Photo Shoot Location Scouting

To fit with my winter theme I thought I could incorporate Christmas into some of my locations. I took these photos in Coventry town center and could possibly be a location for one of my photo shoots or if not could be used as background images in my magazine.

 One of the problems could be lighting as this location only looks effective when it's dark. I do have a good quality flash on my camera therefore there is a possibility I could get some really 'wintery' shots of the outfits on my model.

These aren't the best images as they weren't planned and they were just taken on my phone, when I was in the city center, when the Christmas lights were switched on. But they give me an idea of what I could imagine on a real shoot.

Change in Brief

I originally planned to create two hyper linked pages for my magazines website however I don't think I have enough knowledge or skills (and the patience to learn how) to produce this. My new task is to create a radio advertisement instead.

Keeping to my schedule?

I'm quite behind on my schedule however after the 8th December I will speed up quite a lot as I will have the content to produce my article drafts and have plenty of images to work with.

Writing my Article

Starting my article Draft

I'm finding it quite difficult to write an article because I haven't been to an event to write about yet. However I can write about things I know from my own knowledge.

Edge Magazine

Edge Magazine

Edge Magazine is a regional Magazine in Warwickshire, Worcestershire, West Midlands and Gloucestershire.

Looking at other regional magazines I have realized that their is a lot of advertising due to the magazine being regional it would require funding and local companies will want to promote themselves to that region.

Even though Swarovski is a chain brand they are still promoting in their regional magazine.

Clothes Show Live

On the 8th December I will be attending the Clothes Show Live at the NEC in Birmingham (the Midlands region is where my magazine is based so this event is perfect for sourcing magazine content). There will be a fashion show along with a huge range of niche boutiques from this region where I will be able to get photographs and interviews. I plan to get a lot of resources here to feature in my magazine article.

Fashion Inspiration Research

In my spare time I have always loved watching fashion/beauty 'gurus' on YouTube who share their favourite fashion and make up interests throughout the year. A few of my favorites are Zoella, Lily Melrose, Lily Pebbles, Becca Rose and 'sunbeamsjess' , all of which also write blogs. I gain a lot of my fashion inspiration from these girls and will be able to involve these trends that also apply to my regional area.

http://www.zoella.co.uk/

http://www.lilypebbles.co.uk/

http://beccarose.org/

I have also looked at regional fashion bloggers from the Midlands, especially Birmingham for
inspiration.

http://www.tohellinahandbag.net/

http://www.lolacharlesblog.com/

The fashion blogger below is from Coventry.

http://thexoutfitter.blogspot.co.uk/ 

Survey Responses

I gathered in my responses from survey monkey and analysed the results in order to make suitable choices when making my product.

Fashion magazines appear to be not very popular as their aren't actually that many promoted on the market. It is usually fashion articles that are featured in gossip magazines or lifestyle magazines that are popular and that is where I will get most of my inspiration from.

Its seems that most people buy magazines in order to gain inspiration with the latest trends which is why I will write about the latest winter trends as that is what is relevant at this present time.

I calculated an average from the responses on prices and have decided to price my product at £2.80.

Timetable

This is the timetable I plan to follow to keep me organised and up to date with the production of my product.

First draft of magazine

I still need to take colour schemes, and fonts into consideration however although I didn't include it in my draft, I will use a limited amount of subtle colours and quite 'easy on the eye' fonts that are fairly simple so that I get the desired mature, professional look. I don't want it to look like a tween pop magazine. I need to think about models and also the sizes of my images as well. As my draft was very simplistic, I didn't make it clear enough that I was obviously going to include text based on winter trends in fashion and make-up as I have seen these types of page spreads in fashion/beauty magazines.

Camera Shots and Angles Research

Researching Camera Shots and Angle

                              

This camera shot is a long shot as you can see her full body in the frame and a slight amount of the setting. The use of this shot allows the reader to see the full extent of her outfit which is key, hence the genre of the magazine being fashion. This magazine used some natural lighting from shooting outdoors which I really like because it can make a photo more interesting as you can see the setting. The setting can also say a lot about the purpose of a shot. The empty space and blue sky give a very calming nature to these photographs which correspond with her subtle poses.The shadow of the model has been left remaining in the photograph, rather than it being edited out, again to emphasise the natural element of this photograph. I always thought one of the main conventions of a fashion magazine was strong poses and a very false, edited look to them however these photos break the conventions but still look really professional and polished.
                                                       

This shot is taken from the same magazine. The low angle forces the reader to look up to the subject (in this case the model), suggesting she is powerful and someone to look up to not just physically. It makes her appear as a role model.

