elissafmp-blog

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On Wednesday and Thursday I managed to edit the Self Image film to go with the written article and photoshoot. I wanted to portray the vulnerability as well as the happiness of the model, exploring her own self image. For the music I wanted a dreamy, jangley, melancholic kind of mood and sound, preferably with a female singer and a slightly retro vibe. My first thought was Easier Said by Sunflower Bean - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xykuu_pVZak however I was concerned this may be too mainstream/well known (within certain circles) so I began exploring for more. I was given a login to a royalty free music site by a film friend but still couldn’t find anything with the right feel, after a lot of googling and Spotify and Sound Cloud searches I found SeaPony and their song Late Summer which fit the bill pretty well. Even some of the lyrics correlate with the mood of the film.

All in all I’m pleased with the effect of the film, it may be a little long but for me it achieves what I wanted it to. I used a lot of layering effects and colour corrected the entire film so that it was consistent and had a soft, light feel. I also wanted to keep it with a personal and kind of home video/lo-fi feel to it which is why I have used some out of focus shots and the vcr glitching at the beginning.

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Finishing Touches

After receiving the prints from Tony Bowyer (which had been drilled ready for me to screw post bind) I began scoring and binding the publications. However, the holes were too small for the screws I had especially bought from http://ratchford.co.uk/ and planned to use. I have since been punching 4 holes at a time with a single hole punch, it takes a while. 

Along side the printed postcard and poster to go as an insert slipped inside the publication, I have put together little sticker packs to go inside of 3 of my vinyl stickers held together in a tracing paper parcel and sealed with a logo sticker from Moo.com.

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Progress

Over Easter I stopped into Magazine Brighton to drop off a copy of my publication to find out if hypothetically they might consider stocking it. I returned a few days later and met Martin the owner, we had a chat about the store and magazines, he said he had looked at Nū and loved it! He had many positive things to say, including that he would love to stock it and he knew of other shops in London, Bath and Nottingham who may also be interested in stocking the magazine. I was very surprised at his response, especially as I had approached it as just a hypothetical query, but obviously I was super happy too. We discussed stocking 5-10 copies for £10-12 cover price and working by sale and return. As this was my first time handling anything like this, Martin was very helpful and explained how it usually works, including that they would normally pay 60-65% of the cover price. He recommended I print 100 copies, but having researched costs I will not be able to fund this, so I am now looking at a print run of around 30-40.

Printing costs:

Ex Why Zed- loose leaf (unbound)

Copies: 30 = £474, Unit cost = £15.80

50= £710,  unit= £14.20

60= £798, unit= £13.30

Day Fold - loose leaf

20= £420, unit= £21

35= £670, unit= £19.14

50= £933, unit= £18.66

Tony Bowyer- bound

1= £41

2= £67

3= £89

20= £438, unit = £21.90

30= £600, unit= £20

50= £913, unit= £18.26

Uni Print- loose leaf = £12.10

After receiving these costings I decided to get a small batch of 10 high quality copies printed at Tony Bowyer, after speaking to Lee the unit price came down to £15 and plan to get a further 20 printed at uni print. As adding tracing paper and extra paper stocks increased the cost significantly I have been unable to use these for all copies, however for my main copies I have printed tracing paper sheets at uni print.

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Second Issue

After working for such a long time on issue one, I feel that I have created the foundations and formulas to create Nū. I have found that I have only gotten more into the project as it has progressed and have lots of ideas for the potential future of Nū. If I had time I would produce another issue, content ideas include:

Interview- Island Club (indie band from Brighton)

Illustrator- HiffyUlrich (Stephanie) 

Illustrator- Sophie Dellar

Interview- Mia Scott- Creative from Brighton

Interview- Iain Lauder - works for Brighton’s Finest online mag

Graphic Designer- Jack Stoker

Feature/band interviews- The Great Escape- festival in Brighton

Artist- James Trott (works for Grizzly Bear design studio in Brighton)

Written article/think piece

Interview/feature- Kage (Brighton musician) 

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Website ammendments

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Since the event I have been very focussed on sorting out the publication layout, business cards and professional website (so that I can write it on the business cards).

