HEALTHY HAIR
A GUIDE FOR ALL HAIR TYPES
By Carlie Walker
THESIS STATEMENT
Hair care is an important factor in a person's overall health, but how do you know what’s good for YOUR hair? There are various elements that can be taken into consideration such as hair type, products, heat use, and routine tips. I did more research on these categories for not only my benefit but to educate others on how to improve their hair health. With these factors considered this gave me the opportunity to learn about different hair types and provide information for each one so that anyone can benefit from it. From this research my main focus was on how I could use design through zine layouts and simple images to inform my audience on how to improve their hair health.
Front and Back Cover
Section One Header: Straight Hair
Section Two Header: Wavy Hair
Section Three Header: Curly Hair
Section Four Header: Coily Hair
Section One and Two: Content Pages
Section Three and Four: Content Pages
THE PROBLEM
In our generation our hair takes the center stage. It's a part of our identity and has always been a part of being human. Most people think that hair is just a form of self expression or empowerment but our hair is actually reliant on our health. If you aren't receiving the nutrition your body needs or have lost a lot of weight due to being sick your hair is one of the first functions to go. So knowing how to take care of your hair is very important. But because hair care is an industry worth billions there are countless products that aim or try to convince you that they are the best. With so many options and large amounts of mass produced products how do we know what's good or where do we start when it comes to our hair care journeys?
Current Examples: Magazines, Apps, and Websites (Listed in Sources)
WHY A ZINE?
I chose to make a zine because over the last three years page layouts and learning more about indesign was something I needed to improve on. I also think a zine or tangible object would benefit a lot of people. There are so many apps, websites, and magazines out there that are made for hair care but most only cater to one hair type a time.
Most of these resources also tend to focus on what's "hot" or "in" while being female dominated. Another factor focused on is money. When looking at store websites the "best" products are usually the most expensive and are always listed first. This zine does not refer to specific products rather what to look for on the labels. This way anyone can purchase products that are meant for their hair according to their preference and price range.
AUDIENCE
I wanted to create a guide that can be useful for everyone! When people think about hair care it is usually a female dominated industry so it's important to make sure the information is as neutral as possible. This took influence on what images I decided to include in my zine. Learning about your own hair is important but in other situations learning about other hair types can be beneficial. Occasionally parents tend to have different hair types than their children so having a guide to know how to take care of not only their own hair but their kids hair can certainly help, especially interracial couples, foster care, or adoption.
INTENT
I want my audience to understand that this zine may not have all the answers rather its a guide or summary of hair types, products, and routine tips to inform those who need or want to know more about hair care. Hopefully they can learn about not only their hair type but others as well. It is my goal that they can benefit from the information and create a routine to improve their hair health.
VISUAL SOURCES
Pinterest Image Board: Line Based Textures
Other than looking at current hair care resources a huge part of my research was gathering photos to determine how I can introduce design applications into my zine. This included how I could possibly incorporate texture based visuals rather than photos.
Pinterest Image Board: Photography
After looking at line based textures I realized a lot of people can relate to seeing pictures of hair that looks like their own. However I still wanted to make sure the pictures I included were neutral and didn't focus on the person, just the hair. So I started to gather images of how photos can be manipulated. I didn't want my zine to look like your average hair care magazine rather something that was more focused on creative designs to keep the reader engaged and informed.
Pinterest Image Board: Zine Layouts
While looking at visual sources that may influence how I illustrate my content I also looked at creative ways I may be able to construct the zine and page layouts.
DESIGN PROCESS
COLOR
Color Explorations
As I started researching different types of hair and what kind of information I wanted to include in my zine I took a glance at color. I wanted my zine to have a neutral color palette. If there was a way I could make it look neither masculine nor feminine. Or perhaps it included colors that represented both. I gathered several color combinations and had the class vote on which ones they thought were the most neutral.
Color Explorations Narrowed Down
After the class was done, these were the color combinations that were voted to be the most neutral.
Final Colors
After taking the color combinations picked by the class into consideration I made my own palette including colors from each. Choosing colors that could either be feminine or masculine.
