Project Overview
Download a PDF of the brief for Project 5.
Download the InDesign template you will use to design your zine.
For this project, you will create a topical, intensely-focused, bilingual digital zine about a subject of your choosing. You can refer to the course curriculum to get an in-depth explanation about what zines are (a small-circulation, self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images that explores a given topic).
Your zine should have a name and a design style that reflects the tone of the subject matter. You do not have to prepare and turn in a style guide with this project, but as a designer, you should be ready and able to explain and defend your design choices using what we have learned in the course so far. Creating a simple style guide for your own use would probably help you stay consistent visually.
Most importantly: With the exception of the magazine’s logo, all typography must be displayed in both English and another language of your choosing. You will not be graded on translation accuracy, but both languages of type need to be displayed with a nearly-equal prominence on the page. You will need to use your skills as a designer to integrate both languages of text into the layout in an effective way using placement, size, color, type weight, and typestyle. You will also need to review examples of bilingual publications for inspiration.
The Process
1. Your first step should be to choose the topic for your zine. This can really be anything—music/art, hobbies, politics, food, culture—you should focus on trying to educate your reader about a topic that you are passionate about or that may not be well-known. It can be news-y and serious or quirky. It’s your choice. That’s the best part about zines!
2. Once you have chosen a topic, you need to develop the content, which can be comprised of text, photos and illustrations. The content can be sourced/appropriated from anywhere as long as you credit the source. You are allowed to write it all yourself if you would like.
3. Once you know your topic and the stories you need, you will need to construct what is known as a Story Budget. A story budget will help you plan and keep track of which stories and photos go on which pages. It will more or less function as your checklist of what needs to be designed. I will provide you with resources on how to create a story budget.
4. Once your stories are budgeted, you will want to create a rough sketched layout of your entire zine. This will help you see the big picture of how your information will be sequenced and how everything will flow together.
5. At this point, you should really be thinking about the magazine’s design style. Among other design decisions, consider the following:
- What size column grid will your zine use?
- What typefaces will you use for headlines, body copy, and photo captions?
- What will be your signature color(s)?
- How will you differentiate the two different kinds of text—English and the second language you must also design for?
- How and where will page numbers be displayed?
- What kind of margins will you have?
- Will full-page photos spill all the way to the edge of the page?
6. Once you have your style nailed down, is is time to start designing your pages. Don’t save the cover for last, though. It is the billboard for your zine. Make it strong and representative of your zine’s style and content.
The Deliverable
Your zine should be built using the included template and exported as an interactive PDF.
Your zine will need to feature the following:
- A cover image with the zine name/logo, the month and year, and three (3) cover lines to introduce some of the content inside
- A button-based interactive page navigation system
- An inside front cover page with a simple explanation of the zine’s topic
- A well-designed, Table of Contents page
- Five (5) single-story spreads
- One (1) centerpiece story across two spreads
- A simple back cover image that is relevant to your topic.
*** At least two (2) stories need to have an accompanying Alternative Story Form. At least one (1) story needs to have an accompanying infographic. ***