I love zines. Good ones, bad ones, whatever. Actually, I kind of just like when people actually make stuff or do something but if it’s a zine I guess it’s an added bonus. With that in mind I figured I would do a how to make a one-page zine. Since it’s all fairly easy to do, I’ll be brief with descriptions and instructions. And really if you want to make a zine, you shouldn’t take any instructions too seriously because you should just make it how you want it to look, like riding. Freestyle it, you know? Okay so here goes.
1. Get some source material.
Your own photos, drawings, magazines, other people’s stuff, whatever. For example, I decided to make a one page zine from the February 1995 issue of BMX Plus!
2. Photocopy that shit!
Since you probably don’t want to ruin any of your own drawings or photos, you’re best bet is to just photocopy them. Most copy places have certain settings for different things you’d like to photocopy (Text for line drawings, Photo for photos, etc.). Sometimes they look cooler on different settings though and since it’s pretty cheap to make photocopies you might as well experiment with it a little. Some features to experiment with are the negative/positive modes, repeat, and just straight destroying something by photocopying it over and over. If you don’t use it sometimes the copy clerks take it back and refund you but sometimes you’ve got to eat it.
3. Cut & Paste.
Decide what size piece of copy paper you want to make your one pager (or more than one pager) and use it as the background for all the cool things you’re going to cut-out. This is pretty self explanatory. Cut out stuff, arrange it, paste it, repeat. Note: Cat on back is not necessary.
4. Proof It.
Now is the time to make sure you wanna spend your lunch money on something that most people will just recycle. To make people less prone to recycle your masterpiece, check your spelling, facts (unless you’re plan is to lie to the world, which is sweet), dial the photos in, etc. And when you think it’s all set to go…
5. Photocopy That Shit! (Again!)
The best thing about zines is that it’s so cheap to make something that is real easy to reproduce. Of course it’s not as easy and as widely read as a blog but this is neither the time nor the place for that article. If you care about that, might as well quit reading now. So if you decided to make a double sider, you’re gonna have to figure out the double sided settings on the copier you’re using. Sometimes it’s a pain in the ass but if it doesn’t matter how the pages are orientated back to back then it shouldn’t be a big deal. If it does matter you might have to do some finagling or if you’re pages are securely glued, then you could try the feeder on top of the copier (if the one you are working with even has it). You’ll figure it out, I have faith in you.
6. Distribute.
Drop a few off at the local bike/skate/record shop. Send ’em to cool places, pass ’em out to your friends, or embrace new media and make it available for download and instruct the masses on printing it double-sided. Of course for this you’ll need a scanner for this but it’s a cool option. Regardless, since you made something, you might as well let it see the light of day.
To download the 2 page .pdf of the files you see above, click here or on either image.
