3. Chosen idea
• For this project I have chosen to work in the fanzine area and this will be based on the fashion industry how women
are objectified and how social media (especially Instagram) is effecting peoples lives and their mental health will
also be linked into this. I chose to focus more into this area because I wanted to chose a category which I can link
into my FMP which is the fashion industry and print hence why I want to produce a fanzine which I am able to
design all my images and chose how I will produce the work with my layout plans which I will create a context page
so I can split up the different categories making it easier foe my audience. I will be focusing my target audience
specifically females with an age range of 16-25 because this is a age range which would typically use social media or
even be in the fashion industry e.g. modelling. My fanzine will include 12 pages or onwards including my front cover
etc and these will be facts and explain to my audience really what the industry involves. I will also being including an
interview which I will look into more detail later on but I have a brief plan of either reaching out to an Instagram
influencer or model using the social media platforms which they are on this could be by using email or direct
message. Once I have created my fanzine an my audience read through it I want them to take away from this that
social media is not real life and to understand that the fashion industry is a lot more than what it seems in many
ways, importantly I want my audience to feel relieved mainly with the mental health side of the situation and not to
feel stressed on looking a certain way or expect to have an expectation of how you look being yourself is the
important part. And to my other audience which want to find more information behind the fashion industry they
will have a much more better understanding and learn new facts from my fanzine.
4. Existing Product
I then moved onto the second part to my research which was looking into existing products and I focused
on fanzines using a site called ‘issuu’ I looked around fanzines based on fashion and found a couple of
examples such as Money, Fashion and power this one caught my eye from the front cover because of the
dark yellow background which stood out from the rest from the shadows of the receipt. This is based on
how money and power come into play across the fashion supply chain and what happens to your money
when you purchase clothing, who is getting a bad deal?. I think this is very relevant because it gives people
an idea to stop them from purchasing fast fashion and for them to realise who actually makes their clothes
and what their lifestyle is actually like and wages etc. The phrases and questions used to ask the audience
are very effective and direct to make people think about their actions before buying certain types of
clothing or what they can do to help garment workers have a better wage and environment to work in. I
looked into a few more two page spreads included in the fanzine and found the colours schemes focuses
more on blacks and yellows I like the idea of this consistency because a range of random colours can not
look very appealing to a layout but with matching colours these can fit well and look more professional. Also
the dark lighting and shadows could be trying to indicate the negativity towards the fashion industry and
how they want the best deals which are usually the countries with the lowest wages. The bold
fonts varier through the pages which I like because there is a Range and it isn’t just the same
repetitive font which could be coming boring to its audience some of the fonts covered one
whole page which really shows the importance of getting its point across to the
audience(making a statement). It also includes a lot of different layout plans with larger and
small images which is something I want to consider including In my fanzine as this is a great
way to attract the audience. Included in the fanzine I came across a page which was titled
‘send a letter to a brand’ which I think is a great way of getting the audience involved and for
them to actually act upon and to help take action with this issue in the fashion industry I also
found games included as this is a 72 page fanzine with a lot of detailed points and creative
ways for its audience to interact with.
6. Existing Product
This example of a fanzine is based on the effects of social media and body image and is dedicated to educate and
inspire young girls around the globe the purpose is for its audience to learn that the addiction to social media is
increasing and has led to many wanting to achieve unrealistic body standards. This is very relevant because it
includes mental health which I want to look more into on the social media side and most of the population use
some type of social media every single day the front cover to the fanzine actually includes the different content
which will be inside whereas others I have looked at have been a lot more plain this was one of the reasons as to
why I chose this one as it stands out a lot to me. The cover also includes large images of the social media app icons
for the audience to understand the purpose a lot more easier of the fanzine and when looking through the 14 pages
I notice the colour schemes range from purple, pinks and blues they could have chose these colours firstly to appeal
towards the audience of younger women and the saturated colours also give off a happy supportive tone as they
want there audience to feel this and have a confident mindset. These colours could also symbolise the different
social media apps for example blue is used for Facebook, twitter etc I looked into one of the double two page
spreads within this I found that the global girls are trying to help their own audience over come certain thoughts or
give out tips which will help to improve their mental and physical help one of these included a few questions for the
audience to ask themselves which is a great strategy to really think about how social media takes over and is a
standard and to get in touch for help.
The text to picture ratio matches really well and there isn’t any random images they all have a meaning as to what the text is referring to which I
like the idea because it is a lot more understanding and effective. The headlines all stand out when looking through each page and are mostly
sans serif and serif fonts which are the common fonts used that grab the audiences attention as they are bold and larger fonts. I also really like
these layouts because it looks a lot more appealing and creative with a mixture of styles and sticker images. This fanzine also included a two
page spread with information purely on one person who is a director of leading learners and they had included a quote on which she had stated
they did this because including other peoples opinions can help people who struggle with the effect which social media can have and are more
likely to listen to the advice if it is someone well known or who inspires them. The mode of address earlier on in the fanzine are very direct to
really question the audience by giving them questions to answer back on or give feedback and will make the audience feel like they are directly
being spoken to and to carry on reading.
8. Existing Product
I decide to lean back towards the fashion based fanzines and came across one which is an in-depth review based on Fashion Revolutions global
impact, focus on activities and activations during Fashion Revolution week and the month of April in 2019.This fanzine is telling the audience
about the different clothes they wear and how they want fashion to become a force for good and a cleaner and safer industry and also the
problem, the vision and solution within the industry. This is very relevant and an interesting subject because it is trying to get its audience
involved and understand the main problems occurring right now which people don’t know about as they only see the goods to the fashion
industry but it also includes solutions or how the audience can act to make a change which I think is very important and a f=great subject to
focus on for a fanzine. The cover of the fanzine is very basic and minimalistic but I like this idea because it gives a better effect and looks more
professional and not too over crowded which personally makes me more intrigued to look Inside the colour schemes from the front cover are a
mix which I also like and is a large font choice to grab in its audience. This fanzine includes 107 pages and the main headline fonts for each page a
big bold fonts which look the same type of font and the colour schemes of the pages mix between pinks, blacks and whites but also a few pages
have the same design as the colours included on the front cover which I like because this matches well together and gives of a positive tone and
mood to its audience which they want for there audience to feel like they can become involved in this fashion
World and help. As I believe this fanzine would appeal towards younger women by the different layouts and
a lot of the images included are women or the colour schemes are mostly feminine colours. they have a lot
of pages based on case study's which is great for giving out information and this fanzine itself provides a lot
of information for its audience to understand and learn. I also like how the fanzine includes a variety of
images as well as lots of texts which is a good ratio to keep its audience interested in. This fanzine also
Includes a few social media pages which talks
on how we raise awareness through
Instagram using the hashtag
imadeyourclothes I think this is another great
Way to get the audience involved via social media and in my fanzine, I will
focus on parts of social media so this was a great fanzine to look into and I
can include ideas from this such as the Instagram hashtags into my final
fanzine as a way of making awareness to mental health through social
media.
