Content Page Planning

For my own content page, I'm going to include all the regular conventions of a content page. I'm going to have our masthead on the top right corner, with the date and edition (April 2025) right underneath. I want the masthead to be white, since the the masthead on the cover page is most likely going to be white, but I'm not sure if that's possible. Most of the content pages I've seen have a white background. To have a white masthead, the background would have to be a different color, which I'm not sure if I'm allowed to do. 

For my image, I was thinking something like this.

For the different article groupings, I'm going to have a "Feature articles" section, an "On the Cover" section, a "What's trending" section, and some others probably. 

The color scheme is probably going to be green, yellow, and white or something along those lines. I thought of yellow because the image I'm using as reference has a yellowish hue and the flowers are yellow. I'm thinking warm colors, since the magazine is  spring themed. 

Some articles that I might include are

• The effects of fast fashion on our environment
• Trending styles this spring
• How to style impossible patterns
• Upping your fit: Jewelry is a game changer
• Shoes that are not only comfortable but also stylish (perfect additions to your closet)
• Makeup looks that make you glow this spring

Obviously none of this is final, I still have much more to think of. Most of these ideas will be refined over the next few days, and might even change entirely but the time I get to production, but that's okay because it's all a part of the process. 

The next step is to begin planning my feature article. Once I have a basic plan for that, I might create flat plans for my content page and feature article. And then, it's time to start production.

Thanks so much for tuning in, catch you later!

Content Page Research

Can I be honest? I've really been dreading doing this. I have NO idea what to do for my content page, and I've been procrastinating on this for way too long. But it's time to be productive and get this done. I'm going to be honest, I don't even know what a table of content page is supposed to look like. I mean obviously I know what it is, but I haven't really seen many examples of what a Magazine  Content Page is supposed to look like. That's probably why I feel so confused about what I need to do. So the first order of business is to do some research on what Content Pages are supposed to look like. I found some images of content pages from fashion magazines, so I'm comparing their conventions and their layouts.

After analyzing what most content pages look like, I have some ideas of what I want on my content page. The next step is to start planning my content page and possibly my double spread feature article.

Thanks so much for tuning in, catch you later!

Flat Plan for Cover Page

Before I can officially start creating my brief, I need to do a little more practicing and planning. So far, I've been focusing mainly on just my cover page, which I admit I should probably move on, but I want to do a flat plan first to grant me some more confidence. 

I created my flat plan on Canva. I know, I know, I should NOT use Canva, but this is just for the flat plan and not the actual product itself. Usually, flat plans are just a basic idea of where your masthead, pull quote, cover lines, barcode, dateline, price, and all your puffs, plugs and boxouts. However, I won't be able to visualize the placement for any of that until I have a basic idea of my cover image. So, I'm trying to get creative and recreate an idea of what I want the image to look like on Canva. I'm not sure how well that's going to turn out, but I'm going to give it a shot anyways.

So this is how the image turned out.... and yeah. I don't know, it's not too bad, but it's obviously not exactly accurate to what the actual image will look like. Now for the text.

Midway through adding the text, I realized that the mirror being white didn't make sense, so I added the same background. I'm definitely going to add more text when I get my original image, but for now I couldn't really think of anything. I think the biggest issue I'm going to have for the next week is definitely what articles and other elements I'm going to have in my magazine. 

The next step is planning for my content page, which is going to be extremely difficult because I don't know what images to have, what articles I'm going to have, etc. But, I'm going to spend some time reflecting on that and maybe I'll get an idea in the next few days.

Thanks so much for tuning in, catch you later! 

Outfit Planning

I know I've already talked about what kind of outfits I want in my magazine earlier, but I feel like I need to think about it a little bit more. My original plan was to do a runway style outfit, but that has morphed into something more like Avant Garde. Hailey and I started looking for inspiration on Pinterest and even created a board where we could save magazine covers or outfits that we thought were cool. In the span of time where we added pins, our opinions on what type of fashion to do changed about 50 times. I'm just so conflicted! I would love to do something Avant Garde, but the biggest problem is my lack of Avant Garde clothing. I'm not really much of a seamstress, so there's no way I'll be able to create something of my own.

