fanzine research

1. Fanzine Research
Tom Haase

2. Existing Product
Front cover Double Page Spread

3. Existing Product
The images taken have been heavily edited on Photoshop, however the images are of the football players
in their kit, so the location would be the football stadium. The images in the double page spread are also
taken at the football stadium, on the football pitch. There are many advertisements throughout the
fanzine, for example clothing brands and also self advertising (clothing from the author). These
advertisements cover a full page and appear often, making it known they are there.
The designs on the images are well edited, to make them look sketched/drawn and using popular effects,
such as outer glow. Each page and image has its own effects, for example black and white or sketched and
these effects are used to associate with the page context, for example the Newcastle colours are black
and white so the whole page’s colours are also black and white. Another colour scheme links the title and
the colours, for example the front cover says “Tyneside Irish” and the colours used are green and white on
the text and background, then an orange tint has been added to the image of the players, which are all
the colours on the Irish flag. On most pages there is half the page covered by text on a certain topic of the
club or sport and the other half of the page is covered by an image associated with the text.
The context is based on the football club and features associated with the club, for example the fans and
chants, more content is based specifically on some players, for example on double page spread focuses on
Jonjo Shelvey. Little but some content focuses on issues to do with football (not just in the club), for
example child abuse in football and other problems that need to be sorted out.

4. Existing Product
Front cover Double Page Spread

5. Existing Product
The image on the front cover doesn’t have a clear location so was most likely taken at a studio as it has precision
lighting and is of good quality. The fanzine contains different articles discussing the tour, including reviews and
interviews with special guests. The image props include music instruments such as a guitar and microphone, which
shows the fanzine is about music, attracting music fans just from the image. The images in the double page spreads
look like they are taken at a concert/gig, however because they are of good quality, lighting and editing it could
have been taken in a studio and made to look legit using Photoshop.
The front cover of the fanzine doesn’t stand out a lot, however the image is well designed and if spotted would
attract people (music fans especially). There is some stand out features, for example the yellow light and title
against the blue background is easily noticeable. The double page spreads are very noticeable as well, likely done if
someone was quickly looking through the bright red colours you can see from the example stand out a lot, with the
black text being fairly hard to read, meaning you would have to stop and look for while to read it. The images on
this double page spread are also very eye-catching, with the bright yellow light again, contrasting to the red
background the page. People are more attracted to pictures then text, and more attracted to large text rather then
difficult-to-read, small text, which is why the front cover is successful as the image covers most of the page and has
bold, white text contrasting with the black and blue colours behind it. On the double page spread there is an image
covering the whole of one page with one line of bold text over it and on the other page there is half text and half
covered by an image, which is quite effective as it makes it seem as there isn't a lot of text, even though the text is
a small print. The font is simple to read, which is effective to readers who don’t want a difficult task to get the
information/context, as its similar to a magazine.
The context is about the band ‘Strange Folk’, as it states on the front cover the fanzine includes a variety of
features, such as tour information, interviews, reviews and photos of the band, letting the readers know the main
topics of the fanzine on the front cover to entice them into reading it. The style of writing is very informal, as most
of the readers would be fans of the band, which have a majority teenage audience, therefore they are appealing to
those fans more using informal styles of writing.

6. Existing Product
Front cover Double Page Spread

7. Existing Product
The front cover, as you can see, is very eye-catching with the different bright colours used. The image looks like it
was made by randomly adding types of paint onto a piece of wood and picturing it after it dried, giving it a unique
abstract look, that attracts many readers. The other pictures in the double page spreads are taken at different
places, for example on the example you can see the image is of a wall that has been painted/spray painted on. This
is very effective as it gives the fanzine a realistic look as everything is legit and hasn’t been produced on Photoshop
or a computer and it is actually done by hand and pictured. There are no advertisements in this fanzine, which I
think makes it effective because the fanzine focuses on serious topics and is not supposed to be light-hearted, and
adverts may take away this tone of seriousness.
As I said before the front cover used bright colours to catch the reader’s eye, which it does, however the bright
colours are usually associated with happy, positive moods/tones, which is very deceptive of the context of the
fanzine, which are dark, serious subjects. Just on an appearance basis however, this design is very successful as
many people like the abstract/random style of design, with the dripping of the paint and not everything being
perfect. The main colour schemes in the double page spreads are black white, with the background, text and
imagery, all without colour. There is a fairly even ratio of picture to text, making it successful in making people read
it and still including all the information and text needed, due to the text being a small size. All the images are
sketched/hand drawn or designed to look this way, giving the fanzine are more personal look, as if someone made it
all by hand, giving it more of a feel to it, which works well with the context and seriousness of the subjects. The
fonts chosen are sans serif, simple and easy-to-read fonts, as it is made to give information and not to look fancy.
The simplicity of the text also works well with the context of the fanzine and the sketched imagery displayed.
The fanzine covers serious subjects and context, for example it talks about slave labour, threat and social activism.
The style of writing isn’t formal, however it isn’t informal, they don’t use a lot of slang, the text is displayed in an
ordinary manner, to give the information needed.

8. Research summary
• The front cover of fanzines are usually eye-catching or include a small feature that is eye-catching. There is
also an image covering most of the front cover on most fanzines, an image that is associated with the
topic/subject of the fanzine. A lot of the time the image on the front cover is heavily edited creating an
effect that entices the reader and something that is aesthetically pleasing as well as having some sort of
meaning (association to the subject of the fanzine).
• The images in the double page spread look good if they fit into the background, for example the image is
the background (as the third fanzine I researched shows) using contrasting or colour schemed text to go
over the background.
• Colour schemes are usually main features of fanzines, however all of them are different they most likely all
have their own. The colour schemes set a mood/tone of the fanzine topics/subjects, as well as improving
the fanzine’s appearance. Black and white colour schemes appear to be a very popular choice in a lot of
fanzines, as they are simple and easy to read and understand.
• The fonts are usually simple and easy to read and they are providing information and people don’t want a
difficult task when reading it.

9. Initial Ideas

10. Idea 1
• Music – Santan Dave

11. Idea 2
• Football - Liverpool

12. Idea 3
• Video game - Far Cry

13. Bibliography

14. Bibliography
1. True Faith. (2017). Tyneside Irish. Available:
https://issuu.com/truefaith1892/docs/true_faith_129. Last accessed October 20th
2018.
2. Kula Fanzine Strange Folk. (2016). Strange Folk. Available:
https://issuu.com/kulafanzinestrangefolk/docs/strangefolk_issue10. Last accessed
October 20th 2018.
3. Farah Hassan Hamdy. (2015). Banksy. Available:
https://issuu.com/farahhamdy9/docs/fanzine_final_for_viewing. Last accessed
October 20th 2018.
4. Anon. (2018). Santan Dave . Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_(rapper).
Last accessed October 21st 2018.
5. Anon. (2018). Far Cry (Video Game). Available:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far_Cry_(video_game). Last accessed October 21st
2018.
6. Anon. (2018). Liverpool F.C. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool_F.C..
Last accessed October 21st 2018.