Logo Designs

I sent my original logo idea over to my graphic designer for him to improve on for me to be able to use it on my website.  Below is what I received back.

My Original Design

Above is an improved image of the original idea for my logo.  The graphic designer has brightened up the background and lightened the shade of the lipstick marks that I used to create the prophecy ball in the background.  It is a lot better than the rough logo that I had made, and I prefer the font that he has used.

Graphic Designer's Designs

Here are four other designs created, that the graphic designer felt would work well with my concept for my branding.  I really like them all and feel that the simplicity of them would work a lot better for my magazine, rather than trying to make too much of a statement with the design of a prophecy ball being used.  Out of all four of these, my favourite is the top left, because it still uses the element of the lipstick stains from my original idea and it adds some colour to the brand.

After receiving the above ideas and being drawn towards the design that uses the purple, I asked for it to be mocked up with a white square and black writing as well.  Below is the outcome which I am also really happy with.  Having spoken to a select group of my target market, they agreed that this was the best design outcome produced.  Therefore, I think that this will be the final logo for my magazine.

Final Logo Design

Mid-point Thoughts

ORGANISATION

Organising teams of people has been extremely difficult so far.  I feel that I have been well organised in trying to gather a team, however the communication back to me has not been good.  I have sent mood boards to my photographers with available dates to work with, however in some cases I have had to prompt them in order to receive a reply.
My models have been good at letting me know their availability and working with them has not been so difficult.  What I have struggled with the most is making sure that the whole team is available at the same time, which in some cases has meant that I have had to photograph the looks myself.  This has not been a complete disaster, as I am fairly confident behind the camera for beauty shots, however when I want to use specific techniques that I do not know how to achieve, I need to make sure that one of my photographers is available to help me.
From these occurrences I have learnt that to make operations smoother along the way, there are things that I could do prior to photoshoots that would improve the communication between myself and my team.  For example, creating call sheets and setting up a group message to communicate with everyone at one would probably make things slightly easier, and in turn it should improve the organisation of the group.

PRODUCTION
I am still a bit behind on my production schedule, however I am making up good time and getting on with my work in order to get myself back on track.  So far I have completed four of my photoshoots and I have another one planned for the end of this week.  After my week off for Easter, I need to crack on and get all of my shoots done so that I can start adding content to my website layout.
For the content of my magazine, I have photoshoots complete, however I need to begin writing up my articles to accompany them.  This will be hard if I leave it much longer to begin them, so my aim for the next few weeks is to make a start on the articles.

PROGRESSION
To progress further and achieve everything that I have set out to in time for the project deadline, I need to focus on:
- Completing my photoshoots
- Finalising my website layout
- Building my website
- Writing my magazine articles
This is achievable if I am strict with myself and make sure that I stay on track with my schedule plan.

Working Titles

The current title for my magazine is 'FORESEEN', however during my mid-point presentation, the lecturers pointed out that they did not agree with this title.  Therefore I have been looking at new ideas, as listed below:

FORE-SEEN

OUTLOOK

FASHION FIRST

BEAUTY FIRST

PROPHESY/PROPHET/PROPHECY

AUGUR

FORETELL

THE BEAUTY PROPHET/THE BEAUTY PROPHECY

When searching for a name, I was thinking of the future and words that can be used to portray the forecasting element of the magazine.  I found it difficult to think of a name off of the top of my head, so when 'FORESEEN' was turned down I typed it into the thesaurus to see what other words there were that would give the same idea.  At the moment I really like the idea of 'THE BEAUTY PROPHECY', and I have designed a rough logo idea below.

I like this idea for a logo design, so have sent it to a graphic designer for his help, in order to make it look better and more professional.

Mid-point Presentation Formative Feedback

What has been successful so far, what have you been pleased with?

Are you on track with your original production schedule, if not why and what needs adjusting?

How have you resolved any major issues?

What requires further improvement?

What other ideas do you have for further development of your project?

Based around the questions above that were set out by the lecturers, I explained in my presentation how and why my project has changed direction, and how I am currently behind schedule.  I also showed the group a selection of unedited images from my recent photo shoots, and then went on to talk them through a rough layout idea for my online magazine (refer to previous posts for details).

FEEDBACK (Emma, Jane and Elizabeth)

The feedback from the tutors on my presentation was mixed.  They liked the photo shoots that I showed them and liked the layout design of my website, however they had some issues with certain areas of my project.  For example, neither three of them were keen on the name that I had come up with for the magazine, and they believe that my knowledge of fashion isn't enough to cover that area on my magazine.  Instead, they suggested that I should focus on the hair and beauty aspects, as that is my area of expertise and they believe that I can achieve my full potential if I just focus on these areas.  Emma also suggested and believes that some still life product imagery would fit well with the magazine and boost the content.

NEXT STEPS

- Decide on a new title for the magazine

- Create a sell/tag line to go underneath the heading

- Make sure that the trends are dated for the readers

- Scrap the FASHION section

- Include some product imagery

- Make separate tabs for the magazine, do not just have all the content under TRENDS

- Look at some 'edgier' magazines, such as V Magazine, for inspiration

Fragrance Photoshoot

INSPIRATION

Here is a basic moodboard of inspiration for my fragrance photoshoot.  The key element to this look will be the gel lighting, to create a moody atmosphere in the image.  The main colour gels that I want to experiment with are red, green and blue, as I think that these will work best as a combination.  To work with these colours, I will apply a shimmery orange lipstick to my model's lips.

https://uk.pinterest.com/dannilove09/color/

https://fstoppers.com/studio/shooting-color-gels-2723

https://modxchange.wordpress.com/2014/03/10/how-to-wear-orange-lipstick-this-spring/

UNEDITED IMAGES

The theme behind this photoshoot was to represent fragrance, so I decided to play with coloured gels to create different moods within the images.  I am happy with the outcome of these images, however I think that I could have been a bit more adventurous with the poses and stances for the model  had I been more prepared leading up to the shoot, as the images are all quite similarly structured.

Luckily one of my photographers was free to help me with this photoshoot, as I am not confident in using gels, and I think that the lighting looks really good, with thanks to my photographer.  I was really happy with the make-up that I had created for my model's face, however it does not show up greatly in the images due to the lighting.  Looking back, I think that we should have captured some images without the gels to give me a variety of choice when it comes to finalising my images for the magazine.

Overall I am fairly pleased with the outcome of these images, however there are a few changes that I would like to make in post-production.  Firstly, I would like to play with the lighting and see if I can make the make-up any more visible than it is in the unedited images, and secondly I would like to take out the model's nose stud and tidy up the wispy hairs around her head.  The images will also need to be cropped to take out the models top and the excess areas of background.

Initial Website Design

Here I have created a rough outline of the layout that I wish to create for my online magazine.  As general features, I plan to have a banner at the top of my website with the logo and tag line and then a menu bar underneath.  I would like the menu bar to stay at the top of the page as the reader scrolls, as this will keep everything easily accessible for the reader.

Homepage

On the homepage I plan to have a News Feed on the right of the page where new 'trend alerts' will pop up, and when clicked on will take you to another area of the website where there will be a more in depth article about the trend.  Underneath the menu bar in the main space of the homepage, I plan to have a slideshow of various articles that can be found within the site.  I will make the slideshow interactive, so that when the viewer clicks on an image related to an article, it will take them to that page.

Trends Page

When the reader clicks the link to the Trends page, it will take them to a page with all of the trends of the season lined up.  Each trend will be represented by an image which the reader will click on to take them to the next page where they can read and learn more about it, which brings us to the layout below.

Trend Article Page

This is what I envision each article page to look like.  Once the reader has clicked on the trend that they want to read more about, it will take them to a page with a slideshow of images that will visually communicate the ideas behind it to the reader.  Accompanying the slideshow of images will be an article.  Each article will inform the reader about the trend and it's background, and how they can achieve it for themselves.

Eye Photoshoot

For the eye look, I want to create a dark smokey eye that has been glossed over with vaseline, similar to what can be seen in the moodboard above.  Paired with the dark glossy eye, I will give my model a matte nude lip to create contrast in the make-up.  This will also be so that the make-up look is balanced nicely, because if I were to opt for a dark lip and dark eye, it would confuse the viewer and I want them to be solely focused on the eye make-up.

http://newsbeat.co.ke/gossip/12-different-eyeliner-looks/

http://dy6g3i6a1660s.cloudfront.net/Gg3AyXuPBm1Bzvdeud9l6wPUAaM/orig.jpg

http://makeup.lovetoknow.com/Homemade_Lip_Gloss

https://briellebrennerbeauty.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/25-best-blue-smokey-eye-make-up-ideas-looks-of-2012-26.jpg

UNEDITED IMAGES

Unfortunately I am not very happy with the outcome of these images and I am considering not using them for the final outcome of my project.  The aim of my outcome was the achieve a dark glossy eye with a fairly nude lip, but what I did not anticipate was how creased the eye would become when I added the gloss over the top of the eyeshadow.  I was continuously blending the eyes in between shots, however this did not do much for them and the creasing continued to show through.

I will attempt to correct this in post-production, however I do not think that I have the correct skill set to be able to recover these images.  Although I do not think that this would achieve the desired effect of the photoshoot, as it would make the eyes lighter and blurrier than I would like them.  An alternative option would be to re-shoot this look, however I know that the model I used is very busy herself with her own projects, and so I feel that it is unfair for me to call on her again.

From doing this photoshoot, I have learnt that I need to plan my looks better and consider all possibilities when it comes to using innovative ideas within photoshoots.  In the future if I want to create a glossy eye, I will test the products that I want to use first on myself to ensure that they will look good on camera and not smudge or crease.