Some formats exist because they work — and the classic A5 stapled photo zine is one of them. Michael Alvarez didn't overthink it. He chose a formula that has been proving itself for decades, then filled it with his own work. The result is a clean, understated portrait of three days in Mexico City: landscape photographs centred on white pages, a handful of double-page spreads for visual breathing room, and a lightweight uncoated stock that feels more akin to the rustic, natural quality of his subjects than any coated alternative would.
There's a quiet confidence in not reinventing the wheel. Why re-invent it when the wheel already rolls so well?
Mexico City is a 32-page A5 photo zine documenting a three-day trip to Mexico City in August 2025. Edited by Michael Alvarez and Ashley Guzman, with all photography by Michael, the zine is a limited edition of 20 copies — a small-run personal project made to hold and share.
The content leans into the colours and characters of the city: sun-bleached walls, terracotta courtyards, street scenes alive with the warmth of a Mexican summer. The page layout is disciplined — landscape images centred with consistent margins, page numbers sitting quietly in the bottom right corner, and a contents page tucked at the rear. Occasional double-page spreads punctuate the rhythm, giving the eye a chance to breathe. It's exactly the kind of well-considered zine that rewards a slow read.
If you're planning your own photo zine, our zine printing service and guide to choosing the right paper for zine printing are a great place to start.
The print spec here is a case study in knowing what a project needs. The cover stock — 170gsm uncoated — is heavier than the text pages but still carries the tactile, matte warmth that coated paper would kill. The inside pages, printed on 120gsm uncoated digital, feel lightweight and natural in the hand: porous and honest in the way that uncoated paper always is, pulling the ink in rather than pushing it out.
Full colour throughout means the Mexican greens, terracottas and street-art pinks all land as intended. The staple binding is the right call for a 32-page zine at this scale — clean, flat, unpretentious. No spine to design, no case to crack — just the photographs, the paper, and the reader.
The design language is deliberately restrained. Every landscape photograph is centred within the page, leaving consistent white margins that give each image room to exist without competition. It's a layout decision that puts complete trust in the photography — and given the quality of Michael's work, that trust is justified.
The contents page at the rear (rather than the front) is a subtle and considered touch, common in photo books and rare in zines. It encourages the reader to begin with the images, discovering the map only after the territory. The occasional double-page spread across the gutter offers a change of pace — a wide vista given the width it deserves.
Typography is minimal: a clean serif for page numbers, understated headings. The font work is the kind that stays out of its own way and lets the photographs do the talking.
Michael first reached out from the US with his files and print spec already written — referencing a specific zine from bumpbooks.com as his quality benchmark. Our team had one quick technical note: his crop marks were touching the trim edge rather than being slightly offset. A straightforward fix in InDesign (the default 2.117mm offset does the job), and Michael turned the corrected files around quickly.
A colour space check on the next version flagged an export using the wrong colour profile — too saturated. Michael caught it himself before we mentioned it, sending a corrected v004 within hours. That level of care for the final result is exactly what gets a zine right.
We shipped via FedEx on a 2–3 day international service from our base in Colchester to Burbank, California. When Michael saw the printed photos: "These look fantastic, great job and thank you for the update!" A pleasure to print, and we're looking forward to working together again.
International clients often have questions about shipping, file formats and cross-border delivery — and we handle all of it as standard. We checked Michael's files, flagged the crop mark offset, guided him through the correction, kept an eye on the colour profile, and shipped internationally on a tracked service. The whole process from first contact to delivery took under three weeks.
Our zine printing service is designed for exactly this kind of project: a small run, a first-time zine maker (or a seasoned photographer printing for the first time), and a deadline that matters. If you'd like to know more about how we price and produce projects like this, our guide to zine printing costs is worth a read.
Stick with the formula. The centred-image layout with consistent white margins has been a photo zine staple for decades. It puts the photography first and keeps production simple. Don't abandon it unless you have a very specific reason to.
Lightweight uncoated is your friend. For travel and documentary photography with natural, earthy subjects, 120–150gsm uncoated inside pages will feel right. The texture suits the subject matter and the budget stays manageable.
Put your contents page at the back. It's a small editorial decision that invites readers into the images before they see the map. Try it — it changes how a zine feels to open.
Sort your export settings before you finesse your layouts. Colour profile, bleed offset and crop marks are worth checking early. A wrong profile can look great on screen and print very differently — as Michael discovered and corrected before it caused any delay.
A small run is the right first step. 20 copies is a sensible edition size for a first photo zine. Get one in your hands, see what you'd change, then scale up with confidence.
