Final Products

Front cover 1 

Front Cover 2

Content page 1

Content page 2

Statement of Aims (final draft)

 

Final Products

Front cover1

Front Cover 2 - exclusive edition

Content page 1 

Content Page 2

Mock up with critiquing

 

Through class feedback I established some minor issues in regards to my first front cover. There were some unnoticed issues surrounding spelling mistakes - eg The abstract noun 'perspective' in the left stand first, is spelt as 'perspecitve' which is an error due to font size and genuine clarity. Also, the feature of Maxwell Starkey was seen to be 'plain','boring', and 'simplistic' by some of my peers, so I have decided I want to change the font and it's colour to reflect authenticity through creating a niche product. I will swap the strapline "beauty in the truth" with "Maxwell Starkey" to enable a full feature of the model. The streamline I will decrease the size and place just above the Masthead. Also, the masthead will become yellow to tie in with the golden yellow of the sunflower, and create a more diverse, unique product. Plus to separate the stand first and storylines I will change the colours in between each stand to show difference in content feature.

Content page will feature this image on the left hand side, of the double page of the exclusive edition. This initially was going to be my front cover for the exclusive edition but I then decided to make the image of Sofine and Libby to create the band the 'Golden Pinks'.    

With the second edition front cover I felt a bit more wary about my layout. I found it challenging to establish the colour palette that I wanted to match and tie in with the photo. The right hand streamline was deemed 'too informal' and the font wasn't well-received. Plus the font at the bottom will be changed as it was deemed unreadable. 

Social Media - Instagram platform

 Instagram - @faunamagazineuk

The Fauna magazine instagram is a good way to cross converge the product to it's audience.

With a predominantly young, culturally aware audience, they would use social media platforms such as Instagram to follow varying celebrities, fan pages, and themselves share (interact) with pages.

Mock up with research - intertextuality links

 Mock up Maxwell Starkey

For Max's 'Coming out story' I wanted to develop a front cover that signifies the beauty in his feminine side. The cropped mast head at the top of the page establishes a masthead that can still be recognised 'well' which alludes to the stereotype that many lifestyle magazines follow - the cover star covering the 'recognisable' masthead. The main image centres Max (the cover star of the second edition). For the few coverlids (so far) I have picked out colours from both the shirt and the outer-petals of the sunflower. This colour scale works well on top of the emerald green backdrop. The simplistic forest-green in the backdrop is plain so allows the cover star's image to 'steal' the limelight and really rain on the centre of the main image. The vibrancy of the prop - the sunflower - signifies joy; reflecting Max today. Also, sunflower's symbolise the flower of perfect bloom, mirroring the message I wish to convey in this front cover. One of mine and Max's favourite films is clueless, so I decided it was best to play Homeage to the scene were Cher photographs Tai. This scene is truly beautiful, and I therefore sparked a keen interest to recreate this, as well as being able to successfully tie in as an intertextual link!

- Clueless 1995

Furthermore, the geometric patterning of the squares on Max's shirt tie-in well as it is a neutral colour palette of black and white in comparison to the natural greens and yellows surrounding. 

I played around with various fonts for the straplines/ coverline to see which font 'sat best with me', and am still readjusting and tweaking order to find a style that suits with the image and the unique ideology I wish to convey through the brand identity.

Critique/ change: 

1. Add more straplines

2. Change the opacity of the coverline (bottom of image). This will reinforce the brand image once bolder.

3. Alter brightness in image.

4.Play around with different images (same set up different positioning of prop)

Mock Up Sofine Bolter

This is my beginning  adaptations to the collection of images I captured of model, Sofine. Now, as this mock up is very plain and unfinished, it doesn't necessarily capture a real feel for. what it would eventually portray ( - this is no where near half way completed.) However, I thought would be good to play. around with the image to see what colour palette I could collate, and how wording/ font type would suit the layout of the main image. To create the colour palette I picked out the fluorescent green and pink (would eventually add orange) from  the cover star's dress. As the white backdrop is simple and plain, it would only 'be right' to heighten the value of the cover with bright colour. The benefit of the white backdrop is that anything can go on top of it (font-wise), and the model can wear clothing with patterns to initially portray style.

WIX WEBSITE screenshots

 

My Wix Website (choice of pages) is the 'HOME' page and the 'ABOUT' page.

Home Page - The Welcome feature of the wix website.

features of relevance = information, social media links, interactive elements for audience involvement.

'ABOUT' page

30 second video features on the 'ABOUT' to provide an insight to the magazine ideologies and viewpoints

Below is a 3-part interactive feature that encourages audience interaction to then locate the Easter egg !

The image below is the 'Easter egg' feature which provides audiences a chance to 'get involved' and have the chance to 'win' Libby Waller's signature - a signed copy of her poster.

