EDITORIAL BRIEF
WEEKLY BLOG
WEEK ONE: september 29th
This was our first lecture back after the summer holidays where we were briefed about our upcoming module, AGP576. This module consists of being in groups of 5-7 to collectively create a magazine. Within this lecture we were put into our groups and assigned roles. My role is the editorial writer which means I will be responsible for the written content for the magazine as well as helping everyone else with their roles. I am happy yet a bit apprehensive with my role as it was my second choice and having no experience in writing for publications like magazines worries me. However due to having practice in writing articles and essays in English A-level I feel like I will adapt quickly. As a group we also decided on potential topics and themes for our magazine. So far, we have spoken about the theme of ‘indulge’ which focuses on the indulgement of food and materialistic items. We also spoke about the ideas of connections (human, nature, objects etc) as well as themes of reflection however these may change due to it being an early stage in the module. So far I’m feeling excited but nervous as this upcoming project is something I’ve never done before. From this we decided as a group to research the theme indulgment and bring ideas to our next lecture.
WEEK TWO: october 4th/6th
This week we explored audience profiles within multiple magazines and article types that we could use within our magazine. In my group we discussed and used Vogue magazine, Dazed Magazine and Boosh. We identified what types of audiences these magazines would have based on their aesthetic and topics which is spoken more in depth within my sketchbook. We tried to identify the readership of our future magazine which typically would be 20–30-year-old creatives who are women. However, as its early days, this could all change with time. The Thursday’s lecture consisted of being a continuation of our last lecture where we identified common themes in magazines however my group studied a student’s past magazine called 1859 Magazine (shown in sketchbook). This was really nice to see past students magazines as it gives an idea of what ours will look similar too. The other half of the lecture we created zines with Chris where we cut pieces from scrap magazines to create a similar aesthetic to the one for our magazine. I found this difficult to find images in scrap magazines that were similar to our magazine’s vibe as it’s so early on in the module and were still not 100% sure on the aesthetic for our magazine.
WEEK THREE: October 11th-/13th
Unfortunately, I caught covid and missed Tuesdays lecture therefore I spent the day building up my sketchbook with work such as mood boards I created for the magazine and research about past magazines. I believe in today’s lecture my group created brand boards, brainstormed logo ideas and experimented with colour themes. On Thursdays lecture my group went into the city of Brighton and had a test shoot for our magazine. We decided to mostly use the Open Market as a location due to the bright colours of the fruit and vegetables whilst it also relates to our current theme of “Indulging”. Lucy and Charlotte were mostly our models where Lily styled them in bold and out there items of clothing. I helped in any way I could by filming content, adding my creative advice and being a model for a section myself. At first, we loved the photos produced but after a while of discussing we felt like the photographs were not refined enough for being in our magazine which is absolutely fine as the shoot was supposed to be a test shoot anyway. The only part I feel apprehensive about is the theme of the magazine due to it being a bit vague and too large of a concept. I find that some of us are getting lost within the theme therefore I think it needs clarifying and refining.
WEEK FOUR- october 18th/20th
In this week it concluded of creating our media packs and discussing key elements for websites and the ideals of the internet which we did with Mark. We learnt about the types of ideals and what new media is as well as context and key stuff such as the importance of visuals. This lecture was highly beneficial and good information for our visual promoter! The main importance is producing our media pack so that its ready for presenting. I’m always quite nervous standing in front of a class however I’m going to try and come across confident so that our media pack is rememberable. I also feel like my sketchbook is going well, I try to do slides after every lecture however I am a slight perfectionist, so the slides take me a long time.
WEEK FIVE- october 25th/27th
On Tuesday we developed our media packs even more for preparation of Thursday’s presentation. I am allocated the slide about readership therefore for preparation I have collected ideas on who our readership most likely will be and the type of person they are, (documented into sketchbook). Feeling slightly nervous as we will be standing in front of everyone and also, we didn’t have time to rehearse as half our group were absent but should be okay! In the end it went really well in my opinion, the only problem being that our moving images didn’t move but that’s something we can fix for the real thing. And the pointers we got after our presentation was that it was really cohesive and visually pleasing with good info so therefore I’m happy with the result. From the real thing we will ensure that we practice and test run our slides.
WEEK SIX- november 1st/ 3rd
This week we made a short fashion film. My group and I went to different locations which included the studio, in the streets of Brighton and the yellow building on Edwards Street. I think it went extremely well as we filmed so much content in such little time. I personally loved the music that we chose as I think it suited our theme well and Chris seemed impressed with it overall. I think ours stood out as a lot of editing took place from Charlotte. My task was helping with the editing, I starred in it and filmed some clips whilst giving my creative input. Things seem to be going smoothly so far.
