Sunday 1 June 2014
HOLDING THE ZINE TOGETHER.
Due to the style of my zine, I need to find away of making all the pages fold out without getting the zine printed professionally. So with this I experimented with different stuck on papers, different colour tapes and also gluing the pages together. All these attempts can be seen in my sketch book on the mock zine pages. The style I preferred and liked the best was using tape - yes it can appear quite messy but I preferred the rugged look it creates. Originally I was using brown tape, but I felt that it was too thick and too see through. I tried cutting it, but this created a messier look which made my zine look as if it had been made quickly. So with this, I went out and looked at different tapes - I found red, green, blue and black. I made the decision to use black because it worked better with the theme of my zine and also had more of a sleek appearence that worked with the rest of the zine. This can be seen on my 3rd mock book ... as it worked with that zine, I then used it on my final product.
BELLY BAND DESIGN
As I mentioned before, my zine will require a belly hand so I can hold both books together. This will also work as a design feature, which I feel will make the zine more appealing and high quality. I've stuck with my initial ideas regarding the design of the zine, which was black with white font. Below is the finished product which I easily created on photoshop :
I created them by using the square shape tool and setting the colour to black. This was very simple to do and enabled me to get the lines straight and looking neat. I then used the text tool, to create the logo - with the same font as i've been using through out the zine - and began placing them in different sections of the bars. This was because I didn't know what placement I wanted the text on my zine and also to make sure if I wanted it in the middle, that it would do that. As it turns out, I used the top bar anyway. The rest can be seen in my sketch book.
Overally I really like the simplicity of this belly band and feel it works really well with the theme of my zine.
I created them by using the square shape tool and setting the colour to black. This was very simple to do and enabled me to get the lines straight and looking neat. I then used the text tool, to create the logo - with the same font as i've been using through out the zine - and began placing them in different sections of the bars. This was because I didn't know what placement I wanted the text on my zine and also to make sure if I wanted it in the middle, that it would do that. As it turns out, I used the top bar anyway. The rest can be seen in my sketch book.
Overally I really like the simplicity of this belly band and feel it works really well with the theme of my zine.
Thursday 29 May 2014
Online version of 3RD MOCK ZINE.
As my 3rd mock zine was created on INDESIGN, I was able to convert the finished product into a PDF and upload it to ISSUU. This allows me to post it on here for you to see as proof - as my sketch book might not be available to you.
The direct link for it is here :
http://issuu.com/parisayers/docs/my_zineeeeee
I really like how this zine looks on the ISSUU website, however there was many reasons as to why this zine didn't work for me. One major issue was the layout, as the pages were set to portrait, I was unable to fold the paper in half to create the effect and layout I wanted. Of course I could have kept the pages how there were and taped down each side, but this would have meant a 17 page long zine which would have been very difficult to read and also there would have been a lot of tape, which would have made the zine look very messy. Another negative to this was that the image didnt quite match up on each side, it was harder to create double layouts, which is something I really like in my new zine.
Other negatives to this mock would be the front cover, all though I will be keeping the general idea for my main zine. The image itself is too grainy. I thought that if I added noise to my image,it would give it more of a vintage effect, however with the monitor I'm using I couldn't tell just how much noise was added and the image ended up looking awful quality rather than vintage. Another element I have forgot to mention would be the size. I really dislike the zine being A4, simply because it gives the impression that the zine is a lot of photocopied hand outs stuck together. It doesnt give off he handmade with love effect I want or even that much effort was put in to the making of the zine. I also think that the size is too big to read comfortable. A5 allows you to interact with it better.
Issues that making this mock has raised were the use of page design, so the layout, how I set it up on indesign, the page itself - so figuring out that landscape is a better set up. Making this zine has also allowed me to view some of my ideas in more detail, it has allowed me to figure out what layouts I like, if I should keep the font im using - which would be a yes and also if the water colours work within the zine - I personally feel that they do.
PRINT SCREENS OF ISSUU
Water Colours
As I wanted my zine to have a handmade element to it, I decided that some of my backgrounds and designs on my page will be made from water colours. These water colours were done by me, then scanned onto the computer, where I opened them in Adobe Photoshop and changed the levels, so I could create a darker look to them - this helped this idea work better with my zine ideas.
I tried many different colours and styles of water colours, but this was the one I felt worked the best within my zine. The dark blacks and reds match the colour theme and also the personalities of the males. I also feel that it has a good connection with the name 'I'm the son of rage and love' - it needs the colours red and black. I would consider this the main reason I went with these colours and this design.
I tried many different colours and styles of water colours, but this was the one I felt worked the best within my zine. The dark blacks and reds match the colour theme and also the personalities of the males. I also feel that it has a good connection with the name 'I'm the son of rage and love' - it needs the colours red and black. I would consider this the main reason I went with these colours and this design.
Here is an example of how I've used it within my zine, first and second images taken from one of my earlier mock zines which can be found in my sketch book. The second taken from a B+W mock of my finished zine.
