Dissertation

I thought.....dissertation on zines and handmade publications?!?!? i need to buy some to get a feel of what they are like! So i did. I bought some zines from Cafe Royal (Craig Atkinson) in London. This independent publisher has a HUGE amount of zines and small publications for sale and i decided to buy one of his very own publications - Cafe Royal 4. I am also going to be asking him a few questions about zines and handmade publications for my dissertation (I've already asked if he will and he said yes, i just need to think of some worthwhile, thought probing questions to ask of someone with so much knowledge of small publications) So i just thought i would update with a few shots of the zine i bought and the zine i got free! Cafe Royal is having a 25% off sale on distro titles and a free zine with every purchase! Well worth the money for what you get!

My free zine (the top 4 images): and The zine i bought (the rest of the images):

Progress Update....

I have put the first lot of illustrated birds into and set up an Indesign document, I have set up an Indesign document for my summer doodles zine and started placing those images too, I'm now in the process of creating another of the sayings for brief 4 (A Piece of Cake) and finally starting my dissertation research !

oh and on another note, i finally got my copy of the Opera in the Park brochure i created for the Leeds Guide during my work experience. I think it has only had one slight change to it since i worked on it and that was just a picture they changed, so i now have something to put into my portfolio that is commercial, professionally printed and for a well known client which I created at a well known place!

Dissertation

Fever Zine - A great pink zine that you can buy here (i just have, it was only £2. You cant go wrong!)

Shebang Zine - taken from their "about us" section on their website - "A light blue homemade zine crammed with music features, travel guides, artist profiles, craft and many other interesting goings-on."

Analogue books (artists books and zines) - (taken from their "about us" section on their website - Analogue is a bookshop and gallery in Edinburgh, Scotland, We've been going since 2001, We hold regular exhibitions by great artists and illustrators, We also publish a series of zines called Running Amok.

Summer Briefs

After having built my skills of serious layout and typography at the Leeds Guide i would also like to develop my other weakness - illustration. I don't feel so confident when illustrating and i would like to use this summer to develop my own methods and techniques for mark making/illustration/drawing. I would like to create a zine of my doodles and illustrations in a way that fits my style and interests in materials/techniques. Also i illustrated a zebra finch in illustrator a while ago and would like to develop this into a set of illustrations of different birds. i think they would look quite good in a mini book with a small piece of text that explains some interesting facts or trivia. I would like to play around with typography and illustration together so i think i will also carry on my Alice in Wonderland quotes that i have been creating out of cut paper and try experimenting with some illustrated, hand drawn typography, maybe using well known sayings. Whatever i create i would like to put the contents into handmade books as this is something i would like to create in future and would like to focus on small publications in my final year as well as it fitting in with my dissertation!

So...

Brief 1.
* A Zine containing all my doodles and quick sketches from summer 09.

Brief 2.
* A small handmade book of all my work that i created at the Leeds Guide during my work experience placement (about 30 cover ideas, experimentation on illustrator and some layouts that i created for the magazine, oh and the interview where they featured me and my apartment!)

Brief 3.
* A series of digital illustrations of different birds, starting with the zebra finch i have already drawn and using this as inspiration for a style of illustrating, then put these into a small hand bound zine.

Brief 4.
* Carry on with my series of paper cut Alice in Wonderland Quotes and create an A1 design of one quote.

Brief 5.
* A series of (Great British??) sayings, hand rendered, based on typography and put into a small publication.

I will also be getting on with my dissertation research, changing my main university blog and this blogs layout, creating a business card, getting it printed and finally updating my digital and printed portfolio.

Day 13 - Leeds Guide WE Diary

today was ok, i designed an advert for aire bar and grill (well i designed 10 variations) sent it to be approved but i wont hear back on that as i will have left when it comes back. i also made the first set of amendments to the Opera in the Park brochure, (the client commented that the green tree template was too much tree, even though it is was was asked for and what was agreed earlier) which will be my last as it is my last day tomorrow. i have also got a copy of all the work i have done at Leeds Guide. I will be using all this work i have done during my 3weeks placement, alongside my days of doodles and putting them into a zine/handmade book for my summer project. This will then become a part of a larger book that will contain a whole summers worth of work, briefs, doodles and photographs!

Handmade Publications.....

I would really like to create a zine over summer, as it will relate to my personal design practice and my dissertation. If i keep up with my research, ideas and illustrations for this zine i will have some work to include in my summer brief and then once i have all this work i can bind it in a 'zine or book' format. This is something i am becoming more and more interested in and i would like to focus on more of in my final year. Small publications and handmade books are something that i find really interesting and creative and i love the qualities that they have. I think handmade publications have a special quality that is always a really original feeling and i find they always have really interesting, diverse content. I have made a tiny start on zine ideas by just writing down things that i would like to create a zine about. i am going to be on the lookout for ideas and inspiration everywhere! i downloaded kerri smiths "100 ideas" and i think by getting a start on these i will kick start my creativity and get my brain working creatively. I cant wait to have a finished product, all hand stitched by me and printed in full colour, or black and white.... i haven't decided yet, but i would like it to be slightly more substantial, in content, than a small leaflet and would like to include body copy text and illustrations. I would like to attempt a full double page spread too and include some kind of free poster or sticker set to go with it. I think this will be a project that will take a whole summer, researching, experimenting, testing, developing and eventually creating a final product. I would like to create this zine as a one off experiment and if i enjoy it, create a whole set or series of zines based on similar topics. I will need to gather all my text/body copy research and adapt and write it in my own words and as i think this is the thing that will prove the most difficult, it will take the longest time. Also i was thinking that if i created a zine based on a specific subject, and i wanted the illustrations a certain way, then i could contact some people i know to see if they would contribute their drawings to the zine. All this talk is making me excited to get it all started....who would have thought that i would like researching my dissertation topic so much and in such a way that i actually end up making my own zine! I have bought this DIY guide to zines and zine culture from brainscan on etsy......



and i hope that this will help me with my research and with creating my own zine! i can't wait for it to arrive so i can get my hands on it and get reading and creating!