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To begin the project we were given the stimulus “Fact and Fiction”. From this we split into groups and experimented with planning a narrative for a magazine article, consisting of a subject matter whereby a husband fakes his own death for years but is eventually found alive and well. Throughout this the wife acts as if she is mourning the death of her husband, however it is revealed that they are both in on a plan with the goal to claim life insurance and then move abroad. 

As it was our first workshop working within a specifically graphic design environment we struggled as a group producing the visual examples of our narrative as we had not experienced this type of of workshop before, and so we experimented with producing quick sketches to represent the magazine pages and what we could place on them. We decided to place the magazine in the perspective of the wife, as it seemed an interesting point of view to see the audience gradually exposed from her facts to her lies. 

Presenting our ideas to the rest of the group allowed us to gain valuable feedback from a range of sources, such as friends, students studying graphic design and photography and teachers. We found that when planning a narrative  display it is important to focus on the imagery you wish to portray, such as still life portrait of the wife and scans of the flight tickets and Spanish books. Visual pieces that represent clues within the story, giving hints the the reader before they have read the article.

After this workshop we were instructed to create a short presentation including an introduction, three possible magazine themes, research relating to these themes and then a conclusion. To start off with we began working in a group of four as we believed it would help to “Widen the Gene Pool “ regarding our ideas, and allow us to have more input for our piece. We began our idea development by mind mapping possible themes we could cover within our magazines.

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Here I have posted the presentation the group and myself had created to showcase our ideas to the class, much like we would pitch our ideas to a client in the future. Within the presentation we include an introduction, six slides per idea and then a conclusion. 

The first idea we put forward was “A parody of propaganda for died out religions” within this we planned to create an almost comical magazine, looking at past religions such as the Norse Gods and Aztec religions. We believed we could use the extreme imaginative, myth like side to the topic to portray the “Fiction” for the magazine whilst drawing on realistic and historical context of the magazine to create a “factual” element.

Artist that we believed would be interesting to study for this topic are Jimmy Nelson, whom is a photographer and photojournalist that is mostly known for his portraits of indigenous and tribal people. His photographs consist of colorful, high contrast and emotive portraits which i believe would work well with the religious aspect, as we focus on religious figures as his pieces demonstration power and individuality.

Our second idea consisted of taking modern day text messages and reinventing them into old love letters. With this we would like to explore the modern day relationship and the ways in which romance may seem to be dying out. Text messages restrict a persons ability to demonstrate emotions as there is little inflection to the words, however on as a contrast they also allow us to instantly communicate with other people (perhaps too easily?) 

The artists we have looked at for this topic that could be useful are David Carson and Alan Kitching. Whilst looking at Carson we were inspired by his use of typography within magazine layout, most notably for “Ray gun” magazine. His style appears to be a hand printed type, creating a personal, grungy effect which would relate to our handwritten theme. Kitching also experiments with typography in his work in the media of printmaking, however uses colour more prominently than Carson.This use of bold colour within type could be used within our work to express emotions through the use of colour theory, or perhaps help to set an atmosphere for certain pages due to the warmth of the colours.

Our final idea in the presentation was “Don’t grab my pussy” a feminism themed magazine whereby we planned to explore the true stories women have endured and the historical context, whilst expelling feminism myths (fiction). We decided that if we were to continue with this piece we would like to avoid the stereotypical pink themed magazine, and instead create a bold, multicoloured piece that would appeal to not only women by men that wished to explore the subject and its meaning. for this reason we will ensure the style of the piece is not overtly feminine, and more neutral in colour and style. To ensure this we shall use a range of colors such as orange, green and yellow to avoid stereotypes, paired with a clear and minimalist theme 

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From this presentation we found that the “religious propaganda” styled magazine was the most popular, as it is unusual in its content whilst also allowing us to explore serious topics in a comedic way. it was also suggested that it would allow us to have a rich source of imagery and graphical content. It was suggested that it may be difficult to explore a single narrative when looking at many religions and for this reason we have decided to focus on one major religion. 

