Playin' It Safe

The physical copy of Playin' It Safe, with a staple binding.

A 20-page illustrated sexual wellness zine for young people in South LA. Designed in collaboration with TeenSource's Spring Into Love youth interns (credited below).

CO-DESIGNERS: Jasmine Rios-Artola, Kimberly Navarro, Vanessa Darkwah

ARTICLE WRITERS: Jasmine Rios-Artola, Kimberly Navarro, Vanessa Darkwah, Abisola Ogundimu, Peyton Brantley, Roberto Rosales-Castro

SKILLS: Book Design, Collaborative Design, Educational Design, Healthcare Graphic Design, Illustration, Photo Editing

SOFTWARE: Canva, Photoshop, Paint Tool SAI

DIMENSIONS: 5.5" x 8.5"

YEAR: 2024

Full Zine

Page 1: The cover of Playin' It Safe, with a bird's eye view of a spray-painted wall and the shoes and shadow of a young person, whose perspective we are watching from. Designed by Jasmine Rios-Artola. Page 2: An info page about the zine, featuring an LA urban area with a palm tree, power lines, and a spray painted wall. Two young people on the bottom left eat ice cream and look at the page's information, and there is a pink arrow on the bottom right. Designed by Vibhu Venkatesh. Page 3: An article about sex positivity, with a graphic of a book about sexual consent. The background is a brick wall of stickers with smiley faces, hearts, and thumbs up symbols. Designed by Kimberly Navarro. Page 4: A continuation of the sex positivity article, with another brick wall and similar stickers accompanying the text. Designed by Vibhu Venkatesh.
Page 5: An article about sexually transmitted infections and condom access, with a link to Teensource's Condom Access Project on a purple lowrider car with condom patterns on it. Designed by Vibhu Venkatesh. Page 6: A continuation of the STI article, with graphics of young people and affected areas that STIs impact. The background is a spray-painted wall. Designed by Jasmine Rios-Artola. Page 7: An article about STI testing and treatment, with a graphic of a pill bottle and title headings styled to look like a syringe and a band-aid. Designed by Jasmine Rios-Artola. Page 8: A continuation of the STI testing and treatment article, with a graphic of a doctor taking a patient's temperature against a spray-painted wall. There is a QR code linking to a service that anonymously informs partners of potential STI exposure. Designed by Jasmine Rios-Artola.
Page 9: An article about self care featuring an interview with a college freshman named Julie, with a graphic of a girl having a relaxing spa day. The background is a wall with a pattern on it reading, I Love You. Designed by Vanessa Darkwah. Page 10: A continuation of the self care article, with the same background wall graphic as the previous page. Designed by Vanessa Darkwah. Page 11: An article about self-love, against a spray painted wall with colorful heart stickers around the text boxes. Designed by Vibhu Venkatesh. Page 12: An article about how to make a doctor's appointment, with each step of the process styled to look like street signs, flyers, and stickers on a streetlight pole. There is a QR code link with info about nearby STI testing. Designed by Vibhu Venkatesh.
Page 13: An article about at-home STI testing and prevention, with an illustration of a girl sitting outside her home enjoying an agua fresca. Designed by Vibhu Venkatesh. Page 14: A continuation of the previous article, with a wall with spray-painted fruits on it and a graphic of a STI testing kit. There are QR codes linking to programs such as I Know and Reach LA, which allow you to order at-home STI tests. Designed by Vibhu Venkatesh. Page 15: An article about health coverage, styled to look like stand of a flower vendor under a rainbow umbrella. The flower vendor holds a bouquet, with the Medi-Cal poppy logo blooming prominently. Designed by Vibhu Venkatesh. Page 16: An article about self-advocacy featuring an interview with a college freshman named Clarissa, with a graphic of a girl with a megaphone surrounded by stickers of various birth control methods. The background is a red brick wall. Designed by Kimberly Navarro.
Page 17: A continuation of the self-advocacy article, with the same brick wall background. Designed by Kimberly Navarro. Page 18: An article about self-advocacy in healthcare settings, with a graphic of a megaphone with hearts coming out. There is also a graphic of a girl holding a confidential medical file, thinking about the importance of knowing one's rights. Designed by Vibhu Venkatesh. Page 19: A continuation of the self-advocacy article, with graphics of a patient communicating to a doctor about his concerns, and a confident girl who encourages patients to speak up about their problems. Designed by Vibhu Venkatesh. Page 20: The back cover of Playin' It Safe, with a continuation of the front cover's wall and sidewalk. There is information about how to contact Spring Into Love, a QR code linking to a gift card raffle opportunity, writer and designer credits, and information about the public health programs the zine is funded by. Designed by Vibhu Venkatesh.