My First Photo Shoot

Today I decided to start shooting for my magazine. In my previous post, I decided on my table of contents and I knew what layout I wanted to use and what pictures I wanted to take. So today I bought a white poster board and took a few of my favorite and most nice looking products to feature in my magazine. I chose my favorite mascara, lipgloss, foundation, setting spray and blush. 

I went outside to get some natural lighting since I don’t have a ring light or any professional lighting, and I began shooting. I took many pictures from different angles and different natural lighting until I was content. I edited the photos on an app called SnapSeed and to my surprise, I was very happy with the way the pictures turned out, however, although the pictures were edited, I still needed to remove the background to make the pictures have a transparent background. I had a really hard time doing this because I don’t have any fancy editing apps, so I had to use a free website. Editing the background of these pictures was extremely time consuming and when I finally added them to my magazine, I’m not even sure I like the way the pictures came out. The pictures seem out of place and now I’m second guessing my table of contents layout design. I will play with the pictures for a bit longer and see if there is anything I can do, but as for now, I feel unsure about my choice. I will keep you guys updated with any changes I make! 

Table of Contents Inspiration

Here is my table of contents inspiration. I have finally narrowed down one inspiration picture out of the many that I have included in my previous blog posts. I knew that I wanted my table of contents to have pictures of makeup, crushed eye shadow, and I wanted to play with shadows in my pictures as well. The picture down below is my inspiration and I am trying to follow it as closely as possible. I loved the fact that the table of contents was simple and aesthetically pleasing, yet I will still be able to to convey enough information about the pages. The typical genre convention for table of contents in fashion magazines is that they are flooded with words and descriptions and lots of pictures, it almost seems crowded. However, that's the opposite of what I want. I want to create something classy and aesthetically pleasing, which is why my cover page is simple and has few words, and I wanted to do the same for the table of contents.

Although the featured picture has tomatoes and numbers in them, that's not exactly what I want to do. I like the overall layout of how the pictures of the tomatoes are up close and very clear to the eye. I want to do the same things but with up close pictures of makeup and have a variety of different makeup products. I want to include a foundation, lipstick, primer, blush/highlight, an eye shadow palette, and possibly mascara. I'm still deciding and have to look at my makeup collection to choose specific products, but this is what I have in mind. I want to make sure I play with the lighting and include shadows to add depth and dimension to my TOC, and make it seem almost 3D, which will definitely draw in the readers. I'm still unsure what background color I want, whether is keep it simple and do white, or try to use a muted pink, I am still indecisive.

Finished Cover Layout

I have finished the layout for my cover, and I've included a picture of it, however, the main image chosen is not mine and is only there for inspiration. I will be challenging the genre conventions for fashion and beauty magazines by not having a lot of cover lines and instead just have the large masthead in the upper left-hand corner and on the lower right-hand corner have the main cover line. I will not include a lot of cover lines like the typical fashion magazine because I want to focus on the beauty and makeup of the cover model and having too many cover lines can distract the readers. I really want the readers to focus on the makeup and the beauty of the model and not too much on words. I included the main topic of the magazine which is spring 2019 makeup, and I believe that should be enough to draw in makeup enthusiasts. 

Additionally, the picture that's on the front cover is not my picture and is only there for inspiration. I love the pose of the model and how she is looking away. From this angle, readers can see not only the model's makeup but also her hair, accessories, and an intricate top. I love the way the stylist mixed textures and how the color red is featured in her hair, makeup, and outfit, which is similar to what I want to do. As mention in a previous blog post, monochromatic pink makeup looks are on trend and this model's monochromatic look is everything I want to do, but in pink. Overall, I love the color scheme and all the accessories the model is using and I want to do the same. This is the exact picture I want to try to recreate.

UPDATE: Color Scheme Chosen

Today I worked on choosing a font and the color scheme for my magazine. I knew that I wanted my magazine to incorporate the 2019 spring and summer colors, so I searched on Google what the 2019 colors would be according to Pantone Color Institute. In the picture shown, I have already begun designing my magazine on Joo Mag and have a picture in the platform of the 2019 colors. The main colors I will be using around my magazine are Pink Peacock, Mango Mojito, and Pressed Rose. However on the font, I am torn, I love both logos I have created and now I don't know which one to choose! The one on the left is a thicker font and the 'e' is lower case, and only the 'r' and 'n' are connected, but the standalone 'e' gives a nice touch. However, the logo on the right has a thinner font, all upper case, and all the letters are connected. This creates almost a really nice geometric shape with all the letters connected.

