Gallery
foto: Buzia
Project overview
A counter-cultural zine challenging Gen Z’s smartphone dependency through provocative statistics, practical digital wellbeing tools, and deliberately nostalgic RISO printing.
The publication translated invisible digital environmental costs into relatable, pop-culture-based examples, creating an ironic analog intervention inside an overwhelmingly screen-based reality. By placing critical content into a tactile, offline object, the zine slowed down consumption and invited conscious reflection.
Main objectives
The project aimed to shift perception and behavior by:
☀︎ Making digital overconsumption emotionally tangible through cultural references and quantified comparisons
☀︎ Empowering readers with realistic, actionable strategies for reducing screen dependency
☀︎ Using nostalgic, low-tech aesthetics as a physical counterpoint to hyper-digital lifestyles
Achieved results
The zine successfully reframed abstract environmental data into concrete, relatable insights that resonated with the target audience.
By combining humor, accessible language and Gen Z-native visual codes, it created cognitive dissonance without moralizing encouraging self-reflection rather than resistance.
The choice of RISO printing strengthened the message through tactility, imperfection and material presence, reinforcing the critique of digital excess while offering a sensory alternative to endless scrolling.
Main reflection
This project demonstrated that form is not neutral it actively shapes how messages are received.
The strongest engagement emerged when environmental impact was linked to familiar cultural content (such as calculating the energy footprint of a popular rapper’s video), confirming that personal relevance turns abstract data into emotional understanding.
Most importantly, the experiment proved that effective behavioral critique does not require austerity or seriousness. Humor, nostalgia and visual pleasure can become powerful entry points into difficult conversations, especially when addressing a generation raised inside permanent connectivity.