CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

My tutorial with Martha Harris yesterday encouraged me to think more about the desired aesthetics and design of my zine. As I am interested in exploring printing methods and book arts outside of my university studies we discussed print technique experimentations for example risograph and screen printing (or even creating that ‘look’ within the zine to resemble Xerox photocopied punk zines). Above is a call for submissions I posted across social media (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) , which we also discussed printing as a flyer or poster and distributing in shops and venues that target the same artistic or DIY scene that I am trying to attract.

I want to progress now by starting to look at layout and design inspiration, as well as possible paper stocks and colour as this will definitely influence the design of my magazine, and the way content appears or is presented.

zine and trend research

I researched and analysed the content and tone of existing alternative and independent publications I already admire, for example Mushpit which comments on contemporary society an attitudes in art, fashion and culture and focuses on satirical features and adverts, as well as more focused feminist zines such as Sister and Polyester which are full of contributors’ submissions around specific themes, aimed at creating a safe space for readers to express themselves away from the world of mass-produced, mainstream publications and media. I wanted to fill a gap in the market by finding a middle-ground – was it possible to create an independent publication that allowed readers to input their views, words and visuals while commenting on the attitudes, politics and lifestyles brands so often buy into and try to sell back to us?

I started to think about lifestyles and attitudes that are popular at the moment and that I had observed both online and in the world around me. I decided to focus my research on the surging trend in “self-care”, which many brands have very recently been using to invent and promote products which claim to help us look after ourselves, or become a better “you” – when really “self-care” is not something that can be bought with an expensive yoga mat, diet guide or silky pyjamas. An article published on online platform Girlboss brought these issues to light; titled “Selling Self-Care: The Awkward Perils Of Going Mainstream”, it commented on the capitalist issues surrounding this trend and how important behaviours for our physical and mental health can lose their meaning or importance when marketed as a fashion statement, or something that only the privileged can access.

brand identity and development with Teresa Havvas

T U T O R I A L :  T E R E S A  H A V V A S

My tutorial with brand consultant Teresa Havvas was particularly motivating and inspiring in thinking about what my project could become and where I want FILLER to go.

We discussed the existence of ‘feminist’ publications and decided to avoid categorising it as feminist/anti-fashion, and instead let it organically develop with things that inspire or interest me.

Feminist connotations I originally gave the word ‘filler’ can now also mean ‘filling’ the space in our heads/time. The publication could include powerful thinkpieces, not necessarily related to the ‘angry’ feminist discourse. We discussed the possibility of perhaps not putting out a call for submissions and instead focusing on the unknown, letting people be surprised by the content. Each issue could be a surprise in terms of theme, format, content and release date.

To progress with these ideas and allow my project to be a lot freer and organic in its development, I aim to take in everything around me that inspires me – visiting London to see more exhibitions as well as book stores to think about design, formatting and brand identity. I have a trip to Berlin coming up which will also be a great opportunity to collect inspiration (fashion, visual or otherwise) and allow me to collect research and ideas from different contexts and surroundings.

North: Fashioning Identity @ Somerset House

I visited the North: Fashioning Identity exhibition at Somerset House to collect ideas around how I can research within fashion and culture and curate a creative outcome. The exhibition was curated by Lou Stoppard and Adam Murray, and Lou Stoppard is a constant source of inspiration to me in the fashion journalism and curation world. The exhibition was a vast, detailed display of how the fashion and art industry has taken inspiration from the culture and history of the north of England.

The exhibition space was curated into sections that unpick different areas of how the North is depicted and drawn up – looking first at documentary and fashion photography throughout the ages that has featured recognisable symbols and stereotypes (architecture and landscape, ‘the quintessential Northern woman’ and the Northern family and lifestyle).

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final major project: initial primary research

U S I N G  A R T  A S  A C T I V I S M : C H E E R  U P  L U V

To start off my investigation, research and idea generation for my FMP I wanted to experience first-hand what creatives are doing to provoke thought and change with their work, focusing on the feminist debates I researched for my statement of intent. Cheer Up Luv is a photojournalism project I’ve followed for a while, by Brighton graduate Eliza Hatch. Hatch interviews women all over the country on their experiences of sexual harassment and pairs their story with 35mm-shot portrait, to create a collection of profiles of victims of public harassment. The collected stories are posted on @cheerupluv on Instagram as well as on the project’s website, cheerupluv.com.

I love the goal of this project to raise awareness and create a community of support and solidarity for victims. Cheer Up Luv is a great example of using art as activism. I am particularly interested in the use of photography, film and journalism to spread messages and provoke change through a creative output.

I feel people are more likely to pay attention and engage with a form of activism if it is inclusive and easily accessible, and presented in a visually pleasing/intriguing way. Using the internet and social media to spread the word and gain support and awareness is an increasingly successful and effective way that projects can gain popularity.

