zine

1. Evaluation

2. Research
For my fan-zine I chose to try and recreate my own version of an old school Punk style Zine, only basing it around the folk punk community.
To start my project i began by looking through any existing fanzines and taking apart the content involved, the design of the zine and the
context. When looking at the content and design for each zine I am happy with how I managed to relate what they have done back to the
subject or style of the zine, showing why they may have done this here and what influence it may have on the reader or even just selling
the product as what they want it to be. Doing so has helped me learn what a zine needs to include to make it a “Fan-Zine” rather then a
magazine, making it more specific to a topic then just a genre in general, making zines a community magazine which will typically be read
and bought by people within a community or fan base. But also why sticking to your topic in a zine but also finding a style is key, otherwise
the magazine will either look weird or may just end up representing a general magazine with lots of peoples input.
This made looking at the subject of the zine is key but also the context that is relevant for the zine and when it was made, such as mine
being made today but designed and produced in a style similar to what it was in the 80s, which would be hard to recreate without looking
back at how the original zines looked like, such as how the text is done by a typewriter, but also how articles and adverts are ore relevant in
these zines rather then lots of photography and reviews.
One of the zines I looked at was “maximum rock n roll” which was then the style of zine I was going for trying to push my self to try and
recreate a style which came around due to the lack of tech we have now and was made cheap typically by groups in basements with glue,
scissors and a scanner.
After looking at existing zines I came up with 3 possible ideas for zines and mind mapped the content I could have included and was
suitable for this topic, this helped me see which topic of the 3 I was most interested in through the amount and detail I went in to, but also
gave me a look at what was a better choice for me and which ones would have tested new skills rather then playing safer.
However with my idea planning I could have gone into more detail with the design and subject aspect for my ideas, such as looking at
possible color schemes and why they would work but also talked more about why I could have used the content I wrote down for that
particular subject.
I believe my research was a big help towards my final product as it gave me an idea of what I wanted mine to look like in the end but also
how they present and made the products, which lead towards my final product being excitable as a real zine.

3. Idea development
Once i had finished choosing the idea for our zine i began to actually start developing that idea towards the final product, firstly
making mood boards representing the kind of style I was working towards including images of existing products similar to what I
want, photography from a similar era and style, and also just similar style illustrations I wanted to try and include in the zine. As well
as the original written idea this gives you a visual idea of the kind of zine you want to create, which is more helpful towards the
design of your zine but also gives you examples of the type of content involved and how you could recreate this.
But also for me as I was trying to recreate a style which came around due to lack of resources it helped me see what quality of the
images was like, the way they have used cut outs in the zines and the type of illustration people were making then for a genre such
as punk.
I then made a mood board showing all the possible fonts and image styles I could have used, collecting an array of fonts I though
either represented the punk genre but also could pass as hand drawn or cut out, but also several examples of type writer fonts as I
couldn't’t access a real typewriter like they would have used and wanted to find one that represented it most. This mood board also
gave me a chance to have ago at recreating the photography used on Photoshop but also what it would look like printed out then
scanned in to the computer again, teaching me a a way to recreate the same style for my zine before production started giving me a
good head start.
However I did not include a color scheme as my product was all black and white to match the older zines.
Then I finally experimented my zine making several pages testing out simple illustration but also recreating an 80s style punk zine
article using cut outs glue and a scanner, which came out looking great when all put together with the type writer font.
However a big part of planning where I believe I can improve still is through planning each individual page rather then half of them
and just winging it with the rest, this would make the process quicker but also give me more time on actually producing something
more quality and more specific to what I am making.
Idea development has proven to be very helpful in this project as it gave me a real chance to test out and see if it was possible to
recreate the same look using more modern technology but still interpreting the methods used, such as the scanning and sticking
process. And this leads me to think my development went quite well as it lead towards a decent product but also hitting what I
wanted, and teaching me the first skills I needed when scanning and recreating older photography styles on Photoshop, through the
black and white filter, threshold and noise filter.

