Self Publishing - The Zine

5/10/2016 - Nick Deakin

What is a Zine?

Zine is a small self published print like a magazine. Motivated by expressing ourselves rather than making money. For a Zine, no special equipment is needed and the creator can publish it immediately.

Example of a Zine - https://taybritlee.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/image-1.jpg

Examples

Andy Rementer - Love and Hats

Pacolli - Daytime Disco

The process of making a Zine....

After I created my own Zine, I was given key words that I had to fill each page with and make it relatable to those words, I could do it in any order I wanted. The words were Minimize, Like, Share, Update, Off, Dream and Live.

I decided to have abit of fun with these words instead of going with the first idea that comes into my head which I find slightly boring.

Below is what I have produced....

The first page is update and I had the idea of using the sign that sometimes pops up on the computer but with a twist, the options are the different ways of saying no which is usually our reaction when they pop up because we can't be bothered to update. 

The second page is off, I decided to do bake off because it's a TV program that is quite popular so I decided to draw Mary Berry who is very known on it. My first reaction of it is that I find it very terrifying, I could have drawn it better.

The third page is share and I decided to draw the singer Cher because the word sounds like share so it's a word play and I included the fragrance part because lots of celebrities have their own one so I created this one as a way to mock it.

The fourth page is minimize and this one is hard to understand at first if you don't know what the word 'mize' means, according to the urban dictionary, it's a hot chick who you wouldn't mind bend backwards for which is why I drew a 'hot chick' who is 'mini' in height.

The fifth page is like, the idea behind this is that the three guys are at a baseball game where you can buy foam fingers, the two guys at the side have a foam finger but the middle guy has a different version of it, it's the finger 'like' from Facebook and together they spell out 'I like you'.

The sixth page is live and I thought of 'YOLO' but to represent that it's the word live, I decided to colour the 'L' in a different colour to the rest of the word. I thought it was boring at first which is why I decided to draw a face on it to make it look cool and coloured it in to make it look groovy.

I liked this process and production because I got taught to do something new but not only that, it's something I could use in my 'Cybernetic Self' project because I could create a little narrative which was something Tracy said in my studio seminar group.

Cybernetic Self Project Idea Feedback

4/10/2016 - Tracy

In this week's group, it was all about ideas and talking about where we are up to with them and to explain what they were in order to get feedback.

We all placed our A4 piece of paper with images of our ideas on the wall so that we could talk about it and get feedback but also see what others have thought of.

There were some interesting ideas that other people had, there was one involving identity and persona which Tracy had some interesting points relating to it like do we change the way we are to please others? It was a question I did not think about but relates to one of my ideas that involved identity, I think we do change the way we are at times to please others and with the power of technology, we can because it is the easy route but to what extent do we change?

It came to my turn to talk about my ideas and Tracy pointed out that with the posters below I have looked at, I could create a little narrative to create a story that people can relate to and follow which could be a still piece like a series of posters or a short animation. This was an idea I will think about. People tend to become more attached to an advert or poster if it's set out as a story.

For the other images I had on my A4 piece of paper which is shown below, the idea is how we let technology define how we look online which makes us feel bad about ourselves in person and I could use that information by using technology to make us look bad to make us feel good about ourselves and I think Tracy replied with something that pretty much summed up this idea in a way that I think is the perfect description, I'm trying to turn a positive into a negative to make it into a positive, at first it doesn't make sense but if you apply to my idea, it does.

Cybernetic self Research #1

 

Ajit Johnson (above) looks at how we evolved with the use of technology and how we altered the way we think and act because of it. It talks about how we may use the internet because we feel comfortable with the virtual world and how it makes us a better person because we are so engaged with it but it shows how it has affected us in a bad way, e.g, the image above on the left, we as a generation spend more time on whatsapp than reading a book where as, in the past, books were used more.

He has created these posters as a way to mock our priorities by pointing out how this generation behaves and lives which he did it in a funny way. These posters work so well because it relates to us, they are simple and little information was used but effective because the imagery tells the whole story.

This was produced by Art'oholic.These series of posters is similar to the first one but this one actually shows how technology has changed the world by displaying the before and after, how everything has changed. This has the same style as the posters above like minimal, more imagery than text but it works because nowadays we absorb information more with images than text which is something I need to think about if I'm creating a poster like this. I like how it lacks lots of text and it has lots of negative space so all of the focus is on the focal point of the poster which is the before and after part.

What I can do with this idea is to create something similar to this, I could display the world how technology has altered this generation but I could relate it to me as a way to represent myself so how technology has changed, helped but also affected me in a bad way. The difference between my designs and the posters above will be probably that I will show the good side of technology aswell as the bad so I'm not biased but also because technology has helped me in certain aspects of my life like education.

Cybernetic Self Project Update Idea #3

Idea 3

This idea is about technology and the future. Studies show that we as human beings will become hybrids by 2030 with the introduction of various devices that will make us better like more intelligent. This makes me think that we are slowly turning into robots, how we are becoming one like when a human is inside a car, the human and machine become one.

It’s the idea of how we think we are in charge of technology and how we can manipulate it but in reality, technology is slowly becoming the boss of us, simply the fact that we depend on technology.

What I can do –

• ·         Poster advertising the futuristic products – Humans becoming robots. What would humans look like if they were hybrids?

Research –

• ·         Futuristic Posters
• ·         Apple posters (How they advertise their products) – Minimal, Technology, Futuristic, Simple but effective
• ·         Robot Movies
• ·         What makes us human? Difference between humans and robots

Design Process

Lecture - 3/10/2016

In this lecture, we began with looking at the design process chart, it discusses design in the industry world and how it is affected by many different factors outside the design like marketing, production, finance etc and it shows when they get involved at what stage of the design e.g as shown below, production would get involved when the design is at the 'Design Concept' stage because they would have to contribute money to making the design and to develop it.