Cheer Up Luv on Instagram @cheerupluv

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AD394: presentation

(notes from my presentation of work)PART 1: Activism in Fashion Communication

I initially researched into trends and forecasting using Trendtablet and Li Edelkoort’s anti-fashion manifesto. I wanted to investigate something I haven’t explored in previous projects, and a lot of my personal work outside of university, and my internship (at Hi Cacti, a cactus concept shop in Brighton) was based around botanicals, plants and wellbeing so I decided to explore this trend further, looking at the appreciation of plants in all areas of our lives and living in harmony with nature.

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F U T U R E R E S E A R C H

There are particular concepts, topics and artists I was not able to research in this module but that I definitely want to explore in my final major project:

Martha Harris’ presentation on typography in activism:

Martha Harris’ presentation on typography in political settings has inspired me to look at political/activist posters and the constructivist style of early revolution posters, continuing through to the punk era and how artists and musicians adopted these styles – limited colours (2-3), geometrics/Art Deco shapes. Also how designers such as Rodchenko and Lizzitsky had started to feature strong or working women in their imagery, which could translate well into my proposed project.

The punk era aimed to destroy bourgeois/middle class imagery and the groups such as the Sex Pistols in particular referenced Communist propaganda in their album artwork and posters.

I also intend to look at Linder Sterling and her work for Jon Savage’s Secret Public zine, which used collage, photography and type in a way that I am interested in recreating or experimenting with.

I also want to look into DIY activist merchandise e.g. handmade banners and placards as this relates to my research I’ve carried out into the issues of mass-produced merchandise, and how we could alternatively create our own, more personal and therefore powerful messages.

Barbara Kruger – Martha made an interesting point about how Kruger’s more current work is more commercial than her earlier pieces, perhaps more relevant to fashion communication – Does this blur the boundaries between political messages and capitalism? Is this intended?

Spare Rib zine 1972-1993 – After Martha mentioned this feminist zine I discovered that all issues are available to read online on the British Library – so I want to explore this further for ideas about content and self-designed/published books.

Further reading/booklist:

Andersson, Patrik; Steedman, Judith. “Inside magazines: Independent pop culture magazines.” (London: Thames & Hudson, 2002). Print.

Barnard, Malcolm. “Fashion as communication.” (London: Routledge, 2002). Print.

Duncombe, Stephen. “Notes from the underground: Zines and the politics of alternative culture.” (Bloomington, Ind.: Microcosm, 2008). Print.

Fawcett-Tang, Roger; O’Reilly, John. “Experimental formats: Books, brochures, catalogues.” (Crans-Près-Céligny; Hove: RotoVision, c2001). Print.

Fawcett-Tang, Roger. “Experimental formats 2: Books, brochures, catalogues.” (Mies; Hove: RotoVision, c2005). Print.

Glaser, Milton; Ilić, Mirko. “The design of dissent.” (Gloucester, Mass.: Rockport Publishers, c2005). Print.

Hack, Jefferson; Furniss, Jo-Ann. “Dazed and confused: Making it up as we go along: A visual history of the magazine that broke all the rules.” (New York: Rizzoli, 2011). Print.

Leslie, Jeremy. “Issues: New magazine culture.” (London: Laurence King, 2000). Print.

Leslie, Jeremy. “MagCulture: New magazine design.” (London: Laurence King, 2003). Print.

Piepmeier, Alison. “Girl zines: Making media, doing feminism.” (New York: New York University Press, 2009). Print.

Scott, Linda M. “Fresh lipstick: Redressing fashion and feminism.” (New York; Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006). Print.

STATEMENT OF INTENT

For my final major project I intend to research into one of my main areas of interest in contemporary feminist issues, to interrogate the lack or insincerity of powerful feminist messages and content in fashion imagery and communication, as I feel it is an issue that is particularly prevalent, and more individuals and collectives are trying to find new ways to use their voices. I can build upon and broaden my research into these concerns from previous projects to create work that summarises my interests in fashion and contemporary society. I want to direct this project towards art direction and graphic design, working on new or novel ideas in image-making and design, culminating in a new fashion or art publication.

I have begun my research by looking into ‘feminist’ mainstream fashion campaigns and imagery, for example H&M’s new Like a Lady advertorial film, and the backlash that often comes with this, to question whether the fashion industry can ever really be feminist, unless it disregards trends or becomes a parody of itself, for example the fashion house Vetements, known for its satirical use of logos and simplistic design. I also explored the Riot Grrrl movement to collect visual examples of self-published zines as well as contemporary zines from the current DIY movement, a form of underground communication to rebel against societal norms. I think the concept of this could easily be translated into an anti-fashion publication. I also began to think about graphic and editorial design, format and printing methods, to carry my research forward by looking into alternative graphic design that ‘breaks the rules’, to explore how this can be translated into fashion communication. I’ve looked into mainstream current feminist publications such as Bitch and Lenny Letter, as well as Bay Garnett’s Cheap Date magazine of the 1990s, to examine the topics and debates they discuss, to begin thinking of the possible audience and content of my outcome.

