This is probably my most ambitious/complex project to date, and yet in many ways, the easiest and most intuitive creative project I’ve worked on!
I originally didn’t set out to present all the works in this way, but the works really dictated the visual direction. One of the written works (by ASpecialUnicorn, shown as p29 above) was a set of bong editorials, ‘written’ by Howard and Sally Po. I already planned on presenting Howard’s Gift (by Boxofhatebrains, p44 above) in bits and pieces throughout the zine along with recipes (p45) to tie the whole thing together, interspersing other fics in between chapters would require a lot of editor/author’s notes or big titles to help readers understand they were reading a new story that I chose to stick between another story for some reason. However, I loathed the idea of pulling readers out of the story to switch gears, so a different solution was needed.
Presenting the editorials like they were printed in a magazine solved everything and unlocked a whole new dimension of potential. Now, the written works did not have to have a homogeneous format, and their presentations could even enhance the stories. As soon as I read Noirangetrois’ fic excerpt (p50-51), presenting it as a letter was a no-brainer, and that it would pair perfectly with ASpecialUnicorn’s illustration-as-a-Polaroid. I am insanely up my own ass that these four pages managed to present the work of 3 independent creators as one cohesive bundle.
I could go on and on about this, but I’m most excited that my fellow creators supported my dabbles in quasi-experiential zine design and expressed interest in seeing their works transformed in this way. (Or perhaps - relief that the project was moving along at all 😅). Hopefully in the future I’ll find another way to explore this type of presentation for (fan) works! In the meanwhile, this is now the coolest thing I have had a hand in making 😎
germansingergirl
blakekathryn
snowghoul
jacobvanloon
theartofmadeline
gummygunk
dailybridgerton
vaporwave
