Outfit Ideas

Here are a few possible outfits that I will get my model to wear, they are all comprised of current trends and all items are from high street shops such as Topshop and River Island. I know that my model also owns versions of all of these items so there will be no problem in her fitting in with my decided outfit.

Look One
I think this is much more of a casual look than the others I think and is the type of thing my target audience wears on a day to day basis. I do think if I were to use this look I might reconsider the chelsea boots as we're going to be taking the pictures in a field and although I know my model will be able to walk in them around the field and wont mind getting them dirty but it still might be a little dangerous walking around in heels and it'll be easier if she's wearing something flat so if I choose this outfit I'll see if she has some flatter shoes.

Look Two

Personally this is one of my favorite looks and is very on trend right now. There is definitely still a lot of 90s influence in the fashion world right now and this outfit has certainly taken some of that influence. However, I do think this outfit could be a little cold if the weather is a bit miserable on the day when I take my pictures. I do also think the shoes wouldn't be particularly practical in the environment that I'll be shooting but the currentness of this outfit trend wise seriously makes me consider using it.

Look Three

This outfit again is something that could be seen to be worn day to day by my target audience, it is very casual but at the same time has an element of glamour, this may be due to the detailing on the cold shoulder jumper and the fur lined cardigan. This said the boots are suede and they wouldn't be the best in a muddy field and if it's rained recently the ground could be very wet and this is something I'll very much keep in mind when choosing my outfit.

After considering these three outfits I think I am inclined to go with Look One. This is because it is one of the more casual outfits that my target audience may be seen in day to day and so they will be able to relate to my products more. However, as I said in the brief description I am considering asking my model if she has any low heeled boots to make it easier to take some of the pictures (as there are hay bales in her field and we are thinking of taking some pictures on those). I may also consider adding in the cropped jumper from Look Two as cropped tops are still very much a key trend this winter.

Makeup Inspirations

Here are a few examples of makeup trends for winter 2014. Most of them feature dark, statement lips with minimal eye makeup, which is the look that I think I will go for. In most cases here the models also tend to be very contoured which is a trend that has been very present throughout the entirety of 2014.
My magazine is a fashion magazine aimed at 15-25 year olds and so my target audience is likely to be very interested in makeup and aware of current trends and so they will likely know and associate the makeup with keeping up with current trends as well as knowing what season the magazine is for just by the model's makeup. It is important to have up to date trends in makeup on my model as a fashion magazine that wants to be reputable for being up-to-date with trends would keep up with all aspects of the fashion and beauty world and so one of these looks will be present on my model during my photoshoot. 

Story Board of Interview

Here I've looked at part one of Stan Lee's "Mutants, Monsters and Marvels" interview to gain some ideas on how to form my own interview with my potential audience members and I have mapped some of the key points on a story board so as I can remember them and try to incorporate them into my own work.

Consent from photographer

My model has worked on some photoshoots in the past and some of them very much remind me of campaigns by big brands and I would very much like to use some of these in mock pieces and perhaps my final outcome if I'm unable to recreate them. For me to be anle to do this I needed to gain concent from the photographer who took them, whom luckily I know and so was able to contact her. Here are visual records of this concent and the information I provided her with.

Target Audience

                  Primary Audience

Age: 15-25 years old

Gender: female 

Interests: fashion, makeup, beauty, celebrity 

Socio-econ: groups E-C2; the likes of students, skilled workers such as hairdressers and unskilled workers such as cleaners.

                 Secondary Audience

The secondary audience of my magaine could consist of virtually anyone other than my primary audience. The age range of those interested in it could range up to 60 years old and although my primary audience is female males interested in fashion, beauty or celebrity. The only thing that would be key in them enjoying my texts would be that they all had smiliar interests, mid-range fashion brands, beauty and celebrity.

Flat Plans of Magazine

Consent

This is a screen capture of the concent I gained to use my model in my photos, as this is just a casual agreement I will do a more professional looking one in the form of a contract which will replicate those used in the actual modelling industry. I will get her to sign this before I take the pictures. 

Time Management

Here I have produced a rough time scale for when things need to be done. I'm aiming to get a majority of my ancillery tasks done before the October half-term, I definitely think that the billboard will be completely done by then but the webite may not be. 

Previously I've used DreamWeaver to create websites but I'll experiment with Wix to see if that's easier to produce on as although DreamWeaver was simple once I got used to it Im'd be interested in seeing how another program compares and if it allows me more freedom in my designs which unfortunately DW didn't really do. 

This experimentation will obviously going to take some time, maybe a day or two of seeing whether I like how the program works but once decided the actual completion of the website should take no longer than 2 weeks, preferably only a week.

After the October half term I plan on focusing on my main task so as I have the time to be able to create it to a high standard and I plan on completing this just before the christmas break. If I finish this earlier than expected I'll then move onto acritical analysis of my pieces, compairing them to existing texts.

If the critical analysis is not done before christmas I will use the remainder of the allotted time (until the end of January) doing this and my evaluation of my work. The evaluation will refer to the analysis and my overall feelings of the work I have created and what they are vs what I had planned. By the end of January all my work is to be completed and handed in.

Pitch!

Inspirational Texts - Billboards

Fashion billboards tend to be very stinking and often plain so as to stay in your mind and so as you can recall the brand name. This Forever 21 billboard fits that expectation exactly; merely depicting 2 girls, likely wearing clothes from the store, and the shop's name and web address, meaning if seen on the way home etc. it can be looked up once home. 

Apple is a brand that very much embraces minimalism and this is an internationally known fact. Even without the brand name it's likely that a member of the target audience would be able to identify who was selling it. Personally this is something that I really like about Apple, however this is likely not going to be something I can translate into promoting a magazine, however, the minimalism approach will be something I bare in mind during creating mine.

Elle is one of the few magazines I've seen promote themselves on billboards and they break the typical convention of a rather plain advertisement. This in itself makes it maybe more memorable; with striking yellow against black and a series of their covers underneath which have featured various icons of Hollywood. Obviously being a new regional magazine there'll be no front covers and few local icons to choose from but I really do like the idea of a basic yet striking billboard (the yellow on the black). 

Inspirational Texts - Websites

Like the magazine, Glamour's website is to cater for mid-range designers and has a target audience of those interested in lower end designer wear and caters for those ranging from 18-50 years of age. Like the magazine also the website heavily relies upon celebrity endorsement of brands and does multiple features on various events throughout the year (less frequent than in the magazine though).
Personally I do like the clean white, minimalist design but I think it's quite impersonal and I think for the website I'll be creating I'd like it to be more inviting.
The way they go about their layout, however, is something that I do like; they have a newsbar going up the left hand side of the screen and scrolling images at the top of most pages highlighting some of the better bits from the page you are on. Obviously the scrolling images would be slightly difficult to create (from my past experience they were anyway!) but their highlights on the front pages of the tab you're on is a good idea as well and I'll keep it in mind when creating my web pages. 

Being a free magazine that comes with The Sun it comes under Th Sun's website and to access the full content you need to subscribe, this isn't uncommon with free magazines that have an online presence and some regional magazines also follow this practice; this means a large portion of the page is dedicated to advertising Sun+ which allows you full access to all of the articles from fabulous and more.
I do think the way which they've laid the articles out suits the type of magazine that is is (connected to a newspaper) but I don't think I'll be taking much inspiration from Fabulous' website.

The Heat website incorporates current events into it's theme (usually the background is just white and red, but at the moment has the Stand Up To Cancer arrows referring to the March On Cancer occurring on the 11th October).
I do very much like how interactive the Heat website is, even to the point of having a 'fun' section. I do very much like the whole feel of the Heat website, however, I do think that my own could look a little more professional and maybe focus less on celebrity and more on fashion and or beauty. 

Inspirational Texts - 4 pages

Glamour magazine is one of the larger glossy lifestyle mags widely available to the general public and is sold internationally. Obviously being an international magazine does have an effect on it's content somewhat; Glamour magazine often has multiple stories on celebrities and pages upon pages of designer advertising. Usually this designer advertising is of the lower designer spectrum (the likes of Steve Madden frequent shoe features) and although expensive are still affordable. I think depending on the area I choose for my regional magazine these types of designers and shops would fit in perfectly. I also really like the mood board style they do their top fashion pieces in. 

One thing which I really do like about Glamour is how they often have such features as "beauty editor's pick" or "style editors pick", usually around the start of a new season which acts as a way of displaying the latest seasonal trends in a way which won't overload the reader; this is something I think could be applicable to my magazine. Glamour also often changes their colour scheme to fit in with the seasons, the Rita Ora one I have featured is September 2014's edition and is beginning to incorporate more autumnal colours but still has the warmth of summer in it's yellow header. 

Add caption

Fabulous magazine is another of my inspirational texts for my 4 page spread and is probably more along the lines of how my regional magazine would turn out. It's a supplementary magazine that comes with The Sun and not particularly big and is aimed at the 16-25 age range female target market. This said they do have some features which are aimed at older women going into their 40s and 50s. 
The style Fabulous is done in is much more relaxed than the glossy magazines tend to be and this is down to the target market; youthful and more than likely from a working class background. This is the target market I'll be looking at so I'll be taking a lot of inspiration form the way articles are put together and where abouts products are from which will likely be high street shops such as River Island and Topshop. 
Like Glamour, Fabulous also does a 'pick' of fashion and beauty under their "Here's What We're Lusting After" section. Again this is something I think I can apply to my own regional magazine.
Along with celebrity, lifestyle and health and beauty articles Fabulous also does articles on up coming events such as Lady's Day at Ascot and festivals such as Reading and Leeds. This is something else I could take and apply to my own regional magazine. 

Heat is one of my personal favorite magazines and has been for some time, but not because of the celebrity gossip it's renowned for. personally I like the colloquial feeling of the articles (which is also featured to a slightly lesser extent in Fabulous). This magazine is quite chatty which I think would translate well into a regional magazine, especially as if it were a real magazine, the likelihood that you'd know a lot of the readers is incredibly high.
On the fashion/beauty front Heat doesn't focus on this very much as their primary focus is on the celeb gossip but I do really like how they do "Your Lunch Hour Trolley Dash", which is a unique take on the likes of 'editors pick' and is something I'm very much interested in recreating in my magazine. 
Asides from that one feature, Heat is much the same as Fabulous in content and layout - mainly focusing on high street brands and shops in a simplistic way, occasionally doing features on what products celebrities use or a beauty agony aunt. 

Proposal for A2 coursework

For my coursework I have chosen to do brief 14, this requires me to produce the first four pages of a regional magazine along with two other sub briefs. The two sub briefs which I've chosen to do alongside the main brief are to create two hyperlinked pages for the magazine's website and a billboard promoting the website. 

So, by the deadline I aim to have produced:

• 4 pages of a regional magazine
• 2 hyperlinked pages of the magazine's website
• A billboard promoting the magazine

I have previously made a website for coursework and so feel confident in my ability to make that both easily and quickly to a high standard. Print media is also an area I'm familiar with and confident working with, having extensively used Photoshop in my AS course. 

The type of magazine I'm planning is likely to be fashion and beauty based as not only is this an area which greatly appeals to me and I have a wide knowledge of but I also think that if this were a real worldly venture the lack of regional magazines with a youthful target market provides a huge gap in the market to be filled.