Hailey and I planned to go to the thrift store today, with high hopes that we would find something unconventional, something that would belong on a runway. To our dismay, we found nothing. Like, nothing. At all. We spent nearly 4 hours and went to 2 different thrift stores, yet nothing was good enough. Soon we realized that the whole Avant Garde thing was NOT going to work. Not only is it not cohesive with Hailey's plan to shoot at the beach, but it was also incredibly hard to find a piece of clothing that would work well. So in the middle of shopping at the thrift store, we decided to completely switch my theme. Instead of Avant Garde, I would do a nature theme. So the shoot would most likely be at a park or at a forest.

So now with this new idea in mind, we began to search for a dress or a cohesive outfit that would fit the theme. And we STILL didn't find anything. Eventually, we realized it would be 10 times easier to just find something online. So we gave up and went home.

To be honest, not much was accomplished from this trip, but at least we now know what our theme is most likely going to be. Hopefully we don't change it again. Of course, a new theme means new inspiration pictures!

After looking at these pictures and a little bit of online shopping, I have a pretty solid idea. My thought is to go to a flower field. I'll have the model wearing a flowy white dress and a flower tucked behind her ear. I'm not sure if I want jewelry or not, but I'll think about that a little later. I would like my friend Addisyn to model, because she fits the concept well I think. When I imagine a photoshoot in nature, I always imagine light, pretty, and glowy makeup, which Addisyn excels at.  

Anyways, that's the basic idea for now. Although I'm not sure if I want jewelry, I know for sure that I want flowers in her hair.

I'm actually really excited on how this is all turning out. I was so unsure and confused not even a few hours ago, so I'm really glad that I have more of a solid plan now. Based on my front cover, I can now start thinking of my images for the feature article, as well as the contents of the magazine itself. Anyways, that's all for now!

Thanks so much for tuning in, catch you later!

Project Proposal Blog Entry

Welcome. My name is Bhumi Harpalani. For my AICE Media Studies Brief, I will be doing a Magazine. I'm working with my friend Hailey Sanchez for this project. 

My magazine genre will be Fashion, and this is for many reasons. First of all, Fashion Magazines are some of the most easily recognizable magazines and are extremely popular, which means there are set conventions for them that can easily be followed. The second reason is that me and my partner were greatly interested in finding or creating fashion pieces that are not only visually pleasing, but also bring awareness to major issues in our world. We had thought originally to do a teen magazine, but we found that the design for those is very immature and the  topic that we wish to raise awareness on wouldn't sit right with the childish magazine design.

Our potential target audience isn't any certain age or demographic; it is anyone who enjoys fashion. While fashion usually appeals to females, our magazine is open to males aa well. In fact, there has been a recent rise in number of men interested in fashion. I are not one to discriminate. Any who enjoy fashion and it's different sub-genres are free to enjoy our magazine.

Although our magazine is a fashion magazine, that is not the only thing we wish to display through this product.  We wish to bring awareness to all the social issues that come along with fashion such as animal welfare, unsafe workplaces, cash crops, child labor, collective bargaining, craft clusters, cultural appropriation, globalization, greenwashing, but perhaps most important of all, Fast Fashion and it's effects. We also wish to display diversity and inclusivity through our photography. We plan to have models from many different backgrounds and demographics.

For a project of this scale, there are many professional apps and softwares that we must use. The main ones will be Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Lightroom. I have experimented a bit with all the softwares listed above, but I do plan to get more trained in each.

So far, we have thought of certain aspects of our magazine. These are all basic, rough ideas but our final product will most likely build upon these:

Cover Page

• Title: "MODE" Mode means fashion in French. 
• Cover image: model wearing "Fashion Week" style clothing. Eccentric, unique, and challenging social norms.

Content Page

Double Page Spread

• Main image: the model will be wearing clothing that doesn't support the ideals of fast fashion. (we might create a new piece out of thrifted clothing)
• Article: On the social issues that come with fashion, mostly fast fashion.

Before I can begin with my project, I must do some practices that allow me to get familiar with the software I plan to use. I will also be conducting practices that require me to learn photography. After doing these exercises, I will begin working on the main project.

