The name Reel came to me as I have constantly refered to highlight reels online throughout this project. I also like the play on words as it is so similar to ‘real’ which links to my theme of authenticity. I think Reel could be interesting graphically with the double E and therefore would look nice on the cover.

Over the past two days I have set out to complete the advert content for my magazine. I was unsure how these would turn out as I do not have a professional camera or lighting. In true 2020/21 spirit I made do with the materials that I had. I thought I would document this process because it amazes me what you can achieve with such little equaiptment. Below is the before and after of my adverts.

I have refered to my love of how spontanious and unposed disposable cameras are and that they are perfect to accompany my project but I have now developed this ideas as I come to laying out the magazine.

I have decided to embrase the unpredictability of the digital household scanner which has got me through this project. When it came to laying out my magazine I felt I still wanted to stray away from ‘perfection’ and precision. Although I am aware that I need to keep it simple as I do not want to over clutter or distract the pages. I want to use the scanner to determine my layout and therefore will have little post production editing which can lead to changing natural forms and overthinking concepts. The scanner layouts will reflect my themes and remove the tempting nature to fix mistakes in post production making the images raw and exciting.

After creating my flatplan I opened up an InDesign document for my final magazine. I started to imput all the images first so I could get a sense of how it was going to look. I realised that this was not going to be as simple as imputting pictures and hoping for the best. Some of my imagery is very similar which could make the reader bored as they see the same techniques repeated throughout. This means I need to carefully consider the flow of the magazine, dispersing imagery evenly to keep readers attention.

Throughout this project I have used disposable cameras to capture the visuals for my magazine. When reflecting on this process I notice that my favourite outcomes are those that are most natural, unposed and authentic. I just wanted to put into words that I can see how this technique can come across as not throught through or planned and therefore not displaying much skill. I want to ensure that my project is decribed well to whoever views it and want to show my skills in content creation, layout and art direction. Photography skills purposfully are not truely investigated through my sketchbook as I always aim to stay true to my themes. To reiterate these themes are comparison culture, investing in imperfection, collaboration and authenticity. I hope my work comes across to viewers as honoring this showing my skills in conforming to brand identity and continuity.

I started to put measures into getting my publication physically printed through the online service Mixam. I ordered paper samples and worked out how to convert files to ensure printing was seamless. Upon doing this I quickly realised that this may not be the most effective method of handing in my publication. Due to the pandemic my hand in is all digital and therefore a printed version would be difficult to mark. As much as I want to have a physical copy of the magazine it is important that I meet current requirements. I found the website Issuu where you upload a PDF version of your magazine to create a flipbook very similar to someone flicking through a magazine. Today I finalised my understanding of the website by uploading my second year magazine to ensure the outcome has been done justice. I love how viewers can flick through pages and pause when requires. For my FMP submission I will be using Issuu. I am keen to get my publication printed over summer so I have a source for interviews and for my personal portfolio.

Last week we had our final tutorials for FMP, I wanted to be prepared for this tutorial to ensure I can move forward into the final stages of my project. With time against me, I decided to layout a magazine spread which I intent to use for my final outcome. I wasn’t able to layout the whole final magazine as I am still waiting on some disposable cameras to be returned. I put together a spread for my narrative finding joy. This is clearly shown in my sketchbook. Before commiting my time to producing the full magazine I wanted to get feedback on this sample spread. My tutor gave me great feedback, saying what went well, which was the image layout but also told me to reconsider my typography. Typography was distorted and we thought it may be going too extreme and may complement the visuals more if it was plainer. Moving forward I will be experementing with this paired back layout to ensure my final piece is consice.

I have revisited my inital magazine media pack where I outlined my aims and objectives for my final outcome. Through this process I managed to construct and solidify my intentions, put clearly in writing which will help me to create a consise outcome. I have included this updated media pack in my sketchbook to help develop my journey in content creation and lead me in the right direction to fufil my brief.

I have found myself creating magazine narratives throughout this project without knowing i. As I started to put together a list of content ideas to explore I noticed that I had already created many in my experimentation. This puts me in a good position to start laying out my magazine.

Content ideas:

Challenging beauty – Needs developing

Doomscrolling- Done

Performing arts – Done

Disposable camera collaborations – Done

Finding Joy- Done

Styling pages- Needs doing

Page breakers- Needs doing

Advertisements- Needs doing

I have decided to look over my creative research project as I have started to reconsider my original ideas. I think this will help me build a strong concept for my outcome, blocking out any feelings of being overwhelmed by narrowing down my work. I want to ensure my sketchbook and research are concise and clearly show a journey to my FMP. As of yet I have considered many outcomes, leading to a varied sketchbook full of ideas. Now is the time to bring that work together, coincidently I have reverted back to my original outcome idea of a publication. This is the only outcome I have explored where I can see progression to lead to me a fully investigated outcome.