Zine Making

Inspiration & Exploration

A zine (rhymes with "bean") is a small, self-made publication — part comic, part magazine, part art project, completely yours. Zines have been used since the 1970s to share ideas that mainstream publishers ignored. Browse the r/zines subreddit to see hundreds of real examples covering every topic imaginable — cats, climate, cooking, conspiracy theories, skateboarding, grief, joy. Check out Distro Zine Distro online for more inspiration. Salt Lake City has a real zine scene — the SLC Zine Fest happens annually and features local makers. Flip through a few zines and notice: how does the layout feel? What does the creator care about? You're ready for the next step when you can describe three different zine styles and name a topic you would want to make a zine about.

Tools & Techniques

The most common zine format is the single-sheet eight-page fold — one piece of paper, folded and cut, becomes a tiny booklet. Search "one-page zine fold tutorial" on YouTube and fold your first blank one right now. Then learn the basic building blocks of zine layout: panels, gutters, headers, and bleeds. Canva (free at canva.com) and Google Slides work great for digital layouts. For handmade zines, all you need is paper, scissors, a ruler, a black pen, and a gluestick for collage elements. Study how font size, white space, and image placement guide a reader through the page. You're ready for the next step when you can fold a perfect single-sheet eight-pager and label its parts.

First Creations

Make your first real zine — eight pages, any topic, any style. Handmade or digital, it does not matter. Fill every page with something: drawings, photos, hand-lettered text, collage, poetry, comics, lists, recipes, rants. Do not wait until you have a perfect idea. Start with "things I noticed this week" or "a guide to my neighborhood" or "my honest review of five snacks." Print or fold it, staple the spine, and hand it to one person to read. Watch their face while they flip through it. That reaction is what zine making is about. You're ready for the next step when you hold a finished, physical eight-page zine that you made yourself.

Style Development

Now develop your visual voice — the style that makes your zines recognizable as yours. Experiment with three different approaches: one zine that is mostly illustration, one that is mostly text and typography, one that uses cut-and-paste collage. Notice which one feels most like you. Learn basic grid layout — dividing your page into columns makes everything look more intentional even when things are chaotic. Try a limited color palette: black and white plus one bold color (red, orange, or teal) creates strong visual impact without a color printer. Browse Utah Arts Alliance galleries at utahartsalliance.org for local visual inspiration. You're ready for the next step when you complete three short experimental zines in three different visual styles and can explain which approach fits your voice best.

Refine Your Craft

Level up your production quality. Learn to set up a proper print-ready document in Canva or Google Slides with correct bleed margins. Print a test copy, check for alignment problems, adjust, print again. Try a longer format: a 16-page or 24-page zine with a real cover, table of contents, and back cover. Study how professional zine makers at Risograph print shops create texture — search "risograph zine" on Instagram for examples. Learn about saddle-stitching (stapling through the folded spine) versus perfect binding (gluing pages into a square spine). The SLC Zine Fest accepts submissions from teens — look up their guidelines. You're ready for the next step when you produce a 16-page zine with a cover design, interior layout, and clean print output.

Portfolio Piece

Create your signature zine — your best work, fully realized. Pick a topic you genuinely care about and make a zine that does it justice: strong cover, consistent visual style throughout, writing you are proud of, at least 16 pages. Print five copies. Distribute them: give one to a friend, leave one at a library free-stuff shelf, submit one to the SLC Zine Fest, and list one on Etsy or Gumroad (free to list). Document your process and share a page spread on the r/zines subreddit. Zine making is about putting your ideas into the world — sharing is the final act. You're ready for the next step when your zine is printed, at least three copies are in other people's hands, and you have received feedback from at least one real reader.