Interactive Zine With Makey Makey

Make a 'zine that triggers soundscapes and animations programmed in Scratch. Added bonus? Build a planar coil speaker directly into the book to play your sounds through.

This project was first made for a How-To Contest Makey Makey ran in 2013 and was formatted a little differently than this. This was a winning submission from Praxis.

Across the six inside pages of your Zine-Fold Book, write a story (leave front and back for the cover).

(Use pencil, following the red lines in these illustrations as an example.)

NOTE: Your pencil drawn circuit should look completely connected when you unfold the book, minus the gap noted below.

Use your pencil drawn circuit as a guide for where you are going to place the copper tape.

Lay in the rest of your copper tape into the book.

Make sure to leave a gap between your copper tape pieces at the bottom of each page. This leaves the circuit open so that you can use your finger to bridge the gap. Your finger is the switch in the circuit.

NOTE: Your Copper Circuit should look completely connected when you unfold the book, with gaps for switches.

Using the image below as a guide, hook up an alligator clip wire to each “switch” section of copper tape at the bottom of your book (red circles), and one at the point at the top that is the “ground” (green circle).

Clip the single “ground” wire to the bottom strip of the Makey Makey Board labeled “EARTH.”(Green Circle)

Clip the other alligator clips from your book to each section of the Makey Makey Board that are the Keyboard Controls you set up in your Scratch program. (Red Circle)

Use the USB cable to connect the Makey Makey Board to your computer.

Open the pre-made Scratch project, found at: http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/10894151 to test your book's interactions. Remember to use your finger as the switch to activate each page.

NOTE: This interactive book also makes use of a planar coil speaker to play the audio directly through the book. See below for how to make the speaker.

Make a speaker for your zine!

Use this PDF as a guide.