Statement of intent

How do you intend to use the four areas of the media theoretical framework to communicate meaning

and meet the requirements of your chosen brief?

The first edition of the magazine will focus on the autumn season.  The front cover will feature a female model in a natural setting such as a forest and will call attention to autumn with decayed leaves and natural lighting. I want a simple photo which will show more of the facial features of the model by taking a close-shot, which will attract consumers to the simplicity, and beauty that comes naturally from within, rather than the usual concept of showing garments. I aim to highlight the fact that the model is well known in the industry and it is still about fashion, even though she is not showing any clothing.  The magazine will reach young females having self esteem issues and transmit a powerful message by spreading awareness of natural beauty.  The contents page will have an image of a young female model in a similar setting, giving a similar vibe as the model will be wearing a red coat revealing a shoulder which will create a link between the front cover and the contents page as they are both showing the shoulders of the models to an extent. The articles on the contents page aim to be empowering, taking inspiration from other magazines’ content pages.

 For the second edition I choose to have a male subject which is meant to be a well known fashion designer giving an interview about his secret wedding.  My magazine will have subtle references to the winter season such as the garments of the subject and the natural lighting as the picture was meant to be taken in a natural setting to show continuity from an edition to another. The contents page will have images shot indoors and the model will be wearing a white dress which is a common colour during winter. Moreover I added an image of the cover for the subscriber’s edition so that they can engage even more and get extra information about the issues and news from the magazine. I hope that the readers will see the positive side of what I want to present, gender equality, and normalise the concept of having male models on fashion magazines that could also target men.

For my website, I want to follow the conventions of fashion magazine website as they all focus on simplicity when it comes to designing a front page for a magazine or a homepage for the website, most aspects tend to be simple and subtle. I will create a website using Wix and and link my products and articles from the magazine to the online platform in order to make it more accessible for the consumers/readers and allow people to engage on a digital level as it is more popular nowadays.

I will use a white background having a very straightforward way of navigating through the website. Moreover, I want to have a small gallery where people can the the main image and also a brief of the article. I want people to enjoy spending time and reading the articles online so I intend to create it as simple and pleasant as possible. My first 2 articles will  be functional as well as all the tabs from the menu bar, because people are more likely to look at them.

I took inspiration from the Vogue magazine for my physical front covers and I want to follow “the Vogue way”  into creating a website that will represent the magazine on the online platform.

I hope that consumers/readers will enjoy the aesthetic of the website and respond positively towards the content.

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How do you intend to link your media products to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of

the digitally convergent nature of your media production?

The magazines I have created will link with the website as they are both presenting the same issues. For instance, in the magazine you would be able to read the article on “the secret wedding” whereas on the website you would have access to the interview as a video.  On the home page of the website you would see the physical magazine as well as a section that allows consumers to follow and subscribe which is similar to the physical magazine where on the contents pages you can see a photo of the subscriber’s edition.

Final Website

I have finished working on the website and I am happy to show you the link down below:

https://ninayamanaka21.wixsite.com/mysite-1

Working on WIX

For the website I have thought of creating a new fresh website but as I made a website on wix while doing my research I decided to keep the layout created previously and just add my own articles and images.

I have to admit the more I worked on the little details the more complicated it seem to be.
I gave up to having a slide gallery which I had previously on the previous web page and used a different gallery.

Here you can see the top part of the home page I have been working on.
At first you can see the name of the article but when you put the mouse or finger onto it it shows the main image of the article, I took inspiration from Vogue Italia website which has a similar layout

After this, I decided to add some articles similar to how Vogue would do.

This is my version, I decided to only have 3 articles.

I opt for simplicity.

I had some problems linking the page with the articles... 

Thus I decided to make the menu bar functional and have an article for each one of them.

I realised I needed more details so I have played around with wix until I was pleased.

Here you can see what I have done so far.

After working on the website and being happy with what I have done, I only had to edit the video I have planed before. 

as it turned out it took longer than I expected. 

For the video I first recorded it in the school studio, but I was not confident enough with how it looked. 