The second most popular idea was the “Love letter” magazine as it would allow us to use a variety of photography and typography within the piece, however the target audience is rather limited and it could also be seen as “cheesy” if not done carefully.

Lastly, it was agreed that the “Feminism” idea is over popular at the moment in other media and so to create an original idea that draws away from the stereotypes could be rather difficult.

We also noted that working in a group of four may not be practical within the project as there is a limited amount of pages within the magazine and if divided into four will leave each individual with a little amount to work with. for this reason we have decided to split into two pairs and each shall take a different topic.

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The first image present here is the mood board Asta and I created in response to our topic “Vikings”. Within this mood board we looked at work from websites such as ISSUU and pinterest that could inspire our project. We decided that our piece would look modern and stylistic, similar in ways to fashion magazines such as CRACK and LUCY’S. 

Asta found that “ I found that most of the images I sourced were mainly black and white with accents of red. The black and white illustration on the right hand side really caught my eye because this style of work is definitely the type of thing I like to create; as I really enjoy giving new life to images and manipulating them through adobe illustrator. This is a reference to The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli. The original image depicts the goddess of Venus being reborn as a grown woman. This was made 400 years after the vikings, but i think it would be interesting to see how others depicted Goddesses and how they were reinterpreted in the modern day again”

I agree with Asta that the majority of our selected images have either a black, white or red theme. i also found that we are drawn to magazine pieces with large photo pieces and so this may be a running theme throughout the magazine. One photographical piece I found that stood out to me was this fashion photography inspired by religion and power. I found this photo shoot on pinterest and was immediately drawn to the dramatic, colourful images. The poses themselves demonstrate power and godlike atmospheres. The blue toned light creates an alienation to the viewer, enhancing that fact that these models are dehumanized. however i believe if we stick with the idea of a black and white with aspects of red theme it would be easier to concentrate on the style and theme of the photography rather than the colour of the light.

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propaganda positive and negative

Here I am looking at WW2 propaganda with the themes of each poster presenting either a positive or negative theme of persuasion to the viewer. My first impression of both of the propaganda is that both use extremely contrasting imagery for their posters. The first poster depicts a well dressed and presented women in her army uniform, making the job seem glamorous and appealing perhaps in a misleading way as the job would not have been. To contrast this the second poster relies on fear to scare people into believing what the poster says. 

This use of imagery could be useful in our magazine if we chose to go down the religious propaganda theme. We could spread awareness of the Norse religion through a young girls pint of view that is stylish and current so as to relate to our target audience. 

When discussing what we had found from our research Asta Found when looking at religious propaganda that “ When researching propaganda for religions, I found that there are two main types: 1, a positive message attempting to persuade you as well as relate to you. 2, fear appeal, persuading you that if you do not conform that there will be negative consequence”

In effect we both found that religious and WW2 propaganda use similar strategies when trying get get a message across to an audience.

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As part of our research we began to look into magazines and books already published that have a target audience of people interested in the Pagan religions. from looking at these tree it is clear that the style and design of them are aimed at people already interested in the religion, and so reduces the audience interested in it. The book covers have busy covers with multiple covers, colours and a large amount of text. To appeal for a wider audience we agreed that a more minimalist cover with simplistic typography and imagery would be more appealing to a more current audience.

For our style we have decided to keep a simplistic, photography based magazine. This is due to us having a target audience that is quite young and so more current, editorial style pieces shall appeal to them more over an old fashioned piece. 

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Here I have experimented with typography, the base being one of Asta’s development ideas from viking runes. Using these shapes as inspiration the style of letter was created, which I then experimented with layering different colours, lines and opacity. 

I asked Asta for feedback from these experimentation’s where she found that the last one to me most successful as it has bright colours  with line detail that are not too over powering and brings definition to each letter, where as the one above it is her least favorite due to the colours being overly dark and harsh against each other.

I agree with the bottom one being the most successful, however I  feel as if the fifth experimentation down is the least successful as the low opacity and mixed layers create lettering that does not have any boldness and so is not eye catching.

