Currently reading about Mute Magazine's journey through formats; from the broadsheet, the glossy, the perfect bound, the coffee table to website (with print on demand capabilities). Interesting stuff
Monday, 14 December 2009
Mute Magazine
Currently reading about Mute Magazine's journey through formats; from the broadsheet, the glossy, the perfect bound, the coffee table to website (with print on demand capabilities). Interesting stuff
graphic and many stuff
Graphic Magazine have done a done a special 'Many stuff' issue publishing posting since the blogs launch in 2007. Really want to get my hands on one as I'm interested to see how web content is treated when printed. Hopefully will be able to get a copy from the library...
Friday, 11 December 2009
Last Tutorial Before Christmas
Had a very useful tutorial with Orlagh yesturday. I showed her a rough pdf (uploaded to my issuu account http://issuu.com/daisydudley/docs/fanzinesprofile2) I had made in which I'm starting to gather my findings and think about how I want to present it. She seemed to think I was on the right track. We talked about using matrixes to represent my research. I think this will work well as it will communicate my findings visually and clearly rather than having to read though lots of text to get to the information. I also explained how I would like to present my research in a spiral bound format including examples of paper stocks, magazine pages and space for a disc. Orlagh suggested also using envelopes which is a nice idea.
This presentation method was inspired by the format of Keri Smith's 'Guerilla Art Kit' which has a nice solid, and 'user-friendly' feel.(images above) I want to use a hard, wrap around cover which apparently is called Canadian Binding
I also photocopied the pages for my 'zine', version two. Thank you to the tutors for letting my put my own paper through the photocopiers : )
Thursday, 10 December 2009
Jala News
Started my quest to seek out and quiz London's best magazine retailers. Slightly stunted start since the owner of 'Jala News' wasn't present and the shop assistant didn't want to answer questions. They did let me take photos however. 'Jala News' has am impressive range of glossy and independent magazines, especially for a small news-agent. Definitely worth remembering
List of potential places to visit
Formats List
Trying to list all potential mag formats I can think of. Will no doubt be updated...
Glossy
Independent
Fanzine/zine
Website
Pdf/IssuuWeb to print (Zinepal, newspaper club)
iMag (iPod app magazines)
Wallzine
Experimental three-dimensional
Glossy
Independent
Fanzine/zine
Website
Pdf/IssuuWeb to print (Zinepal, newspaper club)
iMag (iPod app magazines)
Wallzine
Experimental three-dimensional
Wallzine Heaven
Found the perfect wall for a wallzine! it's painted white and every month so, the owners of the house presumably, put a different piece of art work up for public viewing. I've seen origami cranes, a oil painting and now some pasted posters of illustrations (in this photo) . Going to up a note through their door asking if I could put my wallzine up. It's in Clapham Common.
Wednesday, 9 December 2009
criticism of (American) women's glossies
How To Create a Woman's Glossy Magazine in Five Minutes
I’ve been addicted to magazines since my teenage years, but they are just so, so frustratingly predictable! I reckon you could cobble one together very easily in five minutes, and here’s how.
Don’t get me wrong. I love magazines. I’m been addicted to them since my teenage years. Theres something about a womans magazine superficiality that I often enjoy. But oh boy, they are just so, so frustratingly predictable. I reckon you could cobble one together very easily in five minutes, and here’s how.
The Cover
The cover image: Get a head and shoulders shot of a smiling, heavily made-up and airbrushed model (or optionally, a famous person). Remember to use an almost identical photo as used in all your previous issues; in fact, why not just use the same one a few months later? No-one will notice. Remember that the cover model must always be white, or else the ‘mag’ wont sell. Oh - unless it’s Naomi Campbell, of course, which doesn’t count. What about alienating black female readers? Don’t give it a second thought; hell, most other magazine editors don’t.
50 ways to turn him on!
Teasers: Always have tons of writing on the cover to make the mag look jam-packed full of exciting stuff! The sex article must always come at the top, and always include a number in it, i.e.