NAME
Name Explorations
My next step was figuring out what the name of my zine would be. After going through a list of synonyms relating to key words associated with my topic I came to the conclusion that simpler is better. Since this is a guide and is meant to be straight to the point I decided what better title than "Healthy Hair."
SKETCHES
My initial sketches included possible page layouts (left) and how my contents would be laid out on each page (right). The content pages followed the same system as my sketches and my section headers took inspiration from those first sketches on the left.
Original Cover Ideas
Following my hand drawn sketches I started to design a cover based on some of my visual sources of line based textures. I soon realized trying to mimic this style for the rest of the book would be difficult, not to mention people want to see pictures of real hair that they can relate to.
Section Header Pages
This led me to making my section headers first. Establishing how my section images would look and making sure I could follow the same format made it easier to mimic this style for the rest of my book, including the cover.
Front and Back Cover
I took swatches from each section header to build out my cover to display all four sections of the zine. The back cover was inspired by the single strands of hair found on each content page in the book. From there I took my photo elements from the section headers to use as tabs on my contents page as well. All the elements found throughout the book relate and are made from the same images to tie the concept together making it simple and easy to read.
REFLECTION
While doing this project I learned about not only my hair type but others as well. I did face some challenges while making my zine, the first being information. A lot of the resources I found were full of information but it was complicated for the reader to understand especially when trying to find specific information. Summarizing the information I found was difficult but that was the goal of this project, to make a simple guide for the reader rather than a whole novel of information. On top of information one thing I struggled with was battling too much at one time. If I were to go back and redo this project I would try to focus on one thing at a time to save myself from future stress. Overall, this project met my goals in improving my InDesign and Photoshop skills so that I'm ready for the future.
Thesis Presentation
SOURCES
Informational
Roia, F. C. (1966). The Use of Plants in Hair and Scalp Preparations. Economic Botany, 20(1), 17-30. JSTOR.
Trüeb, R. M. (2020). Nutrition for Healthy Hair: Guide to Understanding and Proper Practice. Springer International Publishing. https://link-springer-com.libproxy.library.wmich.edu/book/10.1007/978-3-030-59920-1
Marsh, J., Gray, J., & Tosti, A. (2015). Healthy Hair. Springer International Publishing.
Docter, H. (2023, August 22). What does your hair actually need? National Geographic. Retrieved January 17, 2024, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/what-does-your-hair-actually-need-parabens-sulfates
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Walker, Carlie, and Miranda Stroup. “Consultation One.” 5 Feb. 2024.
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Khan, K., & Madnani, N. (2013). Hair Cosmetics. Indian Journal of Dermatology,
Chapter 21: Functional Materials for Hair. (2017). In K. Sakamoto, R. Y. Lochhead, H. I. Maibach, & Y. Yamashita (Eds.), Cosmetic Science and Technology: Theoretical Principles and Applications (pp. 321-336). Elsevier Science. https://books.google.com/bookshl=en&lr=&id=HGp_CwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA321&dq=healthy+hair+care&ots=DYZVFUtuIS&sig=V5EpcEs3yeZrrpN4hZ_HwQd3Scw#v=onepage&q=healthy%20hair%20care&f=false
DAS Bookbinding. (2023, October 1). Two and Three Section Conservation Pamphlet [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yn9Fu5TvlzQ
Visual
Greenwood, K. (2019). Biographic: Marilyn. Ammonite Press.
Best Products for Scalp Health. (n.d.). Sephora. Retrieved January 18, 2024, from https://www.sephora.com/beauty/best-clarifying-hair-treatments?icid2=febscalp0223_healthy_scalp_dry_scalp_dryness_action_page_link
Hair Care: Growth & Health, Developed by Happy Hair Solutions Inc., IOS
Kwong, A. (2012). Cosmopolitan [Magazine]. Pentagram.
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Shoaib, M. Kim, S. (2015). REDCAT: Michael Pisaro, “Fogs, Mists” [Poster]. Calarts Poster Archive. https://posters.calarts.edu/redcat-michael-pisaro-fogs-mists
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https://www.magzter.com/ZA/Media24/YOU-Hair/Womens-Interest/
