From Broadsheets to Blogs: Magazines, Art, & Public Culture

Zine Making

Today we're making quarter size zines. The layout may mess with your head. That's okay; breaking your brain while making a quarter size zine is a rite of passage!

Suggested Themes

• Something from today's news
• A topic you know a lot about
• How it feels to be you, right here, right now

Templates

With help from Milo Miller, famed QZAP co-founder, I've developed a zine template for myself for making a quarter-size zine that's eight pages long in InDesign. (This is not a template for a one-page folded zine. Those are easy to find.)

indd file

pdf file

docx file

[/new conten]

Cover/p1

Something that symbolizes your zine theme or a mind map

Page 2

• Introduce your zine (pro-tip: you might want to do this at the end, so you know what you're introducing)
• Metadata: contextualize for the reader
  • Author
  • Date
  • Publication location
  • Contact information
• Freedoms and restrictions
  • Do you want to claim copyright?
  • Assign a CC license?
  • Reject copyright?
  • Control digital reproduction?
• The required or repetitive stuff, like the honor code: consider using a QR code

Page 3

Rant, manifesto, I statements: why this course/unit matters

Page 4 (left side of centerfold)

Cartoon, sketch, art, doodles (be bold! draw stick figures!)

Page 5 (right side of centerfold)

More cartoon, sketch, etc.

Page 6

Pencil game: maze, crossword puzzle, word finder, quiz, survey, matching

Page 7

Recipe (could be literally about food, or it could be "how to____.")

Back Cover (8)

Credits, playlist, reviews or recommendations

Another pro-tip: number your pages. This will help when you are assembling your zines.

Covers

color * construction paper * relief print * acetate

Binding

staples * sewing * stab * pamphlet * paper types* materials

Graphics

illustrations * fair use/copyright * photographs * typography/handwriting * backgrounds

Elements

Essay * Poem * Review * Drawing * Collage * Personality Quiz * Crossword Puzzle * Playlist * Top Ten List * Likes/Dislikes * How To * Comic * Rant * Blank Space * Art * Handwriting * Typewriting * Design Software * Stick Figures

Metadata: author, title, publication location, publication date, freedoms and restrictions

Genre

personal * political * art * literary * split * compilation * minicomics * DIY

Pro Tips

• Leave a 1/4" margin around your pages
• Remember your zine will be copied or scanned, so light text and images may not reproduce well
• You do you