Bird is the Word

Bird is the Word is a 12-page T-cut zine inspired by a silly event during our visit to the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve. This zine took roughly 5 months to make. The majority of that time was passive explorations and researching zine formats. The creation and assembly of the zine happened over one weekend in a fit of artistic fervor.

After our visit to the Bolsa Chica, we knew we wanted to tell a story about birds, with the cormorant as the star. Everything else fell into place around that idea. We decided on a T-cut shaped zine so we could feature a full glamour shot of the cormorant, and then got to work drawing birds, encouraging (or gently coercing) our friends and family to join in on the fun.

Once we had a healthy collection of bird drawings, we started thinking more intentionally about the story we wanted to tell. We both found it funny that we forgot we had a field guide until the very end of the trip, so we framed the zine as the story of two inexperienced birders speaking with unearned authority, until, of course, that authority becomes real once they crack open a book. We collaged together what we had, fired up InDesign and Photoshop, and set off for the studio.

Visually, we knew from the beginning that we wanted to print the zine on a risograph. It wasn't until the collages were assembled, though, that we settled on the best color combination. We chose bubblegum pink and light teal, colors that felt like a funky, offbeat version of the sea and helped our collages stand out.

That weekend we printed, cut, and folded the zines and sent them out to friends. There was definitely a learning curve with the risograph, but by the end of the session we had figured it out. During that same session we also got the idea for our next project. We ran into a real live birder who asked if we'd ever heard of the Palisades Peacocks.

Follow along through our whole process: