OUGD401 - Studio Brief 02 - Final Outcome

The finished printed zines, What Happened To Our Town Centre and Hot Butterflies:

The final digitalised version available for download:

http://whathappenedtoourtowncentres.tumblr.com/


In total I produced 15 copies of this zine. Upon the completion of the zines, I contacted a variety of local and national independent artists bookshops enquiring as to whether they would stock my publication. I emailed the Newbridge Bookshop and Travelling Man in Newcastle requesting to submit a zine to their collection and archives. Both shops got back to me asking for a sample or photographs of the completed product, and so I replied with the link to the digital version and a selection of photographs of the physical zine. Both shops are currently reviewing the zine with the promise to respond shortly. I also visited the Village bookshop in Leeds in person and submitted a physical copy for review before submission. Again, they advised that a response would take up to two weeks.


Synthesis Statement and Evaluation:
From the investigate research undertaken in conjunction with my essay, What Is The Role of Print Media in the Digital Age?, I have undertaken a project that draws on my findings and conclusions within the essay, and explores both traditional and digital print techniques in the context of a printed publication.

This zine draws inspiration from the DIY zine culture of the 1960's, and its revival today, to create a publication which allows and encourages interaction and participation in the self-publishing movement. The project draws together all aspects of print media, taking influences from traditionally printed newspapers, with a limited colour palette and a natural stock. The production utilised digital technology, with a digitally created typeface and the use of computer programs to combine, arrange and print the content in preparation for screenprinting. A computer was again used in the creation of the digital version of the zine, which was uploaded to be distributed and shared on the internet.

This project is successful in investigating the conclusions laid out in my essay; it explores the themes of print media as a luxury items while also highlighting the importance of combining medias to allow further creation and access to content. The research into zine culture was appropriate and relevant to the project, although this could have been extended further by looking more closely at the digital content produced by both small and large scale magazines in order to gain how I might have marketed the digital zines more successfully.

Despite being available infinitely online, only fifteen copies of the original zine sheets were printed, and each one was hand numbered. This again introduced a luxury element of the physically printed product. The zine itself also draws parallels between the producer of the print media and the consumer of the print media, allowing each to become the same with a printable 'home version' of the publication. The printed editions of the zines will be distributed as flat sheets, requiring assemblage upon purchase, further extending the DIY nature of the publication.

There is a certain ironic overlap between this use of traditional and digital technologies, using purely digital means to create the publication, but ultimately using the traditional art of screenprinting to create a more aesthetically pleasing outcome. But traditional and digital print technologies sit alongside each other like this in many ways, informing how we create and produce on a daily basis. Despite the evolution of both technology and society, printed media still plays an important role in self expression and the exchange of ideas. Print may be considered a luxury today in the face of the digital age, but this self-publication reclaims print as its own, and in a way is part of the revolution to reclaim an important voice for self-publishers.

OUGD401 - Studio Brief 02 - Screenprinting

To screenprint the zine, each side was digitally printed and then exposed onto individual screens. Side one was printed in black ink, in the style of a traditionally printed newspaper. Side two was printed in red ink, in part to emulate the CMYK colour separations that newspapers print in, and in part to further the contrast between the two side, with the red story leading a softer narrative and the black side leading a more formal narrative. The zine was printed on thin newsprint paper, again to reflect a traditional newspaper in both stock and double-sided print, but also to create a translucency so that both narratives are visible when the page is folded down.

Side 1

Side 2

OUGD401 - Studio Brief 02 - Self Publish Be Happy

A talk by Bruno Ceschel, founder of Self Publish Be Happy, an organisation that collects, studies and celebrates self-published photobooks through an ongoing programme of workshops, live events and on/offline projects. SPBH has organised events at a number of institutions around the world, including Tate Modern, The Photographer’s Gallery and C/O Berlin. Since its conception is 2010, the London-based collection gathered together more than 2,000 publications. SPBH is the physical manifestation of a worldwide online community formed of a new and ever-evolving generation of young artists, who experiment, stretch and play with the medium of photography.

During the talk, Ceschel showed a large number of the publications SPBH had collected over the past few years, each by independent authors, from all over the world. He talked of the importance of self-publishing from many perspectives; how self-publishing is an art form that can be perfected but can also be abused, with either one creating new and innovative outcomes. People publish to push their own limitations as artists and designers, and with this, the limitations of what a physical publication can be are also tested. Publications today might not be made from paper at all, but from wood, or rubber, or metal, or any other material that could be used as a vehicle for expressing information. 

He also stressed the importance of self-publication in the context of social climates; people self-publish to express ideas and opinions, and at certain times in history, self-publication becomes the only way to correctly preserve the politics and the backlashes, the emotions and the expressions. 

Ceschel also seemed to be a big believer in the power of the internet in creating and sharing works and ideas. SPBH, despite centring itself around physical print, embraces the digital age, working with technology instead of against it. Although acknowledging the effect that the internet has had on printed media, SPBH utilises it's online connections to work with and gather work from people all around the world, curating a global collection of publications and continuing to share them with new people. And looking forward to the future of publications Ceschel seemed confident that physical publications would never cease to exist, and never cease to be important, simply because people love to publish.

OUGD401 - Studio Brief 02 - Final Content and Layout

Each narrative was then arranged so that when printed, the sheet would form individual pages of text. Selected parts of the text was separated by dividing lines, in the style of those that separate the personal ads in newspapers, and certain parts were repeated, depending on the emphasis of the words within the narrative. Each narrative was given a title, taken from headlining captions of different printed ads.

Side 1 - What Happened To Our Town Centres?

Side 2 - Hot Butterflies