Design a Maximalist Retro Zine Cover

Choose File → New, type 1000 × 1400 px, and pick a White background. That's close to A5 proportions, which suits a zine. Double-click Layer 1 and rename it Tile.

You'll build the background from one small tile.

1. With the Rectangular Marquee, drag a 100 × 100 selection at the top-left corner. Set the foreground to cobalt #2340C8 and choose Edit → Fill.
2. Marquee the top-left 50 × 50 quarter and fill it with cream #FFF1D6.
3. Do the same for the bottom-right quarter.
4. Re-select the whole 100 × 100 tile and choose Edit → Define Pattern.

1. Press Cmd+D to deselect.
2. Click Add Layer, name it Checker, and give it a solid Edit → Fill first. Pattern Fill needs existing pixels to tile over.
3. Choose Edit → Fill with Pattern…, pick the checker, set Scale to 140, and click Apply. That gives you 70 px squares.
4. Select the Tile layer and delete it.

Select the Move tool and click Mesh Warp in the options bar. Set the grid to 5 × 5 and tick Preview.

Drag each of the nine interior handles about a quarter-turn around the point where the egg will sit (roughly x 500, y 760). Pull them slightly inward as you go. The checks spiral in like a vortex, which pulls the eye straight to the centre of the cover. Click Apply when you're happy.

This layer gives the background a printed look.

1. Add a layer called Halftone.
2. Choose the Gradient tool, set Type to Radial, and tick Reverse.
3. Drag from the centre (500, 760) straight down past the bottom edge.
4. Run Filter → Halftone… with Dot Size 14 and Softness 1.
5. Open the layer's effects. Turn on Color Overlay in deep navy #0E1A6B, set the blend mode to Multiply, and drop the layer opacity to 35%.

Add a layer called Scallops. Choose the Brush and set:

• Size 120, Hardness 100
• Radial Symmetry on, with 24 segments

Cmd-click at (500, 770) to set the symmetry centre, then click once 445 px above it in mint #5ED3A0. One click stamps all 24 discs.

Give the layer these effects:

• Stroke: 7 px, ink navy
• Drop Shadow: navy, offset 12 / 14, Blur 0, Opacity 100

1. Add a Rays layer.
2. Ellipse-marquee a 880 px circle on the same centre and fill it orange #FF7A1A.
3. With the Lasso, draw thin wedges from the centre out past the edge. Fill every third wedge tomato #E8412C, and the next every-third bubblegum #FF8FB8. Three colours stop neighbouring wedges from blurring together.
4. Re-draw the 880 px circle marquee, choose Select → Inverse, and press Delete to clip the wedges.
5. Add a 7 px navy Stroke effect.

1. On a new Dots layer, set the brush to Size 36 and Radial Symmetry to 12 segments, with the same centre.
2. Click once in cream at 7.5° off vertical, 395 px out from the centre.
3. Switch to gold #FFC21A and click once at 22.5°.

That gives 24 dots that alternate colours. Turn symmetry off and add a 4 px navy Stroke.

In Coleridge's poem, "Alph, the sacred river, ran" under the dome. On a River layer:

1. Lasso a ribbon that snakes down from about y 960 to y 1260 and widens as it goes.
2. Fill it with teal #1FA3C8 and add a 5 px navy Stroke.
3. Brush two 4 px cream wave lines along the current.

The top of the river will hide under the egg later.

1. Click New Group and name it Palace.
2. On a Towers layer, marquee two 38 px-wide towers at x 300 and x 702 and fill them cream.
3. Lasso an onion-dome outline on top of each tower and fill it pink.
4. Add a 5 px navy Stroke.
5. On a Windows layer above, fill small navy arches (a rectangle plus an ellipse) and gold ball-and-spire finials.

The egg will cover the bases of the towers.

1. Select the River layer, so the new type goes above it. Choose the Text tool, set Shrikhand at 250, and type YOLK in tomato.
2. Add a 10 px cream Stroke, then click Rasterize Layer.
3. Marquee the word and Cmd-drag a corner handle to scale it up by 20%. Press Cmd+D to commit.
4. Marquee it again and drag the rotate handle to −4°. Press Cmd+D.
5. Drag it so it's centred with its top about 36 px from the edge.