Layout is almost complete, and I have been experimenting with mixed paper prints using normal paper, tracing paper and newsprint combos. I really like newsprint on the text heavy pages. I am still working on the front cover and first and last few pages. But have begun contacting printers, Ex Why Zed are not able to bind my publication due to the dimensions, however they are able to print loose leaf, 5 copies would cost £198. I am still waiting to hear back from Dayfold. I am also looking to get a few tabloid versions printed as many of the artists and bands featured would like copies, so I was hoping it may be cost effective but I will be experimenting with newsprint layouts before hand. 

My business cards are almost complete, I will be ordering these off Moo and am looking into getting spot gloss on the name/logo side. My website is now live http://elissaflynn.co.uk/ however it is not complete, but the skeleton is up and ready to be added to. 

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UMPH!

On the 23rd I packed up the clothes from the kilo sale and drove back home DJs in tow, we picked up a massive clothes rail which barely fit in the taxi and headed into central Brighton. When we arrived at Marwoods we were greeted by Harry the manager and Emily, who I have been emailing for the past few months organising the event. I’d set up an after party through Ollie Terrey at one of Brightons coolest bar/clubs Patterns for their weekly event Midnight Funk Association, with the agreement that all UMPH! attendees are granted discount on door entry. I made a stamp and photographed it, so the door staff at MFA knew who had been to our event. 

There were a few tech issues so the music kicked off around 7.45 and people began wandering in at around 8pm. The home made punch was delicious and the Brighton Bier was hitting the spot for those not on spirits. The clothes rail drew a lot of attention as more people arrived I made sure to approach them and explain what was happening and made them feel welcome. There were some cool individuals who I introduced to the rest of the crowd and the house party vibes began to flow as everyone was ‘mingling’. There were a few requests to buy clothes off the rail instead of swapping, which I allowed, definitely undersold myself though, which is something to be aware of next time. 

Although there wasn’t a huge crowd, or as many as I had hoped the atmosphere was really nice, friendly and chilled. I was concerned that the venue would be disappointed at the turnout, but after chatting to Harry and Emily I felt much better. They explained that events are difficult and often hit and miss, the fact that there were people upstairs, some who have never been here before, enjoying themselves and buying drinks was an accomplishment. The feedback from the night was all positive, the music also went down well, however a few people said the lighting by the DJs should be dimmer to encourage people to dance more. 

Overall I think as a first event it went pretty well, there’s definitely room for improvement, but I feel if it were to become a regular event there would be a good turnout with friends from the last event bringing new friends. The community aspect would really start to build, as it had started to as the night went on, with everybody knowing each other, just like a house party. I would also perhaps advertise selling the clothes for a fair price, opposed to just swapping. 

Also having the stickers and cards to giveaway was really useful, it meant that people took a little bit of the brand away with them and I was able to pass them over when explaining the event. There was really positive feedback on the branding from both attendees and Harry and Emily from Marwoods.

Most of the pictures are on Facebook link below👉 https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1901373196765832.1073741829.1875755739327578&type=1&l=1151a79b55

I also sabotaged North Laine with a few of the vinyl stickers

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Above: Postcards printed on 160gsm textured paper to go on the table at the evnt as promo material that people can take away.

Below: Vinyl stickers created for the same reason. As I have already invested a fair amount of money into the clothes swap I decided not to get my stickers professionally printed but instead ordered some adhesive vinyl sheets online and printed on them at uni. The other advantage of printing myself was that it allowed me to create and print multiple designs. I did a few test prints on paper and created a repeat ‘nu-magazine.co.uk’ for the peel off side and then cut and trimmed them down to size on the guillotine. I’m quite happy with the results and now have about 50 stickers to give away for free at the event. I think this will be good promo for the brand.

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Social Media

My work colleague who also runs the social media accounts of two artists, has showed me HootSuite, a website and app that controls all of your social media accounts. You can track all of your pages from one place, schedule posts and view your interactions as well as many other things.

I have also been working on my professional website and branding.

Logo:

Futura PT Book

Kerning 150

F + L gap -178 (illustrator only)

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Illustration Collaboration

After an unsuccessful post on AUB Collective facebook page seeking an illustrator to contribute/collaborate for the publication, I went back to my own network of creatives. I messaged Jay Sawyer, an old friend of my brothers, whom I don’t know very well but have seen his work on social media. I sent him the mood boards above and he seems really keen to get involved. Some examples of his work are below, I’ve sent him links to all of my work relating to Nū, including the manifesto which he can use for concept ideas if he’d like to. He’s planning to have some starting ideas for my by next week, I’m really excited to see what he comes up with.

