Photozine with George Verdeyen
The Photobook Club:
The Photobook Club at LAU is a collective formed of photographers and graphic designers who work together to share and create phonebooks/publications.
The brief:
The brief for this project is working towards Barnsley Zine Fair where the collective will have a table to present work made.
The brief:
The brief for this project is working towards Barnsley Zine Fair where the collective will have a table to present work made.
The brief is to work with a photographer to design and print a photozine. It should be a quick activity that uses 'the page as an experimental testing ground to explore ideas of layout, process and format'.
Format:
Format:
1X single A3 sheet
Folded to create a zine.
Rules:
No Binding
No Cutting
Two Colour
Text to be included:
Recto/Verso
Leeds Arts University
26th February 2026
Images: George Verdeyen
Designer: Phoebe Blaskett
Typeface: Aktiv Grotesk Regular
Text size: 11pt
I asked a great photographer I know, George, to work with me on the project. He sent through five photos to work with. I instantly saw bold shapes that could be used to create patterns and highlight, so I worked with this idea.
The design
I started by selecting the shapes within each photo and separated them, filling them to be the second layer. I experimented with repeating them, enlarging them and moving them around to find a layout I was happy with. I wanted to use the layering process of the Risograph print technique to play with how they sit on top of the photographs.
I chose one side to be a poster side, and the other side to be the the pages of the zine, formatting them so they would sit this way when folded. I added a title of 'tracks' to hint at the documentary style of photography and the shapes - almost suggesting these shapes to be like the tracks an animal might leave.
The printing process
The printing part of the process was tricky as the two layers had to be lined up and you only have one shot at it so if the layout doesn't work for it being folded as a zine then you can't change it. But it came out as I had hoped.
In regards to colour combinations, George said "I feel like blue and black would be a classic but also maybe a pink would be cool? Slightly funkier". I chose to go with the 'classic' option of black for the photos and blue for the shapes and text.
I'm happy with the photo-zine as it creates an interesting outcome with a clear purpose. George said; "absolutely love it! Thank you for using my pics it’s great to see them in hand an really makes me want to finally start making some physical stuff", which is very positive feedback.
A copy of the zine was on the table at Barnsley Zine Fair and it was featured on the laugraphicdes and leedsartsphoto Instagrams.
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| Front and back of zine |
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| Zine unfolded |
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| Poster side unfolded. |
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| On the table at Barnsley Zine Fair |