Tagged: self-publishing

FILLER zine @ Somerset House

I found out today that FILLER has been chosen to exhibit at PROCESS! Festival, a festival at Somerset House – co-curated by another of my favourite independent magazines OOMK – in July, celebrating independent artists, collectives and publishers. This’ll be a brilliant opportunity to promote FILLER, make more creative and business connections and gain inspiration from others.

This’ll also teach me more about the curation, engagement and management of arts and publishing events, something I want to start increasing my involvement in after university, and hopefully host my own.

>>> Facebook event here <<<

https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/process

 

interactive/satirical magazine features

I researched into lighthearted and satirical magazine features to follow the fun, approachable tone I want FILLER to have. My main inspiration came from Bay Garnett’s Cheap Date magazine, which focuses on going against mainstream, mass-produced fashion and has a DIY zine feel. More recently, Mushpit magazine features satirical adverts and interactive elements such as quizzes and diagrams that comment on our contemporary society.

This made me want to take a lighthearted approach to other elements of trends I have observed. For example there is a youth trend in astrology and spirituality, with more and more young adults taking notice of horoscopes – Instagram alone is filled with “memes” dissecting our signs and how that explains our behaviour and personality traits. A popular app called Co-Star gives users daily astrological updates, and also allows you to add your friends so that you can view their natal charts and read in-depth compatibility results. So I created a satirical horoscopes feature in the zine, which turned knowledge of each star sign into lighthearted guidance on lifestyle and food habits, for example suggesting that Scorpios should “stop comparing your foodie Instagram pics to everyone else’s”.

The rise in “mindfulness” colouring books for adults’ mental health inspired me to create a “self-care must haves” colouring page, which used my personal illustration style to depict typical self-care products and behaviours for readers to colour in.

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.

trekstock 2018 campaign: evaluation

My proposal for Trekstock’s 2018 fundraising strategy aimed to develop their work around mental wellbeing in relation to improving physical health. I wanted to elaborate on their “Wellbeing” section on their website by creating a publication promoting these ideas in a friendly, accessible but also artistic and involving way. My campaign proposal was TAKE CARE, consisting of an interactive, activities based zine that would kickstart a self-care movement, increasing awareness of Trekstock’s values and building a supportive community online.

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printing and illustration methods

I used a variety of image-making methods to make sure there was diversity throughout the zine, very often using hand-drawn illustration and adding colour on Illustrator, as well as scanning in hand-drawn illustrations and typography to create a DIY or diary look. I also used lino-printing to add texture, but edited colours to create a stamp-like effect. Overall, by combining digital and analogue methods I managed to create interesting, diverse spreads which created a collaged, scrapbook look.

take care: visual identity development

I started off by looking at creating a clean, contemporary and fresh design for the zine, and designed a minimalist cover combining photography and type. I looked to Trekstock’s existing branding for guidance, especially on their Wellbeing page. However, after considering this piece of work and the aims and audience for the campaign, I wanted to create something younger and more exciting that would draw people in as an exciting publication. I realised I didn’t have to adhere to Trekstock’s exact branding (Yellow Bird Project as an example of one of their projects that has a different look and feel to Trekstock’s own identity) so could be a little freer in the design process. After experimenting a little with some initial page spreads too, I decided to make the zine entirely illustrative with no photography, which I think is more engaging and unique, and also will push me to try new things using ilustration, typography, Indesign and Illustrator.

trekstock campaign: self-care zine

After research into Trekstock and its associated projects/campaigns (Yellow Bird Project and their 50/50 collection with Everpress), I like how they are targeting young people with their creative, fun and fashionable fundraising.

I was particularly inspired by the ‘Wellbeing’ section on their website, an area of lifestyle that the charity promote through their website in regular blog posts including recipes, mindfulness tips, interviews and ‘insights’. This is information suitable for anyone, not only cancer sufferers and their support network. Through this I’ve created an idea for a zine focusing on health and wellbeing, in particular self-care. A mini publication is easy to pick up and read or flick through, and will be inexpensive to make, meaning more profits from sales can go to the charity. Zines have made a huge comeback in the young creative community, and one in collaboration with a charity, that asks for submissions and contributions would strengthen that message of togetherness and support that is so important with Trekstock.