Event Planning

I have also been mocking up a collage poster for the takeover event in Brighton, I still need to add text but I need the fonts and logo from the Marwood.

Female Model Mood Board

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https://www.facebook.com/numagazine/

https://www.instagram.com/nu_magazine/

https://open.spotify.com/user/n%C5%ABmagazine/playlist/49M03kvwzD7ShMvtCMhjSc

https://open.spotify.com/user/n%C5%ABmagazine

The website and social media pages are live!

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Analog experiments over the past few months, all of the above except the final two images were taken on my dads old canon point and shoot. The final images were taken on my Yashika. I will continue to shoot on both cameras when doing photoshoots as I now have an idea of how the outcomes may turn out.

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Consumer Profile

I have refined and edited my consumer profile as the brand has developed:

Pen Portrait

Target group:

They are youthful but mature with an appreciation for fashion and the arts with an eclectic taste in music. As well as sharing a love for print publications, they share the commitment and support for young, up-and-coming artists. The audience is comprised of mostly artists, musicians, readers, writers, students, and professionals working in creative industries and media.

The brand community:

These people represent the ideal audience of the brand. They are a dynamic and complex community of people passionate about music and art, supporting the platform through the purchase of the publication and regular attendance of events. They challenge and inspire, as the future of the brand is gradually moulded.

The defined target market are:

18-35

Location: London, Brighton

Creative, Cultural, Individual, Passionate, Inquisitive, Eager to learn, Stylish, Intelligent, Mindful, Sociable

Enjoys: discovering new music, art, travel, fashion, reading, immersion in nature, gigs, keeping up to date with current affairs, festivals, a good party

Brands:

Vintage

Charity Shops

Urban Outfitters

Zara

Music:

Varied taste

Tame Impala

Mac Demarco

David Bowie

The Maccabees

Foals

Beach Baby

The Cure

The Black Keys

Khruangbin

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Location scouting for the editorial shoot. 

The first location I have found is on top of Richmond Hill multi-storey car park, it’s open but with plain brick and wire fence adding texture to the back drop.

The next place I need to check out is the madeira road car park and the underpass near town, the plainer wall on the left of the image above may work as an interesting background.

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Working on developing the website to give it a more contemporary aesthetic and hone in on the specific sections that need to be included. I have downloaded loads of new web fonts from typekit to help achieve the look I am after.

Since the review with Vicky and Iain I have been refining my core branding, also in BJ Cunningham’s talk he discussed being very clear and direct with Why, How and What your brand is. On Tuesday Karen showed us Simon Sinek’s Ted Talk which we hadn’t seen sinc first year so it was a good refresher, Sinek discussed how great leaders inspire using “I believe” instead of “I have a plan” and that “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it”. I have tried to incorporate all of these strategies into my brand statements.

https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action

Brand positioning statement:

Nū provides 18-35 year olds with a platform exploring fashion, music and art. We do this through our printed publication, website and immersive events which will entice our consumers from behind the screen of the digital world.

 Social Media Bio (facebook):

Deriving from the Old English word for ‘now’, Nū is a multi-channel platform, which takes form in a quarterly printed publication and a website featuring short films aligned to the brand. Nū explores fashion, music and art and is brought to life through monthly immersive events held in Brighton. The brands ethos is to encourage social and physical interaction with others and the world around us, stepping back from the screen of the digital world and back into the real world. Our goal is to organically form a community through inclusion and connection.

Manifesto (for website):

Born through the influence of reconnecting, Nū believes there is a higher value in social connection and experiences than many of us take advantage of in our day-to-day lives. Deriving from the Old English word for ‘now’, Nū encourages you to welcome the now, indulge your inner inquisitiveness and step away from the screen of the digital world. The brand takes form in a quarterly print publication and website featuring short films aligned to the brand. Exploring fashion, music and art, Nū is brought to life through regular immersive events held in Brighton.

As a responsible brand, we believe mindfulness and perception is key to maintaining a healthy balance of life. For example, we responsibly source our paper for our publication, and where possible, we strive to use high quality sustainable materials. Mindfulness allows us to consider not only our core brand and consumers, but also the wider community whom we share our homes, cities and planet with. We acknowledge how our choices may come to impact the community positively or negatively. Our perception keeps us aligned to our consumer, this allows us both to grow as we seek to learn and constantly improve as a brand and community.