WEEK SEVEN- november 8th/10th
Tuesday’s lecture consisted of a lecture on PR stunts and ethical journalism. As a group we created a PR stunt idea for group 6. Their magazine is on the lifestyle of fan-Girling, fan girl culture and the gender stereotype that comes with it. Our idea was to challenge that stereotype by making male football fans seem girly and chaotic so that they are shown in the same light as female fans are. We thought of merch, pitch invasions and cinematic advertisements to show this. This was a good opportunity to find out more on other people’s magazines and their branding. On Thursday we went over our developing flat plans, printed pictures from our shoots to decide where they go, and I personally started brainstorming article ideas for the magazine. At this stage I’m finding it difficult as it’s hard to know what images will accompany my articles and if they will be relevant to each other as it’s still a working progress however I’ve started on my interview process which is described more within my sketchbook.
WEEK EIGHT- november 15th/17th
On this week it was our crit/ open studio day. I mostly worked on my ongoing sketchbook and writing for the magazine. Mark gave us a few pointers on the magazine, and we discussed our next steps which for me are starting the editor’s note. I’m feeling apprehensive as its quite difficult to write for a magazine that is nowhere near finished. We also changed our theme which is quite late in the module and therefore I’m feeling rather behind. Instead of just being the term ‘Indulging’, we developed the theme to be more on consumption and creating sub-themes such as food, material and social consumption. Luckily this doesn’t affect any work or shoots we have done; it just clarifies a stronger vision to our theme which I feel happy about as it needed refining. From here I’m continuing to write articles and conduct interviews as well as developing my sketchbook.
WEEK NINE- november 22nd/24th
We presented our flat plans to the rest of the class and got an insight on other groups flat plan. This was useful as seeing other people’s meant that we could identify if we are at the same level as them or if we are behind or not. So far, I think we are doing well and planning well and are at the same stage as everyone else which is nice to see. Next steps include finishing the social and media aspect of our magazine and getting it on InDesign. My thoughts are that everyone’s magazines look really good at the moment, our theme seems quite different to everyone else’s as people have tended to go for the more serious and artsy aesthetic whereas ours is fun, humorous and casual. I think it’s a good thing to be different to the others however I’m worried that ours won’t give that impressiveness that some of the others have.
WEEK TEN- november 29th/ December 1st
These lectures were both open studios and therefore gave the opportunity for us to work as both a group and individually. Were at the stage now where were creating everything in InDesign however it’s been a slower process than anticipated due to some lack of communication so were all feeling slightly anxious about that. Im working on the final drafts of articles and working on my biggest one which will be about the positives and negatives of social media. I’m worried that this subject has been overdone a million times but I’m hoping to make it interesting and personal as it will include my own struggles and stories.
WEEK ELEVEN- december 6th/8th
Chris and Emma spoke about sketchbooks for each individual role. I found it extremely helpful on the do’s and don’ts for layout as well as what type of research to include as editorial writer. For the second half we had a Christmas party filled with booze and even a winter wonderland which was so much fun as a relaxing break! Trying to cram in work before we break up for Christmas, im planning to do sketchbook work over Christmas when I can.
WEEK TWELVE- december 13th/15th
This week we break up for Christmas which im excited about. Like last week, still just cramming in extra things we need to do or shoots we need to do. Some shoots don’t go to plan some days which is a shame, I think it’s due to how overwhelming all our ideas come when collected as well as the camera from our photography sometimes not working. Hopefully in the new year things will go a bit more smoothly.
WEEK THIRTEEN- january 10th/12th
This is the first week back after Christmas. We are currently at the stage where we are rushing and finalising all our work in preparation for printing. It’s a stressful time but seems to be going well. The magazine looks great, but we just need to add some finishing touches. The next steps for me are reading over the articles one final time to ensure that nothing needs changing as well as preparing for our media pack presentation. In class today Charlotte and I worked on the editor’s note as it’s a combination from both us.
WEEK 14- january 17th/19th
On Tuesday we had to go through our practice run of our presentation in class. I was very nervous to speak in front of everyone as we didn’t have much time to practice. We all dressed cohesively with prompt cards that had our logo on as Chris asked us to do. The slides were also cohesive and we said everything that was needed. Pointers for the real thing next week is that we need to memorise our cards of by heart and edit some of the slides to make the writing bigger. I think we just need more practice for the real thing next week. On Thursday we did final touches to our sketchbook. At this moment I’m feeling quite stressed and nervous as the deadline is next week.
