inner child zine

Strategies to Keep Your Inner Child Alive is a zine project rooted in the shared, universal experience of childhood, explored through a personal and political lens. Inspired by nostalgic memories that transcend geography and generations such as toys, games, and school-life rituals. The project reflects on what we lose as we grow up under societal pressures to be productive, disciplined, and “proper,” particularly as adult women. Shifting away from a purely nostalgic or cynical take, the concept evolved into a playful reclaiming of curiosity, joy, and light-heartedness by reimagining adult activities with a childlike spirit. Through vibrant still lifes and performative model shots, exaggerated props, saturated colors, encouraging copy, and a deliberately clumsy, scrapbook-style layout featuring doodles, childlike writing, and bold, sweet typography, the zine celebrates play as both resistance and release. The final outcome embraces spontaneity and imperfection, positioning playfulness not as something we outgrow, but as something worth actively preserving.