Final AWOL Zine

This is the final version of the AWOL zine; I thought it was successful because even though all the work is different and contains everyone’s own signature style it manages to flow nicely as a collaboration, which was our initial goal. I found all the double page spreads complemented each other; none of them clashed. I like the middle double page spread in the center of the zine, I thought having the text running across the two pages really made it shout out at you, it is simple but effective in catching the viewer’s attention.

A1 Exhibition Posters

Here are our posters that we intend to exhibit in the show next to our zines. We wanted the A1 presentation to be quite simple so that the focus within the space would be on the zines. To emphasis this we all collaborated to create 3 A3 posters for the space. All three are monochrome except the first image. I thought this poster reflected our attitude towards unit x, we wanted to do it our own individual ways but together and I feel we achieved that. The second poster depicts the members of AWOL. We wanted to have fun with depicting ourselves for this poster so we all dressed up in any wacky items we could find. We made the image black/white and layered a piece of acetate paper onto with a black strip across  ourselves to hide our identities, that way the viewer would have to interact with our space and lift the acetate to reveal who AWOL is.

AWOL extras

Having collected items around the Northern Quarter we thought it would be a nice idea to have the zine come with extras. I personally like collecting postcards/ posters/ inserts of design artwork and stick them up on my wall,  so we thought it would be more interactive and interesting these items accompanying the zine. We thought a strong illustration would be best for the poster as the final edited zine didn't contain any pure illustrations. John created these quirky and comical designs ( middle image) that depict the sisters from the motion picture 'The Shining' as hipsters. As for the postcards we used all the left over designs that didn't make it into the final zine, this meant that everyone's work was included and would be seen at the exhibition. Looking back on our research of zines, we referenced OWT creative's issue#8 'Love & Hate' for it's presentation of the zine and decided to use brown paper bags to hold all of the extras as well as the final zine. I thought this was great way put everything together and the bags make it more personal.

Putting it together

These images depict the process of putting the final zines together using the large guillotine and staple binder. We wanted the binding to be simple, clean and time efficient so this process was best for us. I thought the finished look of the zine was clear and professional. Our primary factor was the importance of the designs within the zine, they needed to be clear,crisp and the focal point of the viewer's attention. We kept it simple by printing onto white cartridge paper (115mg for the inside page and 200mg for the cover).

Printing nightmares

We decided to create an inside house publication instead of going through the Newspaper club so we had to manage our own printing. With the help of the pagination lecture Ben gave us previously we were able to print off the actual zine quite easily however within the zine there are 2 pages that consist of designs printed onto transparent paper, this caused a few problems. Amy and Alex collaborated to create these great designs, we wanted them to be on transparent paper so that the pattern of sweets and pills featured on the other side (inside) of the front and back cover would be visible. The main difficulty with the printing was that the laser printers in the art school couldn't process the job because the transparent paper was too thin thus causing it to overheat. After wasting a lot of print credits on these print outs that went wrong Amy had to use her small printer at home that managed to print off these designs successfully with all the colours in tact.

Zine page selection

The top image depicts all the work submitted to be a part of the AWOL zine. In a democratic fashion we pinned everyone's work on the board and then each person was allowed to pick 2 of their favorite pieces. After the pieces were selected we made sure that everyone in the group had a least 1 design in the zine. I thought this was the best was to edit the work as everyone had produced lots of designs. This way everyone who was attended that day not only had a piece of work but also had an input as to which other designs would feature in the zine. On the other hand it was a difficult process at the same time due to a couple of members of AWOL being absent  for this decision and most part of the project. Therefore we could only select the designs that were put on the board that day.

The photo booth photos above were taken on our trip to the Northern Quarter in Fred aldous, initially we wanted to incorporate these into the zine however other members of AWOL were no present. We thought it would be unfair to include these in the zine which I thought was quite unfortunate because the film on the far right is quite comical.

OWT

OWT creative is an interdisciplinary design group based in Manchester. They work with print, web, film, bookbinding, curating and art directing. In addition to the this they collaborate with other artists to create monthly fanzines. I find their zines to be really eye catching and diverse; no pages are alike. The front covers of the issues are very dynamic and incorporate different techniques and processes such as screen print and risograph that create bold effects. These bold statements catch the viewers attention and encourages them to pick up the zine. One of my favorite fanzines is issue#8 'Love & Hate' I thought it was great how the pieces in the zines corresponded to each other but related to contrasting theme. This zine actually inspired us to incorporate the theme of negativity and positivity towards the Northern Quarter into our unit x zine. I liked the double page by Simon Meredith in issue#10 'Displacement' in particular ( Second image) I thought it was a really striking piece of design. The way he has manipulated the buildings is similar to Monika Traikov collages because he has incorporated shapes into the composition. However after this manipulation the edges of the buildings within the shape connect to the others outside it creating a sense of movement as if the buildings are transforming.