Faking It Assignment: Research

For this assignment, Faking It, i started off using the Internet to research different types of fashion magazines and their typical conventions.
Researcgh Into Fashion Magazines:

Starting off looking at high gloss magazine such as Vogue and Elle, they all followed the theme of having a A List celebrity on their front cover and the cover generally looks sophisticated. The font of the title is at the top of the cover and both Vogue and Elle use the same font with the serif edges to make it look high class. The design and colours used are thought about and match with everything on the cover and the models are posing strong and in a classy way .

For example, below Beyonce is on both covers of Vogue and Elle. In Vogue she is wearing blue and the background and title all match together. In Elle she is wearing purple and the colours of the cover are black and pink. 
For high end fashion magazines such as these to be using Beyonce on their front covers it proves the debating issue of models being labelled "too fat" as being completely wrong, and as women as young as teenagers who are influenced by these types of magazines, it sets a good example that you have to have a tiny waist just to look good. 
I did some research into models in the fashion industry and the way they should apparently look. I found that women who were healthy sizes were being criticised and turned down for modeling jobs for being "too fat". A link from the Internet i read about two girls, one of which was a healthy size 12 and the other  a size zero model. 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-418780/The-stunning-size-12-model-branded-fat-TV-competition.html
Everyone seems to think that to be a model you have to have the perfect "skinny" body. This is an issue which aspiring teenagers and models think they should look like, which is in fact not healthy. The debate continues with models who are healthy sizes and models who are size zero, the fact is that whatever size or shape you are because as long as you are healthy and happy with your shape then no one can put you down. People want to see healthy looking models on the front of magazines and not models who have been pressured and forced in to size zero.
Another story i found whilst doing my research:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/33307721
I find this story shocking as the girl was actually a model for big name designer, Ralph Lauren. I don't think its right for high end names such as him to be taking this approach as aspiring fashion designers and models could be heavily influenced by his work.
For the rest of the assignment i had to create three different designs of either a magazine front cover, book cover or CD case and produce a "spoof". I chose to design two different magazine covers using both Elle and Vogue and touched on issues surrounding the "perfect" model and acting responsibly on a night out. 
After then completing my research i moved on to choosing a design and making it on Photoshop.

Faking It Assignment: Rough Designs

Rough Designs:

The first of my designs is based on the idea of how models look and are portrayed in the media. The design is of a magazine cover for Elle which shows a skinny looking, catwalk model with the headlining title of the magazine saying "Get Into Shape For Summer 2010". This is a contradiction of the headline of the magazine and the model used on the front. The model is in fact "too skinny" but being labelled as needing to go on a diet for the summer. The sub titles around the edge all link in with the main centre image of the model. Real life stories including, "Turned away for being too fat" and "Told to get surgery or lose my job". These are all issues which affect models currently and i chose to have this type of design to show the reality of this sort of attitude towards the way people look. The sub titles to the right of the cover are spoofs of the content magazines usually involve for example, "100 Must Have Cosmetics To Make You Look Skinny". The research i have gathered above is evidence to back up my idea and that is is a real issue in the media. These are the typical headlining titles on magazine which i have spoofed to link in with the theme of the model and magazine. The text i have used is a tall skinny font which ties in with the whole convention of the magazine, ELLE, the model and the font.

The second of my designs was based on the way people behave on nights out. The front cover image is of 2 women who have been on a night out and one of them is led on the floor while the other tries to lift her up. The headlining title is "How To Make The Most Of The Festive Season" on the front of the Decemeber issue of Vogue magazine. The front title is suggestive towards the way people act while out and especially with Christmas soon that it is the party season. Magazines usually publisise the fact that christmas is a time to celebrate but they never show the reality of some nights out which is why i am spoofing a high gloss fashion magazine such as  Vogue. This is a magazine which is used highly in the fashion industry just like ELLE and which young teeneagers will read and aspire to.

Faking It Assignment: Making My Design

Making My Design:

I chose to make the first of my rough designs which was the ELLE magazine cover. The magazine must have all the typical conventions of a high gloss magazine cover including the title, sub titles, barcode and front image.

 I started making it using Photoshop and used my research and gathered images to form layers and eventually a whole magazine cover. I used this image of a catwalk model which i first cut out using the magnetic lasso tool and then need to make her look skinny. This was the original image i used to start with in Photoshop. To make her look skinny i firstly cut out her head which i kept the same, and went to Edit, Transform, Distort. This then gave me the option to make her "fatter" or "skinnier" by dragging the cursor left and right. Once i had made her look "skinny" i then pasted her head back on top of her body and merged the layers to keep them together.

I then created more layers this time with text boxes to make the title and sub titles on the magazine cover. To make the ELLE title i found a text which was most closest to the font and used Window, Character to change the length, height and spacing between the font to make it even closer to the actual font (see right picture). I then used this process to make each font individual to where it was on the magazine cover, making some bigger/taller/more spaced than others. I then changed the colour of the text making it relevant to the images used.

I then draged everything on to the same layer with a background image, model and titles/sub titles. The last thing left for me to do was to play around with the layout and make it look like an actual magazine cover.

What Is A Fashion Blog?

What is a fashion blog and what is its purpose?

 A fashion blog is a blog which covers items of clothing and accessories, trends in the market, street trends, personal style and celebrity fashion choices. They cover fashion at all levels from big names to small designers. The content of the fashion blog is similar to the content of a fashion magazine and can be considered as shopping blogs as the blog consists of shopping advice and consumer recommendations. Fashion blogs have an impact on the fashion industry as they are used by retailers to promote their products and the blog can be categorized with shopping blogs as they give the consumer recommendations and shopping advice. The blog should reflect the author’s personal style and asks for the reader’s opinion.

Who writes fashion blogs and what makes them successful?

There are many types of fashion blogs and they can be categorised is many different ways. They can be written individuals including insiders, outsiders and aspiring insiders. Insiders are people who write blogs and work closely in the fashion industry and in the media. Outsiders write them as dedicated consumers of fashion and write strong opinions. Aspiring insiders write them to try and provide themselves with a pathway into the fashion and media industry or maybe a fashion writing job. Fashion blogs may also be written by large companies which include large mainstream media organisations and retailers. For a blog to be successful they must follow a theme for example narrowing their field to one type of fashion item or a particular price point.

Examples of fashion blogs:

http://madtight.blogspot.com/  This fashion blog shows examples of extreme style. The blog consists of images of fashion items such as shoes and dresses, that could only be described as fashionable by Lady Gaga. This blog doesn't really have much information and only catches the eye by the drastic sense of style in the images. First impressions of the blog gave me the idea that the creator was eccentric and wanted to be noticed by big fashion names from the images and content posted. What i love about this blog is that it represents that fashion isn't always about being functional and practical and that it can show the body in many other forms rather than your normal type of clothing.





Just a sample of the fashion content from this blog. The blog also has the link to these and the price range. Remind you of anyone pictured in a pair of shoes just like these?..

Tavi Gevinson is a famous fashion blogger and is known to be the worlds youngest fashion blogger. She began her blog at the age of 11. Her blog has images of herself and other designers in slightly strange outfits with her odd sense of style. At the age of 13, she dresses and acts like no other "normal" teenager. This is Tavi pictured on the left. On her blog she not only has pictures of herself but just some of the fashion items she has received from big fashion names and she is sure to be a bigger name in the future. I found looking at this blog inspiring as it proves that whatever age you are and what ever style your into, you can always make a name for yourself.

http://www.thestylerookie.com/