SDS Eater Break
Over this break I thought a lot about what self meant to me and how I wanted to interpret it for my zine. My mind obviously went straight to self care, self discovery, or insecurities, but I knew I wanted to do something different. One idea that I wanted to do was self growth from my sexual assault. While I did really want to do this idea, I knew it was going to be a lot to take on and since we had a really short term, I was not sure if I had enough time to really get into it, so I decided to try and figure something else out. While I was in Paris I purchased a bunch of vintage 60’s and 70’s magazines, two of them being Seventeen Magazines. Upon looking at them I realized how misogynistic the adverts were and realized that this could be the perfect concept for my zine, especially because I already wanted to have a more vintage aesthetic for my zine. In my proposal below you can read about the concept I came up with for my Zine.
Zine Proposal
For my zine I want to focus on self-identity as a female. While I was in Paris I went to a flea market and bought two Seventeen magazines, one from the nineteen-sixties and one from the seventies. Upon looking through these magazines I noticed that many of the adverts were very sexist. Some adverts had a common theme of telling the reader that in order to be ‘feminine’ they needed their product, almost all the perfume ads had a message that said their perfume would make a man fall in love with you, while also including advertisements for weight loss camps. In my zine I wanted to focus on how femininity is not about looking pretty and smelling good, and how everyone has their one version of femininity.
My zine is essentially for everyone and anyone, but I think my main target audience is young women, because I believe that is the group of people that could relate and benefit from the message the most.
My first BA choice is creative direction, so I am mainly going to focus on producing work that is atmospheric and experimental. I was told in my term two feedback to focus on creating my own visual aesthetic, so in this zine I want to focus on having a similar aesthetic throughout the zine, while also showing different takes on femininity, which will probably be my main challenge. For my aesthetic I want it to be very vintage, dreamy and natural. I want to experiment a lot with my photography by putting sheer tights over my lens to create a cool effect. I also want to experiment with creating multimedia collages. In my term two feedback I was told to experiment more with collages more, so I am going to include that in the zine as well.
I want two include three to four photoshoots in my zine, two of them will be done during break, and the others will be done the first week we are back. I want to have all my photos taken so I can focus mainly on experimenting and creating the zine as fast as I can, so I can be allowed plenty of time to work on the video and pr package, because I feel as if I may have a harder time creating these things. I plan on collecting videos during the shoots, so that will help time management wise. Overall I am very excited to experiment a lot with multimedia collages and my photography, and hope things go as I planned.
SDS Shoot One: Jin at Kew
For this shoot I took my model, Jin ,to Kew gardens. I bought a ten pound digital camera from the early 2000’s, so I was excited to go out and test it out. For this shoot I was also experimenting with a new technique to take photos. I put my sheer purple stocking over the lens of my camera in order to create this hazy, film-like effect. I was really nervous that this was going to make the photos turn out bad, but to my surprise they turned out AMAZING. I am very proud with how they came out and will probably be using this trick in the rest of my shoots for my zine. Also my plan for the video is to just record clips during my shoots, so I did this for this shoot and will do this for every other shoot.
SDS Shoot Two: Self Portrait
For this shoot I just wanted simple photos of my body and armpit hair. I had to get my flatmate to take the photos of me, which was fine, however I find it much easier when I get to do the photos myself, since I can get everything exactly the way I want it. While most of the photos turned out alright, I did not like how the armpit hair ones did, so I will have to redo these, but that is ok. I also had her do the tights over the lens trick on this shoot.
SDS Shoot 3: Barbican
I talk about this shoot in my PPD. Overall this was a great day. I wasn’t planning on getting content for my zine here, since the content I was collecting was more for my PR package. While this shoot went good, I wish I got more photos of the Barbican itself, instead of more editorial based photos, so I may go back.
SDS Shoot Four: Zofia
This shoot was very simple. I just needed a few pictures to match one of my ads. I used the same tights over the lens trick and it came out very nice here. Overall I am very happy with how these photos came out.
SDS Shoot Five: Sylphia
I was so excited for this shoot. I had been planning it for a while. The first time we went to do this shoot, the bathroom was actually closed so we had to reschedule. I was soooooo happy with how these photos came out. I used the tights over the lens trick here and it is cool how they came out much warmer then purple this time. Overall I am very happy with this shoot!
SDS Shoot: Liv
This shoot was to be used next to an advert about acne. I used the strawberries to represent the acne.
Cover Experiments
While in one of my meeting with Carlyn we decided that After Seventeen would be a better name for my Zine, so that is why some of the cover experiments say Eighteen.
Contributors page and Editors Letter Experiments
Layout Experiments (Not uses)
Evaluation
I started my project once I had bought a few vintage Seventeen magazines from the nineteen-sixties and seventies at a flea market in Paris. Upon looking through them I realized how misogynistic and sexist some of the advertisements were. I decided that for my zine I was going to respond to them, so that is how it all began. I knew the best way for me to respond to my concept was through photography and using mixed-media collages. I think through using photography and collages, I was able to clearly communicate my concept, because they play off each other to directly respond to the sexism and misogyny in the adverts. I think that I did accomplish most of the goals that I set out for when creating my zine. The aesthetic I thought I was going to do ended up being slightly different than the one I have for my zine. I think at first I wanted something softer/ dreamier, but I think the more ‘punky’ aesthetic I went with fit my zine concept much more. My method of using tights over my camera lens came out very well, so I was excited about that. I could have done more collages, but I am happy with the outcomes I had. I think more collages would have fit the other aesthetic more than the one I went with.
For this zine I do not think I would change much. If I were to change anything, I think it would be to develop my concept more, however with the short time we had I think I did a good job. I think that I could have included more writing, so that is something to improve on in the future. Through this project I learned that time management is everything for me. In the past I really struggled with that, however for this project I really think I improved on my time management. By doing this I allowed myself more time to develop my ideas properly, instead of rushing to get everything done. I also learned how important collaborating can be. Coming together with other creatives can make your work so much better. For example I am horrible at writing, so I included a written piece from one of my friends who studies journalism. This collaboration worked very well because while writing may be my weakness, it is her strength, which strengthens my content.
I think that my portfolio does show my BA choice quite clearly. My zine is very concept based and you can see that throughout the zine. In order to keep developing my skills, I need to continue to experiment and do research. Through this project I realized how important research is, because that is how I got my concept.
I received feedback about how one of my shoots did not fit my new zine aesthetic and about my zine name. I completely agree with both of these. The shoot that did not fit was one I did before I fully knew exactly what direction I was going in. I think that in the future I definitely will be able to recognize things like this. It is important to be critical about my own work, in order to improve the quality.
Overall I am very pleased with how this project came out. As mentioned earlier I felt that while working on this project, I improved a lot on my time management, which I am very happy about. I think that my strengths are my work, I just have to get better at time management, so that I have the time to do my best. Seeing improvements already helps a lot, however I know I still could be better, so it is something I will continue to work on.