In the end, I will be choosing the logo with the thicker font and I will be placing it in the upper left-hand corner.

Who is My Target Audience?

 I have already chosen what type of magazine I want, a makeup magazine, and how I want to represent my magazine, but I still need to figure out my set target audience. Picking a target audience and creating content towards their likes and wants is extremely important if you want your magazine to succeed, therefore, in this blog posting, I will be discussing my target audience. After some research, I saw that Vogue's main target audience is females ages 16-35 and who are employed in the higher class, while Allure's target audience consists of 18-49-year-olds olds who earn a middle income. Based off of these numbers and off of my previous blog posts, I believe that my target audience should be between 16-35-year-old women who make a median income. The reason for this is because, as I stated before, I want my magazine to be reachable to all women, not just those in the higher-upper-class. Additionally, beauty and fashion seem to be all the rage for young adults, those between 16 and 25, so I want to make sure I include them as well.

Planning and More Planning

Before getting started on anything, I need to plan and figure what exactly I need to do. I want to make sure I plan my project accordingly and make sure I can submit my project on time.

Week 2-25:  research/planning

Week 3-4:  planning and layout design

Week 3-11: cover and content ideas

Week 3-18: gather supplies for the photo shoot and start production

Week 3-25: editing and creating content

Week 4-1: editing and the final product is due

This is my planned schedule but it is subject to change depending on how much work I am able to complete and if I run into any troubles. My goal is to stay on track and start taking pictures sooner than later.

        

Spring 2019 Trends

After creating the name of my magazine, I had to find out what my magazine issue would be about. It would obviously be about beauty, but there are so many aspects of beauty and makeup that it was difficult to choose. I knew that I wanted my issue to be about a current beauty/makeup trend for Spring/Summer of 2019, so I searched up on popular beauty websites, what will be trending in the makeup community for 2019. After searching through a few different websites, I gathered a list of 5 different makeup trends of 2019 that stuck out to me:

1. 'Dumpling skin' or 'glass skin' - inspired by K-beauty


2. Jewel-toned makeup - deep blues, emerald greens, ruby reds, and pink


3. Gloss - glossy skin, lips, and eyes


4. Monochromatic makeup - particularly mauves and pinks


5. Graphic eyes- colorful and intricate eyeliner and mascara


Although all of these trends sound beyond cool and something unique to feature in an issue, I had to consider my own limitations as a makeup artists, and personally, what trends I liked. Most trends I would be able to create, but the graphics eyes trend seems fairly difficult and I am not sure I would be able to create that. Also, it's not very practical for my readers, so I am scratching that trend. The next trend would be jewel-toned makeup, something very cool and hasn't been on trend in a while, but the trend doesn't speak to me much, so I am scratching that. Next would be the gloss trend, oh gosh I love this trend and have been on it since last year when it came off the runway, but from personal experience, it's really unrealistic. Your makeup starts slipping off, your eyelids get stuck together and your hair starts getting caught on your lip gloss. This trend is so beautiful but should be kept for runways and special shows only, I think it would be a cool feature, but I don't want the whole issue to be about this, so bye-bye gloss trend. Now I am down to my two favorites: glass skin and monochromatic makeup. I absolutely love the glass skin trend and try to do it on myself, but it definitely involves more than makeup, it's about your skin as well, so having an issue on this, I would be able to incorporate makeup and skin care which can appeal to my target audience. However, I die for monochromatic makeup, I basically do it every time I do makeup and is definitely practical and can be achieved by the everyday woman.

After careful decision making... I have realized that I actually don't want to just focus on one spring 2019 trend but incorporate all of them together, with the main focus on monochromatic makeup. I have chosen to make my issue about monochromatic makeup, while slightly adding other trends in the mix as well! It's definitely something I am capable of creating, I love the trend, and just because I eliminated all other trends, doesn't mean I can't necessarily slightly incorporate them into my makeup looks. I have a clear picture of how I want my cover shot to look like an I am so excited to incorporate my favorite makeup trends and surround it with monochromatic tones!!!!!