50 WAYS TO TURN HIM ON!
20% MORE ORGASMS!
101 SEX TIPS YOU NEVER KNEW!
Always ensure every sentence ends in ‘!’
The features
It’s very simple. In every glossy magazine you just need one of each of these:
The sex article.
The confession feature:
‘I’m a secret stripper but my husband has no idea!’
The ‘new-disorder-you-never-knew-you-had’ article:
‘Do you have compulsive worrying-disorder?’
‘Are you a serial success-addict?’
The ‘omigod it’s so true’ quiz:
‘If you chose mostly A’s, you are…’
The opinion piece column, in which someone writes in a supposedly humourous and over-familiar way about a really superficial issue and we are all supposed to relate to it.
The ‘10-quick-fix-ways-to-improve-your-life’ article.
The predict your future by tarot / divining / colour therapy / numerology / dangling a ring on a thread / load of bollocks article. If you’re really clever, you can combine this with the sex article, thus:
‘Your 10-week summer of sex predicted day-by-day!’
The boring famous person interview in which we learn that Julia Roberts likes knitting and crochet and uses vaseline as an all-purpose beauty-aid.
The fashion and beauty pages. Basically a glorified shopping catalogue where they attempt to make us buy products we don’t really need such as clear mascara and “age-defying” cream.
Note, in all articles, whenever mentioning anyone, always use the following formula:
name-comma-age-comma-occupation-comma
As in this example:
Sarah, 27, a chemist, says she thinks all men are bastards. Jane, 29, a weightlifter, agrees. ‘I agreee with Sarah’ she says. Margaret, 28, a candlestickmaker, thinks these women are prats.
Always use this even when their age and occupation is completely and utterly irrelevant, which is - oh! All the time!
Regulars
Editors letter: Must always go on endlessly about how ‘exciting’ and ‘jam-packed’ the issue is and how ‘rilly rilly thrilled’ they are all the time. Use phrases that if used in normal conversation would get you punched in the face for being so irritating, such as ‘voila!’, ‘moi?’, ‘fabulous!’ and ‘hooray!’
Try to make your readers wonder how they ever lived without your god-like, wondrous publication
Letters page: Print letters so short it’s hardly worth printing them at all; preferably not longer than two sentences each (remember: your readers have short attention spans!). Always print complimentary letters, but if you insist on printing a criticism just to show you are ‘listening to the readers’, for god’s sake never bother actually replying to them in print. Best to include several letters from people who claim that an article in last months ‘ish’ ‘totally changed my life’, opened their eyes to some ‘awe-inspiring’ truth that’s blindingly obvious to everyone else, or ‘gave me enough confidence’ to emigrate to New York, leave their boyfriend, or pack in their job and set up their own business. Try to make your readers wonder how they ever survived without your god-like, wondrous publication.
Horoscopes: End the magazine with the most pathetic load of shite predictions ever, which the magazine staff made up in their coffee break. Your readers may be independent, modern, logical, gorgeous, intelligent, strong-minded, post-feminist, business women, but they all still read horoscopes dont they?
Catherine Redfer
http://www.thefword.org.uk/features/2001/03/how_to_create_a_womans_glossy_magazine_in_five_minutes
I’ve been addicted to magazines since my teenage years, but they are just so, so frustratingly predictable! I reckon you could cobble one together very easily in five minutes, and here’s how.
Don’t get me wrong. I love magazines. I’m been addicted to them since my teenage years. Theres something about a womans magazine superficiality that I often enjoy. But oh boy, they are just so, so frustratingly predictable. I reckon you could cobble one together very easily in five minutes, and here’s how.
The Cover
The cover image: Get a head and shoulders shot of a smiling, heavily made-up and airbrushed model (or optionally, a famous person). Remember to use an almost identical photo as used in all your previous issues; in fact, why not just use the same one a few months later? No-one will notice. Remember that the cover model must always be white, or else the ‘mag’ wont sell. Oh - unless it’s Naomi Campbell, of course, which doesn’t count. What about alienating black female readers? Don’t give it a second thought; hell, most other magazine editors don’t.
