WEEK TWELVE
In class, we did a layout exercise where we got given a basic page layout on photoshop containing an image, body text, a caption and page number. We had to focus on different aspects of the layout to emphasise either the image, text or a chosen visual aspect of ourself and have full creative control. I found this activity quite helpful from as although it was timed, it allowed me to not think as much and let my mind creatively make something; I might do this activity on my own assessment to ensure that my zine contains as much creativity as possible while still remaining in the ‘De Stijl’ aesthetic.
We were assigned by Bailey to take a break from our assignments and dedicate an hour to refresh our eyes and getting ideas and return to our work to reinvent it and make our work stronger; as this is the ideal time to go back for inspiration because we have the body of what we are working with and loose the critical distance we need to be able to evaluate our own work, we start back into it and loosing creative driven energy to push it further. I found a piece of work called “Pour un Abstractionnisme” by Christian Gfeller from the website ‘Printed Matter’ which gave me some inspiration for my zine; i found it quite intriguing as it was bold, yet simultaneously simple, showcasing a lot of negative space, some contrast and a bold colour palette; this has inspired me to minimise the details in my zine and get rid of some clutter and truly appreciate the De Stijl aesthetic without altering it too much. I also might try and create some more contrast using negative space as that is something that my zine is lacking.
Image source: https://www.printedmatter.org/catalog/53958