Part 2: Making a Mess

Let's talk about experimentation and failure! Join me for part 2 of 4 exploring the process behind making my zine Mind the Gap.

If you missed Part 1 of this zine-making adventure, I recommend starting here. If you missed it and you want to be as non-linear as the process was for making this zine, then you should probably just keep reading. After all, you already went to all the trouble of clicking your way here, and you only have so much time in the bathroom before someone starts looking for you, or you feel like you need to keep working on whatever it is you don’t want to work on.

So let’s get into it!

Whenever I’m stuck on a project that I’m designing for print, I switch between digital and analog formats to try to get out of my own head. I find it helpful to see it off the screen and in the physical space it will inhabit as a print piece. (I wrote about how printing out work helps me during my last zine project—you can read my post Paper Doesn’t Lie here.)

As soon as I realized all three brain designs (past, present, and future) needed to be designed in a cohesive way and ideally connected visually, I thought, “Oo! What if I made it into an accordion zine? I have always wanted to make an accordion zine. This could be AWESOME!”

I mean, just look at these brains. They clearly want to be together.

Between bouts of cutting and taping together sheets of paper and thinking through the flow of the words, I had been brewing up some other artwork that I wanted to use on the other side of the accordion format. I drew a solar system in a tree stump that I was particularly pleased with (which is rare and must be savored!). It’s intended to represent circular time (seasons vs. linear time), growth, and the interconnectedness of everything around us. I also wanted to reinforce the idea that there is more happening around us than we can see. I call it solar spruce.

And then something wonderful happened. Solar spruce became so much more—it became: cosmic record player.

Beyond their destiny in this zine, these two illustrations became my most popular t-shirt designs! (Which you can check out in my store here.)

Side note: I’m thinking about writing a post about what makes for an effective t-shirt design. I say “effective” and not “good” because “good” is too subjective, and I think “effective” is more complicated and interesting than that. Would a post about that interest you? Let me know by replying to this email or leaving a comment.

Anyway, I figured even if this zine didn’t turn out, at least I had these t-shirt designs as a consolation prize. And even though it was a discombobulated mess, I kept forging ahead with the zine anyway because at this point, I was determined to solve the design puzzle!

Exploring the Accordion Format

I started making mockups and figuring out how many panels I needed and how many panels I could make without having to glue anything together. I wanted it to feel sturdy and cohesive, and glue isn’t generally my friend for that. I also hated the idea of having seams. Here’s a picture of the rough printouts of the large, glued-together, floppy variety.

I liked the large accordion format, but to avoid the gluing scenario, I needed to scale the artwork way down to make it fit on a single 13” x 19” sheet of paper. It was now tiny, but maybe that would be fun…?! My plan was to use a thick coated cardstock. I wanted it to stand up on it’s own and serve as something that might look lovely on a bookshelf.

I did a test print of the tiny version, and well… it wasn’t great.

In fact, it sucked.

I still liked the high-level concept. But the folded size was too small, the words appeared to be an afterthought, and everything felt cramped. Icing on the cake? The accordion edges cracked and looked like absolute garbage.

I tried different methods of folding, including scoring each fold, but it didn’t help. This was not something I could DIY and have look decent. It was time to rethink the format completely.

Thanks for reading!

Next week, I’ll share how I managed to salvage this project, and the week after that I’ll share a digital version of the complete zine! Subscribers will be able to read and see the whole darn thing. If that interests you, make sure you’re subscribed! You’ll get access to finished artwork, behind-the-scenes updates on my ongoing projects, and thoughts on creativity delivered right to your inbox.