Immigration is one of the biggest conversations going on in Britain right now. The headlines don’t need to be repeated here, but increasingly it seems that the ‘go to’/knee-jerk response is to play the ‘us V them’ game, sign up as a member of Ukip and worship at the altar of the Daily Mail – alienating a whole community of people who are as ingrained in British culture as anyone else. This diversity of culture is what makes Britain so exciting – from film, music, fashion and art, you’ll be hard pushed to find an area untouched by the talent of a person whose family came from another area of the world, at some point or another. Yet for most immigrants growing up and grown up, in Britain, the issue of visibility and the stigma attached to being ‘different’ is a conversation in need of more awareness.

Being bullied because your packed lunch doesn’t smell or look like the other kids’ lunches, the absence of non-white faces on magazine covers, and finding a lifeline in an underground music scene like grime are all at the heart of journalist Kieran Yates’ – whose grandparents hail from Punjab, north India – new zine British Values. Between Theresa May on the cover in a hijab, Uber drivers selecting their favourite tracks, and Zayn Malik nudes, Yates hits back hard with humour and heart at the anti-immigrant rhetoric that’s been slung around for too long.

“To make something physical was important to me because like us, it’s difficult to ignore,” Yates writes in her editor’s letter. “It’s important to have physical reminders that difference exists. It makes the point that we are here, physically, sharing space. Print may be dead but our experiences are very much alive.” Below, we asked Yates how to make a zine that claps back at our so-called ‘British values’.

BE ANGRY

“Most creative projects come from a place of frustration. Either it's filling a gap in the market, or it's a something you have to create from nothing. For me, British Values was an angry clap back to the anti-immigrant rhetoric, but also about challenging visibility when it comes to minorities telling their own stories. I wanted to make something physical, making the point that we were here, physically – and not going away. I wanted to make something to showcase a load of great writers who I thought were talented, and challenge the often overly whitewashed voices we currently hear. Sometimes being angry delivers you your best work.”

USE WHAT YOU KNOW

“I'm a journalist so it made sense for me to make a fanzine, that had features, first person, interviews and jokes. It's where I come from creatively, and I wanted to create a platform that was funny and represented who I am as a writer. I was inspired by magazines like Smash Hits, and the look of Super Super (RIP). I could have just photocopied out a load of stories and collaged pictures and hand-stapled them but I don't know that world, and it was important to legitimise immigrant cultures by making something really slick and special. So I wanted to use what I knew about other publications that exist – and do it better.”

ASK FOR HELP

“I've never made a magazine from scratch before so there was a lot of stuff I didn't know. I enlisted the help of a great designer Amad llyas to help me see things more visually, and we worked together to create images that really worked, which I could ever have done on my own. I also got printer tips from other zine makers and some legal help to make sure I wasn't going to get sued for putting a half naked Zayn on page 3.”

“There were a couple of people who, on first reading said it might be too niche but I just ignored that because our in-jokes are funny and they translate. People might just have to engage a bit, more, because most readers are used to the same kind of jokes aimed at the same kind of (white) audience” – Kieran Yates

TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS

“I think with all these kind of things you really have to trust that what you’re doing is good. When you spend loads of time on your own in a room you start questioning whether your jokes are funny, and I had a lot of talks about the cover, etc. There were a couple of people who, on first reading said it might be too niche (Asian Apparel jokes/Interior Design Spesh!) but I just ignored that because our in-jokes are funny and they translate. People might just have to engage a bit, more, because most readers are used to the same kind of jokes aimed at the same kind of (white) audience.

Also when I commissioned writers with the ideas there was always a chance they'd refuse because they thought they were shit. I think it just comes down to knowing your audience and trusting your eye...and your jokes.  I took my lead from Goodness Gracious Me (aka the greatest British comedy of all time) because they made jokes I thought the majority of people wouldn't get, but they did. Watching that taught me such a good lesson about being uncompromising and proud of who I am and where I came from.”

MAKE YOUR POINT IN YOUR OWN WAY

“British Values is about making a point but it also stands up as a showcase of really great writing from lots of writers. So yeah, there is a token white-person which makes a point about media visibility, and yeah there's strong political satire, but it's not just an angry diatribe. It's full of really good writing, stories and looks really visually impressive – which makes the point on its own, really.”

Buy British Values here – or pick up a copy at Rough Trade East next week