                                                      
Most fashion photography is done under strong lighting conditions in a studio environment, which creates a professional look to the magazine. Airbrushing is always used on models to create this idea of perfection and beauty. The model is also looking directly into the camera giving quite a direct impact on the reader, making her appear quite seductive and appealing to the reader.


                                    

This layout includes long shots of models on an actually runway itself enabling a clear view to the reader of what they are wearing. Although the large majority of fashion magazine photographs are posed, these are more action shots.

I will take elements of inspiration from all of these camera shots, edits, and angles in my own product however the outdoor shots with natural lighting will most likely be my first choice. This is due to unavailability of a studio set up whenever I want it, the only main negative side to outdoor photos is the reliability of the sun and weather, which in England (especially in the Autumn/Winter) could be a problem.

Billboards and Webpage Research

Magazine/Fashion Billboards

These fashion based billboards clearly state the name of the brand they are promoting which clearly informs the audience of who they are. They aren't overly busy layouts because that would lose the main focus of the brand and audience would be distracted by lots of different colours and images.

                                           

The only information this billboard shows is the brand name and the website which I think is simple but effective. The vibrant photograph is enough to attract the eye but the important information is not ignored.
                                 
The use of black and white gives quite a professional feel to this brand and the photos suggest it is aimed at a youthful audience. Again their isn't a lot of text on there at all and the brand name is the largest thing you can see.
                                 

This magazine billboard gives the basic information of the name (in the largest, boldest text) and the date of release. It also gives a clear idea that the target audience is women as it says 'celebrate women in Hollywood'.

Webpages

www.thelondonmagazine.co.uk/

'The London Magazine' webpage has link to all the main features of the magazine, for example 'PEOPLE&PLACES', 'PROPERTY EXPERTS', 'INTERIORS&GARDENS', 'GOING OUT', 'STYLE&BEAUTY' and 'OFFERS&PRIZE DRAWS'. This also gives me a clearer idea of what regional magazines feature, which happens to all be based around lifestyle. The layout is very simple and sleek due its use of monochrome colours on the text and background. There isn't an over use of text or photographs.

When you click on one of the subheading links, another set of link appear to enable a more specific topic to read.

Regional Magazine Research

Regional Magazine Research

This first magazine is targeted for an audience up north. It has a very basic layout with a rather simple photograph as the background. It has a range of texts on the cover all in different colours which I personally think makes it look quite unprofessional. The term 'Exclusive Interviews' is used to persuade people to purchase this product however the interviews are with people who are unknown to me (I presume they are more likely to be known up North' which demonstrates that this regional magazine is particularly aimed at quite a niche audience. Also the term 'plus regulars...' gives me the impression that this magazine has regular issues with familiar features so the audience know what they are buying. The price is also fairly cheap at £1.95 making it affordable for the majority of people. Judging by the features on this cover I think it is obvious that the target audience is adults, probably ranging from about 35+, due o the 'Wedding Special' and the age of the people in the interview photographs.

'The London Magazine' has quite a professional look due to its subtle use of colour and sleek, bold text. The photo on the cover (on the right) gives me the impression that this magazine is more fashion based and therefore more targeted at women maybe ranging from 20-30. However inside this magazine there are also lifestyle articles such as 'capital interiors' and 'capital shopping'. The images used are of young attractive people and are all very professional looking. The 'trendy' style of this magazine corresponds with the modern style of the city of London 

My Survey

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Z5Y2DYL

I've created a survey to help me get an idea of what my target audience want from a fashion magazine. I chose survey monkey to create my survey as it was quick and simple to produce and easy to distribute. I can distribute the link to my survey through my personal social media, along with taking advantage of the use of other people's social networks to reach a wider range of people. It will enable me to collect in results from people online offering me a non bias range of answers, as I wont know all of these people so there will be a range of ages. I hope that this will give me useful information on my target audience so that I can then work around my product and use suitable conventions to meet the desires of my TA (eg. Age and gender will help me decide on colour schemes and layouts).

Exploring Genres

I produced a mind map investigating the pros and cons of different magazine genres. Although I am most familiar with gossip magazines, it is extremely unlikely I will find a regional magazine in that genre, therefore I figured fashion would be most suitable as there are small niche boutiques in many areas including my own home town.

These are a variety of different genres of magazine covers ranging from music to gossip to lifestyle.