Deadline: 10:00am, Thursday 22 April BriefThe brief is to identify a problem that, to my mind, needs to be fought against, that needs to be given attention and that would benefit from a wider awareness. The materials created should be available to be used by anyone, anywhere, to join the fight. This begs the question of how someone goes from accessing my work onscreen to being able to interact with it physically. Including instructions would be an informative way to tell people how to use your designs. Initial ResearchI began some initial research into already existing placards to inspire my own practice. Some things that I have noticed is that placards will often use a play on words or make reference to things from popular culture, especially when the protests are youth lead. A lot of the time placards are mostly made up using words, however imagery can be just as effective - for example Banksy's "Bomb Hugger" placard for the Iraq war protests, which is sprayed onto old cardboard, shows a young girl clutching a bomb with the words ‘NO’ in front of her. My interestsI think when doing these kinds of projects its important to think about the things that you yourself are passionate about. Some of my social, environmental and political interests include, Climate change, women's rights, deforestation, LGBTQ+ rights, mental health, Autism Awareness, body positivity and Inadequate sexual education in the school system. Protest pack subject: Body PositivityI want to focus on something that I feel connected to and body positivity is something that I feel really passionate about, I’m hoping that my creations will help empower other people as well as inform them on how to be kinder to themselves and others, in a society that constantly promotes diet culture and and often over sexualises the naked figure. My Protest Pack ideasA placard - design and how to make one Posters - stick up in your local area or in your window A zine or hand book/ guide - tips for reclaiming your confidence and your body, how to stop diet culture entering your life, why before and after pics are damaging. A stencil - spread the word on the go? History of the ZineZines exploded in popularity during the punk movement in the 1970s and again with the feminist Riotgrrrl movement in the 1990s. They were handmade small-run non-commercial paper publications, usually produced through do-it-yourself techniques. As zines are relatively easy to create and distribute, they were quickly taken up as projects for DIY political resistance among young women seeking authentic self-expression and connection with other radical thinkers. Their zines were often filled with free-flowing illustrations and collage, printed with the help of a trusty photocopier, and distributed through local markets and mail order. While the zines of the past have been shaped by the predominant themes of sci-fi, punk music, and the riot grrrl movement, there have always been zines on a variety of subjects. Useful Links: Zinester’s Toolkit: Tape Binding – Broken Pencil 11 🔥 Intersectional Feminist Zines and DIY Guide (with Template) — Disorient (Re)learning to Love Ourselves (chapman.edu) Whatcha Mean, What's a Zine?Luckily I took these photos on my phone last year in an earlier zine project so I could utilise them now! The makers of the text 'Whatcha mean, What's a Zine?: The Art of Making Zines and Mini Comics', Mark Todd and Esther Pearl Watson, once discovering zines, never stopped making them and created this resource for others to use to inform their craft. Taking inspiration from the resource, I would like to have a go at making 'The freebie' as that would also include a poster design or stickers which could be good additional resources in 'The Protest Pack'. Also making instructions for making zines is pretty straightforward, although i do need to keep in mind the way i use visual language to tie everything together. Visual resourcesIf, like me, you’re a visual learner these videos are helpful in setting out the simple ways of making a zine and the way that they have brought communities together. Artist ResearchI think it’s important to find other individuals who have already begun to pave the way, bringing body positivity to light through their illustrations, standing up against the patriarchy and the perceived image of a ‘healthy’ body. I have purposely picked artists who depict the naked form and express the importance of self love through their work. Rosi ToothRosi Tooth is an illustrator who's work explores being a woman in society, body shaming and mental health with playful light hearted illustrations and quirky ceramics. Sofie BirkinSofie Birkin is an illustrator who creates bold, colourful characters and bright, playful images which prioritize inclusive representation which aim to empower. Sarah BarnhartSarah Barnhart is a mixed media artist, her work often ventures in to the realm of self discovery as well as body confidence and positivity. Body Positive Zine InspoThere are so many different approaches to zines and their layout. Especially as zines are now often found in the world of graphic design and are a far leap from the stuck together masterpieces of the 70s. I think id like to keep an element of the hand made/ textured feel, but in a more digitally rendered way, such as using a textured pencil brush to create my images. ThumbnailsBody positivity is such a broad subject, and there are so many different people who are effected that I worry I might miss out an important group.I think to focus in on a specific area, in order to explore the subject in a more decisive way, might be a better way to tackle this topic. Focusing on Diet cultureThe same way that anyone can be effected by body positivity, anyone can be caught up in the stream of advertising that’s main aim is to make people feel badly about themselves. One saddening statistic I came across is that 80% of teenage girls in the uk are afraid of becoming fat. I think it’s important to aim my zine at the most impressionable group, young people, in the hopes that my zine would empower them and be accessible to anyone else who read it. What is diet culture?