The production of the publication will continue to draw from its queer zine heritage and so will be printed on a risograph printer. Risograph printing provides a unique print quality that is often associated with the zine community, but is also capable of producing high quality single or multi-colour prints. Economically, it is cheaper for small print runs than using a commercial print firm, and it is also one of the most environmentally friendly forms of commercial printing with a high print speed of 100 pages a minute.
The initial print run of About Honey issue 1 would be 300 copies and the magazine will be printed in black and red. Stock choice will be 80gsm recycled Evercopy Plus to further the environmental nature of the printing process. The publications will be bound with a saddle stitch so as to reflect the DIY binding of many of the zines created during the original movement. Due to a lack of personal access to a risograph machine it was arranged that the printing would be handled externally by Leeds-based risograph print studio Footprint.
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Tuesday, September 12, 2017
OUGD601 - Practical Work - About Honey #1 Internal Spreads
To create a balance between the commercial elements of the logo and the cover, the internal spreads take heavy inspiration from zine design. A wide selection of images were to be included in the publication, as well as short text paragraphs citing references for the images. The internal spreads display a busy feel, placing many images tightly together within the constraints of the page. This creates an obvious visual catalogue of material that is reminiscent of the DIY scrapbook aesthetic of many zines. It also creates the visual identity of an archive that had been lost but is now being pieced back together.
OUGD601 - Practical Work - About Honey #1 Front Cover
Once a logo had been finalised, the cover design for the magazine was constructed. The design incorporated more zine like features such as small cropped images, blocks of colours, and overlaying type to create a collage feel and to break free of the strict grid that all commercial magazines adhere to in their design.
Research for the extended essay revealed that many zines that came out of the original zine movement of the 1960's - 1970's used shock tactics in their names to catch attention, as demonstrated by zines such as Taste of Latex and A Dry Pocket To Piss In. Rather than use a verbal devise in the cover designs, the use of the colour red creates a visual shock tactic that draws the eye to the cover of the publications, as well as indicating a subconscious warning for the content contained within.
Once the front cover had been finalised it was discussed in a group critique that a wrap around cover would create a more immersive experience for consumers, and would also create a similar feel as to when zines are created as whole flat sheets of paper and then folded to create a book. The back half of the cover was then added.
Research for the extended essay revealed that many zines that came out of the original zine movement of the 1960's - 1970's used shock tactics in their names to catch attention, as demonstrated by zines such as Taste of Latex and A Dry Pocket To Piss In. Rather than use a verbal devise in the cover designs, the use of the colour red creates a visual shock tactic that draws the eye to the cover of the publications, as well as indicating a subconscious warning for the content contained within.
Once the front cover had been finalised it was discussed in a group critique that a wrap around cover would create a more immersive experience for consumers, and would also create a similar feel as to when zines are created as whole flat sheets of paper and then folded to create a book. The back half of the cover was then added.
Friday, September 8, 2017
OUGD601 - Practical Work - About Honey #1 Logo Design
Drawing inspiration from past queer magazine branding, experimentation produced a range of logos that incorporated retro style typefaces reminiscent of the 1960's and 1970's as a recognition of the history or queer publications.
This experimentation led to a selection of logos created with a modern typeface. The block type is still reminiscent of a the 1960's but the italicisation and the additional outlines and shadows in stroke add a modern element that creates a bridge between the zine era and the present day. Wavy and cropped type was also trialled as a way to replicate the accidental mistakes that can happen when a zine is produced on a photocopier.
A critique with peers from the queer community indicated a positive reaction to the retro logos, but also revealed that younger queer individuals would be less likely to engage in a publication that felt too old for their generation. It was found that a logo with more modern considerations attracted a larger number of people, and the logo in stroke with a solid drop shadow was found to have the most appeal. Most stated that the logo felt fresher compared to a lot of branding that they came across Most also said that if they has seen the logo on a magazine or on an instagram page they would be inclined to engage with the content.
OUGD601 - Practical Work - About Honey #1 Logo Research
As the publication was to no longer exist within the realm of the zine, careful consideration was given to the branding of the platform. Research for the extended essay presented a number of different branding strategies for independent queer publications, many informed by the design trends of the era or a lack of access to professional design services and equipment. Considering the most recent queer and lesbian publications DYKE_ON and them., there is an increasing occurrence of magazine branding borrowing many of the most recent design 'trends', including simple, chunky italicised typefaces and the use of a stroke as the primary feature of the logo.
On Our Backs was the first commercial women-run erotica magazine in the United States. It's slener typeface was
Quim was a UK independent lesbian publication published between 1989-1995. The custom
typeface creates a unique identity for the magazine and combines the hand-made nature of
zine design with a commercial branding strategy.
typeface creates a unique identity for the magazine and combines the hand-made nature of
zine design with a commercial branding strategy.
DIVA was the first commercial lesbian publication to be stocked in WHSmiths in the UK.
The plain typeface was used as a tactic to allow the publication to seamlessly blend in
with other teen and women's mags.
The plain typeface was used as a tactic to allow the publication to seamlessly blend in
with other teen and women's mags.
DYKE_ON is the first commercial magazine dedicated to lesbian fashion. The stroke type and
vertical orientation of the logo are reminiscent of lo-tech zine design, but also plays off recent
design trends and also appears fresh and current.
vertical orientation of the logo are reminiscent of lo-tech zine design, but also plays off recent
design trends and also appears fresh and current.
them. is the most recent platform to emerge from Condé Nast in the United States. The chunky italicised type is a current trend in logo design and is heavily used across digital platforms to
attract engagement from young audiences.
OUGD601 - Practical Work - About Honey #1 Concept and Planning
The increased acceptance of the LGBT community today has seen an expansion in the number
of commercial lesbian and gay magazines. While there are still a disproportionately small
number of magazines solely dedicated solely to the female queer community, there have been a
number of independently run magazines that have attempted to create an equal platform and
equal opportunities for gay women, including On Our Backs, Diva, Quim, KUTT, Girls Like Us,
and most recently DYKE_ON.
— Extract from extended essay
In response to the initial research undertaken in preparation for the extended essay, About Honey was perceived as a reaction against the many commercial gays mens magazine dominating queer spaces. Inspired by the lack of obviously queer and lesbian iconography in mainstream media, it aims to provide an alternative, youthful interpretation of lesbian history. Using found imagery and text from books, magazines, tv, films it will consider how both archival and current material can be used to curate a unique narrative of an under-represented, and often misrepresented, history of the lesbian identity.
Images and text used do not have to be explicitly queer, rather provide a representation of queer culture as seen through the eyes of a generation of young lesbians who grew up though the 1990's and early 2000's, who sought validation through projecting a queer identity onto a mostly straight mass media.
About Honey originated as an idea to create a small, low-budget zine to be distributed among the immediate community, as per most traditional queer publications. However, research indicated that there may be merit in reaching beyond zine publications in order to create a more visible identity for the lesbian community in the public eye. The project then expanded into a larger, higher quality publication that could be distributed in a number of independent book stored.