Zine/Chapbook Design & Layout
Although zines and chapbooks are essentially the same thing, I do see a few differences. Chapbooks are more snobby. Not to be so negative but generally people tend to think of chapbooks as "literature" and zine's as just writing. But to me zine's are just more fun. Which is why I'm a little weary about attempting to add a constraint like "principles of design." But all I'm going to do is give a little word of advice: have fun. If your crazy layout doesn't conform to my suggestions, that's okay. Just realize my suggestions are there to make your writing easier to read, but don't let that get in the way of having fun!
Chapbooks are a little different. They are a lot more "literate" in feel and as such there seems to be an expectation of a clean, formal design and layout. But chapbooks are often turn out amateurish in their attempt to gain this professional look.
Below, is a general primer on the order to layout your pages for printing (called "printer spreads," "flats" or "paste-ups") and some tips to help make your layout and design more readable and attractive.
Printers Spread
In the future I'll add a section on sending digital files to printers, but for now I'm going to be assuming you are either printing your zine/chapbook at your local print shop, directly from a home laser printer, or sending the physical printer spreads (not digital files) to be offset printed.
So, what exactly is a printers spread? Well, it's the page layout as it will be when it's printed. The order of the individual pages on the pieces of paper so that after binding they read in order. Look at zine or a even a magazine with saddle stitch binding, take the staples out and look at the loose sheets of paper, you're now looking at the printers spread. They're in an order sometimes refereed to as: the 1-4, 2-3 order.
Take two pieces of regular letter sized paper and fold them in half, so that it is 5.5 x 8.5", and one is inside the other. Imagine it is a magazine and that there is a front cover, back cover, and inside pages.
Now, write page numbers on each of the pages, with the cover being #1, the inside cover #2, all the way to the back cover which is #8. Take the pages apart and straighten them out, now you can see how a printers spread works. The first piece of paper has 8-1 written on it, and on the other side 2-7. The second piece of paper has 6-3 written on one side and 4-5 on the other. This is the general layout you have to follow for Saddle stitch bound publications.
A good practice, something I do every time I make a zine, is to count the number of pages you have (which must be a dividable of four — 4, 8, 12, 16, etc. — since 1 sheet of paper has 4 pages), then take the correct number of sheets of paper, fold, and number them as we just did with our two pieces of paper. This way you have a definite example of the layout order (no guessing work, or math!), and you just have to glue the pages right on, or if you're laying it out on your computer (say in MS Word) you can copy and paste the pages in the correct order. This is still pretty confusing, so make sure if you're taking it to a print shop that you make one copy on the manual photocopiers, fold it in the proper order and flip through it, just to make sure you did it right.
This gets a little more complicated when you make 1/4, 1/8th and smaller zine's. What are those, you ask? A zine, using a regular sheet of letter sized paper folded once is called a 'half-sized' zine. This is the same size as the two sheets of paper we just folded, and the usual size for chapbooks. Now, if you cut that half-sized sized zine in two so that you had 2 zine's with half the height, each measuring 4.5 x 5.5" that is what you would call a 1/4 sized zine.
Back to Top
Page Layout & Typography
Look through a book, any book, and when you read the words on the pages do you notice its layout? If not, then it's probably a good layout. The better it's laid out, the easier it is to read. Here's something to look for; do you see Arial, Times New Roman, or Courier used as the font in any book? No, or at least I hope not. Those fonts are the default fonts in most word processing and page layout programs, but it doesn't mean you have to, or should use them in your publication.
I'm not going to go into typography in very much detail here, because it is just too large a subject to discuss here. But I'll try and explain some points that will relate to your publication. There are 3 main styles of typeface; Serif, Sans Serif, and Decorative & Display. Serif typefaces are generally used where there is long periods of reading, such as books and magazines. An example of a Serif typeface would be Times New Roman, or Garamond. They are distinctive because of the finishing strokes, called 'serifs.' Sans Serifs are generally used for headings, headlines, and are used to grab the eye. Sans Serifs don't have those finishing touches (hence the 'sans'). An example of a sans serif would be Arial or Helvetica. Take a look at Arial next to Times New Roman, can you notice the difference?
Typography is a huge subject, so I'm not going to say anymore about typefaces except, to sum up, that Serifs are better for long passages of reading, and Sans Serifs are better for headings.
So now you know that a Serif, like Times New Roman, would be better for long passages of text, then why is it that I told you not to use Times? Well, you could, but you shouldn't because it's a boring and over used typeface, and, especially if you're making a chapbook, is the mark of an amateur. Sure you are and amateur, but it doesn't mean you have to look like one. Try using Garamond. Most books and magazines use it, or a variation of it, and your publication will automatically look more professional (if that is what you want). Keep in mind most publishers use it because it's an incredibly readable typeface, not because it looks 'pro.'
