Today’s Tomorrow

Science fiction throughout the ages has been perceived as mainly prophetic in nature, looking ahead to various dystopias and utopias while merging fantastical elements with the reality we (or at least most of us) know and love.

What many people don’t know or realize is that science fiction authors rarely set out to explicitly predict the future of society at large. The aim of the genre is self-reflection on the part of society. The future setting, rather than being “a prediction of days to come” actually reflects past and current societal issues in the setting of a future landscape.

This zine takes a cursory glance at the genre and aims to spark conversations based on the parallels of time frame and popular mindsets.

The front cover’s design is inspired by posters for the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair, as expos of this nature have always been intertwined with “the world of tomorrow,” as it were.

My copy of the zine propped up against the custom box. The cardboard was laser-cut and mirrors the printed design on the zine. To emulate B-movie prop design, the box was painted silver over hot glue detailing to recall the welded metal æsthetic.

A sample page from inside the zine showing the general layout. Of note is the timeline running down the left side, which flows between pages and visually connects the passage of science fiction through time.