Year 1

MASTERHEADS EXPERIMENTATION

 

Developing 3 main ideas for my final masterhead for the zine..

“Femme Forte” is a french word for ‘strong women’, which i thought would be perfect for highlighting my theme of hidden purity against hidden sexualisation. Relating a lot of my work to religion; virgin mary, nuns or the devil – I have always known i wanted similar, bold and basic text to the bible or another holy book. But I also liked the take on almost a french ‘romance’ font, reminding me of the moulin rouge film. Next I need to link my slogan to create a lock up.

JOHN WILLIE – FETISH

Looking for inspirational ideas for drawings and my next illustrations, I came across John Willie’s magazine covers, where he worked for Bizarre in the late 1940’s/1950’s, basing his images on fetish and bondage. I think the way he allows the viewers to witness these extreme themes (especially for an iconic magazine cover), is really sophisticated and playful; opening up this idea of intense sex to a much wider audience.

 

JEAN PAUL GAULTIER

S/S 07 Collection: Redeemed as one of the most conflictual and irrelevant symbolisations of the Holy Virgin Mary, these designs caused uproar for many, but for me – I see the clothing as innocent and delicate, with an outstanding urge for controversy, like many top designers in the industry.

BRIEF ENCOUNTERS, GREGORY CREWDSON

 

Gregory Crewdson photograph’s large scale landscapes acting upon a dream-like effect. I think the photographer aims to show much more than beauty in his images, playing with the idea of irony and contradictory – but also, very much highlighting the beauty of this irony – specifically death or of such horrible, similar nature. Although i am not representing death or even beauty in my theme, his idea’s are similar with the contradictory. I can also take away the purity of the settings for potential shoots and the vintage look of the scenes and styling.

DRAGULA / FINALE EP /

 

SCREENSHOTS FROM “DRAGULA / FINALE EP”

Wanting to look into the juxtaposition and contradictory of the theme of purity, i came across the TV Show ‘Dragula’, based on men in drag outfits which are typically based on a horrific theme. This one theme was ‘FILTH’ and encourage a drag in a nun’s outfit, carrying holy beads through the underwear and ripping pages out of the bible. I was really amused from this idea, completely contradicting the idea of a nun and the religion within. Adapting on my theme of purity, I will start to look into the contrdicatory elements – possibly bondage, or even based my illustrations on these nuns!

HANDGLOVERY – The correct anatomy for proportion of type!

Looking into typography and various titles for our zines; i discovered the 5 main elements to a magazine page, which actually involve the type of text used too. These being;

  • Hierarchy
  • Balance
  • Contrast
  • Repetition
  • Alignment

ZINE RESEARCH

A zine is typically a short magazine, in which is a visual use to subtly advertise a brand or even to simply express a theme of choice. Fan Zines are also a popular take on fashion communication for my generation and entire upbringing really; allowing a theme to be opened and spread across a specific target audience.

EXAMPLES OF ZINES AND THEIR LAYOUT:

 

 

VIDEO / FASHION INPSO

Furthering looking into the concept of Virgin Mary and how does modern day approach her and the religious beliefs for christianity / catholicism  – I found the singer ‘MO’s’ new chart hit and video which Virgin Mary appears in a very unique and VERY recognisable way for teens of my generation. Kim Kardashian painted as VM on the wall behind the singer brings a light-hearted but powerful take on the religious star, bringing two iconic people together as one (ones which are so very different!). I think this plays on the theme of feminism and showcases a question of ‘why does having a bad and opinionated background make you any less of a saint?’ (for Kim K that is if you understand her past in the media). Also, the VM is shown subtly constantly throughout the video through choice of clothing – the black head band / hat and the white, quilted over-coat acting similar to an angels outfit. The idea of black clothing contrasting to the white both within the video almost reflects my idea of opposites and how i would want to show innocence and purity against rebellions.