The document discusses various technical and theoretical problems the student may face during their final major project (FMP) involving creating a fanzine. On the technical side, they discuss issues like backing up work, working from home with outdated software, storage space on memory sticks, and ensuring software works properly. Theoretically, they consider problems like weather impacting photos, meeting production deadlines, costs of professional printing, and conducting interviews during COVID-19 restrictions. They propose solutions like frequent backups, using college resources, clearing storage, and online interviews. Overall, the document shows the student is carefully considering potential issues and ways to avoid or address problems during their FMP work.

1. Problem Solving

2. Practical and Technical Problems

3. BACKING UP: I don’t want to lose any work at any stage during my FMP project. To
ensure that this won’t ever happen to me I must make sure that I regularly save my
work and make sure that I even have more than one copy saved somewhere else (e.g.
using a memory stick or even emailing it to myself). Everyday when I do a bit of work I
should make sure that it is saved in multiple places. That means that if I were to ever
lose work because of a problem with my laptop and/or even a college computer I
would always have a backup copy.
WORKING AT HOME: At home I’m using an older version of Adobe rather than using
the newer version at college. With my other FMP that I did during quarantine, I
struggled with using the older version of software's I had on my laptop when I’m used
to using the software in college. In order to fix this, I can either create the work on this
laptop and then edit it at home. However a problem with this is that I won’t be able to
edit it once again on my own laptop at home due to the software at college being
more updated. The other suggestion is that I can do all of the work at home and then
make any modifications and final touches when back at college.

4. EQUIPMENT: Since I have decided to create a fanzine for my final product in my FMP,
I’m not sure if I’ll need any specific equipment aside from software such as Photoshop
where I can create my experiments and then my final product. Other software to help
the editing process will also be needed. If I decide for some reason to take
photographs I will either need to use my phone or borrow one from college since I
don’t own a good photography camera myself. If I plan to do any interviews and
include them in my fanzine I must make sure I also have the correct equipment for
that e.g. a voice recorder or my phone if in person. If I were to conduct interviews
whilst we were still in quarantine then I would record via Microsoft Teams.
SOFTWARE: At college I am used to using an updated version of Photoshop and the
other software applications we’ve used in previous projects. My laptop at home
however doesn’t have these updated software's meaning I will not have access to
some things that I could have accessed at college. I must make sure that I back-up my
work frequently so that if my software crashes I will not loose any of the work I had
done previously.

5. STORAGE: On my memory stick I have all of the work I have completed during my time
at York College. This includes my time doing my Level 2 course and now my Level 3
course work. This means that I don’t have as much storage as I would like on my
memory stick. I can solve this by removing certain folders and work and putting them
onto my laptop or even onto one of the college computers once we return. I could
also take precaution and save some of my work onto SlideShare, a publishing software
that is associated with LinkedIn. This website allows us to save work that we can then
put onto our websites and various other places that examiners can see. If I save my
work there then I won’t have to worry about deleting certain folders or putting them
onto another computer.
POWER: There is always the possibility that either my laptop or a computer from
college could malfunction which would then cause me to lose work. This can always
be avoided by making sure that my work is secure and backed-up onto multiple
devices to ensure that this won’t happen. Alongside using a memory stick and even
my email, I could also use various other websites I’ve used in previous projects such as
SlideShare or Blogger.

6. Working At Home
Due to COVID-19 we have had to work from home, meaning that there was a sort of
lack between the tutors and ourselves. This was easily solved by using Microsoft Teams
which allowed us students to easily talk to our tutors. However I have always preferred
to work at college rather than at home so it was difficult from me to get any work done
at the start of quarantine.
There were also a few other problems I faced during quarantine. I’d say that one of the
most important problems being how outdated the Microsoft applications on my laptop,
since it was something that I had to borrow from college due to not having a
functioning laptop of my own. This meant that there was a limit to what I was able to
do from home.
Over the past few weeks we have been at college I have been able to accomplish more
than I have ever done during my time with quarantine. Because of this I have been able
to do more work than I had originally planned which has now allowed me to be more
flexible with my schedule. This also means that I’m able to freely improve on any
previous work, which is something that I wasn’t able to do previously.

