Hi! This is the 2nd post of my 3 part introduction on how to make a zine (1st part here). This is something I decided to start working on right before I do a super limited run of the first zine Nihilist Frogs. I reference it a fair bit through out this. Hope you enjoy, and if you’d like to check out the zine when it’s done, I’ll be sure share all relevant links once its done!
Now let’s talk drafting.
A big part of this zine process for me has been about using drafts as not only a tool to review, but a means of providing multiple mediums for a single end product. The draft can be broken down into stages.
Visuals:
- Find references for visuals.
For my zine, I found a bunch of pictures of types of frogs that I wanted to include in the booklet. I recommend looking a bit at references before making things in general, but it’s something that was especially important to me considering how I don’t do a lot of visual art. This is great for mediums outside of visual art as well, but I think it’s a must for things you are dabbling in.
- Do a rough sketch of each visual based on the reference.
Since a huge part of my zine was about having hand drawn frogs and to make them cute in a very stylized way , taking the time and drawing up a sketch is was necessary. Even if I was doing a hand drawn Zine, I would still recommend it, just to better understand what is going on. The sketch doesn’t have to be final, but the forward motion of drawing with your hand is something that I find to be crucial to getting things going. Think of it like a mock up.
3. If you have time, self critique and make a second pass (repeat as you deem necessary/ as time allows)
Note that self critiquing is not a coded way to say “be a jerk to yourself early on in your process”. This is a genuine look at what you’ve done, and engaging in a series of relatively quick changes that could improve it.
When I was working on my zine roughs, I noticed that I had really small margins, and thought it would look better with larger margins. So I changed it. Turned out to be right.
4. Upload/ put into a photoshop session (this really works with what ever interface/ program/ medium you have.)
This is what I did. I know that these resources aren’t available to everyone, but if you have a computer I do recommend trying photoshop, or a photoshop adjacent program (maybe try GIMP). If you would like to keep it analog/ in a physical medium, I still recommend having a bit of a drafting process. Art is a lovely thing, especially when you allow yourself to grow.
5. Implement as many solid graphic elements as you can, get rid of unnecessary noise. Keep it super simple (KISS).
This is a stylistic necessity in my eyes. I think its really important to ask the question, “how can I simplify this in a way that helps?”. It helps you find the subject of your work, and to act in accordance, while limiting distraction tastefully.
Drafts for Writing!
In the following section, I'm going to mainly be giving advice that outline my own thoughts on the writing process.
Concept:
What is the idea? What do you need to explain? What’s the style of writing? What do you need to accomplish these ideas?
Outline:
What are the working parts? Chapters? Sections? Intro? Conclusion? Interviews? What are similar things to this that have a format?
Go macro then micro.
Task list:
- Fill in the blanks of the outline.
- Write the copy you need
- Write about what you need to.
Things to keep in mind for your task list:
How much space do you have to write? Would you be really squishing text into the zine if you kept everything? What is most important? Can you/ should you add more pages?
Review and complete:
Take a look at the writing you’ve done and check for typos. My writing was FULL of typos and weird sentences, so I heavily need and encourage this step. It’s even better if you get help for this part. I had my brother, friends and partner to help me go over things, and it really did make a huge difference in my confidence as well as the overall quality.
Then finally,
Put next to your visuals:
This was my favorite part, because it makes it feel so real. My writing process was actually very easy, considering how little I needed to actually original content. After my introduction and outro, the rest of the zine was mainly a process of collecting quotes. Post quote collection, it was just a process of choosing fonts for the quotes. It only really took a moment, but I assume it will take me longer once I get better at making these.
After this drafting process is done, it’s time to get to the printing process! It was a little tricky for me, but I’ll explain it to you in the next post!
Kai Kiernan 