Here you can see a little preview of  the studio recording. ( I was also in the recording as I was trying to do some make up and rehearse with the subject)

At some point I was in the frame asking questions, but I had a problem with staying serious knowing I  was filming and things may not go as planed as i had to start the camera and record and only hope for the best.... and so I became camera shy... 

I decided not to use the footage from the studio because the subject was not focusing on the camera and the sound wasn't very good as it was filmed in school and it contained background noises from other students.

I then took the camera and filmed in my own time while being at home. 

Unfortunately I couldn't find a good place to film, so I went into the underground parking as the acoustic was good and it was a quiet place with a nice white - brick wall. 

After editing the video I have realised that there were still some background noises, but it was still better than the previous video. 

I had some trouble editing the video, but I am happy with the results especially because it was almost under time conditions and it turned out to be OK. 

Here you can see the final video: 

Working on the Second edition front cover - Photo Shop

For the second edition things changed a lot...

I had a very clear vision of the model (mid-shot) surrounded by cold colours.

Unfortunately I had some problems with the background as The photographs had poor quality due to the camera settings which I could not change.

Here is my work process...

I started again with the flat plan just to lay out the text and make sure is similar.

So I lied out the text and I was not sure if the Front cover gives the continuity I needed to highlight on both editions.

Therefore, I compared  the first front cover and what I had now in front of me.

Looking at the previous front cover I realised that I need to make some changes to the second edition, as the headline is not obvious enough on the second edition and it doesn't look similar.

I changed the position and font of the text and made the headline more visible so that the consumers can pick up the idea that the image relates to the model on the cover. In this case having a male model (young designer- that has a secret weeding) on the front cover.

Now I felt mode confident with the way the text was layed out. I was happy that there was a similarity between the different editions.

The last things I did were the little details such as the bars and text on the left side(plugs).

I added the bar code and the website as well as changing the price and date position.

Here I added the background that I originally had in mind and I was ready to use, but the image was blurred and I am not happy using this shot.

However I will recreate it as soon as possible. 

I am planing now to have a light background that will enable me to keep the black text and have a nice result. 

This is not the final front cover but this is what I had in mind from beginning. 

I managed to find some time to take pictures of the same model, and make sure that the camera resolution is better this time.

Here are the shots:

Now I could use the new photographs to replace the original background. 

I kept the same layout but I wasn't happy with how it turned out so I changed the colours and moved things around.

I changed the photograph later and changed many details in the text, for example I capitalised most of the text and changed their original position.

This is the final front cover for the second edition for Liberty.

I choose to have a White background and some Red text to emphasise the winter/Christmasy theme.

To give it a more dramatic effect I decided to turn the image with the model black and white.

Working on the Second edition - Contents page - Photo Shop

For the contents page I wanted to show a similar continuity as in the first edition of the magazine (LIBERTY).

As previously I have used the flat plan to help me layout the text and images.

Since the main story on the cover is referring to a wedding I decided to have a photo of a woman/girl dressed in white. that will link to the wedding concept mentioned on the front cover.

 I also followed the main Idea that was carried from the first edition of the magazine, having a main image and other 2 small ones.
On the flat plan the two images were meant to be related to the contents listed but I couldn't manage to get  a saddle bag from Dior so I took the images from their website and the other image was meant to have a model and non-conventional make-up, once again I couldn't find anyone in such a short time that would come for the shoot and allow me to use the photos.  so I used the images of the saddle bag.

I wasn't very happy with this look for the contents page...

so I tried a different image.

This image was a lot better, as it would not cover the face of the model as well as not showing the whole face of the model since I wanted it to link with the headline on the front cover "Toni's SECRET WEDDING", as we ca see the model is modest not looking straight into the camera but showing her make up and hair done as for a wedding which shows continuity and cohesion.

Moreover, I have decided to remove the image with the bag and legs on the right side as it was already too much of the bag on just one page. 

so I added a special issue for the subscribers of the magazine and how the other cover looks like. 

