2. PLANNING AND PREPARATION
To prepare for this project I spent a week or so researching into my chosen topic and displaying it
all in a PowerPoint document.This allowed me to gather lots of information which aided me when
writing up my fanzine. I used relevant tags to help me find the articles at a later date if needed.
Also I pulled certain quotes from the article which aided me later on when writing up the factual
copy of my work.Another thing that helped me prepare for producing the fanzine was writing the
factual copy. I wrote a couple of drafts to prepare and refine my work.To plan I carried out some
pre-production work.This consisted of me making a couple of moodboards and then making a
production schedule.The moodboards included logo designs, font ideas, colour schemes and
reference images.The other moodboard included images of the style I was going for with the work,
although my outcome was slightly different. I also created a pagination of the book which helped
me know exactly what would go on each page and the basic layout of each page.This allowed me
to know what I was creating during production and restored some order in my work process.
3. TIME MANAGEMENT
My time management was pretty bad for this project. I didn’t manage to finish the fanzine on time
and I ended up having to use the evaluation time to finish it. One of the reasons that I feel I took
longer to finish this fanzine is because I decided to draw some of the illustrations for the fanzine. I
wanted them to look a certain way, so this added to my workload.Another reason is that deciding
on the layout for the text and images took sometime despite me planning it out beforehand. I
changed my mind because some parts didn’t look correct.The pages which took the longest to
arrange was the timeline (multi-page spread). I couldn’t get it all to fit how I wanted and it didn’t
look right. In the end my friend assisted me and a 3rd person view helped a lot. If I were to re-do this
project I would plan better timewise and allow myself some extra time to do all my work.
5. THE EXTENTTO WHICH MY
INTENTIONS HAVE BEEN MET
My original intentions were to create a fanzine about wild and domestic cats, including their
history. I intended to create some graphic artwork to put in my fanzine out of shapes. However,
instead I ended up drawing most of these because it was easier and had a better effect overall.
The only one which I did create out of shapes was the Bastet graphic because I felt this looked
better. Another aspect which was different to my intentions was the fact that I included some
photographs of mine on the “Domestic CatsToday” page. Part of the reason for this was
because I simply didn’t have time to draw these images, but it was also because I wanted the
colours to be evident and the difference between the two cats.The page which closely meets
my intentions is the fact file page on wild cats from across the globe. I intended to do five
different cats all from a different continent. It was intended to be structured in such a way that
it looked like a fact file. I also wanted include sketches of the different cats. I met these
intentions. I had some issues with my original intentions for the multi page spread but I
managed to overcome these issues. I wanted to have relevant images below each point on the
timeline. Instead I decided to have the relevant countries below or above each point on the
timeline. Overall I feel that I met most of my original intentions with only some changes being
needed – usually because of too much text or the layout not looking correct.
6. IS MY WORK APPROPRIATE FORTHE
AUDIENCE?
My work didn’t have a definitive target audience because cats are loved by all kinds of
different people. However, my fanzine may be aimed to a more female audience of
around 18-45 because I feel this is appropriate for the style of my fanzine.The vocabulary
in my fanzine is of a fairly developed level which most adults will be able to understand
and interpret. My target social class is around I have used quite a bright, yet well thought
out colour scheme which runs quite consistently throughout. Some pages are more
feminine than others – the Cats in Ancient Egypt page and Black Cats page.The “A Cat
From Every Continent” page uses a pink/orange colour for the drawings and some text -
this is also quite feminine. Generally speaking women seem to be more interested in cats
which is why the style is more feminine.
7. CONTENT AND STYLE
The content of my fanzine is interesting and to a professional standard. My actual articles
themselves include a high level of vocabulary and are all grammatically correct which I
think is important.The corresponding images were all created with the text in mind. I feel
it is important to have images which correspond well with the text because it helps the
readers understand the article and makes it interesting.The images are bright and
colourful but not overpowering, they work well with the text.
The style of my work is quite contemporary but also homemade at the same time. It is
contemporary because it has a modern feel to it with all the bright colours but cleanly
designed pages. However, it also feels homemade at the same time – this is important
when making a fanzine because it is made by the fans, not necessarily professionals.The
images were drawn which I feel is what adds to this homemade feel.
8. THE SKILLS I HAVE USED AND HOW
THEY HAVE DEVELOPED
Throughout creating this fanzine I developed/learnt a new skill which was how to use a graphics
tablet to create visual elements. Before this project I had virtually never used a graphics tablet
before so this was very new to me. I spent part of a lesson getting to grips with using the tablet
on Photoshop and then eventually I opted for illustrator because it was easier. Most of my
visuals are drawn on Illustrator besides the drawings on the fact file and the Egyptian cat. After
practising a few times I managed to draw the fact file cats better and as I drew more, my skills
developed. One other skill that I used quite a lot was grids. Using these grids helped me align
my work well and influenced my layout. One page where I really used grids was on the
infographic page. It helped make sure that the layout didn’t end up messy. I feel that using
grids helped ensure my work was aligned well and my skills may have improved.The Egyptian
cat was created using two different techniques – drawing and shapes. I created the main body
out of shapes and then I drew the facial features and jewellery on. For the backgrounds on
some pages I used gradients to add some depth to the image. On the ”Black Cats” page I
downloaded a cherry blossom paint brush and used it to add to the background – this linked to
part of the article discussing japan and I felt it made the background more aesthetic.
9. AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT
If I were to improve my fanzine I would like to work more on the backgrounds for each different
page.This is because I am not 100% happy with the backgrounds. I would like to try adding
more depth to them and making them more interesting to look at. My favourite background is
on the “Endangered Cats” page.The jungle vines make the page look interesting and link to the
article.The background which I had the most trouble with was the “Cats in Ancient Egypt” and
“Domestic Cats” pages. If I were to improve I would like the revisit this page and improve the
background and link it more to the text. A page which I would like to improve overall is the
“Black Cats” page. I feel like the illustration on this page could look better and be improved. I
like the cherry blossom because it links with talk of Japan in the article. I could maybe try some
more interesting text layouts across all pages but this would have taken a lot of time.
Overall I don’t think there is loads that I need to improve on maybe. Just some minor changes
could improve the fanzine if I were to do some more work on it. I think it looks good and
professional regardless.