Nū does not believe that you need to be on social media everyday to be social, in fact we propose quite the contrary. However, we understand that most people do use social media daily, this is why we have chosen to keep our profiles minimal and concise posting only to inform and spread the word about exciting developments, content, and events happening within Nū. As a gender-neutral brand, we welcome all to share and acknowledge innovations within the creative industry as we embrace our inner youth challenging and questioning the world.

With each channel of Nū comes a different offering, our publication relishes in tactile and haptic qualities of traditional print media converged with contemporary layout and current topics. We present the work of new and emerging artists and musicians through features, interviews, and collaborations; layered with fine tuned text and glorious imagery. Our website will showcase our film collaborations and experimentations, while also exploring the work of up-and-coming filmmakers. The website will act as our interactive medium whilst you await the next issue or forthcoming event. The events will be a manifestation of local talent through music gigs, film screenings, exhibitions and raucous parties.

The focus of Nū is not solely on a product, or a brand, we aspire to organically form a community through inclusion and connection, a community that thrives on creativity.

In Sequoia’s writing class we looked at writing a press release,I have begun mine:

Press Release

Eye catching headline

City & Date

Attention Grabbing Intro

Description of subject: unique, captivating, clear, and concise

Use Quotes, if you have them

Direct reader to website links/where to purchase

Info about you/brand

Contact information

Use Images, if you have them (publication cover, photos, illustrations etc

Create a great letterhead/logo

 AUB graduate launches multi-channel platform for creative millennials

London, June 2017

A new multi channel brand is set to broaden the social horizons of creative millennials. Nū has evolved through the development of the idea of creating a connected community away from our smartphones that celebrates fashion, music and art. Deriving from the Old English word for ‘now’, Nū encourages you to welcome the now, indulge your inner inquisitiveness and step away from the screen of the digital world.

A quarterly print publication features band, photographic editorials, written articles and illustrative work, Nū also has a website presenting short films. The publication relies on collaborations for film, photography and interviews, with an aim to showcase local and emerging talent. Based in Brighton, UK, Nū is brought to life through immersive, local events such as music gigs, film screenings, exhibitions and raucous parties.

“The focus of Nū is not solely on a product, or a brand, we aspire to organically form a community through inclusion and connection, a community that thrives on creativity,” Elissa Flynn, creator.

Nū will be showcased at Graduate Fashion week in June 2017.

http://www.graduatefashionweek.com/

Truman Brewery, 1 Hanbury Street, London, E1 6Q

Website Inspiration

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After contacting Ice Breaker Festival regarding a media pass, I will be going to Portsmouth on Saturday accompanied by Georgia, a radio production masters student from BU who I will be collaborating with. Georgia will be recording the interviews (which I will later transcribe for the publication) whilst I photograph and get film footage. We have one interview with an event organiser booked, and two up and coming bands I have contacted, Temples of Youth and Bel Esprit. I have chosen both of these bands based on their quality, whether they are appropriate to Nū and it’s future audience. I also think that both of these bands hold a lot of potential to go far, which is another aspect relating to the brand- catching small local bands before they explode.

Georgia and I would also like to redesign the Ice Breaker branding. 

https://www.templesofyouth.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/belesprituk

http://www.icebreakerfestival.com/

We have also organised an interview with Habitats before their Bournemouth We Broke Free gig at 60 million postcards.

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Concept Idea: My Place

A film series of outside places that are beautiful and special to particular individuals, for example The Forest. The films would have scenic shots of the defined place with a monolog describing what the place means to the person and how it makes them feel, eg connected to the earth, peaceful, clear minded, ‘at one’, present. The idea of this series is in relation to the ethos of the brand which is to encourage consumers to spend less time in the digital world and more time in the real world, connecting to themselves and others. These films have the potential to be personal and beautiful with deep meanings. I have contacted a commercial photography student to meet up with after their dissertation hand in.

The concept also aligns with the brands effort to create engagement and experiences which is what the narrator will be describing in the monologue. 

We have learnt through Karens Tuesday class that consumers are spending less on material objects and more on experiences, such as eating out, travel etc. and so brands are having to become more dimensional and are beginning to offer more real life experiences. Not only is the event side of nū important for the ethos of the brand, but it is also important as a developmental step in order to remain competitive.