BRAND IMAGE

This features on the opening HOME page which is my main feature of digital convergence as it features in the second edition content page, one of the first instagram posts -then reposted several times, plus the recognisable 'scroll' feature on the HOME page of the website.

WIX WEBSITE RESEARCH

 

Website Research

In order to successfully construct 

Magazine Research 2

Magazine 2 - Max's Coming out story

For this edition I wanted to portray the empowering influence behind being comfortable and confident in gender identity. 

Throughout history, male and female traditional roles in the media have distinctly separated the genders. This gender segregation has always been seen as a societal 'norm' but over the past 30 years gender performance has adapted. The rift between evolutionary psychology and the biosocial model of gender relations impedes a fuller understanding of gender roles and gender inequality. In a novel evolutionary account that complements both existing theories, we highlight life history strategies as intermediate mechanism linking distal environmental forces to variations in gender relations.

In recent editions of periodical magazines the shift in gender representation has altered drastically. For example popular musician Harry Styles and actor Timothee Chalamet have featured on Vogue magazine. Vogue magazine initially set out in the early 20th century to exhibit female luxury's in the form of a honorific lifestyle. Where as in the 21st century, almost a hundred years later, we can notice the societal shift playing a positive impact on not only gender representations, but previously underrepresented ethnic minorities, those disadvantaged with disabilities, and a variety of social classes. 

In both these editions, we can see the stereotypical ideologies of a white British middle class male being subverted. Here it can be noted that 

MOCK UP - FINAL RESEARCH/ INTERTEXTUALITY

 The two magazine editions both feature differing lifestyle.

Magazine 1 = Advancing sustainable living

Magazine 2 = Max's coming out story

Magazine 1

The mock up of Sofine's image was influenced by both the garments used in Ragged Priest photoshoots, and by rare sunglasses feature in magazines. Sunglasses are a rare feature located on magazine front covers due to the way they might be perceived and draw attention away from the model's facial features. 

In the Eillish cover, a clear cut styling of the sunglasses matched with the outfit and model styling has been constructed to provide great authenticity and an enticing image for the audience. 

The aubern/orange/beige's in the clothing and accessory tie in well - it works. The sunglasses don't detract attention from the main set out of the cover.  

Even the green and black in the top third the image contrast the colour usage effectively. This has successfully built up a dynamic colour palette that subsequently reflects the representation and brand image the model (artist/ musician) wishes to convey to the audience. 

This shoot with model, Sofine Bolter, allowed us to depict a variety of different poses and placements with the pinnacle being the sunglasses.The placement of the left arm tilting the sunglasses plays homage to the Vanity Fair, Billie Eillish cover. In the contact sheet above is the first photoshoot of Sofine, whereby we moved her positioning around to see what worked best. Styling with a prop comes with it's challenged because of the many considerations taken into account. For example, detracting the centre image off of facial features.  

One of the main influences for this photoshoot was from retail branded company - Ragged Priest.

Their photoshoots appear "quirky", "unique", "bold". They constantly subvert the typical retail shops marketing and advertisement. Whilst I don't agree with the manufacturing of their garments and their underlying fast fashion demeanour, it can be noted that their images are highly recognisable on multiple social media platforms and websites because it is what makes up their brand image.

Magazine 2

Whilst completing Max's photoshoot we decided to play homage to the famous flower scene in well-known coming-of-age film Clueless.

We moved the positioning of Max and the flower around to see which suited better. The side on images appeared much nicer than focusing straight forward. The centre aligned facing forward images almost appear awkward instead of comfortable. Now posing comes without saying of the tensing in posing and certain positioning, so it is hard to find a pose that truly works for both model and photographer.

Furthermore, when capturing my 'Max Collection' we looked over George Michael magazine front cover's for inspiration. George Michael was an idyllic advocate for the LGBTQ+ community during the late 80s/ early 90s. He was an influential role model of the time, especially considering the stigmas surrounding the gay community during this time. Whilst discussing with Max we decided to take influence from these front covers to show the attitude on his face - pouting.

The stern gaze into the camera lens in these front covers entices and engages and audience - "eye catching". The serious pouting and serious 'look' conveys an emotion which would be evident within the magazine content, perhaps displaying a serious issue or storyline.

We practiced a more "serious" approach.

These mid-shot/ close-ups reign in the focus on mainly Max's facial features. These structured shots benefitted the efficiency of the shoot because we were able to retrace what images 'worked' and which didn't. Capturing many images allowed me to browse through and see what posing/ postures 'worked' and furtherly being consciously-aware of how it would reflect mood/ meanings/ messages through a front cover, to successfully engage an 'audience'.

CS Max