A5 Booklets
4pp Cover onto 250gsm Silk FSC Certified
Matt Lamination to outer
64pp Text onto 100gsm Uncoated FSC Certified
Cover printed in full colour, inside pages printed in Black and White throughout
Staple Bound
Top of the Pops: A Zombie Whodunnit is a love letter to retro culture with a deliciously odd premise: Top of the Pops became a zombie, and this zine investigates the show’s demise. From the first glance, it’s warm, nostalgic and instantly familiar — the kind of cover that pulls you straight back to Friday nights with the telly on in the corner.
We printed this as a compact A5 booklet that stays true to the DIY spirit. It’s bold on the outside, stripped back on the inside, and built to be handled, shared and collected — exactly what a great zine should be.
If you’re planning your own zine, you can explore our zine printing service, browse more projects in our portfolio, or jump straight into the Printed Project Builder.
This project was made for zine lovers, fans of The Ex-Zine Editor, and anyone with a soft spot for the weird corners of British pop culture. The cover is packed with collage-style nostalgia — the kind of visual shorthand that says “you already know the vibe”. Inside, it flips into an old-school black and white editorial look that feels like something you’d have run off on a school or library photocopier.
The spec is a smart mix of “proper print” where it counts, and classic zine simplicity everywhere else. The full-colour cover adds instant shelf appeal, while the black-only interior keeps the pacing punchy and the reading experience clean.
Want help choosing the right binding for your page count? Our binding options guide is a good place to start, and our wire stitching set-up guide covers the artwork basics (including bleed and creep).
There’s a really satisfying contrast at play here. The cover is loud, warm and packed with memory — the TOTP logo does a lot of heavy lifting, and the collage approach makes it feel like a time capsule. Then you open it and you’re straight into crisp black ink, confident type, and that unmistakable zine rhythm: headings, columns, cut-outs, charts and call-outs that keep you turning pages.
Printing the inside in black throughout was the right call. It keeps the project rooted in zine tradition and lets the content do the talking — while the uncoated text stock keeps things readable and tactile, even when pages are dense with copy.
Alison came to us with a new zine concept and a clear spec — almost identical to a previous project, but with a slightly higher page count. At 68pp total, this sits right at the top end of what’s comfortable for staple binding, so we talked through the practicalities early: keeping key text away from the outer edges, allowing for page creep, and accepting that a chunky booklet can naturally “bounce” a little.
File-wise, the inside pages were designed to print as greyscale, but exported as a single file (a common reality with booklet workflows). We stepped in to convert the interiors properly so the black & white print stayed true, then sent a proof for final approval before going to press.
The result? A fast turnaround and a happy landing: “Zines have landed safely and look fantastic!”
Our team supported the project in the ways that matter most for zines:
If you want a hand with specs, files, or simply making the right call on binding, start with our Printed Project Builder or head straight to contact our team.
