Fashion show article

A recent piece I have written for my fashion website is about students from the Hull School of Art and Design taking part in a fashion show in York. As American Vogue’s Editor-in-chief Anna Wintour was there, I think it was a great story for my website, as it was recent and definitely something that stood out.
As I got to accompany the students to the fashion show, it meant I could get a first hand experience to write about, and also get some photos of the night. Although where I was sat I didn’t have a great view for photos, I took a few, as well as some videos, that I will include in the article.

Although I have found a few fashion news stories to write about, I need to start including other pieces on my website. I have had a few thoughts about this, and have decided to look into beauty reviews, guest bloggers and taking photos at different events. Now I have finished my dissertation these should be a lot easier to complete.

Self initiated- Photo copyright

In the first session back we looked at photo copyright, about what we can and can’t use.

Photographs are a subject of copyright, and you can’t just use anyones photo whenever you want. To be able to use someone’s photo you need to ask for permission, which can sometimes cost. Also, if a company or individual finds that you have used their photos they can make you pay for it.

This can be from £40- £500,000!!

However, you can find photos that you can use on website Creative Commons, which lets you use photos as long as you give credit to the owner.

This lecture was of great use to me, as I didn’t previously know that you can’t use other people’s images! It means that I can save myself from large bills, and can now upload photos and credit the owners of the image in the right way.

Also, it means that when I am in employment as a journalist in the future I can’t get the company in trouble by using photos that don’t belong to me. Finding out about Creative Commons was a great help so I now know I can find images from here on both my personal and professional blogs.

Photo shoot

So my first day working at Vicky Martin came pretty quick, I was invited to a photo shoot the next day!

The shoot was for the new collection, so I was excited to see the clothes to see what I was working with. Everyone was so friendly, I got to meet Vicky, who had travelled down from Manchester to oversee the shoot.

I spent my time making notes that I could use for my writing.I took a few photos from behind the scenes, and interviewed Vicky about her new line. I used these to write an article about the collection that could be used for the website.

At the end they even let me try on one of the dresses and have my photo taken!

I really enjoyed my first day, it gave me a great sense of what working with ProSports would be like and I look forward to spending more time with them!

CATS reflection

This semester we looked at different journalists, with the aim to write a 2,000 word comparison essay on two different journalists of our choice.

During lessons we were shown different journalists from the past and the present, and had group discussions about their methods and our opinions on their work. I really enjoyed this, as before beginning this course I had little knowledge on other journalists outside of my interest zone. It gave me a chance to see how different professionals can be, and that although they are all successful they all have different writing styles. I have especially enjoyed the session we spent looking at John Pilger.

During this session we watched a video made by Pilger, showing what life is really like in countries that are experiencing conflict. He made me aware of different journalists that work in these environments, ones that are embedded with the army, and independent journalists. The embedded journalists rarely show what life is really like for people living in warzones, whilst the independent journalists really get to know the residents of these towns. They show exactly how it is and the hardships they face. It gave me a sense of how different journalists can be.

We were also given work to complete at home. This included comparison essays and researching specific journalists. One piece of work that I enjoyed was comparing two different photojournalists. I decided on Andrea Bruce and Patrick Brown, comparing the style of their photos, as well as their ethics and the places that they travelled to.

I also really liked researching a war journalist, for which I chose Clare Hollingworth. Considering I had never heard of her before, I was astonished at how much she had accomplished, and the fact that she is still alive at the age of 103, living in Hong Kong. She was the first person to report the start of the Second World War, and spent her whole life reporting in different countries. As I liked researching her, I decided I would write about her in my comparison essay.

For my essay I also decided to write about Christiane Amanpour. I decided on this after researching female War Correspondents on the internet, and finding her on the top of many influential journalist lists. I decided that I wanted to compare to female War Correspondents because not a lot are well known, although a lot have risked their lives in order to inform the public. After comparing both, I found a lot of differences between her and Clare Hollingworth in different aspects of their personal lives and careers.