WEEK 15- january 23rd
This is the day before submission. I met up with my group today so that we could practice our presentation for Tuesday which I’m very nervous for as it’s a large part of our mark however I think it will be good as we have improved our slides and our visual promotor made sweets and tattoos with our logo on to give out to our class. In these past days, I’ve worked really hard on my sketchbook to finish the final touches and I think im happy with it. I just need to proofread everything and upload this on the blog. Unfortunately, our magazine has been sent for printing quite late however Chris said he would rather a good and late magazine then a rushed one therefore it won’t affect anything. I’ve really enjoyed this module, there’s been a lot of highs and a lot of lows but overall it’s been really rewarding and working in a group has been overall good.
OVERVIEW
As the editorial writer for Guilty magazine, its safe to say that i’ve learnt a lot! I think coming into this module with no idea what to expect was a very daunting experience. Because I don’t have a whole lot of experience in the world of writing, I felt like I had to adapt a lot, however I believe that I wouldn’t of done a single thing differently. In this role I worked closely with our art director to create and produce fun and interesting pieces of writing. I got the opportunity to research current and past editorial writers and have the full creative freedom to decide how I wanted to produce mine. Due to our magazine being all about being daring and creating wacky and out-there visuals, I wanted to coincide with that and create pieces that will captivate and engage our audience. From the weirdest guilty pleasure interviews, jokey recipes and amusing articles, I think that I did a really good job of matching the aesthetic of our magazine to the content. I personally had so much fun conducting these interviews with my friends about their guilty pleasures as although it was a laugh, I think it made for a really nice addition to the magazine.
Having the opportunity to work in a group has had its ups and downs. I think at first being in a group with people I hardly knew was a very daunting experience however now being at the end of the module and working along-side these girls for around three months has been overall a really nice experience. Having the opportunity to work with like-minded creatives who want to produce something where we can all have an input has been a really rewarding thing. For me, this has pushed me to be more confident and outgoing as I am usually quite an introverted person. Pushing my ideas out there and being heard was something I had to try hard at and therefore I am happy with how far I’ve come.
I learnt some key skills whilst being the editorial writer for Guilty magazine. I learnt and researched interviews and how to produce them which is something I’ve never done before. I also learnt how to write in the style that matched our magazine. The style like mentioned before was quite humorous and jokey/wacky which is something I felt like I would struggle at doing as I feel like my personal aesthetic is completely different to the magazines aesthetic. I think I would definitely consider doing something similar in the future, I found it fun and rewarding however in future modules I would quite like to do something more creative focused. Overall I’m really happy with what I’ve done and proud of what our group has achieved!
MY ROLE OVERVIEW
WHAT IS MY ROLE?
My role is the editorial writer for Guilty magazine. When choosing two roles that I wanted, I picked editorial writer and art director. Originally I wanted art director more however with hindsight I believe that being the editorial writer was the right role for me. This was because seeing the art director in our group manage everyone, make sure everyone is doing what they need to be doing whilst helping everyone in their individual roles seems extremely stressful and I think I’m better suited to be the writer. My job was to write all the content for the magazine. From articles to interviews to helping with the website and layout etc. In order to write for the magazine, I had to do immense research on past writers/magazines, the formats and choices of writing and styles, typography choices, filler text and a whole lot more which is shown in my sketchbook. I looked at bigger magazines such as VOGUE, DAZED, I-D as well as smaller magazines like THE VIOLET MAGAZINE and SELFISH magazine. This gave me the opportunity to see the differing styles and aesthetics and how the writers full-fill their content to match the image of the magazines.
CONTENT IN GUILTY
For the content in Guilty, we chose to split the magazine into three sections. These were INDULGE, SPLURGE and MERGE. Indulge looked at food consumption in a playful manner, Splurge featured materialistic consumption whilst Merge was about social settings and consuming social interactions. For each section I decided to create an interview where each interview was about a guilty pleasure that was relevant to the section. I also named each article/interview to match what they were for example the guilty pleasure interview was with my boyfriend James whose guilty pleasure was smoking, therefore I named the interview ‘Tobacco Talk’. As well as an interview per section, there was also other content. Indulge had a ‘Recipe for Disaster’ where I produced a ‘jokey’ recipe, Splurge had a short article about the difference between how people value their items and also included a survey I undertook. Lastly Merge featured my longest article where I spoke about the impacts of social media whilst covering my own stories and experiences. I overall loved producing content for GUILTY. Although I was completely out of my comfort zone and the aesthetic of the magazine is very different to what I like, I tried really hard to produce entertaining and fun pieces to accompany the visuals in our magazine.
GALLERY
