In the tabbed box down below, there are a variety of basic resources for the literal construction of zines and artists' books. You can find videos walking through folding techniques, community studios who offer classes and printing services, books on handmade paper making, some designs for making your own presses, and online design tools that are free to the public or as part of your university affiliation. The resources are currently organized into four categories: Printing, Design, Paper, and Book Making.
Please do drop us a note if you have a resource you'd like to share or would like more support in finding resources not mentioned here!
100 Ideas That Changed Graphic Design by
New in the "100 Ideas that Changed..." series, this book demonstrates how ideas influenced and defined graphic design, and how those ideas have manifested themselves in objects of design. The 100 entries, arranged broadly in chronological order, range from technical (overprinting, rub-on designs, split fountain); to stylistic (swashes on caps, loud typography, and white space); to objects (dust jackets, design handbooks); and methods (paper cut-outs, pixelation).
Social Paper: Hand Papermaking in the Context of Socially Engaged Art by
Catalog published on the occasion of the exhibition Social paper: hand papermaking in the context of socially engaged art, held at Columbia College Chicago's Center for Book and Paper Arts, February 10-April 15, 2015.
Artists: Loreto Apilado and Trisha Martin, Laura Anderson Barbata, Talya Baharal, Combat Paper, Nick Dubois, Eileen Foti, Fresh Press, Julia Goodman, Ken Gray, Sheroanawë Hakihiiwë, Alison Knowles, Cathy Mooses, Parents Circle--Families Forum, Peace Paper, Maggie Puckett, John Risseeuw, Kiff Slemmons, The People's Library, Women's Studio Workshop.
Paper Innovations: Handmade Paper and Handmade Objects of Cut, Folded and Molded Paper by
"A documentary publication of Mingei International Museum's exhibition"--Page 7.
"The exhibition was inspired by the contemporary resurgence of interest in the art of paper making, and is designed to give a glimpse of our rich international heritage in the innovative making of paper and art objects of paper."--p. 11
Hanji Unfurled by
With a history of well over 1,500 years, Korean handmade paper, known as hanji, is familiar to Koreans but a mystery outside its home country. This lustrous paper that comes in a wide array of thickness, color, dimension, and translucency was once a coveted item inside and beyond Korean borders. Made by farmers and artisans during bitter cold winters, hanji was a noble marker of the literati who demanded high-quality paper for books, documents, calligraphy, and painting. Hanji also played a sacred role as the support for illuminated sutras, the body of temple decorations, and spirit of rituals where it was burned in hopes that its ashes would rise to the sky. Fashioned into objects that ranged from kites to armor to shrouds to chamber pots, there was seemingly no end to the possibilities of the combination of human ingenuity and paper through the transformation of natural fibers, until forces of history and industrialization collided and left this once-celebrated substrate and its related craft practices near extinction. In this first English-language book about hanji, Aimee Lee shares her experience as a Korean-American artist and Fulbright fellow on her search for a traditional Korean papermaking teacher. Of the handful of American hanji researchers, she is the only one to have interacted with Koreans in their own language while simultaneously learning the craft. This book follows her journey as she met papermakers, scholars, and artists from bustling cities to traditional Korean villages to Buddhist temples to island outposts. Not only did she encounter the few remaining papermakers who still practice webal tteugi, the indigenous Korean sheet-formation method, but she found teachers of a whole array of allied crafts that include jiseung-cording and weaving hanji, joomchi-texturing and felting hanji, natural dyeing, and calligraphy. She traveled from the studios of living treasures to the homes of ordinary Koreans, illuminating an often-misunderstood culture through stories from its keepers of traditional heritage. Book jacket.
Plant Fibers for Papermaking by 
The Art of the Fold by
"The influential artist Hedi Kyle and renowned architecture graduate Ulla Warchol shows you how to create their unique designs using folding techniques. From creating flag books and fishbones, to blizzards and nesting boxes, you'll gain an invaluable insight into the work of two skilled artists with this fun read! With the help of their thorough instructions and simple illustrations, you'll be on your way to becoming a pro paper crafter in no time at all" - Sew magazine "A wonderful insight into the work of a truly skilled artist" - PaperCrafter The renowned and influential book artist Hedi Kyle shows you step-by-step how to create her unique designs using folding techniques in The Art of the Fold. Bookbinding and paper craft projects include flag books, blizzard books, the fishbone fold, and nesting boxes. Written by the doyenne of artists' books, Hedi Kyle, The Art of the Fold is a wonderful insight into the work of a truly skilled artist. Hedi will show you how to bind a book and fold paper to create over 35 of her cut-fold book designs. The book is beautifully illustrated with Hedi's finished works of art. An excerpt from the book: 'I can still remember the thrill I experienced when my first folded book structure emerged from my fingers - how eager I was to explore its possibilities and to share it with whoever was interested. The Flag Book, as I now call it, is a simple accordion and has interlocking pages oriented in opposite directions. Little did I know that this simple structure would have legs and be the catalyst for the next forty-plus years of thinking about and making books. The common perception of the book today is fairly straightforward: a series of pages organized around a spine and protected on either side by two covers. This format allows for easy access, storage and retrieval of information. Yet what happens when the book is stripped away of centuries of preconceptions and is allowed to reveal something else: playfulness, utility, invention? Expanding the notion of the book is what the structures in the following chapters of The Art of the Fold attempt to do. Exploring its tactile, sculptural form, primarily through folding methods, the book as a structural object is celebrated while content is considered in a new and unconventional way. My range in this medium has always been broad. In part this is due to my introduction to the world of bookbinding and some chance encounters. In the 1970s in New York City, the art and craft of hand bookbinding and papermaking were experiencing an unprecedented revival. I was fortunate to arrive in the city at just this moment. With an art-school background and an impulse to make things, I was naturally drawn to pursue this new opportunity. The Center for Book Arts, the famous forerunner of so many centers yet to come, was located in a small storefront just down the street from where I lived on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Under the direction of founder Richard Minsky, it had a radical mission: to push concept, materials, printing and making of artist books in a new direction. When Richard dared me to teach at the Center one evening a week, I was hooked. My career as a book conservator and a book artist has now spanned over 45 years. As head conservator at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, I've had the opportunity to handle some of the rarest volumes and manuscripts in the world. I have also dealt with decrepit books, torn maps and countless curiosities discovered in stacks and archives. All were endless sources for ideas and provided a springboard for a departure from tradition. Leading book-arts workshops around the world and a 25 year tenure teaching in the graduate program for Book Arts and Printmaking at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia have shown me, in retrospect, that the more I taught, t
Eco Books by
A collection of projects and ideas for making books out of common everyday items normally placed in the recycle bin.
Folding Techniques for Designers by
Many designers use folding techniques in their work to make three-dimensional forms from two-dimensional sheets of fabric, cardboard, plastic, metal, and many other materials. This unique book explains the key techniques of folding, such as pleated surfaces, curved folding, and crumpling. It has applications for architects, product designers, and jewelry and fashion designers An elegant, practical handbook, Folding for Designers explains over 70 techniques explained with clear step-by-step drawings, crease pattern drawings, and specially commissioned photography. The ebook version of this title does not provide access to the companion files.
For browsing convenience, this is a list of the resources on this page.
Printing
Design
Paper
Book Making
