Category: Mailart

The first time you try a zine layout, I know it can be confusing.

And frustrating.

But I’m about to show you how to put your zine pages together so they’re in the right order in the finished zine.

I’ve been creating zines for over 30 years, and I still sketch my zine layout on paper, to be sure I paste it up the right way.

So others don’t have to reinvent the wheel, I’ve put several zine layouts online.  Here are a couple of them:

• If you’re looking for the classic 16-page zine layout, using just one sheet of legal (8 1/2″ x 14″) paper, here’s the link: Zine Layouts. (Yes, that creates a small, 16-page zine from just one sheet of paper, total.)

• If you’re confused about the simplest single-sheet zine layout, here’s that design: Single-sheet Zines – How to make ’em and here’s a free, single-sheet zine you can print, to see how it works.

The 24-Page Zine Layout

If you’d like to try a 24-page zine, or you’re trying to figure out how to assemble a downloaded PDF of one of mine, here’s that design.

Basically, your first page and last page will be on the same sheet of paper, and on the exact same side of the paper.

If you start with that and sketch it out, you can usually figure out which page goes where. (Want a free zine you can download and print, to see how it works? Here it is: The 24-Hour Zine Thing Zine.)

The good news is, you can create your own zine.

And, with a little double-checking to be sure your zine layout is right, you can print and share it with confidence.

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(That’s an Amazon affiliate link that helps support this website, at no cost to you.)

Concluding yesterday’s 24-page, 24-hour zine, I learned a lot.

(Here’s the link to the printable zine: 24-hour zine download.)

I’m still not sure if I’m going to try a second one for this challenge.  Probably not.

(If I had more time, I might.  With just two non-weekend days left in the month, it’s probably not wise to leap into a second zine marathon.)

Reviewing the zine I created in the past day or so… it’s actually pretty good, for a first-time challenge.

Here’s what I learned during the 24-hour zine project:

1. I’m at my best, creatively, in the morning.  I’m also a psycho-cranky perfectionist late in the day, or when I’m tired… which are often the same thing.

2. Our society says one thing but does something else.

For example, gov’t healthcare representatives say the same things as many leading health experts:  Eat more veggies, grains, legumes and less fatty meats and dairy.  However, the gov’t then subsidizes in a way that makes the unhealthy diet the more affordable one.

The odd thing is: As I was researching spending differences between the 1951 household budget (see the graph below) and today, people spent nearly twice as much on food (in income percentage terms) in 1951 than they do now.   I’m still wrapping my brain around that.  I mean, are we putting advertising-driven luxuries ahead of how well we eat, or what?

The zine will be available as a download (PDF), next week. (UPDATE: Yes, and here it is: 24-hour zine download.)

Meanwhile, here’s the text from the 25th page.  It didn’t fit into the zine.

What could have been the 25th page of my 24-hour zine

As I was pasting up this zine, I began searching for answers: Did a 1951 household budget look about the same as ours, allowing for inflation?

According to Helium, “In the 1950s, frugality and conservative spending was valued and happiness was desired more than riches. The incomes of celebrities were not often discussed in the 1950s, nor were their excessive purchases.”

Here’s what I’ve found: In the typical 1951 household budget, American families spent 22 percent of their incomes on food, or about $814.

We spend about 12% of our income on food ($6,133), and nearly half of that is spent eating outside the home.

According to Eric Schlosser in Fast Food Nation, Americans spend more on fast food than they do on higher education.  He also says, “They spend more on fast food than on movies, books, magazines, newspapers, videos, and recorded music – combined.”

(Interestingly, about 40% of every 1951 dollar spent on food went to the producers… the farmers.  Today, it’s just 20%.)

Here are other figures that I found online:

Ref: http://financialedge.investopedia.com/financial-edge/1009/50-Years-Of-Consumer-Spending.aspx (As of 2017, no longer online.)

I’m not sure where I’m going with this, but in the past 20 hours (or so), I’ve certainly uncovered a lot of questions.

In my spare time:  There’s something to be learned in this.  Since I have a huge stack of 1951 newspapers, I plan to analyze 1950s’ lifestyles — and the 1951 household budget — in more detail. Because yes, I’m not only an artist, I’m also a geek.

Today, I’m starting the 24-hour zine thing.  (Yes, that’s what it’s called.)