50 ways to turn him on!
Teasers: Always have tons of writing on the cover to make the mag look jam-packed full of exciting stuff! The sex article must always come at the top, and always include a number in it, i.e.
50 WAYS TO TURN HIM ON!
20% MORE ORGASMS!
101 SEX TIPS YOU NEVER KNEW!
Always ensure every sentence ends in ‘!’
The features
It’s very simple. In every glossy magazine you just need one of each of these:
The sex article.
The confession feature:
‘I’m a secret stripper but my husband has no idea!’
The ‘new-disorder-you-never-knew-you-had’ article:
‘Do you have compulsive worrying-disorder?’
‘Are you a serial success-addict?’
The ‘omigod it’s so true’ quiz:
‘If you chose mostly A’s, you are…’
The opinion piece column, in which someone writes in a supposedly humourous and over-familiar way about a really superficial issue and we are all supposed to relate to it.
The ‘10-quick-fix-ways-to-improve-your-life’ article.
The predict your future by tarot / divining / colour therapy / numerology / dangling a ring on a thread / load of bollocks article. If you’re really clever, you can combine this with the sex article, thus:
‘Your 10-week summer of sex predicted day-by-day!’
The boring famous person interview in which we learn that Julia Roberts likes knitting and crochet and uses vaseline as an all-purpose beauty-aid.
The fashion and beauty pages. Basically a glorified shopping catalogue where they attempt to make us buy products we don’t really need such as clear mascara and “age-defying” cream.
Note, in all articles, whenever mentioning anyone, always use the following formula:
name-comma-age-comma-occupation-comma
As in this example:
Sarah, 27, a chemist, says she thinks all men are bastards. Jane, 29, a weightlifter, agrees. ‘I agreee with Sarah’ she says. Margaret, 28, a candlestickmaker, thinks these women are prats.
Always use this even when their age and occupation is completely and utterly irrelevant, which is - oh! All the time!
Regulars
Editors letter: Must always go on endlessly about how ‘exciting’ and ‘jam-packed’ the issue is and how ‘rilly rilly thrilled’ they are all the time. Use phrases that if used in normal conversation would get you punched in the face for being so irritating, such as ‘voila!’, ‘moi?’, ‘fabulous!’ and ‘hooray!’
Try to make your readers wonder how they ever lived without your god-like, wondrous publication
Letters page: Print letters so short it’s hardly worth printing them at all; preferably not longer than two sentences each (remember: your readers have short attention spans!). Always print complimentary letters, but if you insist on printing a criticism just to show you are ‘listening to the readers’, for god’s sake never bother actually replying to them in print. Best to include several letters from people who claim that an article in last months ‘ish’ ‘totally changed my life’, opened their eyes to some ‘awe-inspiring’ truth that’s blindingly obvious to everyone else, or ‘gave me enough confidence’ to emigrate to New York, leave their boyfriend, or pack in their job and set up their own business. Try to make your readers wonder how they ever survived without your god-like, wondrous publication.
Horoscopes: End the magazine with the most pathetic load of shite predictions ever, which the magazine staff made up in their coffee break. Your readers may be independent, modern, logical, gorgeous, intelligent, strong-minded, post-feminist, business women, but they all still read horoscopes dont they?
Catherine Redfer
http://www.thefword.org.uk/features/2001/03/how_to_create_a_womans_glossy_magazine_in_five_minutes
The research strategies used in my project:
image from 'How to be an explorer of the world'
OBSERVE
What different types of magazine formats are there?
Where and how is each format available?
COLLECT
Different magazine formats
Visual examples of different magazine formats
Quotes/literature about magazine formats
ANALYSE
The visual characteristics of each format
Theory written about formats
COMPARE
Characteristics of formats identified in analysis
Similarities and differences in formats
NOTICE PATTERNS
Of why certain characteristics apply to some formats and not to others
Interviews and questionnaires
‘Equations’ for making each format
e.g. content + scissors + tape + photocopier = zine
PMI for my process of making format
PMI for my outcome
PMI by reader of format
animate me
Trial of creating a gif animation using photos from the flat copy and photoshop. I used images from my research book as a trial but will use photos of my magazine formats for this project.
