Color and Design
Inventing a Book-- Zines: Utilizing Value, Narrative and Style of Representation
Your next project will carry forward all of the theory you have learned into a single creative effort that will take the form of a narrative. Your goal is to create a zine or artist’s book that utilizes all of the formal concepts we have covered thus far (unity, variety, emphasis, balance, value, line, shape, color scheme, illusion of space and style of representation). You will make this book within the loose conceptual framework of a narrative. There is no requirement for the specific number of pages; this depends on your idea and process.
A nice working definition from Wikipedia:
A zine (an abbreviation of the word fanzine, or magazine is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier on a variety of colored paper stock.
A popular definition includes that circulation must be 5,000 or less, although in practice the significant majority are produced in editions of less than 100, and profit is not the primary intent of publication.
Zines are written in a variety of formats, from computer-printed text to comics to handwritten text (an example being Cometbus). Print remains the most popular zine format, usually photo-copied with a small circulation. Topics covered are broad, including fanfiction, politics, art and design, ephemera, personal journals, social theory, single topic obsession, or sexual content far enough outside of the mainstream to be prohibitive of inclusion in more traditional media. The time and materials necessary to create a zine are seldom matched by revenue from sale of zines. Small circulation zines are often not explicitly copyrighted and there is a strong belief among many zine creators that the material within should be freely distributed. In recent years a number of photocopied zines have risen to prominence or professional status and have found wide bookstore and online distribution. Highly notable among these are Giant Robot, Dazed & Confused, Bust, Bitch (magazine) and Maximum RocknRoll.
Formal Concerns:
· Balance (both within each page and from page to page)
· Emphasis (primary and secondary focal points)
· Unity and Variety (utilize both but consider the visual impact of one dominating the other)
· Value (think of a wide value range and how the value scheme you choose affects how the viewer engages your content/narrative)
· Color (think about a color scheme and how those colors interact with and enhance your other formal and conceptual choices
· Line and Shape (take from your UPC project and let line interact with patches of value)
· Style of representation (try and use one or more styles of representation that best push the attitude or narrative you are trying to express)
ALWAYS CONSIDER HOW YOUR FORMAL DECISIONS CAN BEST ADHERE TO YOUR CONCEPTUAL GOALS
Conceptual Concerns:
· Create a Narrative This could follow a more traditional model of protagonist, plot, linear passage of time, etc., or can be episodic or simply scenario or character driven. The characters can change from page to page and never be heard from again or perhaps you design a story that is more about the environments and space or maybe time skips forward and back in a nonsensical way. The narrative structure is completely up to you. Your narrative and zine do NOT have to have text to carry through a narrative. In other words the narrative can become anything you see fit and there does not have to be text in your end result.
· Theme and Attitude (perhaps you want to address a political or social concern or display a particular stance towards a philosophical idea. Make your conceptual intentions overt and always think of how your formal avenues can work to your benefit.
Process Possibilities:
You may use any medium or media combination. Some examples below:
· Photographs (either appropriated or original or both)
· Digital manipulations (at least one distinct change to at least one part of at least one page must be manipulated digitally. Remember you have a scanner and many easy to use programs in the design room. I will be glad to tutor anyone individually if you have questions about this.)
· Use a combination of hand-manipulated media (for example: pen, paint, cut paper, newspaper collage, hand-drawn text, etc.. Push for unity and variety—too much variety and your piece may seem disjointed)
· Photocopier and/or Scanner
Things to consider:
-Try to make a cohesive whole—too much variety and your narrative will be difficult to follow
-Allow for experimentation with process but make a zine that shows evidence of at least the minimum time requirement
-Go to the following websites if you need ideas
http://centralbookingnyc.com
http://www.brokenpencil.com/
http://www.stolensharpierevolution.org/resources/
http://www.undergroundpress.org/
Comments
Post a Comment