Thanks so much for tuning in, catch you later!

Resources:

https://www.condenast.com/glossary/social-cultural-and-economic-impacts-of-fashion

Double Spread Feature Article Research

 Although I've mentioned some information on double-page feature articles, I don't think I fully even know what will need to be done for one. So, today's journey is researching exactly what elements are in a double-page feature article and what I would like to make my  feature article about. 

I'm using the first website linked in the resources down below as my main source of information because it's specifically created for Media Studies students. 

• Verso and Recto: According to the magazine, the double-page spread is split into two sections: Verso (page on the left) and Recto (page on the right). Most of the time, the dominant page is on the recto. By conventions, all recto pages will be odd numbered and all verso pages will be even numbered. 

• Gutter: The crease between the verso and recto is known as the gutter, and it is left blank so that no important information is missed. 
• Bleed: When something goes across the gutter, it is known as bleed. For example, the background of the spread above. 
• Images: You must have a primary image, which is the first image that the viewers see. In this case, the primary image is Justin Bieber. Secondary images are also used, but not in the example above. 
• Headlines: The largest letters, usually on the top of the page, is the Headline. Subheadings are also used in order to section information.
• Kicker: Underneath the main headline is the kicker, which is about 4 lines of text that are about the celebrity and capture the readers attention.
• Main Copy: The main copy is the main block of text which is the article or story. The size is usually 10px. While it can be 12px, which appears to a younger audience, it might look silly to an older audience. 
• The main copy is usually split into columns. The columns are usually left aligned and have a ragged right edge in order to look sophisticated. 
• The space between the columns is the alley. It allows for readers to know when to move down to the next line. 
• The space between each line is called the lead, and the space between each letter is called the tracking.
• The large first letter is called the drop capital. It is used to catch the readers attention and signify that the article starts there.
• When the last line of the article contains only one word, it is called a widow. This should be avoided as it is considered a design flaw.
• The pull-quote is a quote that helps break up the columns of text. They also help sell the story. 
• The Byline is usually under the kicker, and it is used to acknowledge the writer of the article. You can also include photo credits. 
• The folio, found at the bottom of the page, is the page number sometimes accompanied by the magazine's logo.

That's about all the main elements of a double spread feature article. Thanks so much for tuning in, catch you later!

Resources:

https://media-studies.com/magazine-spread/

Naming Ceremony

This is momentous. This is the moment where our child gets named. We've been carrying this idea in our brains for very long now, and it's nearly time to give birth to it. But before that, our magazine needs a name.

I had originally thought for it to be "DIVA" in large, italic, pink capital letters. I know, I know, that sounds really corny. I don't really like that word all too much, but I could  imagine it as a fashion magazine title. But, Hailey did not like this idea. Which is fine, we can always think of other things.

Hailey brought up the word "CHIC" and I liked it, and it also reminded me of the word "GLAM." That's when our friend Addisyn proposed that we do a single-syllable word. I like this idea. Then Hailey came up with the idea of using a word related to fashion, and then translating into a different language. Immediately I thought of French. French is the classiest and bougiest language that I can think of. So, I ran to google translate and started inputing random words related to fashion. 

When I inputted the word "stylish" and it gave me "ÉLÉGANTE" which I thought was a perfect word. Hailey liked it as well. But we also agreed that we wanted a word that was almost generic, so that it could fit any category. If we used a word like "ÉLÉGANTE," it might make it seem like all the clothing would be classy and elegant, rather than having the freedom of variety. We wanted something like Vogue, something generic but also widely recognizable. 

When I ran the word "Fashion" itself through the translator, I got "MODE." This, Hailey and I both agreed, was perfect. It's generic in a sense that it could mean anything, but it has a meaning behind it and is classy. I believe we're going to be settling on this name. 

Now that we have a set name for our magazine, I will be doing some more research on the contents itself of the magazine. I did briefly cover this earlier when I was talking about the genre conventions of a magazine, but I never went in depth on what is in a feature article or in a content page. So, that will be the next step of the operation.

Thanks so much for tuning in, catch you later!

