ASK ME ANYTHING - REFLECTION
I’ve been hoping to make a book. This project has helped me to achieve a small wish. I moved depressed because I did not come up with a good idea, also I am not good at using InDesign, so I encountered a lot of problem of the layout. But in the end I was happy because I made a zine that I didn’t know before and try a new style and form.
I was lucky to get the support from my friend at the very beginning, my friend who had been in Sydney to study interior design and like graphic design was the first person to answer my interview. My sister recommended Jim Xu to me. I was surprised to discover that I and Jim came from the same city, and his photography works looks so exciting, even he shoot my favorite star for the magazine cover. I immediately sent a request for an interview. Maybe because he and I came from the same city, he happily agreed and answered every question I had asked. He joked with me, he say he did not write his homework for a long time, the completion of this interview is like him in university to complete the homework that feel very nervous very seriously. Thanks Jim for his earnest, perhaps this serious, he can be famous but young.
I actually rarely read magazines, only read fashion magazines like other girls. I like the feeling of hand writing and hand drawing, so when I went to NGV to see the show, I decided to make a zine. But in the beginning I did not go well, my interview object is a photographer who specializes in simple style. It’s hard to show his work and interview in the form of painting and illustration. I thought of fashion magazines I have read before and did research again, I found a simple style to the combination of text and photos. I break the original idea that everything was start new to make me scared, but it was getting better and better. But I am not familiar with InDesign, I insist on using Photoshop and Illustrator. I had met a lot of problems in the layout, and I even did not know which page and which page should be printed on the same paper. More depressed is I was absent from the workshop because of illness, but I also consulted with teacher about the typesetting and printing and good to solve the question. I decided to print to A4 because I heard that Melbourne printing shops can not be printed in B.
I got inspiration from research and decided according to photographer Xu Jim shooting style to make zine. In addition, I thought of workshop that I learned many things, such as shape and typeface. I decided to use them in my zine. I use Jim own captured photos and some shapes to spell his surname. For cover page cover I also joined the collage way. Interview part I made two pages, specially selected to the two pages in the zine of the most prominent importance. I translate Chinese answer into English in the corresponding picture below, the background color of the text box is the main color of the photo. I think this is a good way to highlight the text and pictures. It also become easy to find out the answer to the question in a little complex layout.
After printing out I still have some regret, because there is no use of InDesign, and some of the words and the figure is a bit crooked. I found my language is not very good, through this homework I realized I need to pay more attention to the expression of the text of the magazine and not just look at the picture and layout. Font is also some single, because I don’t want to use many kinds of fonts in a small zine I very thank my classmates help, taught me how to use a stapler, and a needle and thread to make a zine. This is the last job of this term, and I change my biggest homework. I have been afraid of change, but I hope that this attempt can be a very good presentation of the photographer’s answer and his wonderful photographic works.