Picture proof of me making the water colours :
BELLY BANDS
Another element I am including in my zine would be a belly band, which is a band that goes round the middle of the book, it keeps it shut but also holds everything together - if there is more than one book/zine. I feel that this would be a good element for me to include as I have two books that need to be together.
Heres an example of what I mean:
Heres an example of what I mean:
Bog Town Zine would be the image that would closely relate to what I want my belly band to look like. I simply - like the aboves example - want mine to be plain back, but with the zines name or logo in the middle. Currently I plan on having the abbreviated name in the middle in white, orator font. I am still yet to make my own belly band, which I will have on here and also my sketch book.
Illustration booklet images and design
You've already have some insight into how my illustration booklet will look from the previous images and if you reflect back on my very first layout based post, you'll know what design this book will be in. But on top of this, I have created a collage of illustrations and images, which is my final design :
There is still a bit of tweaking to do regarding the image just above. I need to make sure each image has its own small page (rectangle shape) and also I need to make a decision as to whether I change the colours slightly of the bug and ice cream - as the design is used on the other side. However if I chose to keep the colours how they are, I feel that this won't matter too much as this booklet is designed to turn into a poster, so the reader would have to chose one side any way - one side wont be seen.
There is still a bit of tweaking to do regarding the image just above. I need to make sure each image has its own small page (rectangle shape) and also I need to make a decision as to whether I change the colours slightly of the bug and ice cream - as the design is used on the other side. However if I chose to keep the colours how they are, I feel that this won't matter too much as this booklet is designed to turn into a poster, so the reader would have to chose one side any way - one side wont be seen.
MY ILLUSTRATIONS
With these designs and some others, I will merged them all together to create one big design which I will be using for my illustrations booklet.
Making my Illustrations.
Part of my idea when creating my zine was to include illustrations or an illustration booklet. Originally I was going to include art work by the males in my images, however men being men, they didn't get them to be in time - lots of excuses and miscommunication, boo. However, I didn't let this effect me, I then decided to make my own illustrations using the adobe programme - Illustrator (of course). With this I took the one drawing my managed to get hold of from the lads, and scanned it to my emails :
^Here is the scanned image.
Then by opening this onto photoshop, I cropped the image into small individual sections. This was because I wanted to use each drawing separately in my zine. Below are some examples of what I mean.
These three designs come up most in my zine as I felt they worked the best with the male, dark vibe I wanted. But also in the illustrations booklet, when I make them bright coloured etc, they will look very bizarre.
So then from this I opened them into illustrator. Here is a step by step of how I made parts of my designs from the above drawings :
Firstly I created a second layer, once I had opened my image onto the white page. You create the layer so you can delete the original image behind the drawings - this obviously is then your new image. For all my drawings I used a black 3pt pencil brush, so that all my illustrations would be the same thickness - I chose a thicker pen because it created the bold dark effect I wanted within my zine.
Here's the process with another image- it's the same for everything.
Not only this though, I also created my own illustrations from my own photographs, images, online sources and even my new images of the models. With these it was the same process, however they were a lot trickier due to the amount of detail, but due to the fact there was so much detail, I was able to pick and chose what I wanted to add into the design. So with this, I kept them pretty simple because I liked the quirky effect that was created. Here's some examples :
^Here is the scanned image.
Then by opening this onto photoshop, I cropped the image into small individual sections. This was because I wanted to use each drawing separately in my zine. Below are some examples of what I mean.
These three designs come up most in my zine as I felt they worked the best with the male, dark vibe I wanted. But also in the illustrations booklet, when I make them bright coloured etc, they will look very bizarre.
So then from this I opened them into illustrator. Here is a step by step of how I made parts of my designs from the above drawings :
Firstly I created a second layer, once I had opened my image onto the white page. You create the layer so you can delete the original image behind the drawings - this obviously is then your new image. For all my drawings I used a black 3pt pencil brush, so that all my illustrations would be the same thickness - I chose a thicker pen because it created the bold dark effect I wanted within my zine.
Below you can see what the image looks like with the layer taken away, from that you can then copy all the line and drag into indesign. This is what I did when placing it into my zine and illustration booklet.
Here's the process with another image- it's the same for everything.
Not only this though, I also created my own illustrations from my own photographs, images, online sources and even my new images of the models. With these it was the same process, however they were a lot trickier due to the amount of detail, but due to the fact there was so much detail, I was able to pick and chose what I wanted to add into the design. So with this, I kept them pretty simple because I liked the quirky effect that was created. Here's some examples :
The above image is the second process of making my illustrations. I did this in Adobe Photoshop, simply using the paint bucket tool. This image will be used in my booklet of illustrations. I made a concious decision to make the images bold like the one above because I felt that the zine would look to dark with all the blacks and greys and wouldn't 100 percent represent the males personalities, so this separate booklet with all the bright colours would be act as the second part of their personalities. I will be posting my other designs shortly...
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