This may be quite a challenge!

What is a 24-hour zine?

If you’re not familiar with it, here’s the basic idea: Go from concept to completed/printed-and-bound 24-page zine in 24 hours.

My general plan is to start it around 1 p.m.  today.  I’m allowed to gather materials but not actually think about what’ll go in it (or prepare anything for it) until the 24 hours begin.

Last night, cutting advertisements out of some 1951 newspapers, I decided that some of them will go into this zine… I’m just not sure how, or what the theme will be, or… well, anything.

I know that it’ll be a half-page zine design.  (That is, the zine is printed on 8 1/2″ x 11″ paper, and folded in half.  Pages are 8 1/2″ x 5 1/2″.)

Other than that, I have no idea what I’m doing.  Generally, I’d like my zine to relate to creativity, but how that fits with the 1951 newspaper ads (or if they’ll even end up in the finished zine), I don’t know.

I’m going to try to update my progress here, hourly.  I’m not sure if that’s a good idea or not, and it may fall apart altogether after the first couple of entries.  (The hourly posting that is… not the zine, I hope.)

Either way, that’s what’s ahead for this sunny July day in NH!

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Hour-by-Hour Zine Notes

Tuesday

3 p.m. update: I’ve been working on the zine for about an hour.  It’s turning into a personal zine, filled with random thoughts.  Contrary to my general plans, it’s not an art zine.  Oh well.

I started around 2 p.m. and I’m in the middle of a mini-collage for one page.  I’ve written and printed pages 1 and 24.

The TV series, Torchwood, is on in the background, and one episode inspired the name of this zine, The Electro.  Now… back to work!

4 p.m. update: I thought I’d be back in the living room, working on collages and artwork.  Instead, I wrote three pages of text and created captions for two more pages.  So, that’s 7 pages of 24.  I’m reluctant to say, “Oh, this isn’t going to be so difficult,” because that’s the fastest route to hitting writer’s block or something…!

Now, I’m doing some pasteup before working on collages and other art for the zine.  So far, so good.

5 p.m. update: I was doing well until about 15 minutes ago, when it turned out to be the sad Torchwood episode that concludes the Grey story line.

See, there have been things this year that I haven’t had time to process or mourn… other things had to keep moving forward.   My mom (and my cat) would want it that way, and I knew that.  Last weekend, I think we concluded the major must-do projects. Whew!

I’ve known that I’d need to grieve at some point.  I’m not sure if today is that day.  If it is, this zine project goes “on hold” and I start all over again, later this week.  (Cheerful stuff, this… eh?)

6 p.m. update: Serendipity! The next show on BBC-America was the Charles Dickens episode of Dr. Who. The opening always makes me laugh, even in this context.  (Yes, I do have a weird sense of humor…) So, I lost a little time but I’m back on track with this zine.  Well, more or less.

I spent most of the last hour more thoroughly combing the 1951 newspapers for ads to include.  I found several that will work, including some that will bridge between the 1951-related content and the zine pages that are from and about 2009 and beyond.

7 p.m. update: I’ve completed text & layouts for another six pages, I think.  I’m trying not to wander into the too-easy trap of rosy nostalgia and idealizing an era that had plenty of problems.  But… where am I going with this, anyway?  I’m not sure, and that’s beginning to show.

I’m nearly ready to segue into modern collages and commentary.  However, I can also see the merit of an early bedtime, so I can be up at 4 or 5 in the morning, to get a fresh start on the remaining pages.

8 p.m. update: I’m about halfway through the zine now.  The basic layout is complete, and I’m finishing the cover right now. Well… I think I am.

Most of the remaining pages will be collages.  Due to rapidly increasing humidity (my fingers are starting to stick to the keys on my keyboard), I should probably complete as many of them as I can, tonight.  Otherwise the adhesive (gel medium) may not dry in time… the zine pages might stick to the glass on the photocopier.

The good news is, Warehouse 13 is on.  There’s something ironic about how much I’m questioning the value of TV (contrasting 2010 lifestyles with those of 1951) as I’m avidly watching favorite TV shows.

9 p.m. update: My cat wants me to go to bed. (He’s the hall monitor, in a way:  Schedules must be kept.  Order must be maintained.)  I’m seriously considering quitting for the night.  However, I have just nine pages left to complete.  That’s better than I expected, at this point in the day.  Is it quality work?  I’m not so sure.  I’m too tired to tell.

