By the time I eventually finished my animation I was at a point so close to the summative assessment deadline that there was simply no chance that I would have enough time to risoprint my Pilea zine as I initially intended. This was disappointing and for a while I felt very down about this reality. I considered leaving the zine element all together but couldnt bear to do so in the end as the medium seem so intrinsically tied to the Pilea’s story in my mind.

Starting from scratch I considered my options and eventually decided to embrace the DIY culture that is synonymous with self-publishing sub-culture. I returned to the illustrations I had produced as style frames for my motion design piece, brought them back into Photoshop and translated them into greyscale images suitable for black and white printing. I then setup A5 booklet artwork using Adobe InDesign and laid out my zine, using annotations alongside my illustrations to tell the Pilea’s story in an analog format. I also included a QR code on the back cover of the zine. When a reader scans this code with the camera on their phone it will bring them directly to a Vimeo hosted version of the Pilea film which they can share with friends and family if they choose to do so, further spreading the reach of the Pilea’s story. Having worked out the pagination of the zine based on my original maquette, I finally output the booklet as a print optimised PDF.

I selected to print my zine on mint coloured, standard inkjet printer paper. I hoped that  this minimal approach would not only be a experimental departure for me but also a clear nod pared back aesthetic of the original zine movement. I printed the whole zine out at home on my living room floor and found myself suprised not only by the how much I liked the look and feel of the resulting piece but also by how satisfying I had found such a simple process (in contrast to how deeply frustrating I found the pro-longed motion design process). It was strange to see the Pilea illustrations in print form having looked at them on screen for so long beforehand. I found myself happy to look upon them from a fresh perspective and draw a line under my production process for this phase of work.