-Diet culture has many definitions and facets but, in a nutshell, it’s a set of beliefs that worships thinness and equates it with health and moral virtue. It has become our dominant culture — often in ways we don't even notice since it's the water in which we swim. -Diet culture places thinness as the pinnacle of success and beauty, and “in diet culture, there is a conferred status to people who are thinner, and it assumes that eating in a certain way will result in the right body size — the ‘correct’ body size — and good health. - Diets don’t work: evidenced by the 98% failure rate of diets. This stat alone is proof of the no-win norm that we, as a society, have been groomed to abide by. In one fell swoop, diet culture sets us up to feel bad about ourselves — and judge other people, too — while also suggesting that losing weight will help us feel better. -While what is truly “average” varies greatly on genetics, family history, race, ethnicity, age, and much more, size and weight are actually notgood indicators of health in the first place — you can be smaller-bodied and unhealthy, or larger-bodied and fit. Target Audience (girls age 11 and up)I want my zine to be accessible to all and I hope it would be due to its friendly colour palette. However, I plan to aim my zine at girls aged 11 up, as from my own experience as a young woman I can remember that I first started thinking about what my body looked like when I started secondary school and I can’t remember there ever being any physical recourses that helped me worry less about what I looked like. The idea is that these zines would be handed out at school, along with a ‘how to make your own zine’ list in order to spread awareness about diet culture and encourage creativity in girls. Also there seems to be a major lack in creativity when it comes to school pamphlets and they’re not very interesting to look at so hopefully my zine would fill a gap in the market. Thumbnails for ZineWorked up visualsAfter feedback I have realised that I need to include room for bleed within my work to ensure that everything is in line and important aspects don’t get cut off when printing. I have also realised that a few of my colour pallet choices make the writing a little difficult to read so I need to reconsider the colour used for the type. Don’t forget the bleed!Final outcomesMy final outcome is an 18 page, A5, full colour zine. Target audience girls 11 and up, but with the hope of being accessible to all. The aim of my zine is to spread awareness about diet culture and it’s impact on body image. Ideally I picture this zine being distributed in secondary schools as a way to make young girls feel less alone in their worries about what they look like and give them the knowledge that will help to prevent them from being drawn in to diet culture. Zine instructionsMock upsZine Spreads as postersPaper bag and fruit stickersMy second idea for my protest pack is ‘fruit stickers’. Do you ever remember being a kid and peeling the sticker from a fruit and sticking it to your siblings forehead? Just me? Well anyway I think it would be a very cool way to spread the message of ‘positive eating’ through stickers, especially in a school environment. And these stickers don’t have to just be on fruit! They could be on sandwich bags or chocolate bars, but it would all be about spreading a message of positivity! Plus there’s nothing people love more than being able to collect stuff (there was always that one kid in school with a massive stamp collection), they could be added to planners and are a constant reminder to be kind about their body. Diet culture sticker inspoI really like the vibrant and colourful stickers as they’re the most engaging and the catchy phrases are quick to the point. I think In my stickers I’d like to incorporate some figures as it fits with the visual language of my zine and I think sometimes it’s easier to relate to images rather than just words. Sticker ThumbnailsI started out by mind mapping different kinds of phrases I could incorporate into my stickers and then drawing out different objects and figures that fit with the theme of diet culture, some of the objects/figures are the same as some of the drawings from the zine, as I wanted to create a consistent visual language which would help the two parts of the protest pack link together. Final Sticker OutcomesI have created two sticker sheets, with 13 stickers across the two sheets. The idea is that you could use these stickers in school to seal sandwich bags or stick to different foods, within a school canteen that way the idea of positive eating and not giving into diet culture is a positive message within schools. Mock ups
0 Comments
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |