2D ‘ZINE’ : PROCESS (PART 1)

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We are now at the final project for the foundation year!

For Project 3, this was the aim of the project:

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“To formalise your semester’s works in free and uninhibited ways. To introduce inspiration and serendipity into creative development.”

Here is an overview of all the projects I have done this semester so far:

Semester 1

  • Project 1: Lines (A narrative-Two Dots Went For A Walk)

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  • Project 2: Nursery Rhymes (There was an Old Woman Who Lived In a Shoe- The 4 Different Types of Mothers)

 

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  • Project 3: Ego (Breaking out of my bubble)

 

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Semester 2

  • Project 1: Typographic Portraits (Flaws)

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  • Project 2: Point Of View (Beauty and Hitler)

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  • Project 3: Zine (????)

 

So far, here are some of the possible projects I’m interested in expanding on?

  1. Semester 1, Project 2: Nursery Rhymes (4 Different Types of Mothers)
  2. Semester 2, Project 2: Point Of View (Beauty and Hitler)

 

Possible mediums/ styles?

  1. Collage/ dingbats
  2. Paper cuts

 

“To explore experimental formats and understand alternative layouts and grid formats”

As I was making the different types of bindings, these were the questions that I asked myself:

  1. If I staple, how many staples would I need on the spine? Too few staples- big gap? Too many, excessive?
  2. If I do the saddle stitch, how do I make sure that my staples line up all on a straight row? Again, how many do I use to make sure it’s secure?

 

Types of stitches I am interested in, mainly for its aesthetics.:

  • Saddle stitch with thread
  • Coptic binding
  • Japanese Bookbinding

 

I watched this simple video, where Youtuber George Moore, goes through a stack of photo- zines sent to him by a photographer. It was interesting to watch as he made some commentary on little details such as:

  • Type of card stock, thickness of the paper
  • Borders of the photos and negative space (some have a regular border on each page, some photos take the whole page, there was also an important photo which was the only one with one blank page dedicated to the title)

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  • The print of the photos- glossiness or matte?
  • Some had ‘detachable’ elements

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It was also interesting that each zine could be on anything at all- one zine was solely dedicated to the funeral of Margaret Thatcher?

 

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You can watch the video here below.

 

Some ideas:

  • Photocopied style? (Xerox) Making use of the xerox machine
  • Collage? Layering on a page, putting pockets?
  • Using a sewing machine

 

I also watched this video- it’s really interesting!


 

Consultation with Joy

I showed Joy the different binding techniques I experimented with using staplers and the sewing machine.

I also showed her my ‘brainstorm’ as an idea of where I want to head towards- which is mainly the concept of family or relationships.

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I told her I wanted to try to stay away from cliches. So she suggested something!

….

 

  1. The Darke family during the Nazi time. The idea of inserting yourself into a hypothetical situation. I thought this was pretty interesting.
  2. Then she suggested.. Hitler as a member of the Darke family? This had me laughing nervously. What happens when something foreign enters your family? She suggested maybe he could be the scapegoat of the family, and brought up the idea of the scapegoat effect. Apparently in every functional/dysfunctional family, someone has to take the blame! Interesting! But the thought of Hitler even hypothetically being part of my family made me uncomfortable hahaha. But who knows?
  3. Questioning icons- everyone is a by-product of their family.What if they were brought up somewhere else?

After I told Joy I was astounded/amazed/ bewildered at some of her suggestions, she did make a good point that if I wanted to move away from the cliches, sometimes marrying my concepts could bring in a new fresh concept.

Also, when I showed her my experimentation with the different binding and expressed to her my interest in the Japanese/Chinese binding, she advised me to be mindful of what each binding can do for me. It could dictate how people read etc.

We also discussed about the time constraint of this project- and how to make it work.

It was a very insightful consultation which really got me thinking.


 

Moving Forward

  1. Nail down the concept
  2. Have at least 3 pages ready to show the new concept.
  3. Print and make a mock up for group consultation.

 

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