Group Project: Anthology Zine Exchange

 

Group Project: Anthology Zine Exchange

Each group will be collectively responsible for designing, printing, and assembling a ZINE that contains representative work samples by each member. (4 groups of 4 members each) We will shoot for 20 copies of each zine so that everyone can exchange.

Form: Black and White, 8 pages, 8.5 x 11”, risograph printed

Content: You will select from work that you have completed this semester. Every member of your group must have 2 pages of content in your book. (Artists should be identified with their work. You may use a “persona/pen name” if you wish.)

Roles: You will share responsibility for the successful completion of your group’s ZINE but it makes sense to divide up some specific roles based on sensibility and demonstrated aptitude.

• Ext. cover design
• Int. cover design (contributions/Contents) 
• FILE PREP: scanning and documentation // layout and interior page design
• Printing and assembly

STEP 1: Monday, 11/17

1.) Work together to curate the contents of the ZINE. > Get out everything that you’ve made and identify the best work by each group member. Think about relationships and themes between the pieces. Identify work that would be better with minimal editing (through corrections or just more development). Remember that you are trying to arrive at 8 total interior pages. Everything that is going into the book should be complete and here in the studio ready to scan on Wednesday 11/19.  I’ll work with the group file prep person on Weds. to scan and go over file requirements.

2.) Define roles based on who’s good at what. > i.e. If your computer doesn’t have Photoshop and you’re not good with documentation /editing then you’re not the best selection for File Prep.

3.) Discuss Cover Design and Title. > Brainstorm this. Identify your Interior and Exterior Cover Designers (each of whom should be able to work fast and decisively) who will get busy working on the cover design right away. Cover designs are due Monday 12/1.

STEP 2: Scan work and Prep Files 

After all files are scanned (Weds., 11/19) file prep and page layout may begin.

File Prep & Individual Page Prep Demos (Note: Download all original files to your own hard drive before these steps.)

STEP 3: All Zine content is DUE Monday, 12/1.

This includes:

• Exterior Cover Design
• Interior Cover Design
• Interior Pages (cleaned up and saved individually according to file spec requirements)

STEP 4: RISO Printing will begin Weds., 12/3

After the interior layout has been assembled and proofed I will work with your designated group member to print the book.  

During the last week we will work together to fold, collate, assemble and staple zines.  

Week 12 _ Introduction for Final Project: Short Story Comic

Today I introduced the final project details and timeline. Details below.

Final Project _ Short Story Comic

Content: Use one of your autobiographical in-class exercises or composition book entries as a “point of departure”. In the end, the proportion of fiction-to-truth is at your discretion. Feel free to diverge from memory in the interest of building a better story. 

 

Form: 2-4 pages, Bristol board (11 x 14”), penciled then inked. Black, white, and gray. 

 

Timeline:  

Weds, 11.19   Full Rough Draft Thumbnails due for small group discussion 

 

Weds, 12.3  Penciled Pages due _ Cold Read group activity. 

 

Weds, 12.10 All pages inked _ Critique

GETTING STARTED

Today we conducted an extended exercise that resulted in a story-skeleton. “It can be helpful to build a story in fragments that tend to knit their own connections.” This approach suggests an alternative to the more traditional method of outlining a story, planning characters, and knowing the end before we begin. There’s something in these exercises that allows for the story to emerge. And allows for discovery (as opposed to preconception and strict illustration) on the part of the artist. 

 

A story creates its own blueprint as it unfolds. As Robert Frost put it: “No tears for the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader. For me the initial delight is in the surprise of remembering something I didn’t know I knew.”

You may decide to adapt this week’s exercise into a 2-4 page comic. OR, If you liked the way these exercises generated stories but want to use a different subject/memory go back and apply them to an earlier entry from your comp. book.

 

However you choose to go about this, you need to generate a full rough draft (thumbnail stage) by Weds., Nov. 19. This will serve as the first version for initial feedback from peers during a structured small-group activity.

What do you mean by Full Rough Draft Thumbnails? 

• Use a single sheet of 8.5 x 11” paper for each page of the story. 
• Draw a rough version of the page, broken into panels. 
• Use margin for notes, dialog, important contextual info, transition info, etc.  

Example >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

WEEK 12 _ Assignment: One-Page Collage Comic

Please review the Collage Comic Assignment Details PDF for instructions and timeline. 

[CANVAS > FILES > COLLAGE COMIC _ ASSIGNMENT]