So, you want to make a 
Then make one!
For no reason in particular, I was compelled to start putting this together one evening. Often I have heard people interested in making their own fanzine, with little clue on how to do so or where to start.
In truth, you might not need this entire resource list. What you might need is simply the thesis and it goes like this: There is no barrier of entry to making your own zine, and don’t let anyone convince you otherwise!
The focus of this guide is on the core design and making process of the zine. It will show you some design techniques, places to source stock images, a selection of helpful graphic design terminology, etc.
The origin of the zine is about essence. Any small, non-professional publication can be a zine. Obscured to your eyes are thousands of zines that you will never see, distributed in only the dozens and nothing more. Zine is the necessary antithesis of professionalism and the marker of passion. Regardless of what you plan on making, it should be, first and foremost, a product of love.
SECTION ONE: Idea, Scope & Feasibility
Chances are that if you're here, it's because you already have an idea.
- Question Checklist:
- What is the theme?
- Is the zine non-profit, for-profit? For charity?
- What are the materials? Hand-made? Digital download? Professional print?
- How big is the project? How much time will you need to complete it?
- If you want to feature artists other than yourself, how are you going to recruit them?
This list is non-exhaustive, but it's at least a few of the considerations you need to make before you proceed with your idea.
The Necessary Disclaimer: Making A Profit.
I caution you against making a zine, particularly a professionally printed fanzine, if your sole interest is profitability. This warning goes doubly so if this is your first zine project. Personal philosophies aside, the organizing, printing and shipping of fanzines can be a massive sink for both time and money. Additionally, there’s no absolute way to guarantee that you’ll make returns. The best you can hope for is breaking even.
If you're not in a place where you're financially stable enough to recuperate from potential losses, then it's probably better to save the expensive print zines for another time. There’s nothing more tragic than a fanzine that capsizes from mismanagement and money troubles.
Featured Content
During the idea phase of the project, consider what kinds of materials you're interested in featuring in your zine. I can't decide for you, there is so much potential. One thing I will recommend is that you open up your mind beyond full-page artwork.
SECTION TWO: Materials
A particular style of fanzine has become increasingly ubiquitous, growing in popularity since the early 2010s. They are most often (depending on page number) printed either saddle-stitch or perfect bound by professional printing companies, and often packaged alongside other delicately crafted merchandise (stickers, postcards, keychains, etc.). Softcover, mostly, with sturdy pages of matte or glossy cardstock.
This preamble is to say that a zine—and perhaps the division between what I consider a zine and a small magazine, though the semantics here don’t really matter all that much—is characterized not just by its theme but by its materials and medium. Below, I’ve outlined a vague typology for the 3 main categories of zines I see online, based on their materials:
Handmade, Digital, and Professionally printed.
There will be an entirely separate page dedicated to handmade zines since the process is pretty different from fanzine group projects. Needless to say, they are incredibly fun to make!
Each Medium Has Its Advantages
Rather than just making your digital zine a print zine in pdf form, consider the ways that you can experiment through digital means.
SECTION THREE: Layout, Typography & Design
If you are hosting a zine with a group, it is crucial that you communicate what your theme is. Theme encompasses not only content itself but also how that content is displayed. Consider the type of content you're featuring. Will you need to do a lot of text formatting? How will images be arranged?
Text Formatting
Step one is to establish a font hierarchy. This means that you will designate one font for body text, one font for headers and one font for splash text, with sizes going in descending order from smallest to largest. Script fonts are best reserved for flavor text in small quantities.
- Small tips for formatting fics or articles:
- Avoid orphans and widows. In typesetting, this refers to stray sentences at the beginning or ending of a page.
Design Deck & Sample Pages
In my experience with fanzine projects, design decks are not very common. Either that, or mod teams just don't share this kind of information. And to be honest, I'm not sure why, because I feel like they're immensely helpful! So I'm going to evangelize for a second—consider making a design deck for your fanzine!
What do I mean by this? Take a moment to make a PowerPoint that gathers your prime aesthetic inspiration for the layout of your project. Include examples of the fonts you plan on using for body text, headers and splash text. This could include a mock-up of sample layouts.
Ultimately, the level of organizational information you share with your contributors is up to you. For the sake of their artwork, I would recommend that you at least share some kind of sample page.
Sourcing Assets
If you're planning on selling your zines for money (i.e you are using them for commercial purposes), it is necessary that you are sourcing your layout assets correctly.
- Free fonts:
- 1001fonts
Resources
This guide would be a failure if I did not point your attention towards the amazing Electric Zine Maker by alienmelon on itch.io. It's fun and it's easy to use.
If you've made it this far, hello! Thank you for reading and I hope something in here was of use to you. On the technical side, this document will be a constant work in progress to ensure that it is as informative, accurate and all-encompassing as I can make it. Expect frequent edits to both content and style.