4. Production
• Once all the planning and research for my zine had been complete i started the actual production for my final product. Starting off with writing out
our articles and what ever written elements I may include in the product, so it is all ready to add as I design the visual aspects of the zine. I made
several plans for the articles I included researching what content I needed in the article and having a plan of the facts and key aspects to include,
making it easy to write but also so it is to more fact rather then just what I may already know, this helped massively and is something I will defiantly
think about doing this for future written pieces.
• As my zine is going to be based around the old punk zines I had to find ways to recreate the DIY, unprofessional look using more updated tech which
takes away that aspect of print. This required me to print out every page and each individual aspect of that page then stick it all together to create
the DIY style. Then with the photography it required me to go on Photoshop copy the image adding the black and white filter then the threshold
filter to make it look old but adding noise to give the old scanner look due to the quality of modern tech, although this made the production of the
zine long and rather tedious it tested new skills and taught me things such as how to recreate an old style but also was more out of the box then
other zines you may see today matching the huge DIY scene in the punk and folk punk community.
• Choosing this topic gave me the chance to add some of my own illustrations in the work giving it a broader view of skills but also something I enjoy
to make in particular, I would draw the image then scan it on to the computer and using Photoshop to make it bolder and add detail in the color and
shading. Which made the final image come out quite well and worked really great in my zine and with the folk punk topic which generally includes
albums and posters full of darker illustrations.
• When adding in the text into the articles I had to use a ruler to measure the page sizes then create columns in Photoshop that would be printed out
and cut to fit the page and the images on the page, then scan it all in giving it the DIY look.
• I believe my production came out quite well and the final product does actually represent an old punk zine, however looking back through it there
are still several parts that I could have improved on. Firstly when making the layout of the pages I should have made a stencil that each page should
follow on InDesign like real products, although printing and stick can be difficult to keep things straight and the same size.
• Secondly if I had made a plan for each page and what I could have included on the pages but also ordering them, that would give me more time to
produce and create something as I already know what I want onto hat page but also would have made it all stick together and flow better then mine
did since it was out of order in the end due to InDesign mistakes.
• If I was to create a zine like this again I would also very much like to try and go out and collect more of my own photography as well as sourced
images, this would show another skill through photography but also make the zine more original and special.
• However although it could be improved this project has helped me learn lots of new skills whilst testing out new production techniques away from
the computer and actually getting hands on in design and graphics, giving me skills to take onto university and future work I aspire to get towards in
graphic design.

5. Product Comparison
Looking here at my product compared to the real example of a punk zine “maximum rock n roll” from the 80s there are several very similar aspects but
also I believe it is quite clear which is mine and which is professional. Firstly both the examples I have here are articles covering an artist from the music
scene, using quite an even split between the amount of text and images keeping it detailed but including images of the bands in action.
The original zines images are clearly old and have been produced in low quality due to the tech from the 80s being minimum and is quite obvious,
however my own zine has done quite well at recreating this effect through Photoshop and just rescanning the cut out images, although mine a much
clearer and appear darker they still could possibly be older and represent something made with poor equipment and works quite well.
Also my product has typewriter style font like the original that adds to the DIY style and helps my product represent something mad in the 80s, same with
the layout of the text and images being similar and representing one another.
My zines subject is a subgenre of punk therefore the writing style is similar not being very formal but including facts and information that people from
these genres typically may look for, but also both products follow the same mode of address aiming for punks and skins interested in the subculture,
therefore the zine is darker and very raw following a DIY style.

