ZINE – MY ADVENTURE

And down to the final project which is called Zine. Thank you for this experience of which I got a chance to use InDesign software, this project gives me an opportunity to further developed my skills with using such software. InDesign is necessary to create magazine, reports, pamphlet and many other prints layout that is vital for my future use.

Zine is one of the beneficial project I have done, upon receiving the brief, I was pretty excited that we were required to share our journey or experience during the foundation year thus collating some of our work into a magazine like layout.

Throughout the foundation year, I have acquired pretty much a lot, from generating ideas, sketching and doodling. I did quite a lot of research for inspiring work and references of artists work through online and print. It has been a fruitful year. what I loved most during these time was generating ideas and then proceeding with the execution on the desired designs. Not to forget, I’m really grateful to have such wonderful course mates. They give me beneficial and constructive feedbacks to further improve on my design work.

For my zine, it was much simpler because I used back all the the basic design principles knowledge that I have acquired throughout my foundation year, but I still do some research, looked at some inspiring designs from the shelves and online as well. There are plenty of ideas which I find it useful for my zine design, and the minimalist look I want to achieved. I also came across a very decent Zine design website which inspired me. For instance, the bench.li and trendlist.org. they have many layout ideas, using of the shapes and the spaces. Do check them out because there are so many kind of style and inspiring work.

My zine element has a lot to do with what I have learnt throughout my foundation year, such as the basic shapes, colors, patterns, texture and sizes. Making use of what I have learnt and applied it to my zine.

Allow me to present you my zine and sharing with you how my design works came about…

My Adventure


Front Cover Spread1Spread2 Spread3 Spread4spread5a

Back Cover

My zine has a very minimal look yet it supposes to grab the viewer attention. What I meant by minimalistic is the used of simple shapes, primary colors, meek patterns and lines and giving a generous breathing area or space for my reader. I have always like my work to be clean yet sleek. For myself, I don’t quite like heavy patterns or too much information. I would like people to think rather than putting all the information that is probably unnecessary.  I used back my illustration style from the EGO project during semester one. I tried to keep all my pages consistent throughout which is one of the greatest challenged for this project since most of my work are of the different style and medium.

My cover page was the most time consuming but after completing them, I really love the aesthetic and dynamic look to it, I felt it was worth the time. My cover page which I gave a title called “My Adventure”. It pretty much sums up what I have learnt and often seen throughout. It also contained all my best work for the different projects for 2D module. It supposed to set the the style that I want to achieved for the rest of my pages. Using the principle of Balance, to layout all the elements into one A5 Page. Created a hierarchy and allowed readers to read from top left to bottom right. The lines, shapes, patterns and colors direct the reader eyes from one point to another. It is not easy to balance quite a number of different elements, but I managed to put them together.

My second and third page, I showcased one of my best worked called “EGO” I used different background colors such as the grey and yellow to create a contrast, however I connected them by having an illusion white line with a drop shadow across to indicate to the reader that they are linked, as well as direct them to another page.

For the body copy, I created a hierarchy such as the title, subtitle and body, for the title I used a sign painter font that gave a handwriting effect.  As for the subtitle and body I used Helvetica fonts for reader to read the text easily as well as it is pleasing to the eye. I added some drop shadows, patterns and shapes to complement the plain grey background. As for page three, I showcased one of my best work which represents me climbing the mountain and achieving my dreams. The Yellow background grabs the attention of my reader and leaving a generous breathing space on the upper half of the page.

My fourth and fifth page, I make used of the rule of third layout. I wanted to display a spread of my illustration work. I used a light grey background and overlaid it with diagonal white lines to add subtle patterns to the plain background. I contrast it with a diamond shaped masked with my fire burning illustration work to emphasize a symbol of desire and dreams. Surrounded by a typography of “DREAM”.

On the other page consist of some text and words. On the lower half is a compilation of the “EGO” Project. Having a decent breathing space on top and bottom so as to lead the viewer to the image and give some emphasis. With a montage of some work I added a drop shadow with a decent distance of 40mm to give a sense of the Image floating, giving a 3-dimentional finishing.

One of my favorite spread would be the sixth and seventh page. Showcased my “RHYME” project, the original images are of black and white, but I overlaid and masked them with the basic shapes and colors. Distinguished by their sizes but still considered their unity by slightly overlaying them side by side. Viewing it from the Biggest to the smallest. I Just loved the way I layout my work here, giving a huge emphasis on the strongest elements which I learnt from 2D module. A little twist to my background with a solid diagonal shape in between the diagonal patterns that I merged with.

As for page eight and nine, I’m keeping it as minimal as possible. There was a slight difficulty for the work over here because It was originally a 3-Dimentional medium which I personally felt it was one of the best and It would be a waste not to showcased it in my zine. So I edited the image and converted them into monochromatic colors, in order to be consistent throughout my zine. I masked the design into both upward and downward triangular shapes. Separating the two by their opacity value such that one being light and another dark. These pages in particular, I intentionally used the design principal of space, to give the eye a rest and define the importance. With triangular shape I lead the eye to the text next to it as its shape could direct movement.

The last spread I combined patterns, shapes and the used of bold colors. The triangular shapes lead the eye from top to the next page. The most important image is the “Tarzan” therefore I placed two triangle pointing in middle of a circle to define its importance. The color that I used, such as yellow supposed to evoke pleasant, cheerful feelings. Also yellow is an attention getter. As for the green, it is the color of nature which is my favorite and complement well with the yellow. For this I used dark green which supposed to evoke ambition.

Noticed I used many shapes, this is for me to organized information through connection and separation. I used them to create movement and depth as well. Apart from that I would like to convey mood and emotion. It supposed to emphasize and create entry points and areas of interest that lead the eye from one design element to the next.

For the write-ups, it was supposed to be inspiring and simple enough to understand what I’m trying to convey. All this wouldn’t have worked without the help of Professor Shirley Lim. THANK YOU SO MUCH for the guidance and consultation throughout the foundation year. And not to forget, all my fellow course mates that has been giving me endless support, and constructive feedbacks.