We are the Youth Design Zine Collective, an open collective of youth-led design organizations across the US sharing our niche expertise through zines (pronounced zeens). 

A small group of organizers, through Seattle nonprofit Sawhorse Revolution, is getting things started and plans to host the first online zine conference in March 2025. This conference will be a series of presentations from both youth and organization facilitators sharing their unique knowledge and experiences in the field. In place of the traditional academic paper, these presentations will be accompanied by zines, non-traditional and independently produced publications made with the intention of physical & digital redistribution.

Our goal is to have these zines circulate among communities in different locations and time zones across the country, especially those that may not otherwise have opportunities or resources to connect.

The output of these zine conferences will result in an ever-expanding non-localized library of youth-led design knowledge, connecting homes, communities, and learning spaces across the country through our zines and shared knowledge. In this way, the spark, energy and knowledge coming out of these conferences can be shared in a non-hierarchical and accessible format that will keep our organizations moving forward.

If our mission speaks to you, please reach out to us at YDZCollective at gmail 

Bios
Emmy E Smith is an artist, builder and long-time friend of Sawhorse Revolution. Emmy received an MFA in Visual Studies from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 2023 and has worked in the artist collective The Marigolds, who produce visual works and zines as well as other ventures in independent small press printing. Her artwork and non-professional ventures alike tend to skew towards a love of the natural world and investigating the ever-happening effects of climate change. She works at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA as a Fabrication Studio Tech. 

Dr. Melita Morales (she/her) is an assistant professor in the Department of Art Education at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is an artist, art educator and education researcher in formal and out of school contexts. Her scholarship focuses on how knowledge emerges through embodied and material experiences where the arts are central. Her most recent work takes up microethnography to better understand how transdisciplinary experiences prompt relational and ethical shifts to the world and each other. Studying both science and art at Santa Clara University, she went on to focus her masters’ on art and design education at the Rhode Island School of Design, obtaining her PhD in Curriculum and Instruction at Boston College.

Dr. Kaleb Germinaro (he/him) is an assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction at the University of Illinois Chicago. He is a learning scientist, human geographer, educator and disability researcher in out of school contexts. His scholarship focuses on how learning environments and spatial knowledge facilitate the learning of space and place through stories. His most recent work takes ethnographic approaches to better understand how transdisciplinary learning experiences prompt shifting spatial orientations, knowledge and relations across Black, disabled and youth ecologies and geographies. Studying Philosophy, Politics & Economics at the University of Pennsylvania, he went on to focus his masters’ on Human Development at the Graduate School of Education at Penn, obtaining his PhD in Learning Sciences & Human Development at the University of Washington.

Sarah Smith is an educator jill-of-many-trades, and co-founder of Sawhorse Revolution. She received a BA in English literature from the University of Puget Sound, graduated in 2008, and promptly realized the importance of hands-on skills training. Since then, she has been working to develop experiential learning programs for youth. Smith received a Masters in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2012, and has been working at Sawhorse since graduating. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, reading and time with friends and family. (she/ her)