Pharma Zine.
Project Proposal:
In my project proposal I break down potential ideas for what the project might be about, what form it might take, which mediums I might use (digital or physical), how I was going to evaluate my work, and potential research sources for the final outcome.
This was helpful for getting an idea of what the final project was going to be about and also gave me evaluation guidelines so that I could make sure the work I was producing was of a high quality.
Rationale:
Project Concept:
Of all the different ways I can interpret the word data I am considering experimenting with the idea of data censorship. I could look into the censorship of data as a means of keeping secrets on a larger scale such as during the cold war. This would be an interesting topic to look into as there are a lot of interesting ways to visualize censorship from redacted text in an article to blurred out pictures and faces.
Another way that I might experiment with the word data would be by looking into the way that data sent to the brain can be distorted by certain chemicals, some examples being the brain receiving data in different ways when somebody is high or drunk than how it would if someone were stone sober. This would be an interesting topic to explore as there is such a wide variety of effects that I could research relating to the core idea of distorted senses, drunkenness could be portrayed by jumbled text and blurry visuals and the sensation of having smoked marijuana could be recreated by soft colours and shadowy figures representing the strong feelings of anxiety that some people experience whilst high
Evaluation:
To evaluate my work, I will use annotations to point out its strengths and weaknesses and use these annotations to improve it in further iterations. I will also use Microsoft forms to get the opinions of friends and tutors and then use their views to improve my outcome.
Proposed Research Sources:
Have a good trip – documentary - https://www.netflix.com/search?q=have%20a%20good%20trip&jbv=80231917
Doors of perception – Alduos Huxley – book
Fear and loathing in las Vegas – film.
Talk to frank – website - https://www.talktofrank.com/
Research and Thumbnails:
To create the final project I researched twelve different drugs, this research included around 300 words on each drug (examples below) and a mind map that included both the desired and undesired effects of the drugs, potential design ideas, and other information about the drugs.
I also created a page of example visuals for each of the three subcategories of drug: Stimulants, Depressants, and Psychedelics. (Stimulant example below). These helped give me a much better idea of what sort of designs I could create and what sort of imagery is typically associated with each of the drugs i researched.
As well as this I created one a3 page of thumbnails (example to the right) for each drug that I later digitised to make sure I had considered a range of different designs before I created the final outcome.
Research: Heroin
According to talk to frank, heroin is a strong opiate that is usually sold as a white or brown powder depending on what it has been cut with, opiates usually being used as painkillers. The drug is made from morphine that has been extracted from the opium poppy. Heroin is usually injected; however, it can also be smoked by being heated on a surface such as tin foil and the user then inhaling the smoke, and the heroin powder can also be snorted. The effects heroin on its user may include feeling happy, relaxed, euphoric, and sleepy. It can also cause dizziness and vomiting.[1]
Common symptoms of heroin withdrawal, as written by Verywell Mind, include mood changes, insomnia, aches and pains, diarrhoea, fever, and almost unshakable heroin cravings. These withdrawal symptoms usually last for five to seven days but users can experience symptoms for weeks or even months, this is known as post-acute withdrawal syndrome.[2]
The Erowid Experience Vaults document one heroin users experience taking 6 hits of heroin that they smoked through a crack pipe. They write that they started feeling the effects of the heroin immediately after smoking it and describe themselves feeling an immediate “flood of endorphins” followed by “euphoria, sedation, and a body glow”, the body glow later becoming so intense that later they describe themselves to be “glowing like a lightbulb” and later “completely numb”. Towards the end of the report, he mentions time feeling as if it has slowed down to the point of almost completely stopping.[3]
[1] - Talk to Frank (Current), Heroin, Available at: https://talktofrank.com/drugs/heroin [Accessed 9th March 2021]
[2] - Verywell Mind (24th March 2020), How Long Does Withdrawal from Heroin Last?, Available at: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-to-expect-from-heroin-withdrawal-22049 [Accessed 9th March 2021]
[3] - Erowid Experience Vaults (30th November 2007), Smoking in a Lightbulb Vaporiser, Available at: https://erowid.org/experiences/exp.php?ID=67167 [Accessed 9th March 2021]
Research: Magic Mushrooms
According to Talk to Frank magic mushrooms (aka shrooms) are wild mushrooms with hallucinogenic effects. In the UK the most common types are liberty caps (small tan coloured mushrooms) and the usually more potent fly agaric (red and white spotted toadstools). Shrooms can also be taken as liquid psilocybin, a clear-ish pale brown liquid that is made by extracting the psychedelic active ingredient psilocybin from magic mushrooms and is usually sold in small vials. One widely known effect of taking magic mushrooms in mild hallucinations, the other desirable effects of taking shrooms include feeling giggly, euphoric, in awe o your surroundings, energised and excited.[1]
Medical News Today list a few of the less desirable effects of taking magic mushrooms. These include dizziness, drowsiness, nausea, paranoia, confusion, and vomiting. The drug works by activating the serotonin receptors in the prefrontal cortex, this is the part of the brain that affects mood and perception. Changes in perception and thought patterns can persist for several days after the drug has been taken.[2]
A user of Erowid Experience Vaults wrote about his experience taking about 5.5 to 6 grams of mushrooms with one other person. he writes that he first started to feel the effects of the mushrooms about half an hour after taking them when he starts incessantly laughing at the movie ‘yellow submarine’. Whilst laughing he felt a strong, unpleasant feeling that “something” was coming. At the hight of his trip he describes a feeling that everything was one with everything else and it was all connected, he describes this feeling as “synchronicity”.[3]
[1] - Talk to Frank (Current), Magic Mushrooms, Available at: https://talktofrank.com/drugs/magic-mushrooms [Accessed 8th March 2021]
[2] - Medical News Today (17th January 2019), What are magic mushrooms and psilocybin, Available at: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/308850 [Accessed 8th March 2021]
[3] - Erowid Experience Vaults (9th May 2006), Jesus Synchronicity versus Matter, Available at: https://erowid.org/experiences/exp.php?ID=52679 [Accessed 8th March 2021]
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Experiments:
The next step was to begin experimenting with typography, vector graphics, stencil art, and colour gradients in order to create the assets I would use for the final versions of the zines pages. Not only was this useful because it helped give me a clearer idea of what the final pages would look like but it also allowed me to evaluate and compare different designs so that I could make my outcomes better.
Page Iterations:
The last step before creating the final page designs was to create page iterations, expanding and improving upon each new iteration until I create a outcome that I think is good enough to be used in the final project. this is a great way to see what will or will not work and it was also a good opportunity to play around with the typography and layout of each of the pages.