My contextual and visual research so far has informed my early experimentation as I begin to process and test ideas. I began experimenting with collage, using imagery and text from vintage publications as well as contemporary fashion images to display, and make a mockery of, how issues of sex and gender have been presented in fashion and advertising. Using the language of Riot Grrrl zines as well as contemporary media as a starting point, I have thought about ‘trigger words’ that have connotations that could link to feminist concerns, to begin thinking about the title and tone of my work. This thought process allowed me to also experiment with typography ideas, which I hope will progress further into my final major project as I work on the visual identity of my work.

I feel that through investigating these issues and existing work relating to this I can deepen my knowledge and create work to provoke change and conversation, while using creative fashion imagery. A publication such as a new magazine will be a successful outcome as I can showcase and improve on my existing knowledge and experience with typography, design and layout, critical writing and image-making. This will also allow me to produce outcomes alongside the publication if the direction of my project takes me there, for example promotional material like a film or online graphics. At this point I am particularly interested in creating satirical or light-hearted, playful work in response to my chosen theme, to encourage me to experiment and push boundaries to communicate my topic in an innovative and perhaps shocking way.

With this project I hope to gain a deeper understanding of new and innovative fashion imagery and promotion, especially when tackling contemporary societal issues. I hope to improve my graphic design and image-making skills to a professional standard while also gaining greater understanding of the production and marketing of art publications. To achieve my desired outcome I will need to carry forward my initial research and experimentation to repeatedly test and polish my ideas to a professional standard, as well as managing my time well through a work plan or Gantt chart, and keeping motivated and inspired through constantly revisiting my research.

I feel my initial research into my interests and the questions I want to answer have given me a strong idea of the themes, visuals and work I will need to produce over the course of my final major project. Alongside this statement I have designed and produced an initial media pack for my magazine, which highlights and displays the research and experimentation I have produced so far. This will be helpful to refer back to, alter and add to throughout my project as my ideas develop and change. I now have a more solid idea of how I want to progress with further research in regards to design and image-making, as well as intended experimentation in printing methods, layout and book arts.

F I L L E R magazine: media pack

As part of my outcome for part 2 of this module, as well as my statement of intent for my final major project I wanted to create an initial media pack for my intended publication, bringing together my research and ideas to create a document that can form the basis of my work next semester. This media pack for FILLER magazine demonstrates the outcome of my research and experimentation and how it has informed my ideas around my potential outcome. Although these ideas may change, this has allowed me to move forward with a clearer idea of where I want my FMP to go, with an outline of design, content and readership and what I will need to do to make this a reality.

Creating this media pack also allowed me to experiment with InDesign and layout more which I really enjoyed, as I want my work to focus more on creative typography and design, and ‘breaking the rules’ of graphic design.

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WEEK 4: tutorial and development of ideas

My tutorial with Martha Harris yesterday was particularly helpful in giving me confidence with my ideas and research so far. We discussed my in depth research into ‘feminist’ fashion brands/campaigns and the issues that arise with these, and my research into the characteristics and aesthetics of feminist zines, both of the Riot Grrrl era and contemporary DIY movement, including Bay Garnett’s Cheap Date magazine and its satirical content.

We also discussed how I am looking at ‘trigger’ words to create a strong title for the magazine and how this will help inform my typography and general design/aesthetics. For example the word ‘Filler’ could have sexual or surgical connotations as well as food or even design and speech meanings. I said I am particularly interested in exploring other methods of printing to give a contemporary take on the early Xerox photocopied zines, and as I have used risograph printing before in personal work I hope to explore methods such as these further in my FMP.

Martha helped me think about ideas for content, and having themed issues but also regular features, and how I want to ask for submissions or collaborate to ensure a range of content.

We also discussed the idea of tear-out/pull-out elements and ‘treats’, such as a centrefold poster or other perforated pages, which will add to the experimental and fun visual identity I want the magazine to have.

She suggested I look at Linder Sterling and Jon Savage’s Secret Public fanzine as well as album artwork by Nirvana and the Vaselines to inform my image-making.

I now feel confident to progress with solidifying my ideas for my intended publication and how I can experiment and push boundaries with my design and image-making as I move into my FMP and writing my statement of intent. I also took a lot away from her presentation on political poster typography and design, and graphics from the punk era, which will help to broaden my research.