form of Happiness.” As a result of quarantine’s circumstances, my class was given the artistic freedom to spend ten weeks creating a series of pieces which would be presented as one. Immediately, I knew I had to use the assignment as an opportunity to create my own zine. I had recently discovered and been fascinated by zines (self-published magazines) because of the leeway they provided for self-expression and creativity. To connect the zine format back to joy, I decided to use fashion as the unifying genre for all of my artistic pieces. From a young age fashion has been of interest to me, and this zine was a unique opportunity to showcase that aspect of myself in my school environment. Due to the individual nature of the assignment, I made every page of the zine featuring my own collages and paintings. I loved the freedom that making a zine gave me; no set structuring, no lengthy word-blocking, no limiting page numbers. Making a zine gave me the absolute freedom to make each page a unique artistic statement with a bold caption and flexible layout.
Social Media – Instagram
Midway through the assignment I spontaneously decided to log onto Instagram with the hope of sharing my zine on social media. While sitting on my bedroom floor, without much forethought, I decided to name the zine “CASUAL.” That was the first word that came to mind. The spur-of-the-moment attitude that created the name “CASUAL” is the same mindset behind many of the decisions I have made since then. Never overthinking decisions, remaining very casual. Luckily, the username (@casualzine) had not been taken, and “CASUAL” zine officially had an internet presence. When I first started the Instagram account for “CASUAL” zine I wasn’t completely sure what I wanted it to be, so I decided my first goal would be to grow a following. On a scrap piece of paper, I set goals for “CASUAL.” Goal A: fifty followers. Goal B: one hundred followers. I also made an action plan. The first day was spent Direct Messaging around twenty accounts, other zines and artists, asking for them to share my first post. The post featured a digital collage I made for class and the caption explaining the significance behind the name “CASUAL.” To be “CASUAL” is to be stress-free and goal-oriented, allowing creativity to be the motivator and remaining conscious of mental availability. For the next few weeks, every morning I continued to Direct Message twenty new accounts and make one Instagram post, and every night I would interact with the few accounts who had responded to my messages. Of every twenty Direct Messages sent, only one or two accounts would respond. Slowly, I was noticed by more accounts and growing a humble following.
Opening Submissions
Once artists began interacting with “CASUAL” zine, it became apparent to me that I wanted them to play a larger role in the content of the zine. “CASUAL” zine effectively transitioned from a collection of my work, to an international submissions-based art collective and culture zine. It would be more than just me, and more than just fashion. I put together a short Google Form which would allow artists to submit their work for the chance to be featured on our Instagram or in a print issue that I hoped would exist in the distant future. The idea of selling a physical magazine was definitely a dream for “CASUAL”, but with such a small following and no idea of how to go about such an aspirational project, I didn’t put too much thought into it. To me, “CASUAL” was still an idea; it didn’t have a business model, it didn’t have a clear mission statement, and it was ever changing. Yet, the followers of “CASUAL” were constantly asking for a physical, submissions-based zine.
Website Creation
While building a following on Instagram and analyzing the possibility of a print zine, my next task came to surface. The followers were asking for a website. Truthfully, I knew I would have to introduce a “CASUAL” website at some point. However, making a website is a lengthy and pricey task for a zine which didn’t have a source of income. Despite the challenges associated with making a website, I knew it would be a great platform for the longer writing that I wanted to share cohesively with the art. I enlisted my friend Paris, who is a brilliant writer and member of our school’s newspaper, to help incorporate writing and a website into “CASUAL.” I took to Wix, a web development service, and created a simplistic website based off of my limited knowledge from computer classes I used to take in elementary school. “CASUAL” zine’s first article was written by Paris and published to the site. Personally, this is when I really saw the zine coming together and felt truly proud of the project.
Opening Up
Only after the first four hundred followers and the creation of the website did I tell anyone I knew, friends or family, about “CASUAL.” Looking back, I was timid to tell people I knew because of the pressure I would put on myself to make everything perfect, which is contradictory to the fundamental meaning behind “CASUAL” zine. Before I personally told anyone about “CASUAL”, most of the followers were from Australia or the United Kingdom and had absolutely no idea who I was. That was something I appreciated, because I wanted the content to speak for themselves and for “CASUAL” to be a project bigger than myself. It was about connecting artists, connecting writers, and essentially just connecting people.
Social Media – TikTok
It wasn’t until I created a TikTok account that “CASUAL” began to gain true momentum. Everything leading up to the creation of this additional social media platform, time was moving slow. It felt like forever trying to reach the first one hundred artistic submissions, the first five hundred website clicks, and the first one thousand followers. Advertising has always been of interest to me, so using my prior research and my best instincts, I decided that moving to TikTik would be a great free marketing opportunity. After reading articles on gaining high engagement on TikTok, I quickly learned that the best method was posting late at night. My daily routine developed to include one or two posts on TikTok each night, hoping people would see the videos and follow our Instagram where the main content remained. Struggling to get past one hundred views, I persevered through the lacking engagement and continued to believe in the potential of “CASUAL.” The most transformative moment for “CASUAL” zine happened a few weeks ago. I had posted a TikTok one night, a short video I had put together while half-asleep. The video called out for young artists, writers, activists, and creatives to become a part of “CASUAL.” When I woke up, the video had over one thousand views and my Instagram had over sixty new followers. I was ecstatic! Yet, that wasn’t nearly the end of the video’s potential. Over the next two days, that TikTok video accumulated one hundred and eighty thousand views and “CASUAL” zine’s Instagram following increased by over four thousand followers.
That one TikTok video changed “CASUAL” zine dramatically. I immediately opened a new Google Form, this time with a theme, for artistic submissions. The first theme that came to mind (spontaneously, once again) was Modern Fairytale. “CASUAL” received fifteen hundred submissions from young creatives internationally to be featured in our first issue. I proceeded to open applications for writers to permanently join our ‘team’, which is a concept I am still trying to figure out. The plan was to have five writers to create monthly content for the website, but after receiving an overwhelming six hundred applications, “CASUAL” opened it’s team to 25 young writers. The writers team has since written about fashion, beauty, activism, politics, and everything in between. And to think; these talented young writers and artists might not have known about “CASUAL” zine if it wasn’t for a fifteen second TikTok!
PrintIssue.01
With a new following and engagement level, I decided to make “CASUAL” zine a true business and sell a print issue with the Modern Fairytale submissions. I took to Google, where I asked a somewhat simple question that was extremely complex to me: how do i make a magazine . The first website I stumbled upon was Blurb Bookwright, the software which I used to design and print “CASUAL” zine’s first issue: PrintIssue.01 (once again, a decision I didn’t overthink). It took about a month for me to select images, decide a layout, pick a colour scheme, reach out to creatives, conduct interviews, and write interviews for the final copy. I decided to keep the writing team’s work exclusively on the website to leave more space for artwork in the physical magazine. This was a bold choice, and one that I somewhat regret making. However, whenever I’ve stumbled upon challenges or regrets, I remember that it’s not the end of the world. The majority of the time I have been able to rebrand, rewrite, or redesign my mistakes.
Looking Forward
PrintIssue.01: Modern Fairytale was released, and I am so proud of how it turned out. I created a detailed marketing plan leading up to its release, which didn’t go as smoothly as I had planned. Thankfully, the issue speaks for itself and still sold despite its rocky release. Looking to the future, I’m planning on selling a PrintIssue seasonally. Submissions are now open for our second issue, with the theme Teenage Dream on Film. I am also planning a special IGTV series which will feature Black creators sharing serious, vulnerable stories in interview style videos.
In the near future, “CASUAL” zine is looking for sponsors! Our website, the same website we’ve had since the beginning www.casualzin3.com is no longer suitable for the content we produce. I think it’s important for “CASUAL” to hire a web designer to redesign our site so that it reflects the quality of the writers and gives the brand a higher degree of professionalism.
We are currently looking for financial donations/sponsorship to help us fund our website.
For the full proposal, please reach out to casualzin3@gmail.com.