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For our first photograph artist research we began by looking at an artist called Colin Lane. Asta found that “The ‘Alter’ Vaccines by Colin Lane A multi disciplinary photographer, Lane created a series named The ‘Alter’ Vaccines. This project aimed to showcase a strong girl gang. The project is vast, and is a combination of studio shots as well as location shoots.  However I found her portraits the most striking and applicable to the project.”

I agree that the portrait pieces are the most empowering photographs as they capture the rawness of the facial feature with minimal make up. making the models seem a contrast of rough yet beautiful at the same time. I believe this natural yet powerful look would be interesting to experiment with in our photography work as the style that we wish to portray our main character is that of a stubborn modern girl with a passion for the Norse Religion.

The photos themselves consist of a light shadow present on the models left hand side of her face giving an indication that natural lighting was used by Colin Lane in order to create the photos, which enhances the raw beauty theme within the photos. 

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At this stage in the research process Asta found this cover page by CRACK magazine that he though would be interesting to use as inspiration for our front cover. The magazine is a feminist style magazine with a target audience of young females in modern day. The front cover is simplistic yet powerful, a photograph of a young female is situated at the bottom third  ,of the page with a red back ground behind her. The juxtaposition between the harsh red and her pale skin seem odd, yet eye catching. The pale pink title is almost that of her skin tone adds symmetry to the page balancing out the heavy bottom third with the top third.

overall I like the simplicity of the page as it makes it clear that the main focus in the magazine is this female on the front, without over complicating the cover. this could be useful on or front cover as we wits to catch the audiences attention without giving out all the information.

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Here my first thumbnail draft of the magazine pages, which are to be developed further. This I created whilst discussing what our narrative for the magazine would be. We decided that we would follow a young girl who follows the Norse religions routine through her weekend and thought it would be interesting to give her a Norse name to enhance the idea of her being obsessed with this religion further. This will include interviews where she describes her job interview, the feast following this, getting ready for a celebration and a conclusion. 

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As a pair we decided to research into runes as they were the written language the Vikings used. Due to them mostly being an oral language community there are little written examples of actual words, however there are symbols that are used to signify different meanings such as luck and strength.

We discussed ideas and found that the runes could be a way for the girl to communicate to others that she is apart of the Viking community without having to verbally tell them. These could be presented in a tattoo fashion and i would like to take this idea further by taking some photos with the rune tattoos as a focus.

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Here is my photography based on the photographer Brian Cummings who takes detailed photos of tattoos. Using a similar style to his photography however instead of taking a muted colour photography like him i chose to use black and white photography in keeping with Asta and my magazine theme. 

Within this shoot I decided to mainly focus on the details as apposed to portraits such as in Asta’s shoot as I felt as if there needed to be more of a variety within the magazine, which Asta agreed with. To create this variety i began by selecting a white back ground instead of grey to add a lighter tone to teh magazine in certain pages. I then made sure to focus on areas that have either detail or texture within the frame, such as the rings and runes on her fingers, hair braids or rips in the jeans. I believe that overall the photographs were successful and that they will be useful within the magazine.

Feedback: “The composition of these photographs work really well. You can easily tell that they are part of a set. There is a good range of tones and there is focus to detail. Use Photoshop to clear up imperfection in the background, such as dents in the backdrop.”- Lucy

I agree with what Lucy has said with the imperfections as the background is clearly not flat, which creates a shadow and so i shall use Photoshop to edit these out before using in the magazine. I am glad that she found these are part of a clear set as this is what i was going for when taking the photos, and that the focus subject is on detail throughout the sequence. 

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Here is an experimentation I produced using Asta’s photography. I decided to experiment with shapes on the pages to see where they drew the audiences eyes due to visual hierarchy. From this I found that it drew the viewers eyes from the left, top hand side at the title, downwards and the after that to the right hand side. Overall although it does pull the eye in the right direction i think it draws away from the simplistic style my partner and i are aiming for.

Feedback: 

Saffron: “I really like the simplistic arrangement and colour scheme, however I feel like it doesn't work as effectively against your previous sheets which have hints of red and bolder typography.”