Easy to produce but need to think of how to produce without hands in the frame (use fishing wire to hold pages)
Had to upload to photobucket first because blogspot wont upload GIFs
Sunday, 6 December 2009
Trying to emphasize the visual nature of my research. So thinking of going to as many as possible London magazine retailers recommended on MagCulture. Photographing their stock and interviewing staff. Immediate question ideas are "What is your favourite magazine you sell?", "How do you think the increase it digital media will affect consumer's interest in the printed magazine?"
Planning on visiting YNC's 72 Rivington Street tomorrow and becoming a member of their library. exciting stuff
Re-focusing my SVR
I have recently been thinking about re-focusing my SVR, time is running low and I don’t want to loose track. Here are my reiterated aims of the project
My identified design problems:
What different formats can be used to produce what is classified as a magazine?
How do design features, the representation of text and image and production processes change depending on a chosen magazine format?
Which format is best suited to showcase the work/work in progress of graphic design student?
How do you gage the success/suitability of each format?
My body of practical and experimental work:
Examples of a range of magazine formats (including experimental)
Research and examples of existing formats
Analysis on the suitability of each format
Various stages of development of my own examples of each format.
All research gathered into a final body accompanied by format examples
My strategic research methods
Using the “observe, collect, analyze, compare, notice patterns” process from ‘How to be an explorer of the World’
Observe– looking which existing formats are out there/ observing how people interact with each format
Collect– visual examples of each format
Analyse– each format’s features (just design features or content and topics?)
Compare– the similarities and differences between formats
Notice Patterns– draw conclusions about each format and its suitability for show casing my magazine’s content
Identifying and documenting existing market visual languages
Mood boards
Interviews
Documenting process of producing my own version of each format
Industry standard prototypes:
My own examples of mag formats;
Fanzine
Independent magazine
Glossy
Website
Quick-time animation
Internet generated publication (e.g. zinepal)
Bag/t-shirt
My identified design problems:
What different formats can be used to produce what is classified as a magazine?
How do design features, the representation of text and image and production processes change depending on a chosen magazine format?
Which format is best suited to showcase the work/work in progress of graphic design student?
How do you gage the success/suitability of each format?
My body of practical and experimental work:
Examples of a range of magazine formats (including experimental)
Research and examples of existing formats
Analysis on the suitability of each format
Various stages of development of my own examples of each format.
All research gathered into a final body accompanied by format examples
My strategic research methods
Using the “observe, collect, analyze, compare, notice patterns” process from ‘How to be an explorer of the World’
Observe– looking which existing formats are out there/ observing how people interact with each format
Collect– visual examples of each format
Analyse– each format’s features (just design features or content and topics?)
Compare– the similarities and differences between formats
Notice Patterns– draw conclusions about each format and its suitability for show casing my magazine’s content
Identifying and documenting existing market visual languages
Mood boards
Interviews
Documenting process of producing my own version of each format
Industry standard prototypes:
My own examples of mag formats;
Fanzine
Independent magazine
Glossy
Website
Quick-time animation
Internet generated publication (e.g. zinepal)
Bag/t-shirt
Zine Pal Trail 1
I created a zinepal document simply using the last 5 stories from this project blog. Seems to suit text but bot images so much. This example has no layout formating. Document is created as a pdf, kindle/mobipocket and ePub. Not sure what the last two are yet. It is also sent to the user in an email with the different formats attached and can be made public or private to other users. Going to have a look at some examples of other public 'zines'. I saved the pdf files as jpeg to enable uploading.