Although I find this an interesting subject to write about, I found the essay rather hard, especially when writing about why they made their choices. However, after some initial feedback I managed to finish my essay to a standard I am happy with.

Overall I have really enjoyed this semester of CATS. I feel that I am now more knowledgeable about different journalists in different areas, and I now know more about some well known journalists.

Inside of booklet

This is how the inside of my booklet would look. Each page would have different photos of Hull and the surrounding areas, giving people that don’t live in Hull an idea of what it looks like, as well as the main attractions.
I decided to keep the background white so not to take away from the photos.

Chosen path/ Balsamiq

 

 

I have decided that I am going to create mock ups of my events pages. This is because I know the most information on these, and I know how I would like the pages to look.

I had a go at some mock ups on the website ‘Balsamiq’. Balsamiq is a ‘rapid wireframing tool that reproduces the experience of sketching on a whiteboard’. Over 150,000 companies use this to help mock up software.

After watching a quick tutorial I found it very easy to use. I enjoyed using this software, and I like how you can click and drag what you want, creating a great looking, realistic looking mock up. However, I found it hard to find photos that I would like to include- which leads me to think that I will create my mock ups on Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop. Also, I only have a free trial of Balsamiq, as you have to pay for membership.

I also wireframed the event pages in a bit more detail whilst on the site.

Comparison Essay- CATS

The photographers I chose, Andrea Bruce and Patrick Brown, have many similarities and differences.

One of the similarities between the two is that they have both shot their photos in Asia. Although in different areas, Andrew in Syria and Patrick in areas such as Vietnam, they have both travelled to the continent in order to take their chosen photos.

Another similarity is the photos themselves. Both are hard hitting, shocking photos of the lives of others, and they make you think about how life is like in those circumstances. The photos also show both sides of their subject, such as Andrea showing photos of the wealthier children, and Patrick showing the poachers side of life.

One of the differences between the photographers is the subjects they have chosen. Whilst both are of serious subjects, it could be argued each way that one is more important than the other.

As well as this, the ways in which the photos are taken are different. Andrea has taken more natural photos, whereas Patrick’s photos look more set up. Patrick uses black and white instead of colour, which could be to focus more on the subject, and Andrea uses full colour, showing exactly how life is in Damascus.

Overview of my Brochure/ reflection

The overall design of my brochure is inspired by hardback books. Particularly inspired by Alexa Chung’s book ‘It’, I have conceptualised my own book full designed to professionally promote myself.

For the outside I have used thick cardboard covered in light pink linen paper. For the pages inside I have decided to use a heavy stock paper, in an off white colour, like you would find in a book.

My theme throughout I have chosen is flowers. This is because I feel it suits the type of market I would like to work in- women’s magazines, and also because of their positive connotations. They also suited my brand identity well.

Overall I am pleased with the way my brochure has turned out. I would like to have taken my own photos, and also to have created more content to go inside.

By creating my brochure as a book, clients are more likely to pay attention to it, instead of throwing it in the bin like they would with a leaflet. Its distinct look would make it more eye-catching. Also its size is easy to carry around and put on a bookshelf/ coffee table.

Initial Ideas

So today I’ve figured out my general idea for my promotional brochure.

I’ve decided to design it as a sort of book/ diary, for which my inspiration is a book from Alexa Chung. The cover is a linen texture, in a light pink, which I really like and would suit my brand identity well.

I’ve also decided that most of it will be photos and illustrations. I’ve never really drawn much before but thought it would look great in my brochure so I will have a go!

I would like to incorporate flowers somewhere in to the brochure, maybe on the inside cover.

I’ve had some advice from Dave which has gave me some good ideas to research further into. For example a double page spread of a the horizon.

29 of The Most Influential Images of All Time

Just reminded me of the work we have being doing in relation to photo journalism in CATS. Some horrible photos but shows how powerful photos can be.