6. Product Comparison
Comparing these two pages of my own zine compared with the existing
products there are more visual difference I can see.
First however both my own product and the existing also has several
aspects that are similar and are quite comparable, both my cover and
the existing use illustration on the front as the first selling point and
the first thing people will see, this is typically in the punk genre but
especially more so in the folk-punk sub-genre with most album covers
or posters including some sort of illustration typically rather dark.
Also both covers contain cut outs for the text where as mine is the title
there's is just across the page, but again having this style makes it
appear more DIY but also is a typical font style people would refer to
being punk.
The other pages I have included are the advert pages of mine and
maximum rock n roll, sharing a similar layout with the adverts cut into
boxes through the page and also not being super detailed but lots of
illustration.
However like I said you can tell the difference and there is still things to
pick on my work, firstly although I am happy with the outcome of my
illustration as I drew most of it I still added color and shading aspects
which do make it look much more digital compared to the original
which would have been and drawn then simply scanned and printed.
Also Same with my adverts they all have a much more digital look then
a may have wanted they still resemble the DIY look but also have much
digital aspects.

7. Contrast- Maximum rock n roll (NOW)
Maximum rock n roll was one of the early 80s punk fanzines a used as a big reference
for my work and also compared my finished product to, however after the success
the zine has had over time they have become a published magazine releasing issues
every month. Since the change it has became less DIY and more media made using
more tech less sticking and cutting, and so I would like to compare my work and the
contrast of the new one to my older style.
Firstly the magazine still holds a similar style that it had being black and white
including illustrations, articles and promoting punks, however it clearly is now made
using computers having know signs of text cut out and scanned in like my own, but
also the articles have changed using less imagery and more text this is also through
the whole magazine.
The next contrast between my own and the new magazine is the amount of content
in the magazine is so much vast compared to my own, due to the computer making it
quicker and getting rid of the hassle of using scanners and cutting up papers and
magazines.
However as when making my own zine I used the computer when making my
illustration more detailed and look better, which is similar to what they have done in
the magazine, initially drawing something but making it bolder and detailed on a
computer.
Also the layout of various pages such as the adverts is till kept the same which makes
it still resemble qualities I tried to use in my own work.

8. Contrast- Kerrang!
I am also comparing the contrast of my zine with kerrang magazine, kerrang is a very
modern and mainstream magazine so Is similar in the music sense but also very
different to my own as its modern and quite mainstream unlike a small independent
fan-Zine.
Firstly a big difference is the fact kerrang use colour to make there magazine look so
good, matching bands colors to the page through the fonts images and other art
used. But mine is in black and white since old 80s zines wouldn't’t have been able to
really add much colour through the scanning and older equipment they had at hand.
Secondly my zine has been more hand made in a DIY style and process, but kerrang
will make there completely online only using digital aspects in the magazine, although
it does make it look more professional it also makes it mainstream and if I did this it
would take away from my zine and the topic of my zine, making it less like a zine in
general as it wont have a community and punk DIY aesthetic.
Kerrang use lots of really well taken planned out professional imagery to make it look
professional and mainstream, however I would not have wanted to do this even if it
was possible as using out of studio images at gigs in the moment makes it raw and
look more like the style and feel I wanted my zine to give.
Although I do like the look of kerrang I prefer the style I chose as its more fitting to
the kind of less mainstream, raw and independent style of magazines I like. Such as
the older zines and other less mainstream magazines out there.

9. Peer feedback
How does my zine compare to the older 80s punk zines such as maximum rock n roll and could it pass as something older?
What qualities of my magazine stand out to you and what could I include more of? E.g illustration, photography, written
elements
Is my zine informant on the topic teaching you more about the folk punk community?
After looking back through my peer feedback I am happy with the positivity of what I got back however there was not
much criticism to look back on and reflect. However my peers said the zine does a good job at aesthetically looking older
and could pass as a real 80s punk zine, just if it had more content and pages.
The illustrations within the zine really stand out and are to a decent quality but also match the style and feel of the zine,
also the fonts used stand out and again are very fitting to a punk product.
The best feedback showed that my zine is very informative to people who are new to the scene giving them a first look
and idea of what the folk punk community is about and is great for people just starting to get an interest in the zine.
I would have liked to gather more criticism to know what I could have improved but also what an actual customer would
think of the product for future reference in making zines and punk products.