The following is information about organizing and planning the design of a multiple-page document.
In this case, the information was related to creating a case study book for a comprehensive design project in the advanced design class. Although specifics references may not be applicable to your Zine, you may want to incorporate the planning stages and use the templates for planning your multiple-page design.
A Project Brief
When you start any design, even if it is part of an already existing larger project, you will want to orient yourself to the specific design task by creating a Project Brief for it. A project brief lists information about the project that answers the following questions:
- What is the project about?
- What is its purpose or objective?
- What message is the design trying to convey?
- Who is the sender of the message?
- Who is the audience the message is talking to?
- What action or reaction is the message hoping for?
- Where and/or how will the message be disseminated?
- Is there a schedule for the project?
- Are there particular specifications for the design?
Here is a sample template you might want to use as a guide to create a Project Brief for your Zine:
A Content Outline
A designer, often in conjunction with an editor, creates a Content Outline.
Here is an example of the Content Outline for a design project of mine for the revamp design of the 2012 Utah Travel Guide. The outline is a bit more complicated than one might be for your Zine.
Typically they break the content of the publication down into message parts and allocates space, sequence an page numbers to that content.
You will want to create a Content Outline for your Zine.
Here is a sample format of a Content Outline you might want to follow, although you will need to change it’s organization to match your content – written text and planned images:
A Flat Plan
The next step in a book or publication design process is to create a Flat Plan.
Here is an example of the Flat Plan for the same revamp of the 2012 Utah Travel Guide.
Here is an example of the Flat Plan for the same revamp of the 2012 Utah Travel Guide.
I converted the Content Outline for the Utah Travel Guide into to a Flat Plan showing where the contents might appear in the book. The flat plan shows the organization and layout of the entire book/publication page by page as thumbnails and/or notes.
Here is a sample template of a Flat Plan similar to what you might use for your Zine.
Here is an a Project Board template similar to what you might use to help develop a design concept/theme for your Zine. (Yes, book designs have concepts too).
You will need to change content particulars of course.
A Publication Grid
All publication or book designs use strict grid systems. It helps organize content and keep a consistent layout and look through the book.
This is the Grid I used for my design revamp of the 2012 Utah Travel Guide. It includes margins, gutters, as well as eight columns per page that allow a great deal of layout variation including the following page column relationships: 1 col; 1col x 7 col ; 2 x 6 ; 3 x 5 ; and/or 4 x 4.
You will most definitely need to create a publication Grid for your Zine.
Publication Rhythm
One of the biggest challenges of multiple-page publication or book design is turning pedantic content into an interesting and visually exciting rhythmic layout. It helps me if I look at the book I am designing like a visual piece of music. I try to create a visual rhythm composed of various visual parts – perhaps a light riff of a visual introduction, pedantic repeats to set up a beat, followed by a break in the beat, the pedantic repeat again, then followed by a contrasting visual turn-around of two or three single pages, followed by the pedantic repeat, then back to the break, ending with a light summary riff. Here I compare the layout of a book to the 12-bar blues. You can listen to this design on guitarcompass.com/free-lessons/blues/12-bar-blues/. Just click on the video.