This is why as a designer, if I was working for a company, I have to think about how it would affect not just me but the finance team, marketing team and so on because everyone is depending on my design that I made which is why mistakes should not happen.

If mistakes does happen, there are several types like human error and design error. If an error does happen, I have to make sure that it's a human error and not a design error because mistakes can occur as humans but we can fix it, we can't fix design errors which then leads to some complications. 

To make sure we are on top of everything that is going on with the world and making sure we don't make a human error, the image below is important because it's telling us that it's important that we know what is going on and what we need to know.

This is vital when working with a client so we know everything that is going on and know if there will be any changes to the world soon because a client might want me to design something that involves another culture, it's up to to me to know about that culture so I don't create something might offend them which makes me look bad and the company who hired me. Pete's advice to us was to read the news.

The next part was about how to deal with clients. Pete's advice to us was to make the client the boss or make them feel like the boss, what that means is if you let the client feel like the boss and let the client have an input into the design, they will buy into it because they have contributed towards it so it will feel like they have created it, this will create a good client relationship because you're letting the client be a part of the design.

It is very important to note down everything that has been said and record any requirements so that I have evidence of the conversation, in case the client starts saying they didn't say something even though they did, I will have evidence of it, not only that, in case I forget anything, I can use the notes to help me remember instead of going back to the client and asking what they said because it will make them feel that I weren't listening.

What I need to understand that all of the information will not be there and what I mean is, the client might not give all of the information to me, that could have been by accident or on purpose, that doesn't matter because my job either way is to ask questions, assess the situation and respond to it. Before I leave my client, it is vital that I have all of the information I need.

Product Positioning

A company would use this technique to determine where they want to present their products in the best possible way. It's a good way to determine who your competitor is so you got an idea of how they work and how you can respond to it e.g There's no point for Lada to be placed by Rolls Royce on the diagram because they can't compete with them because of the quality and price so they have to be realistic of where they are at the moment.

This is also another great way for me, as a designer, to ask the company, where do they want to be in 5 or 10 years because knowing how high or low they want to be placed in the future will tell me what ambitions they have and I can work in a way that suits them, e.g, if a company wants to continue making low quality products at low price, I would know exactly how and how much work I should put into the design.

PEST Analysis and SWOT Analysis

PEST Analysis is a tool used by businesses to assess the market by looking at the different factors like Political, Economic, Social and Technological. It is assessed by analyzing the environment around them to see if they will have an impact on their product or organisation, then the results of it is used to identify the strengths and weaknesses but also the threats, this is where SWOT Analysis comes in.

Cybernetic Self Project Update Idea #2

Idea 2

This idea involves technology and emotion. How technology can affect the way we behave and how we can become addicted to it but what affects does it exactly have on us?

A study can be conducted of the different effects it has on us when we spend too much on it or if we go a without it, what would happen? How we become someone we’re not in terms of personality and how we react e.g agitated, annoyed etc. Could be like an addiction study? I could relate it to serious addictions.

Talking about effects, the age of people that starts using technology is getting younger which will have an effect on them as they get older, if only there’s a way to try and get the age number to increase than decrease?

The way we interact and talk has changed since pre-internet but how did it affect the different aspects of our lives like relationship, education and interaction. This would be interesting to see

What I can do - 

• ·         Addiction study – Keep a diary? – Treat it like a real addiction/problem.
• ·         Portray the emotion as a selfie/portrait. Before and after using technology.
• ·         Aware Campaign – Could advertise toys more in a way that makes them more appealing than using technology, re-invent the classic toys/games. Show this generation that you don’t need technology to have fun. Maybe a fun comic strip of toys vs technology?
• Aware Campaign - Awareness of how serious and harmful technology addiction is and can be.

Research –

• ·         Francis Bacon – distorted faces – powerful feeling and reaction – emotion and colours.
• ·         Posters of addictions/problems – Gambling, drinking etc – How they effectively convey the message.
• ·         Different types of addiction – relate it to technology addiction – similarities.
• ·         Toy posters – How they got me into toys and games.

Cybernetic Self Project Update Idea #1

Network Self/Ego

Idea 1

This idea involves beauty and technology and how we use technology to make ourselves and others look better by using software like Photoshop or apps like snapchat. I want to look at how it affects us and how our ego changes but also how it affects the viewer’s confidence when they look at these ‘fake’ models.

In a way, we’re letting technology represent/define how we look, is it possible that we will dislike the way we look more and more when compared to how good we can look using technology?

When it comes to ego, the better you look online, the more likes you get and the more your ego increases but when it comes to reality, all that ego disappears because you won’t get as much likes or compliments in person as you do online.

What I can do –

• ·         I can create a campaign in which I can show people they don’t need technology to look or feel good about themselves or I can show people that technology can be used to make people look less attractive as well, it can work both ways.
• ·         The more likes a person gets online, the more they feel good about themselves but what if that feeling gets transferred into reality, where people actually get a chance to compliment you in person instead of behind a screen, it would have more meaning?.Campaign???
• ·         Inner self (personality) e.g the film ‘shallow hal’ – how people should view how you are from your personality and not your looks but what if you actually get to see what your personality looks like if it were a person (drawing), would it boost your confidence?

Research –

• ·         Dove advert
• ·         L’oreal app – Make up genius
• ·         Instagram
• ·         Beauty adverts – Gilette Venus, Dove etc
• ·         Psychology behind beauty
• ·         Shallow Hal – The psychology behind it
• ·         Inner Self