Project 2 Locale CPJ:

Play In The Rain @ Yishun Zine

 

Zine concept

Using the zine, introduce the fun and playground of Yishun to the reader. Lastly, I wanted to create a playground that allows people to play in it even though it is raining, thus naming the zine as “Play In The Rain @ Yishun”.

A. Zine Direction 

From the research presentation, I have a clear direction of what I want to do for my zine. Previously, there are two directions for the style of Zine — technical architecture style or graphical zine, I have made up my mind to go towards the latter. Targetting towards more younger readers, I started by looking at illustrations style that will suit my zine.

B. Zine Layout Visual Research 

As the zine is to create for children and young adult, I decided to look for inspiration from children illustration books and illustration artworks. As my theme is “Play In The Rain”, I also focus on illustration with more raining related elements, such as umbrella, raindrops, clouds and more. From the zine visual reference, I noted some elements that I wanted to implement in my zine:

• Bright and saturated colour themes – grab the attention of the readers
• Simple graphic illustration – not complicated or too abstract
• Texts are arranged in a little portion each time, usually come in a small textbox
• Graphic usually takes up to 2/3 of the spread

B. Zine Planning & Ideation 

I did some sketches to plan out my zine layout design and what element to include.

 

I created a lifesize rough sketch version of the zine visual layout on 2 pieces of A4 paper as to what Prof Shirley has told us to do. I realised it helps me to visualize the visual hierarchy and decide on whether to use flat vectors of illustrations on the spread. After much consideration, I decided to work with 2/3 images spread with small vectors or illustration as a visual decoration.

C. Zine – Working Process 

1. Deciding on the colour scheme

Inspired by the layout visual references at the top as well as the playgrounds from Yishun, I have come up with a vibrant and bright colour scheme. The colour inclusive of blue to create the rainy mood, yellow and orange for the main illustrations and vectors within the zine. The colour orange and yellow is also one of the main colours spotted in the playgrounds in Yishun.

2. Layout Design

Version 1:

Moving on from the sketches, I created this zine layout in Indesign and implemented some changes. In this zine, I will recreate a playground that allows people to play in it while raining, thus this zine also works as a small design booklet. In this version, I initially wanted to give it a more “drafty feel”, so I used cardboard as background for one of the spread and another spread to mark out individual fun elements to include in the collage of the final playground design.

However, the cardboard spread does not seem to blend in with the other pages of the zine. It may due to the colours as well as it being too much of a realistic style whereas others are more focused on vectors and illustration. The spread with “welcome to Yishun” is also messy with its layout and after I tried to insert a picture into one of the boxes, the picture seems awkward and weird in that area.

3. Font Used

As it is for young readers, I decided to use a san serif font with a more round and “balloon” effect for the title to give it a fun tweak. So I discovered the font – Chocolate bar as the title and another font, a year without rain, as the text font.

 

Version 2:

Changes made:

• change the corkboard background to a texture photo that I took during the visit to Yishun, as well as placing a yellow rectangle box on the left side to match the colour theme.
• Also changes the spread of “welcome to Yishun” and made it into a mix of pin-up board with write out an explanation

In this version, I did the write up in the form of a pirate captain calling his crew on an adventure to Yishun to find those hidden treasure, the Playground.

D. Final Zine Look + Artist Statement 

 

As I lived near Yishun and I always think that Yishun has its own charisma and filled with warm and friendly people. The result of Google search for “Yishun” really gives me a shock as I never once see Yishun as such a horrible place. To change the impression of Yishun in the younger generation, I decided to create this zine to change the impression of Yishun for the younger readers. Besides introducing different playground of Yishun, I also wanted the readers to have fun and be creative, therefore I came up with a theme of “Playing In the rain” to help their imagination run wild.

 

E. Challenges & Reflection 

Through this project, I have my first try in using Indesign and designing as well as a deeper understanding of graphic design. I appreciate how this project is a combination of both outdoor (exploration) and indoor (process of creation) experiences. To be honest, I personally think I do not prepare enough time to walk around and get inspired by the location. If I would spend more time in the location, I wanted to explore other directions for the zine and explore a style with more focus on typography and layout instead of graphic.

In the beginning, I have difficulty deciding how my zine should look and what type of style I should focus on, thus I listed down my aim for the zine and expand it to who my audience is. This helps me to make the decision of pursuing a more playful and colourful theme. During the process of designing the layout, I also encounter challenges in finding useful reference as most magazine designed for children or young adults are always more informative and are mostly infographic. I started looking at children illustration books and storybooks and study how they organise their text and image. I am happy with how my zine turned out but at the same time, I feel like I could challenge other layout design and be bolder in having white spaces. I would also like to explore deeper the layout/ farming of images in the future.

F. Comments/ Feedbacks 

1. Missing map of the playgrounds in Yishun – I did not include a map in the zine for the playgrounds that I visited in Yishun
2. The text font is slightly hard for the reader to read, perhaps switching to another san-serif font
3. Spread the text out instead of cramping it into a long text column

Interesting comment from Joy:

The reflection at the last spread felt like the saddest part of all since it was all blue & blurry as if the kid cannot bear to leave the playground and grow up.

I find this perspective of looking at my zine work is interesting. Initially, I did it with the blue and blurry effect to recreate a water reflection of the playground after the rain. It also juxtaposes the sadness and unwillingness to leave the playground after the fun. However, Joy’s perspective helps me to dive deeper into linking it with growing up and force to leave the playground.