Final Reflection
Task 2 was a rollercoaster ride (it was a lot of fun, but I was also scared that I wouldnāt make it to the end). It was a big project, so I will break the reflection into parts.
First up was the collage for which I presented Neville Brodyās quote ātypography is a hidden tool of manipulation in society.ā I chose this quote partly because I believe it, partly because I love how seriously designers take themselves, and mostly because it sounds cool. I cut the quote down to just 5 words āa hidden tool of manipulationā as the full quote was too long and cluttered the page. I knew I would probably lean towards Postmodernism and grunge in my collage, so when a classmate brought a collection of old art magazines to cut up, I plundered accordingly. I was picky with my letters, collecting letters with a handmade/printed look that were similar sizes and colours. Initially I wanted to make a collage like a hidden objects game so that I could use details as features on different pages of the zine. I tried many iterations of the collage but ultimately felt the images I had werenāt cohesive, so I decided to cut back to only the fortune teller since he tied in nicely with the quote.Ā I followed Constructivist influences when creating the sunburst and positioning the words. Overall, I love the way the collage turned out, although it is off-centre which really frustrates me ā in future Iāll be sure to measure things out properly before cutting them up or gluing them down. Ā
Collage evolution (#DesignIsAnIterativeProcess)
Next up was the monogram, which was the section I struggled with most. Silly as it sounds, I donāt like my name, so I wasnāt keen on investing time into portraying it. Still, I gave it a go- I do appreciate a good monogram (and it was mandatory). I found myself drawn to older monograms; those made by creatives who used traditional making techniques like printing or engraving to sign their works. Ā Our first monogram exercise tasked us with hand drawing 2 monograms inspired by 3 different font styles.Ā
Dodgy attempts at hand lettering
Of the styles I experimented with I wound up really liking the blackletter designs, so I sent it to Illustrator using the Adobe Capture app, where I edited it to improve the quality of the vector and position the letters more nicely together. I kept some of the texture of the original drawing to maintain the handmade feeling, but edited enough so it felt refined. My monogram was well made, but could have been more interesting ā I really struggled to find ways to weave the letters J and T without it looking like a stick. I am interested in pushing myself on this front to improve my typography and hand lettering skills.
Brainstorming alternative monograms
Process of designing final monogram
Final monogram (in a container)
Finally, all the pieces came together for the zine. I got Covid right in the middle of this project so it was a little hectic for me. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed the making process and felt that it was a great creative exercise. Ā My font choices were Kiln Sans (sans-serif)- a textured font styled to look like a wood-block print; and P22 Typewriter (serif). Both of these fonts came from the Adobe Fonts library, and both emulated the handmade look that I love. I enjoyed playing with the layouts of the text and tried to develop a look that blended the geometry of Constructivism with the chaos of post-Modernism. That being said, after looking more carefully at the magazine spreads of Greiman and Carson, I could have done with a more careful use of grids in my layouts (particularly on pages 4 and 5). I enjoy learning the Adobe suite so most of the issues I faced during the creation process felt like learning opportunities ā except for the problems that made me feel crazy... I'm looking at you printing set-up. It took me four tries to get all the pages printed in the right order, I had to add an extra collage in the middle to make the pages divisible by 4, then the pages printed unaligned. I cut them to size as best as I could, but realised that I definitely need some practice with using bleeds/slugs/etc to achieve the desired results.
(Bonus collage/mini-poster in centerfold!)
Final zine spread, cover to cover
This project (and class overall) has helped me to further develop my own art style, while encouraging me to see a project through to completion ā something I really need to work on outside of uni. This process has also deepened my understanding of the history of design, giving context to and (I think) improving the overall quality of my work.
