Target Audience Research

The original plan for today was to think of a name idea for our magazine, but before we do that, I would like to conduct some research on my target audience. Now that we're sure of doing a Fashion Magazine, we need to know what the target audience is so we can create our magazine accordingly.

Typically, the audience for a fashion magazine is females, although I want to make sure there is something for men included as well in my own. Most of the audience is also usually aged between 18-25 years of age. The topics of interest include luxury, beauty, and lifestyle. 

Although fashion magazines are also read by the general public, many fashion professionals, industry insiders, and fashion enthusiasts tend to have a special interest in fashion magazines. Most fashion magazine enjoyers are also of a higher socio-economic status, as they not only have the time, but also the money to spend on the fashion magazines and fashion pieces featured in the magazines.

So what does this mean? This means that I have to use specific genre conventions that cater to the target audience, and I have to ensure that my articles are all topics that would be interesting to them. I should include articles that are related to:

• Beauty
• Latest Trends
• Lifestyle
• Outfit features
• Model and Celebrity Features

I should also address socially relevant issues, since the younger generations especially tend to concern themselves with current events. I was already planning to do that by making my feature article about fast fashion, since that is a socially relevant issue that I personally concern myself with. 

Now that I have a better idea of what my audience would like to see through my product, I can begin to brainstorm ideas. The next step is to continue along with thinking of a name for the magazine itself.

Thanks so much for tuning in, catch you later!

Resources:

https://spynn.co/how-to-get-featured-in-a-fashion-magazine/#:~:text=Typically%2C%20fashion%20magazine%20audiences%20are,luxury%2C%20beauty%2C%20and%20lifestyle%20products

https://alltimedesign.com/fashion-magazines/#:~:text=They%20cater%20to%20a%20diverse,ever%2Devolving%20world%20of%20fashion.

Fashion Magazine

So it's official. Hailey and I will be doing a Fashion Magazine. Honestly, I'm excited. I think I'm the most excited about the photoshoot we are planning for our original images. Hailey said she wanted her photoshoot to be at a pier by the beach, where the models will be wearing sundresses. So I guess she wants her magazine to be more of a summer showcase. 

I want mine to be something more like New York Fashion Week, where the models will be wearing runway-worthy items. I will be taking a LOTT of inspiration from the fashion show Project Runway, because their outfits are always very unique and interesting. I'm not sure where I'm going to get the clothes from, because I don't own any pieces that are that unique. The only clothing I own that is runway worthy are like dresses from homecoming or my Sweet 16, but I'm not sure if they're cut out for that. 

We were planning on using some of our friends as models, but they are in Media Studies and have their own projects, so I'm not sure if we are allowed to feature them in ours. For example, I wanted to model for Hailey's summer collection magazine, and we also were recruiting our other friend who is doing a Film Opening to model as well. I suppose I will have to clear that up with my teacher. 

I realize that I have mentioned my teacher many times, but I have never said her name. Since you guys are going to be on this long journey with me, I've decided it's essential for you guys to get familiar with some people. You already know Hailey Sanchez, my partner. My teacher's name is Brooke Acosta, but we call her Ms. Acosta. And my friend who is doing the Film Opening is Addisyn Kostzer.

But anyways, I got a bit off topic there. What I need to focus on now is exploring different fashion magazines that feature runway outfits, and unique cover pages. What I need is inspiration. 

After some research, I found some magazines that fit my criteria, and were just as unique as I liked:

I also found some that were a little more simple, and less eccentric.

The first cover, the one from Allure, where the lady has those super long lashes strangely reminded me off the movie The Hunger Games. The characters that lived in the capitol, or the richest city in Panem (their country), dressed exotic and eccentric, similar to the first magazine. After noticing this similarity, I realized I could also use characters from the Hunger Games for inspiration. 

As you can see from these low-quality images, the characters of the Hunger Games tend to exotic clothing. This type of fashion also reminded me of the Met Gala this past year:

Lady Gaga also wore exotic clothing, so I will also be using her as inspiration. The next step is to begin thinking of a name for my magazine, because every good fashion magazine has a cool name. 

Thanks so much for tuning in, catch you later!

Resources:

https://www.sheknows.com/living/articles/953751/the-hunger-games-capitol-inspired-fashion/