Production Diary Fanzine

1. Production Diary
By Liberty Whitehorn

2. Week One Of Production (Fanzine):
Within the first week of production i created the front and back cover
to my Jeffrey Dammer fanzine. With the front cover, i created jeffrey
dammer by drawing a hand sketch like graphic design of him. I did
this by finding a photo of him on the internet and choosing the block
colours to go with his hair colour and skin colour. I then copied the
photo and changed the opacity and saturation so that i had a basis of
how to create the shadowing for him. This worked well and had
helped me create an effective graphics sketch of him. I was then
inspired to present him in a orange jumpsuit as this is the classic
colour for a criminal. This works effectively as you can instantly tell
he is a criminal without having to read the fanzine. I then created the
height chart behind him, so that it shows this is a mug shot of the
killer. I decided to include polaroids because it links into the killers
odd fascination with photographing his victims. This is why I've
included the victims photos in them, to so the very few people he
killed. The main font used the display Dammers name was selected
because its dysfunctional and careless which i feel reflects Dahmers
personality. Ive highlighted this in orange too because it shows a
consistent use of colour, this is why i have included it on the back
cover too. I had a few issues with the main font. This is because the
computer wouldn't let me download it, which lead for me having to
screenshot the font. From this, i used the magic wand tool to cut out
the white background and then i began to sharpen the edges. This
was because i wanted it to look less pixelated and more hand drawn.
This is because it links in with the style of the front cover more. The
back cover of the fanzine i found difficult. This was because i was
trying to make the polaroids have the correct space from each other
to make the page look even. This lead for me to use a ruler. After
placing the polaroids i decided to change the shadows on them. This
is because i felt like it drew the attention away from the actual
victims. This is because this page is a serious tribute page to the 17
victims effect and killed by Jeffrey Dahmer.

3. Week Two Of Production (Fanzine):
With in week two of production i came across many hurdles. At the start of the
week i began to construct a double page spread of the timeline of Jeffrey
Dahmers murders. I decided to follow the classic old paper looking
background because the effect makes it seem more historical. I then began to
think of different ways of presenting my timeline which lead for me to conduct
more research. I then began to create a square like effect which lead to an
effective timeline which was easy to follow. After completing the time line i
though including a few graphics would make the double page spread seem
more interesting. This lead for me to include blood splatters and to create
limbs in a gruesome way. This lead for me to create a hand with a piece of
bone sticking out of it. This worked effective and filled in the gaps nicely. For
the rest of the week i began researching into evidence pages. This lead for
me to create a basic lay out of a file for Jeffrey Dahmer. This took longer than
i thought due to trying to de code a file of the evidence page. This was
because the writing was worn or not easy to read. After this i decided to make
the evidence page seem clearer on what it was. This lead for me to use a
piece of text in red and place it on the background. This is so if anyone reads
this page, they will know what it is. This is because the evidence page and the
death certificate will seem rather similar due to the lay out. After completing
the lay out i printed the page off. This was because i decided to do the writing
by hand in the report to make it seem more realistic.
I did try and experiment with the graphic tablet, however i found it challenging
as I've never used it before. This is why i decided to continue the document
by hand because it was more time effective. After completing the writing by
hand, i scanned it into the printer and that concluded my evidence page. I did
face a few issues with scanning the evidence page back into the printer, as it
kept turning out black and white. This lead for me having to change a few
settings on the printer so the colour went back into the document. Overall, this
week has been productive and i have learnt a lot.

4. Week Three Of Production (Fanzine):
Within the third week of production, I created the remaining three
pages. This consisted of: the death certificate, trial and imprisonment
page and a interview with Jeffrey Dahmer. To begin with I began to
complete the death certificate. This was challenging because I had to
research into death certificates and try and create a similar lay out. This
was hard as I didn't have all the information on Dahmer that was
required for this. However, I created a similar version which included all
the information I knew on it. This worked effective. I then created the
same effect I did with the evidence page last week. I decided to print a
lay out of the certificate out and complete the work by hand. This is
because it gives the report a more personal touch. This worked
effectively. I then proceeded to complete the interview with Dahmer. I
tried to stick with the same colour scheme with continuing to use orange
as a highlight colour. This has helped make the overall fanzine flow. I
included the graphics I created of Dahmer as the main image in this
interview. This was because it makes the page clear on what it is
wanting to display. Which is a interview with Dahmer. I also began to
create handcuffs due to it being about jail and his imprisonment. This
was difficult because i had to change the colours so that they matched.
This meant using two different greys. I found this hard because I didn’t
want them to blend. This is why I highlighted the handcuffs in black and
it has worked really well. This I why I have continued to use the
handcuffs graphics because it immediately shows the audience what
this page consists of.
Lastly the trial and imprisonment page. I carried on using the same
coffee stained background. This is so it follows a pattern through out my
fanzine. However, I decided to mix the background up for this page a
little. I decided to use jail bars. For this I changed the opacity so that it
slowly shadowed the work. This was so it didn’t move the attraction
away from the writing. I also included other graphics to show what the
page is disusing which I found has worked effectively.