Magazine | Location Research

When taking my photographs, I travelled to Waddon Pond in Croydon to take a few shots for my magazine and website audio-visual. I also took some photos in the school's studio.

Magazine | Flat Plan of Website Homepage

For my website homepage, I have decided to have a header that contains the magazine masthead (LUXE in its font Henri Didot) on the top left, running across this - feature categories such as 'Fashion', 'Beauty', 'Travel', 'Lifestyle' & a 'More' option that drops down and has sub-categories such as 'Fashion week', 'Health', 'Photos', 'About Us', etc. As I looked at my inspiration mood board, I also found that most magazine websites had a 'Subscribe' & 'Follow' icon that allowed readers to keep up to date with their posts, so I have also incorporated that onto my header, followed by a search icon & a 'Globe UK' icon that distinguishes what website URL the reader is on. Underneath this, I will have a long image that is cut short featuring a diverse model in front of a brick wall; I have chosen this as I feel the website should be minimal in terms of its colour palette (I mainly aim to use white, grey & black) so its colour should come from within the images I've taken. The homepage will then have 2 photos underneath the main image and will be alongside an audio-visual that plays when you enter the site, there will be a volume button on one bottom and an information icon on the other.

Magazine | Flat Plan of Website Linked Page

For my website linked page, I have decided to have the same header that was on my homepage to keep a sense of consistency. I will then have a relevant ad placed under this showing some relation to fashion or beauty. Underneath this will be the title of the linked article in a font type that is similar to that of the masthead & has a brief description of the article in a smaller size. The date should be displayed underneath this in grey (almost blended into the white background) with the author's name & social media links. I will then use a relevant image of whoever/whatever the article is talking about - there will be text explaining the image (caption). After this, I will have text talking about the article in depth with an image every so often after a paragraph. This post will be slightly indented onto the left as 2 fashion/beauty related adverts will be placed on the right side that will not scroll with the page. Underneath the article there will be a straight line acting as a divider with large text saying 'Next Post' which will act as a link onto another post; underneath this will have the articles that were featured on my homepage in small with another lined divider separating hashtags of common fashion related/trending topics. At the bottom of the page, I hope to have a footer with contact information, masthead/logo, social media icons, terms & conditions & other linked information.

Magazine | Statement of intent

With this brief, I intend on creating two front covers & two contents page spreads on 2 magazine editions for a fashion magazine. I plan on doing one edition of based on 'High end' fashion style & the other more 'Modest' fashion style. The message I aim to convey is that the reader has their own power of speech that they can voice through their appearance & the way they present themselves; this being confident & powerful – showing skin or elegant & classy – covered up.

For my September edition will have contrasting techniques such as bold & thin font faces & warm tones such as mustard yellow, beige, red, orange, brown, nude etc. September connotes a month of ‘warmth’ &‘nature’, so I will include feature articles that have relations to the month, such as ‘Autumnal Fashion Trends’, I will also use the colours that best fit September as my main colour palette. I will make this an ‘Exclusive’ edition & have the features been in relation to beauty trends; for example ‘Beauty Hacks’, ‘High-Street Trends’ & ‘Fashion Findings’. I want to keep the colour scheme of the text very simple, preferably a Mustard Yellow colour including the masthead and have the same colour tone come out from the main model’s clothing. To keep the consistency within my magazine, I will use dividers in the form of a ‘+’ to help readers distinguish the articles. The contents page will have 1 or 2 images that are rather small, I will use 5 feature categories – 3 of which will be the same in the second edition: ‘Fashion’, ‘Beauty’ & ‘Special Edition/Exclusives’. I took inspiration from Vogue contents pages and will also be including a ‘Subscribe’ box at the bottom of the page.

 As August connotes a month of ‘new beginnings’ & ‘nature’ I have decided to have the main cover image set outside surrounded by nature (flowers/trees/in a field) & like the Autumn edition I will include appropriate texts & features such as ‘Fashions Rebirth’. Whereas my August edition will have thin & serif font & have bright & pastel colours, as well as baby pink, white, red, nude, beige etc. I want to have all the text on the front cover to be white so the main colour is emerging from the main image. The features & articles will be Summer related, for example the first feature will say ‘Summer Style Edit’ with ’38 Wow Pieces’ underneath it. The magazine is going to be consistent in terms of using the ‘+’ dividers as it shows similarities in the housestyle of the magazine. As this edition is using a model who wears a hijab, I thought it would be best to have a ‘Modest Movement’ feature. The contents page will be somewhat similar to the September edition, however the feature categories will be placed underneath the masthead & the image of the FCM will be underneath, alongside the subscribe button.

Magazine | Flat Plan of Front Cover & Contents Pages

Here I have designed flat plans for two editions of my fashion Magazine called Luxe. I first researched fashion magazines of my choice & took features & techniques from them that I hope to use in my final piece. After the research, I created two flat plans (August & September) for my front cover pages & used Microsoft Word to see how it would look on Photoshop without the image behind it.

