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You have likely decided to or are considering creating a zine. Welcome to the wonderful world of self-publication! A zine is a self-publication with a small and independent circulation process that can take any form, whether that is a magazine, a mini-magazine, a newsletter, a news column, or something more niche. Many zines are free, but some are put up for sale. Whatever you choose to create in your zine is up to you: the options are limitless.
Steps
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1Decide the topic, theme and information inside of your zine cover. While you have probably already decided on your topic and written the contents of your zine, now you must create the most important thing–the cover. The cover is the first thing that someone will use to determine whether or not to read what you have to say; the key themes inside should inform the design (the layout, imagery, fonts and tone) of your cover. With this guide, embark on a quest to create the boldest, eye-catching, exciting, or, at the very least, appropriate cover to accompany what you have to say.
- If you have not written your zine : Be sure to write out the contents of your zine and start brainstorming the ways a cover could be depicted as you go. Take notes along the way, but be sure not to write for a cover, as the contents will ultimately be the determinant of success for the publication at large.
- If you have already written your zine: consider what will be inside. If you have a zine about dinosaurs, you will probably want a dinosaur-related theme to your zine cover. If you have an instructional zine that is closer to a self-guided manual or cookbook, make sure you feature some of the food that is mentioned in your text. Whatever is on the inside should be on the outside cover as well.
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2Define what information to include on the cover. Determine the most important information to relay to your audience before designing your cover. Do you want your audience to know who is writing this zine? Is the zine written by a group of people as opposed to a sole author? Do you want to add mystery to the concept or do you want it to communicate the purpose of your zine right away? Your choice of words and visuals on the cover will attract a specific audience, so consider who you want to read this and where it will be found as you list each piece of information that will go on the zine.Advertisement
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3Sketch a mockup of your cover. Considering the layout and format of your zine (booklet, webpage, blog, digital pdf, etc), draw or sketch a sloppy mockup of the big ideas of what you want to see in your zine for your own reference. No one has to see this plan, so don’t get caught up in the details. Sketching a big picture idea of where you want titles, images and headings to go and why will create some rough guidelines once you explore the software or design tool you will use.
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4Choose whether you want a simple cover or a cover with an illustration accompaniment. Brainstorm the primary decisions that relate to the visuals in your zine cover. Do you want a cover that is all words and a solid background, or do you want a cover that has words accompanied by visual aids or illustrations? Consider the type of cover you want for your zine by reading and exploring the zines of others online or in-person. Many major cities host zine fairs with a multitude of zines for free or to purchase that you can reference. Gaining inspiration from other creators and seeing the audience of certain zines, whether in-person or online, can be extremely helpful when creating your own.
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5Determine if you want to pay for a design tool, your budget for the tool, or if you want to use a free design suite instead. Decide on a primary tool to design your zine publication. Design tools like InDesign or Canva allow the user to create, format and customize documents for self-publication, but often the use or the extensive use of these tools cost money. Tools like Canva have a free design suite that offers the basic use of the product, while the extensive design suite may cost from $15-30 a month to $125 a year. InDesign and the Adobe suite have high-quality capabilities and customizability with a massive uptick in pricing from Canva, between $35-82 a month, depending on the type of suite (approx. $420+ a year). There are many advantages and disadvantages to paying for a design tool. The opportunity to customize file type, accessibility, and creative capacities increase the more the user can pay, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you cannot create a great concept for free. The use of that concept may be more difficult to access, however, with fewer editing, resizing, and creation capabilities.
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6Create your illustration or source your images for the cover. Create, source, or commission your cover illustration(s). If you are not an artistic type, finding public domain .pngs or stock images may be a great way to accomplish this step, although the first choice should always be asking around to see if an illustrator, photographer, or artist in your area may want to collaborate on a trade or installment basis, if money is a stretch. Create a general sketch of what you want to see as the main graphic on your cover, which will likely cover at least â…” of the space there.
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1Make sure the cover is on the right page. Always double check to make sure your cover is on page one of your design tool format. Most suites start on the first page of a document, so it is safe to say that if you begin at the opening of the document, it will likely become your cover. Making sure the cover is always on the first page will prevent any disappointments when your zine goes public.
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2Decide on and source the font for your title. There are many wonderful fonts provided within Canva and InDesign already, with many more accessible through their websites. If there is a font you are struggling to find, you may be able to access it from dafont.com or whatfontis.com, tools that specifically help you find the fonts you cannot seem to access elsewhere.
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3Place your title and design. Place the title into your zine cover design. Your title is the all-encompassing culmination of the meaning of your zine, so make it snappy. It can provide clarity on what the zine is about. If it is about dinosaurs, it can be “The Wonders of the Tyrannosaurus Rex”, or it can be “TRD” standing for “T-Rex Diaries”, and you can unveil the meaning of this on the first page after building intrigue on the cover page. Ultimately this is up to your personal aesthetic and can be anything your heart desires. Your title can be aligned in the middle of a document, and even curved.
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4Add any effects to your title/design. Once your title is placed into the design, add any design needs to the title itself. These can be drop shadows (to make the title look like it is popping out of the page), inner shadows (to make it look like it is sinking into the page), bevel (to make the title look more prismatic), emboss (to add gummy or shiny texture), gradient (to add a prisma of color through the work), and feather (to add feathered texture). These effects can add a stunning visual variety to your work when done correctly.
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5Make room for the margins. Make sure to leave at least ¾ in around your design to account for the margins when printing on a regular printer or printing with a copier. It can be devastating when you make a clean-cut and clear design and the printer cuts off a large portion of the text or design. Cleaning up some space around the margins gives a good indication of how the final project will end up.
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1Get a second opinion by showing your cover to a friend. Not only is it cool to show the finished work of art you have created to a friend, but a good pal will always point out the typos, edits needed, and misspellings necessary for your work to shine once it “hits the presses”! After you fill in your zine, make sure to share it with the world.
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2Finish/publish your zine. Publish your zine with all of the other necessary information inside of your document and share it with the world. This can be in-person, online, or even by hand at a zine fair or market!
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Tips
- Consider a back cover to further your impact. Back covers can have thrilling excerpts, reviews or other quotes from happy readers, and/or thrilling visuals from inside your book to prompt intrigue in your zine concept!Thanks
- Make sure that you save both a web-based PDF and a print PDF. The print-based pdf will translate your PDF for the printer. This means changing the document color codes from a CMYK setting to an RGB setting that will more easily and accurately print. Your printer or print-shop will thank you!Thanks
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Warnings
- Remember to save your work as you go! Saving your work may save you the heartache of losing your zine cover forever. On a Mac, pressing ⌘S saves your work as you go on most software or design platforms. On a PC, try pressing Ctrl+S.Thanks
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References
- Adobe. (n.d.). InDesign FAQ. Adobe Help Center. https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/faq.html
- Canva. (n.d.). Help Center. Canva. https://www.canva.com/help/
- Akbari, R. (2018, November 19). How to make a zine. The Creative Independent. https://thecreativeindependent.com/guides/how-to-make-a-zine/ thecreativeindependent.com
About This Article
Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 17 times.
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