The Zine
In this Process and Production workshop, we explored the aesthetic of Zines, their purpose and how to draft up a quick and quirky Zine Publication.
So what exactly is a Zine? Wikipedia defines it as "a small circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images usually reproduced via photocopier" - although the term is often used to describe any magazine aimed at a niche audience. There's some hand-crafted element to its production, while the content draws typically on ideas and values not covered regularly by the mainstream media.
Zine-making, a great way to both, produce new and alternative works of art and design, and to collect and share existing but under-appreciated work with other creatives and enthusiasts. Being a massive fan of fashion editorial and branding, I often come across many Zines that influence and inspire my work. Here are some essential zines that appeal to me creatively and aesthetically:
Kanye’s NSFW YEEZY Season 4 Zine
In February, Kanye West Launched his Season 4 Collection for Yeezy Clothing, providing us with a Zine Publication that is full of creative scoped imagery and photography mixed with the common conventions of a zine. The use of design and layout within this is very special to me and has provided me with much influence when producing work not just in Process and Production but in Studio also. The handmade touch about it such as the grainy images that look like theyve been scanned through a photocopier, or this need for unconventional layout approaches really does give the zine all the perfect qualities it deserves.
Pink Mince is filled with arty photos juxtaposed with harsh aesthetic issues. Also printed full of socio-historical cultural critique and political issues, Pink Mince is the best kind of DIY – the kind that looks really good – and each issue consistently balances the sassy with the serious to examine its theme from all angles. The use of DIY - Aesthetic mixed with some really prominent and iconic imagery really makes Pink Mince a great Zine to look at for inspiration and ideas.
Badlands 777
Founded by Adelaide Lawson and Abigail Jackson, Born N Bread is a platform for collaborations, experiences and to showcase up coming artists. The idea is that It's raw around the edges, an imperfect clean mess that applies to both written and visual content, that doesn't hold back. The striking part of it for me is the intense visuals and simplistic design element - such as the large composed photo with the simple Helvetica Title. The use of photography is not uncommon in Zines, which could be an inspiration for myself when producing a vine that speaks to the narrative given to us by Christian.
Benjamin Bostock
Benjamin Bostock is a designer who also looks at the hand-made effect and finish of Zines. After looking through his work it is very clear that there is a running aesthetic behind his work that relates to this idea of mixing hand made effects with digital.
Nick also provided us with examples of Zines that he had produced to show us the effect and the overall quality that we should be producing:
This idea of hand-crafted thoughts and notions indeed were expressed in this workshop today - our task was to create a rough idea of a zine that incorporated all the information shown by Christian. The work produced needed to be an expressive Zine and something that we could take away and develop if we wanted to.
Then taking information from what we had been told I did rough sketches in my notebook before applying pen to paper. Then, using the cutout method provided I started producing my own rough idea of a Zine.