7. Backing Up
I don’t want to loose any work during this project, due to how important it is that we
present any form of work during our time in quarantine. If my laptop crashes (or the
software I’m using crashes instead) it will be difficult for me to replicate the same
work I had done before. I hope to avoid this since it has happened to me a number of
times during other projects, meaning that I was behind schedule and everyone else.
When doing my experiments and my final product I would want to add as much detail
as possible to make my work look as good as it possibly can, this can be hard to do
when I have to re-do work all over again. To prevent this from happening I must make
sure that I save my work frequently and even save multiple copies of the same file (I
could also title each bit of work with a different date so that I don’t get confused as to
which is which). This means that if I were to loose work I could always go back to one
of the files I had created and resume from there. If I do end up losing work due to
certain circumstances I think that it would have an overall large effect on my entire
project.
If this were to happen then I would have to spend more time re-doing work when I
could be doing more practical things e.g. making my experiments and then evaluating
them or even making my final product.

8. Software
At college there are a large number of software’s that we’re able to use in order to
create our final product(s) and even our experiments. One of the main software’s I use
in particular is Photoshop. The type of software I use depends on the project that I’m
doing at that time e.g. for my FMP I am creating a fanzine based around various artists
and the illustration industry, so in order to create this I will need software such as
Photoshop or InDesign. I hope that all of the software I plan to use through out this
project will continue to work through out the whole duration. I say this because there
have been times where I’ve worked hard on a piece of work but then the software
crashes, causing me to lose all of the work I had created. This also an issue as it means
that I would be further behind everyone else in terms of work. This is something that I
would love to avoid during this project.
I don’t think that losing one bit of work will impact me greatly however that time I
would have to spend re-doing that specific bit of work could’ve been used to do
something else e.g. create and evaluate another experiment or doing further research
into chosen area. It wouldn’t effect me greatly in terms of time but could have a large
impact on my work value and how much detail I could’ve added.

9. Theoretical Problems

10. WEATHER/LOCATION: Since my project is based around art and illustration, I don’t
think that the aspect of weather and location is something that I really need to
consider. However if I wanted to, for some reason, include real-life images in my
fanzine I would want to make sure that I’m prepared to do that e.g. making sure that
the weather is perfect for when taking my photos and making sure that I don’t get in
the way of anyone either. This is because there is a possibility that we may still be in
lockdown during the production phase, meaning that I would have to be careful as to
not disturb or annoy anyone during the pandemic.
PRODUCTION TIME: Making sure that I meet my FMP deadline is important, which is
why making sure I hand in all of my work on time is also important since it will allow
me to get feedback quicker and improve my work faster. One of the most important
weeks in my FMP will be the week of our production, which is why it’s important that I
get all of my work completed so that I have nothing to worry about when it comes to
production time. This also means making sure I complete all feedback I have been
given to make my work as good as possible.

11. PRINTING:I think that I would want to have my fanzine printed. I’m not sure if this is something that
college is able to provide or if I will have to seek someone out in order to get it printed. It’s obvious
that getting something professionally printed will be expensive, so it is something that I should
consider carefully, I found this out after doing some research into various websites and what they
offer in terms of printing as well as the expenses. Because I would be paying with my own money for
my fanzine to be professionally printed I must make sure that it is as good as I can make it so that the
money I spent is worth it in the end. I’m not sure that in the end I will be able to actually afford to get
my fanzine printed but it’s something that I can always aim towards in the future.
INTERVIEWS: In my product, one of the main aspects is discussing the different art/illustration in many
different countries/communities. In order to get other peoples opinions, I could conduct interviews
and put them into my fanzine. This could give me an idea as to how members of the general public
feel about these particular artists/illustrations. I have conducted interviews in the past to get an idea
as to how my audience would feel about my fanzine in terms of colour/style. However this time Ithink
I will try a more detailed interview where I will ask questions related to the topic I am using for my
fanzine rather than asking about the fanzine itself. Due to COVID-19 effecting our products (i.e. in
terms of what we’re able to make and how we’re able to make it) I may not be able to conduct
interviews face to face. This means that I will have to find a solution as to how I will able to conduct
my interviews whether I am in or out of college. One of the best ways I can think of would be to do
this over social media, e.g. Snapchat or Instagram. Because of how wide social media is, in terms of
who uses it, I may be able to conduct interviews with a variety of different people who I normally
wouldn’t be able to speak with.

12. https://www.digitalprinting.co.uk/products/stapled-documents/20/quote/#step1
Online Printing – digitalprinting.co.uk

13. Online Printing – printedeasy.com
https://printedeasy.com/pro
ducts/perfect-bound-
brochures/

14. Online Printing – mixam.co.uk
https://mixam.co.uk/magazines

15. Production Time
The plan for my FMP is to create a fanzine based around art and illustration from
various industries and countries. I think that the kind of style of fanzine I would like to
create and the amount of page I want are achievable. I hope to get a lot of work of
good standard done during this time. If I don’t complete this work in my production
time, I can always use my weekends in order to catch and/or finish any work I should
have already completed. If I am really desperate for time, I will more than likely just
work the whole weeks when I can in order to complete the work and get it submitted.
Since we’re working from home due to being in quarantine, I’m sure that there will be
moments where my project will go wrong or I lose some form of work e.g. there will
always be a problem with Photoshop on the laptop and it will more than likely crash at
some point during this project.
I think that one of the worst impacts that could effect my project will be running out
of time. If it turns out that I’m running out of time then it means that it would be more
than likely that I wouldn’t make as good a final production as I would have hoped.
However this problem can be easily solved by making sure that I meet all deadlines
and get all of the work done.

16. Interviews
In the past I have only conducted interviews in order to see what my audience likes
about my product as well as what they would improve. This is the same with my surveys.
However everytime I have decided to conduct an interview or survey the amount of
responses I got were very scarce. Since I don’t own any social media aside from
Snapchat, I think it would be difficult to collect responses for my audience and I don’t
plan on creating an account of social media (e.g. Instagram) just for the sake of this
project, mainly because I don’t think that it’s worth it. As someone who is interested in
the product I’m making (e.g. in terms of the art/illustrations I’ve researched) I know what
my audience would like without having to conduct yet another survey just to get some
responses that I may not like or want to include in my own product.
When I conduct these interviews will depend on my work e.g. if I receive feedback and
am able to fix it fairly quickly then I will prioritize that over the interviews in order to
make sure I get the grade and don’t forget to do that bit of work. It’s been quite difficult
for me to conduct interviews due to COVID-19, which doesn’t allow us to associate with
people from outside of our own household. But there is an easy solution that I figured
out during our time in quarantine. This is to conduct the interviews through social media
platforms such as Instagram or Snapchat. There are a lot of other options that I could
also consider (e.g. a phone call or facetime, or just something that will allow me to hear
the person I’m interviewing) however I think that using social media is much easier
because it will allow me to take screenshots or what they have just written in general
and then simply just put that into my Research PowerPoint.

17. Art/Drawing Skills
Although I’m not too good at it, I know a few skills and techniques that are used in
drawing e.g. the basics of how to draw characters. I’m not sure if this is something that
I will need when creating my final product, however it is something to consider doing.
Even though I’m able to draw at home, I’m unable to scan those drawings in and use
them as my experiments. This means that I will have to try and use different options
(e.g. using Photoshop and/or other software) in order to create my experiments. Once
we return to college I will attempt to do some sketching and scan them in so I’m able
to add them to my list of experiments.
I also think that drawing/using software that allows me to draw will help me to decide
on my final colour scheme for my product. Since my product includes an array of art
work and illustrations I think that using bright/vibrant colours will suit my product the
best. However I could overall determine my colour scheme based on the schemes I’ve
seen in various products. Another reason I think that this is a good idea is that I could
potentially include my own drawings of the artwork and illustrations I’ve found and
incorporate them into my own artwork. This will make my product seem more uniqe
rather than just talking about different art styles and not attempting to creating any of
my own.

18. Techniques
This links to the previous slide where I spoke about attempting to recreate the artwork
and illustrations I’ve seen/looked at during researching existing products. As stated
previously, it will be difficult for me to currently do this due to COVID-19 since I’m
unable to scan work without the necessary equipment. However I could always try
and see if there is any software that will allow me to draw (e.g. Photoshop and/or
some other product I’m able to use for free).
Speaking of techniques, during my time using Photoshop I learned that there are an
array of tools that I can use to create a variety of different patterns e.g. using the
shape tools, and/or the line tools. The different brushes also have a level of boldness
so, for example, if I started using the thin brush in order to create a border for the
cover of my fanzine I would then be able to switch to a much bolder brush in order to
do some kind of outline and/or add any necessary detail. This will allow me to make a
front cover and/or any page(s) of fanzine look more appealing and less simplistic.
There are also a list of different effects that I’m able to use on imagery. This means
that with coloured images I will be able to turn them back into their original black and
white imagery. From there I will be able to compare the two to see how it looks and if
it looks similar to the original.

19. Experiments

20. Text Experiment(s)
https://fontmeme.com/
I think that the style and colour of text I use in my experiments as well as in my final
product is important. That’s why I decided that one of my first experiments would
have to do with my choice of text. These experiments will allow me to see what text
looks good and what I think will work best with my fanzine and the overall theme.
The type of font(s) I decide to use will depend on the imagery that I want to include.
This means that I should also reconsider my choice of colour scheme depending on
the type of imagery I want to use.

21. I am familiar with this sort of font style
as I have used it in previous projects, so
I’m aware of how it looks based on
what I’ve made before.
As said previously I think that brighter
and more vibrant colours will work best
with my fanzine since the type of art
and illustration I’m using is also of the
same colour scheme.
I like the overall style of this font. It’s
quite cursive but doesn’t stand out as
much as a lot of different fonts do.
Some strengths of this particular font
style is it’s not too bold and you’re able
to clearly tell what the title is saying.
The problem with some fonts I’ve seen
is that although I like the overall look I
sometimes can’t tell what the text is
clearly seeing.

22. One thing that I noticed straight away with this
particular text is that there is a large gap
between ‘art’ and then the bottom two words. I
think that this is something that makes the
overall font look less appeal since I would have
preferred if it all of the text were close together.
I like the cursive aspects of the font but the fact
that there is such a large gap with the text
makes it look a lot less appealing, which is a
shame since I liked how the text initially looked.
The problem with the gap could be avoided if I
chose a different title that is all one word. This is
good because it will allow me to think of an
variety of different titles and then later on chose
the one I like the most (or one that fits well with
my fanzine/chosen topic).
Another downside of this font is the style (as in I
dislike the heart used to dot the I). Although I
want my fanzine to bright and vibrant I also
want it to look somewhat formal, I think that
this font makes it look a lot more informal.

23. My Issue with COVID-19
(and with this particular laptop and using Adobe software)
One of the biggest problems I have faced will continue to struggle with through
out quarantine is the outdated Photoshop and how it always crashes when I open
it, attempt to create a new file or when I try and create anything. This is a big
problem because not only does it limit to what I’m currently able to create for my
experiments but also for when it comes to making my final product.
Due to COVID-19 we’ve unable to come into college meaning that I have had been
using a laptop I have borrowed from college since the first national lockdown the
previous year (this being because I don’t have my own working laptop). The laptop
itself works fine however it always seems to crash whenever I use any Adobe
software like Photoshop. Which is unfortunate since it’s the main software I am
needing to use to not only create my experiments but my final product as well.
Hopefully we will be back at college by the time for our final production. However
if this is not the case then I will have to try and find some alternative method of
creating my product before then.

24. Photoshop Issues + Other Issues
As explained on a previous slide, the laptop I am using is rather old meaning that I am using
outdated versions of software (e.g. Photoshop, PowerPoint). This isn’t exactly an issue since
I’m still able to use them. I can also easily edit them once we’re back at college, making sure
that I covert them first (this is because the college computers use the latest version of the
software's, so if I were to save it without converting it then I wouldn’t be able to open the file
at home).
Even though I’m able to use theses software’s at home I mentioned previously that it’s
difficult for me to use them. One of the main reasons of this being that the software,
particularly Photoshop, seems to crash whenever I try to use it. This has happened a
numerous amount of times especially during my attempted experiments (one of the main
reasons why I suggested that I should find some back up form of software to create my
experiments).
However yet another problem I have with this laptop is that it constantly disconnects from
the Internet. I’m not too sure if this is because of my Wi-Fi, where I am in my house, or the
laptop in general. Because of these issues it has been extremely difficult to attempt to make
any experiments. I can only assume that this will be a problem in the future when making my
final product. During the time before we start to create our final products, I will make a sort
of plan as to how I can resolve this issue (e.g. seeing if I can somehow update Photoshop or
even the laptop. or I could try and work in different places in my house to see if the
connection gets any better.

25. How I Will Solve These Certain Issues
Due to these issues said previously I have had to think quite long and hard about what
I will do in order to fix this issue (the issue being with Adobe crashing and lack of
internet connection on this laptop – hence why I don’t have any experiments from
Photoshop currently. and I do emphasize on the word ‘currently’).
Because of the work I was given (e.g. catching up with work and/or reading through
my feedback and making changes as well as going work for my Maths GCSE, which
isn’t as important at this moment in time) I have had little time to look into my issues
with Photoshop and find a clear solution. However I have found a few websites online
that I can use as a sub until I’m able to resolve the issue (PicsArt comes to my mind
first since it’s free and I have experience with it – not on the laptop version though).
As for my internet connection and how it keeps dropping from laptop I’m not too sure
how I will be able to fix this since it doesn’t seem like something that I myself can fix. It
is most likely an issue either with my Wi-Fi or the laptop itself (something I’m
incapable of fixing myself). The best way I can resolve this issue is by making sure that
I constantly have work backed up and saved. It will allow me to always go back to
previous work in case I lose any due to these issues.

26. Experimenting with ‘Cutout’

27. The Process (1/3)
Although we’ve been told to experiment with things we haven’t before I have had no
choice but to try and re-use things that I’ve done in the past due to the issues
explained in previous slides. These experiments are more or less ‘mock-ups’ so that it
is shown that I have handed in the work. I have a dedicated day – the 24th – to fixing
these issues and creating better experiments.
Explaining the issues I’ve had and what I am having to do in order to fix them is the
reason as to why there are so many pages regarding Adobe and other things. Telling
my issues will help to show why my experiments aren’t currently as good as one
would anticipate.
As stated, this will change on the 24th where I will be using the full day to completely
fix everything and truly create better experiments.
These experiments are just currently here to show that I have done something.
To validate that I have, in fact, been doing work.

28. The Process (2/3)
• ‘Cutout’ is a texture that can be found in the Filter Gallery on Photoshop.
• The different number of levels, edge simplicity and edge fidelity you choose will
change the overall image.
• Using a work from Aka Akasaka has allowed me to change his art style into
something different.
• Using ‘cmd’ and ‘F4’ I was able to transform the colour of the image into black
and white. (as seen on the next page)

29. The Process (3/3)
As stated previously this style of technique is something that I
am familiar with as I have used in experiments in other
projects. Taking an image from Aka Akasaka’s work has allowed
me to transform it into, what I call, ‘the manga form of the
adaption’. What I mean by this is that the colourful images
come from the animated adaptation of this series, meaning
that it would all be in colour without any sort of black and
white shading. However the original manga style is all in black
and white. By using this combination I was able to revert an
image from the animation into what it would more than likely
look like in the original manga form.
I think that this sort of style is what I’m looking for when
thinking about my own fanzine and what my fanzine is about. I
also haven’t seen many people come up with the idea of
reverting animation adaptations back to their manga form. I
think that it’s an interesting concept as a whole.
This style of work isn’t perfect and will more or less look
repetitive if I use it constantly in my final product. A strength of
this style is that it completely changes the look of the image, so
instead of bright and vibrant colours it now seems darker and
more monotone. Another strength is that this style is very easy
to accomplish since the Filter Gallery is quite simple. It’s
certainly a good style but I’m not sure that I will use it for a lot
of my fanzine since I could become repetitive.
(Please note that these aren’t the final
experiments so don’t think of them as
a ‘final experiment’ they’re basically
just mock-ups – hence why they’re not
all that great to be honest).

31. The Process
The process of this experiment was exactly the same as the one previously. However,
as you’re able to tell, the outcome wasn’t what I had expected. In the end all the
texture did was change the overall colour of the image. No matter what number I set
it to it wouldn’t change. I think that this is something that I’m glad I learned about,
since it means that not all photos will turn out the same way. This means that the
overall process may be potentially different with each photo I use.
The image is a piece of illustration create by the artist Hiro Mashima. I found this
particular image when looking into some different imagery. What caught my attention
about the image was how similar to how a magazine would look.
When creating my actual experiments soon I will attempt to recreate this image
myself to see if I like the layout and if it’s something that I could inspiration from. This
will also allow me to see the different kinds of layouts I can make for my front cover. I
can also think about double page spreads as well.