Friday, 4 December 2009
TimeOut's guide "How to publish a fanzine"
How to publish a fanzine
By Time Out editors
Posted: Tue Apr 4 2006
The where, why, who, and what of the fanzine world
A toilet stop can also be quality research time
The history
There was a girl at a Kid Harpoon gig last month handing out copies of her fanzine, bound with coloured clothes pegs. Alongside no-frills collectables like Transparent and Sheffield’s Sandman, self-generated music mags like FACT, Plan B and Stool Pigeon, and special-interest fanzines like Full Moon Empty Sports Bag (poetry), Fly Me to the Moon (Middlesbrough FC) and Smoke: A London Peculiar, she’s part of a proud history – which is experiencing a revival. London’s year zero was with Mark Perry’s punk fanzine Sniffin’ Glue, and in the ’80s ’zine-shaped publications like Time Out, the Face and i-D became part of the mainstream. ‘It’s brilliant that people still want to put unchecked, crazed opinions in print,’ says Robin Turner, editor of the Heavenly Social’s Socialism fanzine. ‘The net’s cool, but it’s good to see people making things you can read on the bus.’
Why do you want to set one up?
Motivations vary but an obsession and a strong desire to be heard is at the heart of them all. Most are music-related, but there’s a trend towards new fashion and culture titles. Nineteen-year-old Bella Howard makes 100 copies per issue of Bellazine, which she puts together by cutting up old Mandy annuals and interviewing bands. ‘It’s kind of like [blogging website] MySpace but handmade and sweet. It’s like going to get cakes from a little shop instead of going to the supermarket.’
Sahil Varda started photocopy ’n’ staple fanzine Transparent as a reaction to the mainstream press. ‘I was reading lazy, tabloid journalism and nothing about the bands I wanted to read about.’
Dominik Prosser of Super, a self-financing fanzine from the Notting Hill Arts Club, agrees: ‘Fanzines fill a void.’
Getting the staff
It’s easy: find your most energetic friends and tap them up for ideas, photography and words (once issue one is out of the door you’ll find contributors among your readers – Smoke gets more than 100 submissions every issue). Brief everyone, give them a deadline, preferably a false one. It’s an incontrovertible fact that everyone will be at least a week late filing.
It is also a good idea to make sure your creative types don’t get too tired. An early issue of popular and now-defunct magazine Jockey Slut was nearly scuppered when the designer, who had been up for two days, accidentally trashed the wrong file. Fanzines are a hard habit to break: Slut founders are now behind high-end independent mag Dummy.
How to do the ‘do’ in DIY
Once upon a time fanzines were made by cutting and pasting blocks of text and pictures, but computers make the job a lot easier. Quark Xpress and Adobe’s InDesign are the industry-standard desktop publishing packages. There are a number of options for turning your on-screen creation into an actual mag: send your home printer smoking by doing it yourself; use a local copy shop; or find a professional printer by seeing who handles publications you like. You can print 1,000 copies, using one colour and cheap paper, for around £500 – less if you’re printing digitally. Or you can do as Jockey Slut did and cannibalise available resources (in their case, the student magazine offices at Manchester Met). But beware: management noticed high photocopying and phone bills, and they got fined.
Advertising?
Super’s Dominik Prosser is ‘hardcore’: ‘Fanzines are idiosyncratic, 100 per cent honest and not tainted by advertising.’ So don’t get him started on the ‘Trojan horse’ of fanzines created by brands. But if you want ad money, Stool Pigeon, which prints 60,000 copies per issue – around the same as Kerrang! – suggests you ask a friend to help (‘someone with no morals’) or try local record shops at around £100 an ad. Full Moon Empty Sports Bag might have persuaded Pete Doherty to contribute, but they are realistic: ‘You’re never going to attract Nike or Gucci when you publish poetry.’
Get it out there
Rise early, buy a travelcard, traipse around London. Wake and repeat until your holdall is empty. The makers of Smoke and Super spend a week per issue on distribution. ‘Shops in nice middle-class areas tend to be the snottiest,’ reports Smoke. Where you target depends on your subject matter – if it’s culture, try the ICA, if it’s music, a record shop like Selectadisc. Rough Trade’s Sean Forbes advises: ‘Don’t be rude and pushy. Do sale or return. And don’t come in on a Saturday when it’s too mental to deal with some insane fanzine guy.’
