Final Comic and Printing

 After a lot of InDesign and colour printing troubles, I was able to print a nice copy of the final product. I will need to print more to sell as the grad show, and I also need to professionally photograph them. 

I am very happy with the final outcome and I am very glad I took the time to get the cover and coloured pages printed correctly because it really makes a world of a difference. I was able to find the paper that I wanted in the art shop in Eldon, which were a glossy paper for the coloured pages and then a thin, floppy pages for the comic pages. This was because I wanted to create an authentic comic feel (printed on cheap paper that is really floppy). 

I might end up changing the inside cover and empty pages because I feel that they would benefit from a texture going across the two pages to make them more cohesive. 

Perfect thin paper. I LOVE IT!!!!

Putting together comic in InDesign

 I had many challenges with InDesign but I was able to problem solve my way out of most of them. I had to make sure that I had enough bleed on the images, so I ended up reformatting some of them. I also had to tweak the coloured pages because they were printing out too dull for my liking. 

I had MANY problems with the printing, mainly because the printers can be very temperamental and finicky. So I had to do many test prints in order to get it right. 

I'll still need to workout some errors from the printing side before I can sell them at the grad show, but that's alright. 

Evidence of my failures:

Badges IPP

 I decided to make some badges using the scans of my stamps. They were perfect simple designs that would look good inverted onto black as well as on there own. So I used a template to print the right size and then used my own badge machine to create the badges. 

I know that badges sell well in small shops (because of our illustration shop) and people of all ages like something that is wearable and lasts a long time. 

Making the Front Covers

 I was inspired by the film poster project we are doing, to make my front cover a layered paper tunnel(esque) thing. I wanted my cover to be in a completely different style to match most comics that have way different art on there front covers. I also thought that it would be incredible eye catching if I pulled it off well.

I started by using the sketches I had done to map out the layers digitally (on my iPad) and then I printed them out onto separate pieces of paper so that I could use them as stencils on the different coloured papers. I then did the painstaking task of cutting them all out (which made my fingers and hands very sore). I then layered them and added cardboard and sticky foam pads to add a gap between the layers and enhance the shadow that would cast downward. 

Once I had it all ready me and Helena booked in to use the photography studio. And I photographed them using a camera stand that hung flat above my work. This allowed me to take a clean flat (high res) photo of my work for the cover. 

When I was editing the image and figuring out the title. I decided on a copyright free gothic font, but I didn't like the perfectness of a digital font. So I printed it out and cut out the letter on a cream paper and scanned that in. 

Finishing the Second Story of my comic

 Doing the second story pages was very much the same as the first, but I had a little less time. But I found that I got into a good flow of sketching the pages at home and then using the light box in the studio. I also found that my style loosened up a bit which I like a lot more because it adds more energy to my work. 

It was very time consuming but worth it. And I also got a lot f encouragement from the people around me which helped.

I then had to scan all of them and edit them for the process of putting them into InDesign. 

Hand done text for the inside pages of the comic:

Updating my Instagram and Linktree IPP

 I already feel pretty good with my Instagram but I wanted to update my profile picture and add a Linktree that people could easily find my website and blog. 

I decided to use one of my stamps as the profile picture because it is blocky style that is easy to read and a zombie which showcases my horror themes. I also made my Linktree reflect this by making it black and white, so that it matches my website.

 

Website Building and HeyZine IPP

I decided that I would update the website that I created in first year because I made it on Wix and I found that it was easy enough to figure out. I started by removing all the images I had on there a replacing them with my recent work that fits with my horror brand a bit more. I also changed up the colour scheme to match, as well as the font.

I was told about HeyZine which is a website that turns a pdf of your zine pages into a digital flip-able book. They can then be embedded into website and used to showcase zines, so I made a separate page to house my many zines. This was really effective and showcases that I am a passionate zinemaker.

I also added an About page that has a short few sentences about me and links to my social media and how to contact me.

Link to my website

Old Website:

 

Updated Website: