Final Tutorial with Anna 02/05/17

I attended a final tutorial with Anna today to show her the final design of my magazine. I have been struggling to write my editors letter and questioning whether or not I need one. I don't want to write something too personal about the project as I feel that this may come across as unprofessional. Anna assured me that it could a simple 'forward' or opening to the magazine, instead of a 'dear readers' style letter. She did however tell me that in her opinion the magazine really did need an intro and Sharon has previously told me the same so I will write one this evening to complete my magazine! I also showed her my Instagram page and the sort of content I have been uploading. Her only suggestion was that to give the page a more 'editorial' feel, I include snippets of my writing like I have on the promotional cards. I really like this suggestion and feel it will give my Instagram page a great variation of content between editorials, design/abstract images and written content, which is an accurate representation of Beauty Noted.

Choosing my cover image

I decided on my cover image very early on in the project, just after my 'Rays' shoot. I knew that I wanted to pick my favourite image from all of my shoots to be on the cover, however really fell in love with this particular image as I feel the colour scheme and general feel accurately represent the look that I want to create for Beauty Noted. The cover image is important as it will also be the image that I use on all of my promotion for the magazine, that will represent and be associated with the brand. I love the almost abstract quality to this image and the softness of the fabrics and different textures that are incorporated. I also really like the fact it doesn't just look like a standard beauty shot and that the makeup and hair isn't the main focus, all of the elements combine to create an outcome that looks minimal, soft and gentle. Picking this image early also allowed for me to start working on the promotion of the magazine to start building a brand and following earlier in the project.

'Seasonal Update' Second Shoot Results

Despite Sharon and Anna telling me not to worry about reshooting if I really didn't have time and to just play around with editing instead, I re-shot my 'Seasonal Update' look today. I managed to get the same model that I used the first time, which I was pleased about as she was great to work with and had lovely skin.

I wanted to create the same glowy, luminous, rosy base that I did in the previous shoot, but without the use of flowers or the overly bridal hair. I perfected my models skin with a luminous base and concealed any blemishes and then went on to use the same products as before on the base (outlined in this post). I did have to adapt the foundation slightly as my model had just been on holiday and was very tanned and uneven in some parts. As it's not discussed in the article, I didn't want hair to be feature in this look at all, so simply scraped it back into a smooth high pony.

  

  

  

On the last shoot, I was pleased with how the lighting perfected my models skin, but felt the bright lights and white background felt very much like a commercial set up and made the images look as though they should be part of a perfume advert. I worked with Cher again for this shoot, so discussed with her in advance that I wanted to play around with colour gels. Some colour gels can look very 'neon' and bright but I thought if used on a very low light could create a lovely soft pink glow on the skin. We tried out this set up, but I felt like most of the images were too red and especially with my models tan, almost made her look sun burnt. Eventually we moved the pink tinted lamp to low on the floor, just to create a nice glow across the chest which I think worked better (Images below).

This is the image I will be using in my 'Seasonal Beauty' article. I like the poise of the face and think it is a flattering angle on her neck and collarbones. I really didn't like the hair for this shoot as I felt it looked quite cheap, so have cropped the image closely so that the radiance of the skin is the main focus. Although I am unhappy with this shoot as a whole, I am pleased I managed to get an image to use that doesn't feature the flowers!

However, I really don't love these images and I am disappointed as it feels like a waste of time to do a shoot and not feel proud of what I have created. Luckily I only need one for my 'Seasonal Beauty' article as I have supplemented it with product shots and the shoot I did of the hands using the pressed flowers. I did manage to get an image of my model holding one of the tools I discuss in my 'How To: Prep Your Skin for a Big Event' article, which is also something I needed and was very quick to create, so overall the day wasn't unsuccessful. I think I should have potentially chosen a different model, or totally rethought the theme, but as the look is following the look that is discussed in the article, I didn't have much freedom to change the makeup.

Using Instagram to Promote Beauty Noted

As highlighted by the findings of my focus group, social media is an extremely important marketing tool and should not be overlooked. As Beauty Noted is very image based project, I decided that Instagram would be the most effective platform to use to promote the magazine. A recent survey showed that 91.9% of consumers voted that Instagram was their favourite platform for working with influences and connecting with brands. I personally use Instagram to follow a lot of blogs and small magazines, so wanted to create something similar for Beauty Noted. As with my whole project, I wanted the Instagram to have a very coherent style and theme, to fit with the marketing of the rest of the project. I have posted snippets of the articles, along with general inspiration or design based pictures as well as some of my favourite images from the shoots so that viewers can get an idea for the general feel and content of the magazine. In order to market Beauty Noted as effectively as I could, I did some research into the best times of day to post. I found out that between 7PM and 9PM is generally the most effective time post as most users aren't at work. I tried to always post between these times to achieve maximum engagement with my followers. I also looked into relevant hashtags and looked at the Instagrams of other small magazines to see which they used. By using similar hastags, I already know that the audience I am reaching has an interest in magazines of this kind and therefore may want to follow Beauty Noted.


Morrison, K. and Morrison, K. (2017). Instagram Dominates Influencer Marketing (Report). [online] Adweek.com. Available at: http://www.adweek.com/digital/instagram-dominates-influencer-marketing-report/ [Accessed 5 May 2017].

Later Blog. (2017). The Best Time to Post on Instagram in 2017 - Later Blog. [online] Available at: https://later.com/blog/best-time-to-post-on-instagram/ [Accessed 5 May 2017].

Using Abobe Illustrator to Create Vector Images

To add to the page design in an unintrusive way, I wanted to create shapes (like those seen above) in Adobe Illustrator to overlay or underlay photographs. Having never used the programme before, I went to one of John's lessons and he taught me the very basics. I expanded my knowledge by watching several Youtube tutorials in order to help me achieve my desired result.

This was my first trial, I used the pen tool to trace over an image that I found online. We just selected a random image for the trial while I got used to using the programme.

To create my final outcome, I used this image of one of the products in the photograph and traced over it with the pen tool. I wanted to create a really 'sketchlike' drawing, as seen in my inspiration images, I added in extra lines of a shorter length to give it a rougher appearance. Below is my final outcome for the page. I transferred the vector to photoshop and overlaid it on itself several times, enhansing the sketch like appearance. I chose to underlay it as opposed to overlaying it as I felt this approach was more subtle yet still effective. 

Image Credit: 

https://www.net-a-porter.com/us/en/product/346669/byredo/gypsy-water-eau-de-parfum---bergamot---pine-needles--50ml

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/perfume-bottles-black-sketch-hand-drawn-308115038

http://imgbuddy.com/chanel-perfume-bottle-drawing.asp

Website Design

I will be creating a website on which readers can read Beauty Noted. The idea was initially to have the magazine as a PDF, downloadable from the website but after my decision to switch and use ISSUU instead, the website will now mostly be a way to host the magazine. I was initially unsure what to host my website on, as I don't need a lot of sections or a complicated design as the only thing on the site will be basic information, contact info and the magazine itself. At first I began to experiment with WIX, but found it didn't give me the freedom I needed with the layout. I discussed this with Anna in a tutorial and she suggested Squarespace, as it has a number of very minimal, customisable layouts to choose from. I knew I wanted an image (my cover image) to be the main focus of the page, with simple links to contact information, general information and the Beauty Noted Instagram page. Squarespace didn't have the exact font I used for the cover page as an option, so I researched similar fonts and found that Nunito was very similar to Avenir Light, so this is what I have used for all the headings and writing on the site to give a coherent look and feel. To ensure that the site is professional and fitting with the Beauty Noted brand, I bought a domain name and added it to the site.

I really like the image based, minimal theme of the site and feel it is fitting and appropriate, providing Beauty Noted with a base for information, where the latest issue can be viewed and readers can get contact or find the Instagram page.  In the future, I would consider adding bonus content to the website, like behind the scenes blog posts about the production of the issue.

Meeting with Jennifer 25/04/17 and further design development

I went to Jennifer's drop in today to show her my project so far and get another opinion on the design and content. After looking over the magazine on Issuu, she pointed out a few minor changes to be made.

Firstly, we discussed the text on both 'Skin Shield' and 'Rays'. I had made the text on the first page of both articles quite large in contrast to the rest of the article, I initially did this as I wanted the title and article introduction to stand out. However, reflecting on Jennifer's feedback I can see that it looks a little strange and out of proportion with the rest of the article. I think that using smaller text throughout will give a more refined look to the piece so this is a change that I will tweak the design and text size to give a more uniform look throughout the magazine. (examples below)

After reading my articles, Jennifer suggested that in some of the more in-depth articles about skincare, readers may benefit from some validation, e.g the name of a professional who has offered their opinion on the topic or the name of the organisation who's research I have used to gather my information. 

The last thing we talked about were my images for 'Bloom'.  As mentioned in my post evaluating these shoot images, I'm not fully happy with the result of this shoot. Although I really like the makeup, the model is wearing coloured contacts (which she refused to take out) and I feel like this is quite distracting from the rest of the shoot as this looks so out of place. I'm planning to play around with editing the eyes in photoshop to darken them slightly so they look less unnatural as the whole ethos of Beauty Noted is focused on natural, wearable beauty. Another issue is that all of my images for this shoot are quite similar, with very little variation in the makeup or hair. As these images are only to accompany a short article about nails and lips, I may only use two images (one for lips and one for nails) instead of making it into a full editorial to keep the magazine from being repetitive or boring.