As you can see on this contents page of ELLE magazine they have put on the contents page the covers of the special issues for their subscribers.

I took inspiration from this and I have used the previous image as the cover and added the masthead LIBERTY. 

This is the final Contents Page for the second edition of the LIBERTY magazine-

Working on the First edition - Contents page - Photo Shop

Since I started with the front cover this time I felt more comfortable using Photoshop.
There were technical problems... but I had the chance to follow my flat plan similar to what I did for the front cover.

I have done a first draft for the contents page.
I had to put the text first and lay it out similarly to the plan as well as follow the convention I had planed, which was to have a main image and 2 other images linked to the contents followed by the features:

• ON THE COVER 
• FASHION 
• SPECIAL FEATURES
• ART AND LIFESTYLE

Which will be found on both editions,content pages.

So I followed the plan closely.


For the other two Photographs I had in mind something else... but I did use them to see how would the layout look with the images in the places I have planed.

 As I looked and changed small details I realised that I won't be able to get a good result following my flat plan exactly.


I couldn't get the models to get a similar photo to the one I had in the plan, so I gave up on the initial idea with the two images at the bottom.
















The only problem was that I was using the same model since it was very hard to find someone else in such a short time.
Also... because it provides the continuity that most magazines have. As I also took inspiration from Harper's BAZAAR contents page of the same edition that I used as inspiration for my first front cover, I saw the same colours, garment, model, being used for both.





Then I had to start again, changing the size and font of the contents, as well as the colours and layout.
I had to find a new model and recreate the image I had in the first place as the main image because the photos I had weren't portrait, but  landscape which didn't work well as the image would then be blurry when zoomed in and it would've looked bad with the new layout I had in mind.

Here you can see that I already positioned the main features trying to use the new photo.
I was still thinking that I will use the same layout for the image but I realised that I will need more text or more photographs which I wasn't sure I could get.

I just added the text again so that it would be easier to work with them as they are already in layers, and I can just unsee them to try out things.

Then I changed my mind, and I turned away from the flat plan. 

The flat plan was good, but I didn't have the resources and time to create it as planed. 

So I had to make changes. 

I used one of the photographs I have taken with the new model, (portrait) 

and I realised it actually looked better. 

I was looking at the front cover and the contents page, and I saw the difference in colour between the photographs... so I decided to use a filter for the image on the contents page as well. 

I think this filter made it look better and it complements the models garments as well as her hair colour and skin tone.

The only details left now were the page number and text as well as adding the website next to the number of the page and adding some text at the bottom of the photo to show that the image is related to an article inside the magazine.

-This is the Final contents page of the first edition of Liberty magazine-

Working on the First edition front cover - Photo Shop

Since I have planed everything in detail, It was very easy to work in Photo Shop.
I have used Photo Shop before and I already knew how to use it.
I used my flat plan as a background to help me layout the text I had prepared and I positioned everything in a way that it will look similar to the plan.

I had followed my plan to an extent, as I kept most of the features from the front cover plan.
The only different thing is that I decided to change them around  based on what I have seen on different fashion magazine front covers.  I made the " fashion's new wave" the headline. Then I had to put them around in a way that it will cover the blank spaces on the cover but not overcrowd it. My intention is to follow the simplistic convention/theme of fashion magazines.

 I have taken some photographs, but since I've used natural lightning I used the brightest one,
here you can see the other photographs ...

Once I opened the photo in Photoshop I've see a difference in colour so I used a filter to make it look more orange and improve the distribution of light.

 As you can see I added the masthead "LIBERTY" and I separated the background from the masthead by using blending options to define the word "LIBERTY".  Moreover you can see that I have changed the filter to orange so it looks more orange.   

 After adding all the text and features such as the price and date and the bar code and the website link, I still felt like there is something missing.

So I looked at Harper's BAZAAR magazine and studied the little details.  

I looked at the little circle shaped writing and I decided to do something similar.

Therefore, I added "THE BEAUTY OF NATURE" - 2018- .

-This is the final Front Cover for the first edition of the LIBERTY magazine-