Longevity
Fanzines are often transitory and tend to fizzle out if their owners lose heart – or too much money. ‘I’m not sure fanzines should last,’ reckons Prosser. ‘It’s just good to do something for itself rather than for glory or capitalist ends.’
Add your comment to this feature
Bookmark | Print Send to a friend
2 comments
Posted by Ed - Flaneur zine on 27 Oct 2009 20:17
Yes, good to see a zine article. I produce a zine - Flaneur - www.flaneur.me.uk and would like to see an article on ways and means of distribution. Any ideas?
Report this comment as inappropriate
Posted by Shari - Black Velvet Zine on 20 Jan 2009 11:48
Good to see an article on zines. I've been producing Black Velvet Zine for over 15 years... at the time of writing this I've started work on issue 60. I wish more stores stocked zines. Or more people bought them! Some people say they can't find them in a shop near them - but it's easy to order online with paypal. Visit www.blackvelvetmagazine.com for more info on Black Velvet - which started out as a photocopied zine and is now a full colour glossy zine.
original article
04/04/2006
By Time Out editors
Posted: Tue Apr 4 2006
The where, why, who, and what of the fanzine world
A toilet stop can also be quality research time
The history
There was a girl at a Kid Harpoon gig last month handing out copies of her fanzine, bound with coloured clothes pegs. Alongside no-frills collectables like Transparent and Sheffield’s Sandman, self-generated music mags like FACT, Plan B and Stool Pigeon, and special-interest fanzines like Full Moon Empty Sports Bag (poetry), Fly Me to the Moon (Middlesbrough FC) and Smoke: A London Peculiar, she’s part of a proud history – which is experiencing a revival. London’s year zero was with Mark Perry’s punk fanzine Sniffin’ Glue, and in the ’80s ’zine-shaped publications like Time Out, the Face and i-D became part of the mainstream. ‘It’s brilliant that people still want to put unchecked, crazed opinions in print,’ says Robin Turner, editor of the Heavenly Social’s Socialism fanzine. ‘The net’s cool, but it’s good to see people making things you can read on the bus.’
Why do you want to set one up?
Motivations vary but an obsession and a strong desire to be heard is at the heart of them all. Most are music-related, but there’s a trend towards new fashion and culture titles. Nineteen-year-old Bella Howard makes 100 copies per issue of Bellazine, which she puts together by cutting up old Mandy annuals and interviewing bands. ‘It’s kind of like [blogging website] MySpace but handmade and sweet. It’s like going to get cakes from a little shop instead of going to the supermarket.’
Sahil Varda started photocopy ’n’ staple fanzine Transparent as a reaction to the mainstream press. ‘I was reading lazy, tabloid journalism and nothing about the bands I wanted to read about.’
Dominik Prosser of Super, a self-financing fanzine from the Notting Hill Arts Club, agrees: ‘Fanzines fill a void.’
Getting the staff
It’s easy: find your most energetic friends and tap them up for ideas, photography and words (once issue one is out of the door you’ll find contributors among your readers – Smoke gets more than 100 submissions every issue). Brief everyone, give them a deadline, preferably a false one. It’s an incontrovertible fact that everyone will be at least a week late filing.
It is also a good idea to make sure your creative types don’t get too tired. An early issue of popular and now-defunct magazine Jockey Slut was nearly scuppered when the designer, who had been up for two days, accidentally trashed the wrong file. Fanzines are a hard habit to break: Slut founders are now behind high-end independent mag Dummy.
How to do the ‘do’ in DIY
Once upon a time fanzines were made by cutting and pasting blocks of text and pictures, but computers make the job a lot easier. Quark Xpress and Adobe’s InDesign are the industry-standard desktop publishing packages. There are a number of options for turning your on-screen creation into an actual mag: send your home printer smoking by doing it yourself; use a local copy shop; or find a professional printer by seeing who handles publications you like. You can print 1,000 copies, using one colour and cheap paper, for around £500 – less if you’re printing digitally. Or you can do as Jockey Slut did and cannibalise available resources (in their case, the student magazine offices at Manchester Met). But beware: management noticed high photocopying and phone bills, and they got fined.
