The brief
In Wales only 29.7% of the population is able to speak Welsh and only 25.7% can read Welsh. This is the result of the 1536 ban of the Welsh language in schools by the English Government, meaning that over time the number of Welsh speakers declined. With the loss of the language came the loss of Wales many oral stories including their folklore such as Bloudewedd. Now multiple welsh individuals find themselves separated from their culture.
To combat this issue this zine explores the dying stories found around Wales from the sad story of bloudwedd to the mischevious Mari lwyd. the zine can be gifted by families/friends as a way passing on the stories to younger generations to connect them to their heritage and find confidence in their Welsh roots.
The zine
he Welsh dragon, a strong symbol of Welsh culture, wraps around the zine, protecting its contents and guiding the reader through the storiesThe style was inspired by old celtic art and lino print (using an etched style for the illustrations). I kept it to a limited colour palette, using red from the welsh flag for the dragon and details. i made sure the illustrations on the inner side of zine would all connect togther using the trees to help the stories blend together
a very important part of this design is the border around the welsh dragon. using symbols from lovespoons, differnt symbols hold important meaning, (for example locket heart meaning the locket meaning home and security, dragon meaning protection, etc.).
Photos
some photos i took of the zine in the wild for fun :D
Development
behind the scenes of some of the process of making the zine and material experiemnts
D&AD
I had the absolute honor of exhibiting my zine at the D&AD new blood 2024 thanks to my amazing teachers. It was an amzing oppertunity to meet so many other illustrators and graphic designers.
