LIFE IS A PARTY
A Collection of Zines made through printmaking
Life is a party
A set of zines and posters about my life and some snippets from it
Multimedia
“But every day above ground is a great day; remember that.”
The idea is to show how life is a party through multiple zines (small independent publications). Even with its ups and downs, every moment is enjoyable. I looked at life from a glass-half-full perspective. I wanted to give the viewer a glimpse into my life through photographic imagery and typography, using multiple mediums to express my emotions regarding the various snippets I chose to depict. I also tried to apply an element of nostalgia through these prints to show that these moments are part of a time gone by.
Some random moments in life become very cherished memories upon reflection. I aim to celebrate these random, half-remembered moments. A vital element of this printmaking exploration was to express how we store images, ticket stubs, and small trinkets from our lives, events we cherish and aspects of life we want to remember - but these small things get stored away. We forget about them, so they become nostalgic and synonymous with a time machine when we encounter them at different times.
Overfilled
Overfilled
This was my first exploration of the concept - the first zine I made for this project. The technique involved screen printing different images on different materials - paper, plastic, and denim. I repurposed my old jeans and cut out pieces of fabric I could use.
The typography of LIFE IS A PARTY is unique — each letter has a different style. I used woodcut and metal block letters as references, traced them onto soft-cut, and created letter stamps for my project.
I also made hand-drawn sketches of objects that are important to me and used hand writte typography to give the project a more personal touch and cut them up to place them in the zine. Some other explorations involved adding crayon scratch textures and screenprinting with them to create more textured renditions of photographs.
I also used paper clips to create a sense of temporary placement in the zine—stored memories can be moved around, so they are never permanently placed.
The zine is supposed to be overflowing with memories and memorabilia so it doesn’t fold completely. When you open it and turn it around, there is a poster that forms that says ‘LIFE IS A PARTY’ in a poster format - similar to the flyers you get at events and music festivals.
Denim pocket memories
Denim pocket memories
For this exploration, I created a series of six small zines and two purses with denim pockets to carry them in. The aim was to make it look like a collectable or a goodie bag - something you’d get at a fun event you enjoyed.
These were all explorations of the same concept and described above. Here, I have looked at different layouts, colours, and type treatments and experimented with image prints on different materials. I have also played around with the idea of containers - trying to move away from the traditional four-sided paper and instead exploring more tactile containers - using glue and stitching to create tangible yet temporary containers for stored memories.
Experiments
Experiments
These were some stray prints that I made and collected in a series of collections.
One was a small tapestry made from screen-printed denim pieces stuck and stitched together and collaged with paper pieces with text on them. A lot of the text that I screenprinted was taken from songs that I really connect with—pertaining to the concept of this project. These were song quotes that talk about celebrating life and living it.
A few collections included images printed on butter paper/ parchment paper, some on cellophane paper, chart paper, and coloured hard card paper. I also experimented with creating a poster and different cutouts to create some more experiments.
Besides English typography, I have also used handwritten Hindi typography to add a more personal touch - depicting parts of my culture through the language that is most common there. Some sentences are in Bengali, which is my mother tongue.
Collaged Posters
Collaged Posters
Using some of the insights from my experiments, I decided to create a series of posters with larger prints and smaller prints pieced together, which could evolve into a more extensive collection of zines. Each poster has its personality and pieces that could be interpreted differently. This particular exploration aimed to explore the idea of wall posters and how we all create an aesthetic in our rooms, and this was my way to creating an aesthetic for myself - through fond memories of people I love, places I have been, and tickets I have collected. This could also be interpreted as a curated scrapbook - a few years collected to create a series of posters or one combined zine.
The paper clips symbolize these temporary and strangely juxtaposed images—how we tend to scrapbook sometimes or store information in our notebooks that we think is important at the time.
This entire project has been a deep dive into reliving some of the best moments of my life in recent memory and creating a more positive outlook on enjoying my life moving forward.
LIFE IS A PARTY! Have the best time :)