Advertising?
Super’s Dominik Prosser is ‘hardcore’: ‘Fanzines are idiosyncratic, 100 per cent honest and not tainted by advertising.’ So don’t get him started on the ‘Trojan horse’ of fanzines created by brands. But if you want ad money, Stool Pigeon, which prints 60,000 copies per issue – around the same as Kerrang! – suggests you ask a friend to help (‘someone with no morals’) or try local record shops at around £100 an ad. Full Moon Empty Sports Bag might have persuaded Pete Doherty to contribute, but they are realistic: ‘You’re never going to attract Nike or Gucci when you publish poetry.’
Get it out there
Rise early, buy a travelcard, traipse around London. Wake and repeat until your holdall is empty. The makers of Smoke and Super spend a week per issue on distribution. ‘Shops in nice middle-class areas tend to be the snottiest,’ reports Smoke. Where you target depends on your subject matter – if it’s culture, try the ICA, if it’s music, a record shop like Selectadisc. Rough Trade’s Sean Forbes advises: ‘Don’t be rude and pushy. Do sale or return. And don’t come in on a Saturday when it’s too mental to deal with some insane fanzine guy.’
Longevity
Fanzines are often transitory and tend to fizzle out if their owners lose heart – or too much money. ‘I’m not sure fanzines should last,’ reckons Prosser. ‘It’s just good to do something for itself rather than for glory or capitalist ends.’
Add your comment to this feature
Bookmark | Print Send to a friend
2 comments
Posted by Ed - Flaneur zine on 27 Oct 2009 20:17
Yes, good to see a zine article. I produce a zine - Flaneur - www.flaneur.me.uk and would like to see an article on ways and means of distribution. Any ideas?
Report this comment as inappropriate
Posted by Shari - Black Velvet Zine on 20 Jan 2009 11:48
Good to see an article on zines. I've been producing Black Velvet Zine for over 15 years... at the time of writing this I've started work on issue 60. I wish more stores stocked zines. Or more people bought them! Some people say they can't find them in a shop near them - but it's easy to order online with paypal. Visit www.blackvelvetmagazine.com for more info on Black Velvet - which started out as a photocopied zine and is now a full colour glossy zine.
original article
04/04/2006
Thursday, 3 December 2009
I Ate Acne (analyzing fanzines)
Been rummaging through the LCC library's collection of fanzines which is impressively extensive, think they're over 200 zines. You can only look at 5 at a time so I picked some, pretty much from random, to have a look at. I found an interesting variety of approaches, and am definitely going to have a look at some more. Poor photography is due to not being able to take them out of the library but am going to do some scans soon.
Title: The Arts Pheumonia, issue 67
Size: A4 portrait
Pages: 36, black and white and colour lazer printing on white and coloured stock.
Price: free
Binding: 2 stapels
Content: Joke articles and games, (dot-to-dot) range of topics, arts, popular culture and music.
Design: Less professional than a glossy magazine but still uses quite a strict grid but a range of typefaces.
Advertising: none
Title: The Eel – from Hackney & beyond, issue 11
Size: A5 portrait
Pages: 52 (numbered) Coloured laser printed cover with all black and white laser printed inside pages.
Price: £2.50
Binding: 2 staples
Content: Guide to Dalston, local independent projects, quite anarchic view point. Un-expectedly text heavy.
Design: more like a local news letter
Advertising: inserts advertising music events and rallies by contributors. Fake perforated voucher inserts.
Title: Poor but Happy no.3
Size: A5 portrait
Pages: 6, black and white photocopied
Price: free
Binding: 2 stapels
Content: Money saving tips with a satirical tone.
Design: very low-fi. Uses children’s book imagery and limited design elements.
Advertising: none
Title: Meow
Size: A5 portrait
Pages: 28, black and white printed on pale yellow stock cover and black and white inside.
Price: free
Binding: 2 stapels
Content: All animal illustrations, not text except illustrator’s names.
Design: Clean, focus on illustrations
Advertising: call for entries message on back about next issue.
Title: Savage Messiah, spring 2009
Size: A5 portrait
Pages: 34, black and white photocopy
Price: £2.00
Binding: 2 Staples
Content: Illustrations, photography and text. Very personal style, seems like it’s made for a very specific audience or a group of friends.
Design: very d-i-y aesthetic. Use of ripped paper and scratchy, hand-written type.
Advertising: none.
Comparing these examples of fanzines to my first zine attempt has given me some considerations;
are there any messages/events I could use this as an opportunity to promote
how would use of coloured stock/printing affect the production cost and therefore would I consider charging for it (immediate thought is no)
most of the examples I looked at are A5 (rather than my A6), consider increasing the size of my publication.
Am I going to actually distribute my fanzine to the public, where are how?
Most 4/5 examples I looked at are a lot less 'D-I-Y' than I might have expected. Has the accessibility of desktop publishing and printing meant that they cut, paste and photocopy attitude no longer applies?
has modern technology changed the medium altogether?
Title: The Arts Pheumonia, issue 67
Size: A4 portrait
Pages: 36, black and white and colour lazer printing on white and coloured stock.
Price: free
Binding: 2 stapels
Content: Joke articles and games, (dot-to-dot) range of topics, arts, popular culture and music.
Design: Less professional than a glossy magazine but still uses quite a strict grid but a range of typefaces.
Advertising: none
Title: The Eel – from Hackney & beyond, issue 11
Size: A5 portrait
Pages: 52 (numbered) Coloured laser printed cover with all black and white laser printed inside pages.
Price: £2.50
Binding: 2 staples
Content: Guide to Dalston, local independent projects, quite anarchic view point. Un-expectedly text heavy.
Design: more like a local news letter
Advertising: inserts advertising music events and rallies by contributors. Fake perforated voucher inserts.
Title: Poor but Happy no.3
Size: A5 portrait
Pages: 6, black and white photocopied
Price: free
Binding: 2 stapels
Content: Money saving tips with a satirical tone.
Design: very low-fi. Uses children’s book imagery and limited design elements.
Advertising: none
Title: Meow
Size: A5 portrait
Pages: 28, black and white printed on pale yellow stock cover and black and white inside.
Price: free
Binding: 2 stapels
Content: All animal illustrations, not text except illustrator’s names.
Design: Clean, focus on illustrations
Advertising: call for entries message on back about next issue.
Title: Savage Messiah, spring 2009
Size: A5 portrait
Pages: 34, black and white photocopy
Price: £2.00
Binding: 2 Staples
Content: Illustrations, photography and text. Very personal style, seems like it’s made for a very specific audience or a group of friends.
Design: very d-i-y aesthetic. Use of ripped paper and scratchy, hand-written type.
Advertising: none.
Comparing these examples of fanzines to my first zine attempt has given me some considerations;
are there any messages/events I could use this as an opportunity to promote
how would use of coloured stock/printing affect the production cost and therefore would I consider charging for it (immediate thought is no)
most of the examples I looked at are A5 (rather than my A6), consider increasing the size of my publication.
Am I going to actually distribute my fanzine to the public, where are how?
Most 4/5 examples I looked at are a lot less 'D-I-Y' than I might have expected. Has the accessibility of desktop publishing and printing meant that they cut, paste and photocopy attitude no longer applies?
has modern technology changed the medium altogether?
Last Thursday's Crit
We had a group (10 people) session last Thursday. It was really useful and interesting to see what other people are doing and their approach to documentation. I particularly likes some projects I hadn't seen work from before such as Marta's interactive surveying project and Anna'a light investigations.
The suggestion made by Darren about my project, that I don't necessarily have to make all the formats myself but can document other's was useful in terms of planning my remaining time.
The suggestion made by Darren about my project, that I don't necessarily have to make all the formats myself but can document other's was useful in terms of planning my remaining time.
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