Lizzie England
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The Story of Sedna Zine


The Story of Sedna Zine project is a riso print zine series that I created for my Design through Myths and Storytelling class in my final semester of college. The assignment was to create a time based project based on a myth with rebirth themes and animal involvement. I chose to retell the Story of Sedna, an Inuit myth that tells the story of how the sea animals came to be, in the form of a risograph zine. I made copies for everyone in my class and am extremely happy with the results of this project.




Step 1: ResearchAfter completing an in class activity that helped me to decide on a risograph zine and the story of Sedna as my myth, I decided I needed more research on the actual story, as well as project visualization, before starting to make anything. I started by using the NYU libraries database to find more sources. After reading through the sources and different versions of the story, I was able to determine the version of the story that I would tell in my zine. Below are a list of sources that I used:
           

I needed to visualize my project and how I wanted it to look after doing research and determining the version of Sedna’s Story that I would tell. I knew I wanted to make my project to include hand drawn elements and eventually be riso printed, but I was not sure how I wanted the actual drawings to look. I first made a pinterest board and looked for images as inspiration. 

Pinterest Board: https://pin.it/4FEnFOYh8

Through my pinterest board, I found many inspiring images that prepared me for my project, as well as a few artists that I could use as reference. Below are the artists I found as inspiration and research into their work.

  • Ines Jakovljević’s Illustrations
    • These illustrations are not related to my story, but the aesthetics of the art are what I am going for when I create my own zine.
    • I really like how her drawings are collage-like and have a lot of overlap while being only illustrations, not an actual collage.
    • I also really like how she has a consistent style and creepy faces, I feel like this is like my own style an
    • d something that I can achieve in my own way
    • Maximalism aesthetic
    • https://www.doodlersanonymous.com/inner-thoughts-in-neon-pencil/
  • Art by Sam Hensly/ samsketchbook
    • This art is in various forms but features these very odd creatures. The art style is consistent across mediums and Hensly has managed to build an odd world full of these creatures. I really like how she tells stories through his art. She often makes comics and these are the main things that I will be referencing for my own project.
    • She has a risograph project that will be good for me to reference!
    • https://samsketchbook.bigcartel.com/
    • https://samsketchbook.tumblr.com/

Step 2: Visualization


Step 3: Zine Organization

After looking at inspiration images, I decided that I would make hand drawn elements but then scan them and arrange them on my computer to obtain a collage-like effect, then I would risograph print the zines. I decided to divide the story into 3 zines, and then sew these zines together. The template I use for these zines has 8 pages including a front and back, so 3 zines would give me 22 pages and a front and back cover. I then divided the story into 22 parts that I could then draw. I decided that the first two zines would be completely black and white, but as Sedna’s transformation occurs blue will creep in to the zine.

Zine Layout:



Next, I needed to create the actual drawings that would be used in the collages. I used colored pencils and drew images that represented the story divisions I previously decided on, as well as overlays and small drawings to make the collage have a more maximalist aesthetic. After finishing making the hand drawn elements, I scanned the images using my phone camera and edited them to be transparent pngs I could use to make Photoshop collages.Step 4: Asset Creation




Step 5: Collaging in PhotoshopNow that my assets were created and readily available, I created 3 photoshop files with guidelines to mimic the layout in the above steps. I then imported my new assets and collaged them together until I got the desired effect. I was left with 3 full zines ready to be printed. 


With my photoshop files ready, I booked an appointment in the riso room on campus. Prior to my appointment, I prepped my files by converting the color map from RGB to CMYK in order to have different layers to print with different ink colors. When the time came for my appointment, I first printed the first two zines in black. For the third zine, I printed in blue as this was the zine where the transformation took place, but the blue was too vibrant. I decided to print black on top in order to acheive a muted effect. The blue still peeked through and I was happy with this choice as it fit the mood of the story more.Step 6: Risograph Printing


Step 7: Folding and Sewing After finishing my prints, I let each piece dry overnight and then brought them home to construct the actual zines. This was not enough time for the ink to dry though so I used winter gloves when handling the papers in order to avoid smearing the ink. I first folded each paper, then cut them and folded them again in order to give the zine structure. I then began to sew my first zine together using needle and thread. This task proved to be difficult as the paper was way too thick. I tried using a hammer to get the needle through but it was extremely difficult and sewing one zine together took over an hour. I decided that the rest of the zines would not be sewn together but instead given to my classmates as a series of 3 zines. 


Final Product!


ReflectionOverall, I am very happy with the results of this project. It is not exactly what I had in mind when I began this project and I had to make changes as I moved through my work, such as not sewing all of the zines and using black and blue for the last zine, but I am happy with where I ended up. 

I believe that my zine was a good way to retell this story as zines are generally used for punk causes and as a way of bringing community together. The Story of Sedna is a lesser known myth and my zine helps to tell more people this story in a succint yet visually captivating way. My drawing style changes the way the story comes across to readers and modernizes this story in a unique way. 

Through this project, I learned the importance of time management when it comes to a risograph project. A large obstacle that I ran into was the fact that there were few risograph appointments so I had to make my prints relatively last minute. Because of this, my prints were not dry in time and I had to wear gloves when constructing the zines, making the process a lot more difficult. This obstacle was the most difficult part of my project, but where I learned the most. 

My favorite part of this project was arranging the images in Photoshop. I love using photoshop and have never made a zine with purely hand-drawn elements. It was a new experience, but one that I plan on doing again in the future as I loved the results.

If I had more time, I would find a new way to bind the zines so that all of my zines could be hand bound, not three separate zines, but the final product’s overall look was extremely satisfying and again, I am happy with the results. I hope you enjoy my Sedna zines!

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Lizzie England
lizziejengland@gmail.com
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