We created a brand zine inspired by the brand TSPTR, focused on reducing the taboo around periods and spreading awareness for the political issue of period poverty. Period poverty is prevalent in the UK therefore our aim is to reduce the stigma that persists around menstruation and show that everyone deserves access to period products whatever their situation.
Enjoying this project was down to the fact that we were able to pick a group and therefore meant I was working with people who have a similar work ethic and understanding. Chloe and I worked really well together last project and this continued throughout this one; Georgia too was a positive addition to the team. I feel that choosing groups allows people to be more positive/motivated and in many ways more productive and supportive of each other.
Unlike other projects, we really were selective about the information we included in our context, concepts and outcome boards since we did not want to overwhelm the audience and create additional confusion. I will continue to take this on board moving forward.
We decided to select the riskier concept as our final zine idea. We didn’t want to pick the Women in Sport idea just because it would be the easiest to create content for and the most obvious connection to the brand. We also wanted to produce a unique idea compared to other groups with a lot of them focusing on women and skateboarding.
Brands have a lot of power and therefore the aim for our zine was for TSPTR to use it as a platform to educate and spread awareness of a wider key female issue. TSPTR producing a zine based on period poverty shows their level of understanding and makes them more relatable to a younger female audience. We also wanted our zine to be visually appealing at first glance, but also have a deeper message if individuals wanted to research further.
This project has taught me to be less precious at the beginning of the process in terms of imagery. Creating mock-ups should be just experimental, not polished pieces which I was always created previously. Cutting up, placing and rearranging I now realise is a great way to assess what works and what doesn’t.
I am really happy with how the zine turned out; we each had a role in making the zines and therefore we had a very efficient production line. I also enjoyed learning how to create different book binding outcomes; these techniques could be easily applied to future projects. I liked the hands-on craft nature of the project, allowing us to make a physically tangible outcome.
The zine overall was very focused and sleek looking; I was pleased with how my illustrations turned out. However, looking back, I feel that we would have benefited from doing several test prints at the print shop. One of our tracing paper elements was back-to front which made the writing unreadable until the page was turned. Also, on the other side of the tracing paper, it would have looked effective to have the ‘1 in 10’ blue tampon printed on the outside to make even more of an impact, rather than just leaving it blank.
The pitch/conversation at the Nottingham Contemporary pushed me out of my comfort zone as I have never done anything like this previously. It was an intimate setting and although we anticipated and practiced some of our responses to possible questions, there were a few we hadn’t thought of. However we were able to give answers and therefore showed our commitment to the project and passion for the subject matter. We worked really well as a team when we presented, each supporting one another.
Finally, taking the feedback on board, if I select this one for my summative project, I will get a focus group together to see if the zine sparks a conversation to explore the commercial value of it further.
Rachel
rachelfoxweb.wordpress.com 