I’m going to try some collages.  If they don’t work out — and they might not, since the light is awful — I’m calling it a day.  (Note to self: Get an Ott light.)

9:30 p.m. update: One and a half collages later… I’m tired. The light is too dim.  I’m not fresh enough to create anything except minimalist, stark collages, and that’s not what I want for this zine.

So, assuming I’m asleep by 10, I can be up at 6 and working on this zine again.

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Wednesday

6:30 a.m. update: After a semi-sleepless night, I’ve been at the keyboard for half an hour, catching up on necessary, business-related emails.  I’m hoping to ignore email for the rest of the morning, and complete this zine.

I’ve also decided to include this diary (well, most of it) in the actual zine.  For some reason, that makes sense to me.

I’m looking at the stack of 1951 ads I’d cut out before starting this zine — ads I decided not to use, in favor of others I selected after beginning it — and that seems right as well.

The air is still cool.  The light is good.  Back to work!

9:00 a.m. update: Several more collages completed, and now I’m re-checking my emails (bad habit… bad!) and pasting everything up, to see what remains empty.  I know I’ve nearly completed this.

Biggest shock while making these collages: The number of “buy this” messages throughout magazines.  Almost all the overt and covert messages — especially all the “look like a celebrity” ones — came from just one issue of one magazine.  That’s disturbing.  I mean, with that many cues and subliminal messages, most people will succumb to at least some status cravings.

10:00 a.m. update: The more I delve into this zine and lifestyle issues, the more questions I’m discovering.  They’re questions I won’t have time to research or ponder within this 24-hour timeframe.

However, the zine is nearly completed now.  I expect to be at the copy shop within an hour, so this will be my last hour-by-hour update about building this zine.

Thoughts at the Conclusion

I’m thoroughly dissatisfied with this zine.  Yes, it represents a process.  Yes, it was my first time attempting this.  It still seems like a half-baked zine with no clear statement about… anything.

It also doesn’t really represent the glimmer of inspiration that occurred when I chose the zine title.  I’m not sure what to do about that.

My biggest mistake was the scheduling.  Mornings are my most productive time, but I started this on a hot summer afternoon, when I was tired.  Nothing cohesive seemed to emerge, yet the integrity of this project/challenge requires me to publish it, as-is.

That said… I feel as if I want to redeem myself by doing a second zine this week.  I’d work on it the right way, based on what I learned from this experience.  I mean, do I really want to live with this as my only 24-hour zine for the 2010 challenge?

I’ll see how I feel when I see this printed. I may look at it and decide that it’s not so bad, after all.

Post-printing thoughts about the 24-hour zine

The first thing that I did was to print and bind a copy at Staples.  (It’s the nearest business supply shop with a self-service copy center.)  It’s not the best printing  or stapling job in the universe, but it met the requirements.

I completed the zine in 24 hours.  That’s what matters. (Actually, I did it in a little under 22 hours, and had a page left over — a 25th page — when I assembled the whole thing.)

After that, I went back to the copy machine and tried some different settings.  The photocopied collages look much better at lighter settings.  When I’m creating the zine copies that will actually go in the mail, I’m using those settings.

(I don’t have to mail a copy today… just have a finished copy; those are the rules. A copy must be mailed to the 24-Hour Zine Thing organizers in the next two weeks or so.)

Then, I sat down to lunch, followed by two big bowls of ice cream, a shower, a short nap… and I looked at the zine again.  I can see some “oops” mistakes, but nothing awful.

In fact, confirming my good friend Stephen’s comments, this zine does look better after some rest.

Oh, I’m still not entirely pleased with the zine; it’s not something I’d send out to my readers, as-is, and pretend that it’s a great zine.

However, it is an authentic zine, and it’s representative of a 24-hour marathon, including my first-time mistakes.

I’m on the fence about a second 24-hour zine.  As Scarlett O’Hara said, I’ll think about it tomorrow.

UPDATE: You can download this zine at the 24-Hour Zine Thing Zine – Download page.

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To learn more about zines, click on the Zines tag at this site.

More info about this challenge (which seems to have ceased in 2015 or so): 24 Hour Zine Thing