Project 14: Fanzine part II
(Group Project: Ben Pender, Olivia Charlesworth)
So after a few long discussions about how and where we went wrong the first time, we ignored everything we had been told and re-designed our Zine, almost completely. This time we stayed far truer to our original concept and to the essence of what a Zine is. The cost to make each Zine was re-thought as we realised that we had to make at least 30 of them in a week. This meant sticking to black and white printing at the uni printers/photocopiers. Still desperate to have colour we used a single colour setting for the back (red) and bound it with red ribbon.
The idea of our Zine is based on abstraction; the reduction of information to a simpler form. We start with a theme, and break that down into 16 parts, one for each page. Each part is a clue to what the theme is. However each part has only a visual, cryptic clue for you to work it out. Without knowing the theme for which each page is bound, little can be understood about the editorial content of the Zine. Hence the name 'Abstruse' meaning difficult to understand. After you've read through the minefield of pages you are instructed to undo the 8 bindings on the spine and read the book in reverse. The back holds the red pages each of which has not only the answer but an explanation to how and why the clue was made as it was. Followed by some information about the answer itself. After that, the unusually made book can be folded out re reveal a poster with a visual representation of the overall theme.
This Zine is part game, part informative guide, part poster. For just £3 this Zine can be yours, just email me at pender91@gmail.com for more information.
