Name and location..
Jamie Espino, Ft. Smith, Arkansas, USA
How long have you been making zines for?
I think I started in my senior year of high school, so about six years now.
What do you like to create zines about?
I hardly ever start with a specific subject in mind and then create a zine about it. Usually it’s just a way to organize and share work I’ve already made. But it varies from clothing to Drake to Google Earth photography.
What is your favourite zine/comic/book?
Honestly, reading anything other than comics makes me sleepy so I love Nancy, Peanuts, and Moomin. Nancy is pure and clever; probably my favorite character of all time. Travel by Yuichi Yokohama is also a beautifully drawn manga/graphic novel, plus it’s sans text. I only read it once like two years ago but I still think about it a lot. I will add that Sister Outsider is an amazing collection of Audre Lorde’s essays and speeches and it doesn’t make me fall asleep!
Tell us a bit more about your creative process..
My head works in finding similarities between things so I always have to have a lot of source material. Every now and then I sit down at the library with a stack of books and flip through images. Of course I keep lil notebooks where I storyboard and jot down info. Mostly tho, I will just make something when I’m in the mood.
What does it feel like to have your zine in the London College of Fashion Library’s Special Collections?
Libraries are important spaces because they allow access to resources you may not normally have. It makes me happy that not only my work, but other zines will be available to a wider audience.
What influenced Poorly Curated?
Well, Poorly Curated is the shop/brand I started so originally I wanted to do a knockoff catalog format to showcase the photography and styling of the clothes. The paper that Harbor Freight Tools uses for their ads is super nice and thin and I love the goofy sales tactics. However, it ended up being a zine comparing the photos with art and comics on a mid-weight cream card stock.
What one piece of advice would you give UAL students about zine making?
Zines are usually pretty cheap so don’t be afraid to make lots of changes to the content and layout. It’s the best and easiest time to experiment with your work.
You can find my zines on Etsy or peep my Nancy references on Instagram