Now I'm going to talk a little about type size and leading. When I say "leading" I don't mean I'm leading you down the path, but leading like lead, the metal. Leading is the space between lines of text. When you set a type size (called "font size" in most programs), the leading is generally set automatically by the program, unless you set it otherwise. Now, just because the program sets it, doesn't mean you should use the given setting. Set it yourself, and trust me, it will look better. Books are often set at 10 pt type and 11 pt leading. Some basic programs, like WordPad won't let you set leading so you'll have to live with what it gives you. But assuming you're using MS Word, you can change the leading in the "font" menu. Okay, I know that when you were using 12 pt Courier with auto leading, you had a lot more pages than you do now, but you have to understand that those settings are the most readable, and professional looking. Use a bigger type size with lots of leading and it will look amateur.
NOTE: Okay, there are some other thing you have to consider when doing all this typography stuff. How are you printing out all the writing from your computer and how are you getting it reproduced? Are you printing it out on a crappy inkjet that smudges everything, a dot matrix printer that needs a new cartridge, or a decent printer with a 'high-quality' print option? Are you photocopying it? Why does this matter? It matters because photocopier reproduction quality depends a lot on the source, and if you have low quality source (see: crappy inkjet), then your resulting copies may be unreadable. If you're going to use 10 pt. Garamond, you better have a decent printer (with print-outs at highest quality possible) or at least access to one, preferable would be a laser printer. If you don't, you may consider using a Sans Serif with a little larger type (11 pt.), only because they hold up better under reproduction with low quality source.
Back To TopCover Design
The purpose of the cover on a book is to attract the eye, to get you to pick up that book in a sea of books in a giant chain book store. It's a tough feat, so good design is essential. Of course if you're making a zine you probably shouldn't be thinking about giant chain bookstores, but there are some small book shops that carry zines and chapbooks. But even if your zine or chapbook isn't going to be in a bookstore that doesn't mean your cover should be boring! In this section, I'm going to offer some low cost idea's to make your cover more eye catching, but I won't go as deep into design as I do with book cover design. If you'd like more information about that please see Paperback Book Design. I recommend chapbook makers take a look at that page.
Use color. It seems almost obvious, but colour stands out! I'm not talking about neon paper here, try to be different. Search out unique paper, with soft color, nice texture and interesting feel. A good place to look for it would be a craft/scrapbooking shop. See if they'll give you a deal if you buy 50 or 100. We Ain't Got No Car #7 is an good example of a book that used textured paper for the cover stock:
Then add more color! See if your print shop does xerographic spot color, that is, sometime's their big digital photocopiers also print red or blue. Keep an eye on the price, a decent one is $.02 extra a sheet per spot colour. That's not much compared to what you'll get, and it'll look spiffy if you use it right. Remember that's only for the cover page, not the whole publication. You could also use block printing with your cover. There's some start up costs involved, you need to get some equipment, but it's not as hard as it looks and it will add a lot to the cover. With block printing, you can use any color they make ink for (which is pretty much all colors). You could also use silkscreen printing, which is a little more complicated. If you've never heard of silk screen, block (sometimes called "woodcut"), or lithography printing, follow this link to descriptions of different print techniques:
The Museum of Modern Art Print Techniques
Use a good image. Whether this is a photograph or a drawing, make sure it draws the eye. The title should work with the image, not against it. That means it should be appropriate for the title and the content. If you have no drawing or photo skills, maybe ask a friend to draw you something, or try and find an artist on the internet and see if they'll make something original, or let you use something they already have. If you're going to get an image of your computer then print it off on your inkjet printer, make sure it is 144-288 dpi. Images straight off the web are 72 dpi and not appropriate for printing.
Play around. Don't just go with you first idea, sketch out some idea's on a piece of paper and fool around. Look at other books/chapbooks/zines, try to determine what you like and what you don't like and see if some of the good idea's will work in your design. Take out things that don't work and combine things that do work.
Don't be afraid to be crafty. Put glue on the back of an old photo, then cut it up, and put some of the shards on the cover. Put it in some brown packing paper and tie some rope around like a package. Do something that adds a human touch, people always want to pick up and feel something they think a person has put together by hand. But be realistic about it. Try your idea a few times, see how long it takes, and if it's something you could do for hours upon hours. With one of the last zines my girlfriend and I made we decided to cut out and glue unique collages on each cover, and let me tell you, after hours of going through magazines, cutting pictures out with xacto knives, arranging and gluing the pieces on, it resulted in about 20 copies finished, after a couple of days. Now we have a stack of unfinished covers just sitting around.