Please find my work through the three submission points allocated on turn it in.

submission 1 is the main bulk of my sketchbook

 

submission 2 is my visual research sketchbook

 

submission three is my final magazine outcome

Please find my final Magazine below.

 

 

Today I am uploading the final edit of my magazine to Issuu. Issuu is a platform where you upload pdf and it makes them into a magazine style flip book. To bring my magazine to life (as much as I can with a digital submission) I want to see it in the format of a traditional print magazine. I will upload the link to my blog along with the pdf’s and link in the digital submission point.

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I have attached a couple of Tiktoks I made to promote the latest issue of Reel. I outlined In my competitor research that Tiktok was a platform I want to utilise for its fast sharing powers. The account is named @reelmag.

I knew I wanted my paragraph text to be graphically strong but when I created my sample spread I was told by my tutor to not over do the distortion. I agreed as I thought it took away from the imagery. This led me to consider new avenues of graphic design. I wanted the overall look of the magazine to be extremely sophisticated but not boring. I decided to create simple but effective layouts by changing the shapes of text boxes. This can be seen in the styling, doomscrolling and finding joy pages.

The text often replicates my imagery. In the styling section I kept the typography simple as the imagery is complex. In the doomscrolling section I curved the text around an object to look like the shape of an Iphone. Finding joy mimiked the angles seen in my scans when collaging multiple images ontop of eachother.

In the performing arts interview section I decided to keep the paragraph text simple as there was quite a lot of it. To add elements of design I created a title bar and number for each section. It is hard to explain but when you see the feature you will see that the title bars look like a piece of sheet music. It is not so obvious that it is cliche but it still relates to the overall narative. These subtle nods to design bring the magazine to life by making it more interesting to the eye.

I think it is safe to say that towards the end of this project I suddenly panicked that I would not have enough content to fill the magazine. I went out to shoot more imagery to develop my styling and finding joy narratives. As I reflect back on this I realise that the work produced was not up to standard and therefore will not be featured in the magazine. When putting the magazine together I noticed that I already had too much content and so there was not much point in shooting more. I had to be selective and therefore some images from my sketchbook did not make it into the final edit.

I knew from the start that I wanted to develop my styling and beauty concepts as I felt these images wern’t stong. I made this feature into a small segment at the start of the magazine using traditional magazine sections outlined to me in the book, Editorial Design: Digital and Print by Cath Caldwell. Caldwell states that fashion and editorial content is in the first third, main features are in the second third and interactive features are in the back third. I used this format for my magazine to ensure the content flowed nicely.

As I started to write the articles and columns for Reel I needed to establish whether I wanted the language to be formal or casual. I decided to write in a very casual and friendly way, I think this helps to not come across patronising as it mimiks a personal relationship. I made this decision because most magazines aimed at a similar age range to mine use this strategy when writing. I read a lot of content from online sources and out of my magazine database and the ones that spoke to me the most were the ones who write with a lot of personality. As a part of my secondary research I read acedemic books about mgazine writing were I learnt about individual voices being heard in column writing. These columns are usually easily identifiable by the language used, meaning writers make a name for themselves by injecting their personality into the text.  This year I have been avioding this technique in my acedemic essays so adapting to a new way of writing was challenging.

When I started to lay out my magazine I realised that some content was very similar. My technique of distorting images on the scanner was used a lot and I was wary of it losing its value if it was featured too much in the magazine. I wanted to find a good mix of raw and distorted imagery to ensure my work shines and has an impact. Therefore I edited out some of my final images to create a nice flow and differenciation throughout.

As I enter my final week before hand in I am focusing on pulling all my work together for submission by making sure it all makes sense and flows nicely. My sketchbook work is almost done which means it is time to make the formatting correct for my MLA refrencing ensuring all figures and work cited is in the bibliography. My final outcome (Reel Magazine) is coming together nicely as it is nearly at a stage where I can export it to a PDF. It is extremely satsifying to see my work come together, It was hard to picture how my final outcome was going to look not long ago but I love how it has turned out. The magazine is a true representation of my aims and objectives as it embraces imperfection, collaboration and authenticity.

I have decided to refresh my memory on writing for magazines. As documented In my sketchbook, I have done some academic reading followed with some exercises to help me form a purpose for each of my articles. This includes mind mapping, detailing key points and summarising articles with similar subjects to ensure mine stands out.  This has helped me form a purpose for my writing and given me a loose structure to follow.