Page #14 (Brown rat)

The brown rat, like the black rat, is not only one of the UK's most common species, but also one of the worlds most common.

The rat is one of the few animals that can adapt to many different climates, and because of this, this animal is widespread across many of the worlds continents.

I illustrated a number of Rats in order to pick the best ones in order to use for the 14th page, and these can be seen below.
The majority of these illustrations I am not happy with, which is why a few of them are unfinished, and abandoned.

Out of these Illustrations, I picked only 1 of them.
For page 14, I opened adobe photoshop and created a new canvas at an a5 size.
I then scanned this particular illustration into the program, (image below).

With the image scanned in, I enhanced the black tone, and made sure that the image fit perfectly on the page, using the software's helpful guides to direct the placement of the image.

Photoshop has some very helpful guides built into to the software.

I began to think about the folklore element behind the rat at this point, and when it came to this side all I could think about was the Black Plague, disease, and the fact that this animal is considered a pest by many. I did not want to shine this bad light on the rat, as I felt that it would be unfair to highlight only the negative aspect of the species.

Due to the majority of folklore being based on negative, and common association, I decided that it would perhaps be more interesting to look at the traits of the animal, in a similar way to how I applied this to the Dormouse.

The Rat has many various traits. It is small, agile, quite smart, infectious, common, and they are also good climbers and can feast off almost anything it can scavenge.
They are basically survivors, which made me coin the wording found below, and I used watercolour paint to create this typography, like the other pages that contain wording.

I thought that this was a good way to sum up the animal via text, and so I decided to go with this, and apply it to the design.
I made sure that the text was inline with the illustration, and  then I adjusted the colour of the typography by going into the CYMK settings.

Thomas.

Printout tester

I have printed out one of my final illustrations onto the same grade of paper, that I will be using in my final zine.

I thought I would see what one of the images appeared like on paper, and I was happy with the clarity, as well as the colour tones that the printer processed.

I just thought I'd post to show this small print tester.









Thomas.

Page #8 (Magpie)

For page #8, I wanted to feature the Magpie, a bird which is a common sight in Britain.
I see this particular bird often where I live, and I have always loved the Magpie. I personally think that it is a beautiful bird, one that deserves a place in my animal zine.
Like all of my other pages, this will of course be A5 in size.

http://resiliencefitness.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/magpie.jpg < image reference at this link.

I created only one illustration of the Magpie, however I was happy with the outcome, and this animal only needed one page to be a featured.

My sole Magpie illustration.

I began the assembly of the 8th page, by creating a new photoshop canvas, and inserted the scanned Magpie illustration to fit the page. The guidelines really helped me to position the drawing properly.
After positioning the illustration, I tweaked the black point in order to compensate for the laser washing the tone out of the image.

Tweaking the colour settings.

The image now enhanced, and placed onto the canvas.

At this point I thought something looked odd with the image now that it was placed onto the canvas.
I thought about inverting the image to see what it would look like.

Inverting the image using photoshop.

I felt that the illustration actually appeared more presentable inverted, and so I decided to keep it in this orientation.
I felt that the tail looked too thin, and so I copied and pasted a section of the tail, and used the blend tool in order to merge it into the illustration, making a seamless addition.

Now that I was happy with the illustration, and the way in which it was presented, I decided to think a bit behind the folklore of the animal, so I ran a simple Google search, and came across a good amount of information.

google.com < image reference at this link.

One of the most common folklore associations behind the Magpie, is its desire and attraction toward shiny objects such as rings.

http://blog.codinghorror.com/content/images/uploads/2008/01/6a0120a85dcdae970b0120a86d957f970b-pi.jpg < image reference at this link.

http://www.britishbirdlovers.co.uk/articles/magpies-and-superstition < image reference at this link.

I also came across a news story about a Magpie who stole a woman's engagement ring, and hid it in his nest for 3 years.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2637365/Magpie-steals-womans-engagement-ring-and-buries-it-in-nest-for-three-years.html < image reference at this link.

Reading this news story allowed me to think up a good term to use as part of the design, and it revolved around the notion of magpies being thieves.

The final page design, and layout.

I am very happy with this page, and I am proud to have it as part of my zine.












Thomas.

European Perch (Perca fluviatilis)

For page 15, I originally wanted to give to the rat, as part of a double page spread for pages 14 and 15. However, I decided to include more marine animals, and so I wanted to cut the double page spread short, and designate the rat to just one page, whilst allowing for a more diverse range of animals. This is why research into this animal comes so late.

Due to my success with page 12 and 13, I wanted to include another fish since I had a lot of fun illustrating this particular species, and so after looking up British native fish, I ended up taking an interest in the Perch.

http://s.hswstatic.com/gif/perch-fishing-tips-1.jpg < image reference at this link.

The Yellow, or European Perch can often be found swimming in the waters of America, and Europe, including the UK.
This fish is carnivorous, and lives in such habitats as ponds, rivers, streams etc.
Their spawning season is in the springtime, and they can lay many many eggs at one time, similar to other fish.

http://www.chesapeakebay.net/images/field_guide/White_Perch_page_image.jpg < image reference at this link.

The European Perch, otherwise known as the Common Perch, is greenish, with dark markings along its body. You can see an example of this appearance with the photo above.
One of the Perch's key features is the two dorsal fins located on its back, with one spined, and the other soft.

http://www.mountainanglers.com/perch-1.jpg < image reference at this link.

A common sight in UK waters, and this species is the subject of many hobbyist fishermen, who fish for this particular species as sport.

http://www.fishingwithpiotr.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/IMGP0300.jpg < image reference at this link.

I personally think that this fish is an underrated species native to Britain and Europe, and I would like to feature it as part of my wildlife zine.









http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/451101/perch















Thomas.

Cover pages

I mentioned earlier on in the development of the zine's pages, that I wanted to focus on the front and rear cover page for the zine last.
I wanted to do this, so that I could sum up the entire zine with the front and rear cover, and I wanted to chose a design that complimented the content.
Of course I couldn't sum up the zine without seeing all of the pages, and how they appeared.

Some quick roughs of how the cover layout could be like.

The front and rear cover of anything, whether it a book, zine, or even a product, is very important as it is the very first thing that the consumer sees. This means that it needs to give off a good, and interesting first impression.
Although people say don't judge a book by its cover, most people usually do.

http://www.workyouenjoy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Red-Book.jpg < image reference at this link.

From early on in development of the zine, I had expressed interest in producing a screenprinted design for the cover, as I thought that this would not only make my cover & zine look more professional and appealing, but it would distinguish the cover from the rest of the pages. It would also make the zine sturdier, so long as a higher grade of paper/card is used.

In this blog, I will be focusing on the development of the front, and rear covers of the book, starting with the front.

Front

I wanted my front cover to be quite simple, eye catching, contrasting, and to be used to sum up the content of the zine.
I wanted to use an existing illustration of mine, and I preferably wanted one that was a single tone.

I really looked at all of the illustrations that I had created so far for the module, and had a good think about which one would compliment the front cover the most.
I rounded it down to a few illustrations, which I will feature below.

These illustrations really stood out to me, and so I assembled 5 mock covers to see which one looked better, using Adobe Photoshop CC.
I used a simple painted font type to make the mocks more believable, and presentable, and it was a font type which I personally liked, and thought worked very well with the illustrations that I created.

Out of these 5 visual experiments, I really thought that two in particular stood out, those being the Perch, and the Swan.
They fit the page perfectly, and they suited the font type, and gave the covers a contemporary feel.

I felt as if the Perch mock cover had a very slight edge over the Swan, as I felt that it was a better produced illustration of mine, and I wanted to showcase a detailed piece as my front cover.
For this reason, I decided that the Bass version of the front cover would be the choice to act as my 'flagship illustration', the one to grab attention, and sum up the zine.

To assemble the front cover, I made an a5 canvas in photoshop, and added in my Perch illustration.

I hand painted some typography, multiple times to find the best one that worked.

After I found the right typeface, I placed them in line with the illustration.

At this point, I felt as if the front cover was finally completed, and I was very happy with the design.
I felt as if it really complimented the contents of the zine, and was also bold, contemporary, and eye catching.

With this, it was time to move onto the rear of the zine's cover.


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Rear

The rear of the zine is another important aspect of the design, however in my opinion, not so much as important as the front, but do not underestimate the importance of the rear cover, as it is still very much so relevant.
The rear of a book often contains such elements as the blurb, which is a rough summery of the content featured inside the book. Zines usually do not need a blurb, however some do.

http://parrotwizard.com/Book/Parrot_Wizard_Cover_Back_sm.jpg < image reference at this link.

A good rear cover reflects on not only the content of the book/zine, but also works in tandem with the front cover.
The examples below depict this well.

http://www.djcdesign.co.uk/assets/images/DK_war_book_cover.jpg < image reference at this link.

http://image.slidesharecdn.com/2f80ed0e-82fb-46bd-ae12-2890e7002469-141125134622-conversion-gate01/95/thrift-book-cover-and-rear-jacket-1-638.jpg?cb=1416944971 < image reference at this link.

https://mrstromain.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/original-book-cover.jpg < image reference at this link.

I began by creating another new canvas in photoshop, that was a5 in terms of size.

I looked at the remaining images that I considered using for the front cover, and I thought that the second favourite illustration, the swan, could perhaps be a good piece to feature on the rear cover.
Of course, I wanted to experiment, so I looked through my sketches to find other images that could potentially work as part of the rear cover. I wanted the rear cover to have a similar look, feel, and design as the front cover, and I felt that this was very important.

The following illustrations of mine below I felt could look potentially good as part of the rear cover, and these illustrations work with the illustration featured on the front cover as well.

Unlike a book, a zine doesn't often have the needs to feature a blurb on the rear, but some information is good.

For example, a brief summery of the booklet, any link(s) to social media for self-advertising, and perhaps the date of publication.

Some zines only have an illustrative rear cover design.

I don't want the rear cover of my zine to be overcrowded with information, just the essentials I want to feature.

I would like to publicise myself a little bit, which means I could possibly provide a link to one of my social media platforms, which would help draw attention toward my work.

I tend to use Instagram a lot as a platform for self publication, so I would feel comfortable providing a link to this said site. I would also like to perhaps include the date of publication, so that people know how recent it is.

https://instagram.com/tomwilliamsillustration/ < image reference at this link.

After looking at some of the images that took me, to potentially use as part of the rear cover, I really did like how the swan looked in the front cover trials, and I knew that it would really make me happy to see it as part of the rear cover design.

I felt that the Swan made the zine look majestic, and is pretty much a symbol of British culture.

I took the image, and applied it onto an a5 canvas once again, and placed the date of publication, as well as my Instagram social media name. The latter being much bolder, and bigger, as it was there to publicise my practise and work.

You can see my final rear cover below, and I am very happy with it indeed. I feel that it is a fitting end to the zine, and it works perfectly with the front cover.

With the front and rear cover now completed, it signalled the end of the development of the zine, and I was very happy with the outcome, and also the front and rear cover of the zine, which I will grandly, and proudly showcase together below.

Thomas.