Raise the Brag Flag. HOW Magazine did an article about the zine. Read it here! And HOWiezine artwork was selected for inclusion in Fingerprints, Chen Design's book on design solutions that feature handmade elements (published by HOW Books). With that in mind, save your files for a possible press run somewhere down the road.

UPCOMING THEMES & DEADLINES through 2010
Sign up early and work ahead of schedule.
HZ-14 - Positive/Negative Due 11/07/08 - leave about 1" of the upper left corner free of anything important due to binding method. There is no binding allowance this time, so use the whole 7" as live area and add a bleed, but trim to 7" square.
HZ-15 - True Colors (work in one color) Due 01/23/09 - This one will be like a mini Aspen magazine (Google it and find the page with Andy Warhol's issue). You can do the usual 2 pages, or you can design and produce a button, a CD, a poster, whatever you want, as long as you produce the required # (players plus 6) and it will fit into a box of a specified size. The box size will be determined shortly. If someone wants to do the covers, I will give you a page size based on the box size. I will produce the boxes and affix your artwork to them. There can be two cover artists, one for the top inside and out and bottom same, or one for the outside and one for the inside. If you're interested, let me know. :)
HZ-16 - Puzzles Due 04/23/09 - Interpret and produce any way you like.
HZ-17 - Vacation Guide Due 07/23/09 - This one will have an added tactile element. One of your pages should have a removable element that stands on its own, but when removed the page design is still complete (Example: You designed a button, pinned it to the page, when it's removed, the design of the button is part of the page design.)
HZ-18 - Postcards to or from Home Due 10/23/09 - also design and affix faux postage to your card, any subject.
HZ-19 - Secret Agent Due 01/10/10 - Interpret and produce any way you like.

Please read the rules below before signing up in the HOW Design forum lounge. Newbs are requested to prepay the fee to signify commitment. Sign-up cap is 55 players (= max 60 pages to produce, avg zine is 40).

1. OVERVIEW

Communication about the zines generally takes place on the HOW Design Forum. Sign up takes place approx. 2 mos. before an edition's deadline for delivery of pages. Retreads who were in the previous two consecutive editions will get priority seating. Sign-ups will close at 60 people. Each player prints/produces one 2-sided page per player. We know from previous HOWiezines that the total # of players (= # of two-sided pages to produce) will be around 35 but could go as high as 60; that means you will produce 35 or more two-sided pages. Pages are assembled into handemade books and each player receives a copy 2-3 weeks after the deadline. NOTE: Feel free to work ahead, just be sure to get to the sign-up thread when sign-up for that edition opens. Players fee is $10; $11 int'l (see PLAYERS FEE below). Any unused monies are reserved in a "scholarship fund" and used only for unplanned zine-related expenses and assistance, or additional zine mailings, at my discretion; I do not make any money from this project. COVERS: If you wish to do the covers, the requirement is 2 outside, 2 inside. Ask for them when you sign up and absolutely be on time.

NUMBER OF PAGES TO PRODUCE is always posted online and is the number of sign-ups plus 6 (one for HOW editors, one for archive, at least one for future calls for entry, several for possible repalcements should one or more get lost in the mail en route to players (it's happened)). I post deliveries that I receive to date so you will know your pages arrived. That is not a new production number for anyone who is mailing after I have started receiving deliveries. I cannot make a complete edition without receiving the same number of pages from everyone who plays, so please make and send the number of pages requested for a particular edition.

2. DEADLINE

Artwork is due on or before by the deadline. There is plenty of lead time for concepting and execution, and plenty of time before the due date to decide if you really can produce by the deadline. Anyone who does not drop out by the drop date (see below) is expected to deliver pages on time. Plan ahead, work ahead, save often, ship early.

3. DROP OUT DATE

There is no longer a courtesy dropout date. If your pages don't arrive by the deadline, you forfeit the prepaid fee.

4. SPECS

Medium for artwork is your choice. Method of duping is your choice. Substrate is your choice. It just has to be hole-punchable material so it can be bound into books. No body fluids or food materials.

Pages can have fairly flat embellishments, die cuts, pull tabs, multiple folds, fold-outs, CDs, whatever works for your art. Any medium is allowed as long as it fits into the book physically and can be reproduced multiple times.

Bleed artwork into the binding area (download a page template) but don't put anything important there. Each edition is bound differently, depending on what kind of artwork comes in, and the binding allowance may or may not show.

***Please sign your artwork.*** Can be your actual name, screen name, by hand or machine, with or without contact info, as much or as little detail as you like. Identifying your work helps with collating and creation of table of contents.

5. PRODUCTION

Pages are submitted trimmed to 7" square (that's 7" square). Binding styles vary from zine to zine, so bleed artwork into the binding allowance in case it will show but don't put anything important there in case it doesn't. If your page is square and does not include the binding edge, understand that some live area will get lost in binding. FYI: Kinko's, etc., can trim your pages, not expensive. See issue notes above for any exceptions.

All dupes must be finished, fronts and backs together and ready to be bound. Use whatever means you want to make your 2-sided page: print on both sides, spray-mount 2pp together, print on oversize paper and fold. A folded sheet can be glued together or not. Download the page template.

MAKE A JPEG OF YOUR PAGES so we can compile a PDF of the edition and put it online.

SAVE YOUR FILES. You never know what you might need them for in the future - HOW Magazine showed off the work of several designers in the Oct/05 issue and we recently sent all the zines to a book editor's call for entries.

6. PLAYERS FEE

As of HZ-14, the fee must be paid at sign-up rather than upon delivery of your pages. This is to endiscourage last-minute no-shows, so the final number of pages to produce will be accurate.

$10 US, payable by PayPal (+ $1), check, cash, or M.O. International players are encouraged to use PayPal ($ will vary; $12-14 is avg). The fee is used for return delivery and binding materials. Any leftover monies are reserved for future HOWiezine needs and have been used in the past to cover unexpected production costs like ink and additional mailing as zines have been awarded to other HOWies or submitted for consideration in a graphic design publication.

7. SIGN UP

If you wish to join in, look for the sign-up thread in the HOW Forum lounge and prepay the fee here. **First-time players - please send an email to howiezine@gmail.com. Include your HOWie forum handle, your real name, and your mailing address (preferrably work address for FedEx).

By signing up, you are agreeing to make the commitment to your fellow designers that you will deliver your pages on time or drop out on or before the drop date.

8. FIVE THINGS TO SEND BY DEADLINE, and where to send.
Also where to write with questions. Please make your subject line specific, to differentiate it from junk mail. Thank you!