Journal
Practical notes for people making a first zine or a small booklet, and one on the painted signs of Buenos Aires.
- Why the pages are in the wrong orderTake the staples out of any booklet and the pages are not in order. They are not meant to be.
- Sixteen pages from one sheet-count: 8, 12, 16 or 20The page count decides how many sheets you fold, how thick the spine is and how much it costs to print.
- Creep, and why the inner pages shrinkFold enough sheets into a nest and the inner pages end up pushed out. A small estimate keeps your margins safe.
- Bleed, margins and safe zones for a first print fileThree terms, three rectangles. Get them right and your first file will come back from the printer as you drew it.
- Paper weight in gsm: cover, text and what a stapler can handleGrams per square metre is the only number on the packet that matters. Here is how to read it for a booklet.
- Sequencing photographs: pairs, rhythm and the opening spreadA set of good pictures is not yet a sequence. The order, the pairs and the pauses are what make it read.
- Hand-painted letters: reading a shopfront sign and a bus panelWalk down a Buenos Aires street and the shop signs are lessons in lettering. Here is what to look for.
- Making the one-sheet zine: eight pages, one cutOne sheet, one cut, eight pages. The smallest zine is also the easiest to make, once you know which way up the pages go.