Brainstorm a Zine Unit or Zine Syllabus
Visual syllabus example.
Is the assignment around zine-making or studying zines? Or both?
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
- A class you're teaching or taking
- A unit in a class
- An element of a class, e.g. a book, a skill
- Course objective
- 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
You know what tool is super easy to use for zine making, especially for collaborations? Google slides (template for 8-page half-size zine).
PS Use Canva if you love it, but try to veer away from the most popular designs. They all start to look alike after a while
Cover/p1
Something that symbolizes the course/unit OR a mind map of the course/unit
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)
Up to you!
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 get an A."
Back Cover (8)
Credits, playlist, reviews or recommendations
Another pro-tip: number your pages. This will help when you are assembling your zines.