1. With the Move tool active, click Duplicate Layer twice. Name the layers YOLK Teal (bottom), YOLK Navy and YOLK Face (top).
2. Each copy lands 10 px down and right, so nudge them into place with the arrow keys (Shift + arrow moves 10 px):

• Face back to 0 / 0
• Navy to +9 / +9
• Teal to +18 / +18

1. On Navy, add a navy Color Overlay and a 10 px navy Stroke.
2. On Teal, do the same in teal and add a small navy drop shadow.

1. Select YOLK Face and create a Stickers group.
2. Inside it, lasso two notched Ribbon Tails in dark red #A8261A.
3. Above them, marquee and fill an 824 × 86 tomato Ribbon.
4. Draw a marquee around the ribbon, open Mesh Warp at 3 × 3, and drag the three middle handles about 22 px vertically until the banner bows into an arch. Because of the marquee, the warp only affects the ribbon.
5. Add a navy Stroke, a hard navy shadow, and small dark fold triangles where the tails tuck behind.

Select YOLK Face and create an Egg group. Build it from the bottom up:

1. White: lasso a wobbly oval about 600 × 500, tilted 5° so the cover isn't perfectly symmetrical. Fill it #FFFDF5 and add a 7 px navy Stroke and a 14 / 16 hard shadow.
2. Finial: lasso a small gold onion dome with a spire and ball so it rises from behind the yolk.
3. Yolk: fill a 310 px circle in #FFB81C. Add an Inner Glow in orange #F25C05 (Size 60, Spread 10, Opacity 90), a navy Stroke, and a small hard shadow.

On a Shine layer, fill a white 90 × 50 ellipse and a small dot on the upper left of the yolk. Marquee them and drag the rotate handle to −28° so the highlight follows the curve of the yolk. Press Cmd+D to commit.

1. Choose the Shape tool, set Shape Ellipse and Output Path. Cmd-drag a 196 px-radius circle from the yolk's centre.
2. Select Shine, then choose the Text tool with Rubik Mono One at 20 in navy.
3. Paste IN XANADU DID KUBLA KHAN ✦ A STATELY PLEASURE-DOME DECREE. Start it with seven spaces so the text opens around the finial.
4. Press Tab and set Path in the options bar to your circle.

1. In Stickers, lasso a 48-point starburst (alternating radius 112 / 92) at (858, 392).
2. Fill it pink and add a navy Stroke and shadow.
3. Set Nº7 in Chango 58 and XANADU / ISSUE in Rubik Mono One 15.
4. Rasterize both, Merge Down each into the badge, then rotate the badge 14° so it overlaps the K.

Maximalism needs editorial density, not just decoration.

1. On a Cover Pills layer, build two rounded navy rectangles. Fill two overlapping marquee rectangles, then fill four ellipse marquees for the corners.
2. Add a 4 px cream Stroke and a tomato hard shadow.
3. Set the cover lines in Rubik Mono One, with Chango for the punchlines in gold and pink.
4. Rasterize the lines and merge them into the pills.
5. Rotate the left pill −5° and the right one +4°.

Evenly sized ornaments look like wallpaper, so vary the sizes. On a Sparkles layer, lasso one big four-point star (radius 88), two medium ones (radius about 40), and six tiny ones (radius about 15) in the checker gaps. Alternate gold and cream, then add a 4 px navy Stroke and a 5 px hard shadow.

1. Turn on View → Show Grid. Snap turns on with it.
2. Click the top ruler at x 40 and x 960 to drop margin guides, and click the side ruler at y 1356.
3. Drag a footer marquee along the bottom. It snaps to the grid. Fill it navy.
4. Untick Snap and draw a small cream barcode with thin navy bars.
5. Set $6 / AUTUMN 2026 / A QUARTERLY OF BREAKFAST & PARADISE in cream Rubik Mono One 14 on the left guide.

1. Add a Grain layer and fill it with mid-grey #808080.
2. Run Filter → Add Noise… with Mono, Gaussian, Amount 60.
3. Set the layer to Overlay at 55%.
4. Drag the layer to the very top of the Layers panel, above both groups.

The grain ties the flat vector-looking pieces to the printed halftone background.

Before you export, open the Paths panel and click the circle path to deselect it, so its outline doesn't show.

Save the editable file with File → Save Project, then export the cover with File → Quick Export PNG. When you're ready for the next one, try a calmer grid in the Swiss-style exhibition poster.