Magazine | Case Studies

Magazine | Deconstruction of Front Cover, Contents Page & Website

Magazine | Website Design

During my research, I visited 3 Fashion Magazine websites: Elle, Vogue & Harper's Bazaar, I created a mood board that will act as a part of my inspiration in my final website design.

Magazine | Celebrity Representation

For this task, I was asked to research how a celebrity is represented in 3 different magazines whilst taking into account the theme, season & language of the issue.

Magazine | Fashion Photography Investigation

These are two fashion magazine I deconstructed whilst taking into account their lighting, pose, location, colour & narrative.

 Visme

Magazine | Fashion Magazine Website Investigation

Magazine | Investigating Bauer

Bauer: 

An eclectic mix of fashion, beauty, current affairs and news that celebrates women.

The Mission:

We’re where you start your conversation, we’re compulsive, we’re surprised, we’re funny and we bring you the hottest topics first.

Key Facts:
1. Presence in all continents  -  13 M
2. Followers on social media  -  17 M
3. Readers  -  10 M
4. Copy sold  -  75,000+ total pages (of which 20,000+ advertising pages)

Reader: 

Grazia has a highly targeted demographic of an upscale and influential 25-45-year-old female audience and more AB profile readers than Vogue and Elle. She’s a savvy, affluent, confident, busy and modern woman who actively participates in the world around her. She comes to Grazia for edited choice on everything, from the news she needs an opinion on that week, the issues she wants to be moved by, to simply discovering which heels will instantly make her wardrobe rock. She happily admits she’s “addicted” to Grazia’s unique mix of news, views and shoes.

Manifesto:

1. Opinionated and has point of view
2. Relevant, relatable and zeitgeisty
3. Spirited and funny
4. Authoritative, brave and bold
5. Exciting, informative and inspiring
6. A mindset, regardless of age
7. On the side of women
8. A place of British stories
9. A brand that makes you feel something...and want to tell others about it
10. The friend you can be yourself with

Upon researching and investigating the audience, readership, manifesto & mission statement of Bauer, The Magazine House, I have gathered that they are aiming for a style-savvy woman who is modern in her choice of clothes and somewhat like a young business woman or entrepreneur. With this information, I aim to target my magazine towards a young, A-B class demographic who enjoys high-end fashion and a touch of luxury and simplicity.

Magazine | Colour scheme, Feature & Typography

The most typical Fashion Magazine conventions come under 3 categories: colour scheme, typography & features. In terms of colour scheme, each edition has a colour palette that either matches the season; for example, a Winter fashion edition may consist of blue, silver & white because the colours have connotations of Winter. The typography used by fashion magazines usually have serif font for their masthead, for example, Vogue & Elle have a similar serif typeface, whereas Marie Claire challenges these normal fashion conventions and instead uses a sans-serif typeface. And lastly, regarding features, the average well-known fashion magazine wants to keep their features straight to the point & short - this keeps the reader's interest & does not take up valuable space on the front cover. Features also consist of articles that are displayed inside the magazine & may act as a pull quote or puff drawing the reader's attention.

Magazine | Designing my own website

I used the website Wix to create my own Fashion Magazine Website to try and test out how I would want my final website to look like, upon experimenting with different ideas, I have come up with this.

My Wix presentation. Visme

Magazine | Mood board Editions

Here I have thoughtfully constructed two mood boards that I will use as inspiration in the development of my future Fashion magazine Luxe. I have chosen the seasons Autumn and Summer because they equally have a diverse range in clothing and can be worn throughout the corresponding seasons (Winter and Autumn).

Magazine | Reader profile

I will create a reader profile for the ideal person I would want reading my fashion magazine, this person is of A-B demographic grade and preferably female in their early 20's (a young adult).


Inayah is a 22-year-old graduate in the University of Cambridge, she studies Law and will be studying another degree in Business. In her spare time, she shops at stores such as Zara, Hollister & Co and River Island, as well as going out in Central London to eat and socialise with friends. Inayah is fond of designer brands and her favourites are Versace and Chanel. Because of her interest in high street fashion, she often reads fashion magazines such as Vogue, Elle and Bazaar, their fashion sense often reflects her own and she stays up to date with the latest trends has an Instagram page where she is well known as an 'Instagram model', she posts things she has bought and is seen as fashion-forward and follows fashionable celebrities. Some of her favourite fashion icons are Rihanna, Zendaya and Audrey Hepburn.

Magazine | Introducing the brief

"You work for an independent media production company. You have been given the task of producing the front cover and one contents page for each of the first two editions of a new fashion magazine that is being launched by Bauer and the working website for the magazine. Bauer intends to sell the magazines in retailers. Contents pages can be either single or double page spread. The two front covers and contents pages must feature a diverse range of fashion issues and styles appropriate to its target audience. The web pages must promote the new magazine to its target audience and enable fans to interact with the content."

With this brief, I created a front cover magazine mood board based on 3 Fashion magazines of my choice, those being: Bazaar, Elle & Vogue.