Amplify Youth Underground Press: Publish Your Zine

📰 Amplify Youth Underground Press: Publish Your Zine
Amplify Youth is a youth creative program. Young people make accessible zines and AAC peer-cards that others can touch, read and use.

This hands-on creator lab supports autistic and neurodivergent young people (ages 14–25) to design tactile pages, produce AAC card sets, and prepare publish-ready files. Participants will work in a supportive, craft-focused space to build creative skills, test tactile prototypes and become published authors with a real ISBN and public library deposit.

📅 Event Details
Date: Sat, 22 May 2027
Time: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Location: Visible Ink, Maida Lilley Centre
5 Green Square Close, Fortitude Valley
Room: Rehearsal Space / Workshop Room

👥 Who is this for?

• Autistic and neurodivergent young people
• Ages approximately 14–25
• Other young people with access needs are welcome (families/carers/observers can attend)

✂️ What you’ll do

• Learn tactile design & proofing techniques for embossed pages
• Collage, layout and create publish-ready zine pages
• Design and assemble laminated AAC peer-cards (portable communication supports)
• Trial tactile prototypes and mark up files for specialist finishing
• Prepare files that meet accessibility and library deposit standards

📚 What we’re creating
Across this workshop and the broader project we will produce:

• A small published zine (tactile + standard print) with an ISBN
• AAC Card Toolkit (laminated A6 sets)
• Tactile prototypes and guidance for tactile mapping / QR markers
• Tagged Easy-Read and audio versions for digital access
• Production briefs and facilitator materials for future runs

🎤 What happens next?
After the workshop final pages will be proofed, produced and deposited with public collections (including the State Library and Visible Ink). Participants may be invited to follow-up production or showcase opportunities once proofs are complete.

🌱 Why join?
This is a safe, maker-friendly space to:

• Share and publish your voice — your zine will be a real publication
• Learn tangible creative and production skills
• Meet other young creators and get hands-on support from experienced facilitators
• Take part in inclusive publishing that centres access and choice

♿ Accessibility
This event is designed to be inclusive:

• Auslan interpreting (onsite & VRI on request)
• Live captioning for the workshop
• Tactile zine samples and AAC kits to handle and test
• Quiet/chill space for sensory needs and a dedicated inclusion steward
• Easy-Read materials, tagged PDFs and audio versions available on request

📩 Contact
For more information or to discuss access needs, email: [email protected]