I agree that the page does not have as much impact as the other page designs i have done, and so is not as successful. To develop this I need to experiment with different typography and colour within the pieces instead of over complicating the page with shapes.

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This is Asta’s portrait photography for the magazine in the style of Colin Lane. I believe this shoot was very successful as the pieces main aim was to take photographs with a similar atmosphere as Lanes. It is clear that she has achieved this in the way the model is positioned and the composition of the negative space and subject matter.I also like the way she used a grey back ground which contrasted well against the models skin tone To improve i think it would be interesting to take this further by experimenting with natural lighting as Colin Lane did to give the photographs a more natural and raw feel, as the studio lighting seems fake on the models skin as there are no natural shadows on her face. 

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Here is some experimentation I did of no opening of some runes which the meanings ranging from good luck, strength and wellbeing. I then scanned them into a computer and used illustrator to trace the image to create a cleaner effect. After that I layered a red copy of the mono printing underneath the black layer to keep the theme of the magazine. Over all I like the messy, hand made effect and would use the pattern for a back ground, however I think that this would not fit with the simplistic style of the magazine and when discussing with Asta she agreed with me on this.

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Here i began to research different viking sayings, which proved difficult as the language was mostly spoken as apposed to written down. However i did mangae to find a site with some basic says such as “Welcome, thank you and good bye” i think it would be useful to include some of these as it makes the experience for the reader more realistic as if the situation of a girl following the norse religion in modern day is realistic. I would like to especially experiment with using “Good bye” as an ending for the back cover page as an ending. 

Feed back 

“I think its a cool idea but if its in a different language it may be difficult for people to understand because its not translated, so might confuse them? “ Josh

“Although many people won’t necessarily understand what the word means on the back page, this may encourage them to go and look it up themselves and do their own research into the Norse religion if they find it particularly interesting” David

Here I have had a conflicting critique from my peers as both have given different opinions. I think I agree with the second opinion as hopefully after people have read through the magazine they will understand that it is one of Friggs habits to use Nordic words in everyday life. In contrast to this I believe that it may act as a way to get people’s attention as they may want to find out what it means and so then read the magazine.

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Here is one of the photographers who inspired my detailed photography, Brian Cummings. He is a commercial photographer and director that is mostly known for is use of conceptual images and strange ideas. I found his work appealing as it is still life and seems to capture a moment in time when the photo is taken, each model seems to be halfway through a movement or task making it seem there is a constant story to follow. I particularly liked his use of focus on detail, and felt this would relate well to my idea of taking photographs of the subject matters tattoos and imperfections. Like Colin Lane the photographs still have rawness to them, which I would like to replicate in my own photography. This could be due to the natural way the models are placed in the composition, allowing the photo to be realistic and relatable. There is also a clear use of negative space of white and black in his photography which draws the viewers’ attention further onto the subject matter, and s prevents distraction.

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I decided to do some historical research into the vikings as I thought it would be useful to influence our magazine more. Whilst completing the research I found that the Vikings would often hold feasts for reasons such as harvest festivals (Mabon), religious rituals and weddings or celebrations. During religious festivals animals such as horses wold be sacrificed and their blood sprinkled on aters as an offering. The meat was then cooked and served at the feasts.  Vikings valued their horses; a sacrifice of one showed a deep allegiance to the gods.A Viking feast depended on the wealth of the host, but all Vikings ate well at feast time. They certainly ate more and a better variety of food than the daily meal afforded. Roasted and boiled meats, rich stews, platters of buttered root vegetables, sharp, welcome greens and sweet fruits and nuts meant a rich feast and full bellies. Large amounts of alcohol were also consumed—ale and mead for all with heady fruit wines for wealthy Vikings. 

When discussing this research with Asta we decided that she should make a page dedicated to the Viking feasts in celebration of Frigg’s job interview (an act of celebration that is more relatable for modern day audiences.) however instead of a horse sacrifice the focus shall instead be on current day fast food such as burgers to help at humour to the magazine.