The Official Content List

Though I predicted the content list would not stay the same from the beginning of this project, I did not expect it to change so vastly. Throughout the process, I have found that some subjects became irrelevant and outdated. I was constantly inspired by new trends and articles and by exploring different subjects, I found new areas I wished to cover. My mentor also offered suggestions on subjects to pursue and subjects to cut from the final copy. At the end of this journey, the content of Luxe Undone is the following...

THE FASHION CONTENT

THE BEAUTY CONTENT

THE WELLBEING CONTENT

THE TRAVEL CONTENT

THE CULTURE CONTENT

The About Section

I have written an editors letter for the 'about' page of Luxe Undone... 

Welcome to Luxe Undone!

Born out of a love for luxury but the inability to afford a high end lifestyle, I created this magazine to share with the world, the ways in which you can lead a luxe life, for less. 

Flipping through the pages of Vogue, I wouldn't envy the lifestyle, I would be inspired by it, asking myself, how can I get that look for 1/10th of the price? Have I seen anything like this on the high-street? 

The illusion (of luxury living) that I began to create didn't go unnoticed. The regular interest of my friends made me realise there should be an outlet for this. There needs to be a publication that would offer others the cost effective content they desired.

Researching, writing, testing and exploring for Luxe Undone has been an absolute dream. Forever keeping the interests of the readers at the forefront of my journey, I hope you enjoy delving into a world undone. Learn to live as lavishly as you please, because being on a budget doesn't need to define you.

Enjoy reading, Danika   

26/04 - Meeting With Elizabeth

I spent an hour with my mentor, Elizabeth, reviewing my magazine thus far. Having my website online at this point (even though it is incomplete) was incredibly helpful. Seeing how it will look as a live, working site, means I can bare this in mind when I make future adjustments.

There were plenty of suggestions for improvement, I was even fortunate to get some feedback from Jane and Emma who were in the office at the time.

• There were many minor spelling and grammar errors pointed out to me. 
• Make the image of Kendall and Gigi on the Fashion page 7 bigger and remove the grey background
• Beauty crediting must follow the format, 'brand, product, in the shade_____ & price'
• Return the opening image to colour 
• Consider adding some colour into the logo, perhaps the word 'undone' in a fuchsia?
• Instead of having to click through to the pages, have thumbnails on the home page for instant access
• On the first 4 fashion pages, do not allow the text to overlay the images, have it centred in between 
• On fashion page 2, crop the first image more 
• On fashion page 3, add a still life image of the necklace
• On fashion page 4, use the clone tool to make the shoes look like they fit the model
• On fashion page 5, un-capitalise each word
• Give the credentials of Emanuel Alt on Fashion page 5 and add a street style picture of her
• credit the street style images and separate them slightly 
• Drop the 'Fashion' slug title
• Proportion the fashion images on Fashion 6
• On Beauty page 1, include the year and season of the fashion shows
• Credit my own work, no need to credit the products and stills
• Create and input a personal Instagram feed
• Remove interior design pages
• Revisit the topics of interest, change them to Fashion & Style, Beauty & Wellbeing, Travel & Culture
• On the about page, write an editors letter and include a picture of myself, talk about reasons for the launch and explain how you don't need a big budget to live a life of luxury. 

Fitness Photoshoot Outcome

Today was the photo shoot for the fitness content pages. Over the weekend, I shopped on the high-street for great, affordable work out clothes for the shoot. For the hair and makeup, I opted for a generic workout hairstyle, a ponytail, and kept the make up simple. I had the model apply a little baby oil to herself as I thought it would really define her body in the shoot.

Though I styled myself and enlisted the help of Christian Gatt to photograph the looks. I had the cove booked for 4 hours, however due to the model's availability, I aimed to shoot in 2 hours as she had to leave sooner than anticipated.

When preparing to shoot, setting up the camera and lights, Chris Overend was in the studio and gave us great advice on how to achieve the perfect light for the shoot. His advice was invaluable as the perfect lighting and composition of these images means I have a lot less to edit. 

I am really impressed with the outcome, the poses suggest power and strength which I wanted to depict. The model, Jas, was an absolute pleasure to work with, she has great body confidence which I feel is reflected really well in the shots and was part of the reason I chose her.

Here is a selection of the great images achieved today... 

  

 

Fitness Photo Shoot

I am preparing for a fitness photo shoot that will be taking place on Monday. I have secured a model and photographer and also booked studio time in the cove. This shoot will feature alongside an article about general health and fitness. I'd like to get images of the model in athletic poses and stretch stances to best visually reflect the concept of the shoot.

These images best reflect the theme of the photoshoot.

I have sourced two different outfits to photograph the model in, they are sourced from high street stores to adhere to the magazine concept of cost effectiveness. I want outfits that are in style and on currently on trend. I have identified sports leggings with geometric print to be very popular as well as sports bras with a crossed back design. I have also seen an increase in yoga wear as sports wear, softer more comfortable materials.

The first outfit is black 3/4 length sports leggings paired with a sports bra and the second is black leggings and a loose pink tank top over the sports bra.  

 

images from pinterest.com

Losing work and starting over

Today (April 19th), after a productive morning of placing the content into my website (a very long process that requires a lot of attention to detail) the Muse application crashed and my work was lost. Despite several attempts to recover the work including contacting Abode directly, I was informed there was simply nothing that could be done. The file was damaged and unable to open, nothing could be salvaged.
 I don't believe this is one of those times I should have had my work backed up, I was saving everything as I worked, a fortunate habit of mine, and still everything was lost. This was simply the machines vs. Danika and the machines won.
 I am still confident I can recreate a lot of the work I did especially if I work fast and right away. Of course I could get frustrated and upset and waste time feeling sorry for myself and all the hours I have lost but that won't solve anything and right now, with the deadline looming, I must crack on.

I am also incredibly grateful to have so much work saved on my blog so I can look back at the steps I took to create my website and repeat them today.

A Change Of Mind - No Contributers

It was a tough decision to decide to no longer off lift content to other students and one that was ultimately decided by goings on outside of the project. An experience, working on a couple of other publications taught me very clearly that you cannot 100% trust others to deliver on work for your project. When their involvement is not as significant, they don't have the drive to complete work to the best of their abilities. Being let down by contributors is not something I have the time to factor into my schedule. 

I am confident that I can compose the entire online magazine myself. It is a huge task but I am thankfully in a position where I can work on completing pages until I run out of time, so essentially the amount of content available on my site will parallel how efficiently I work. 

The time I have spent searching for contributors is technically time wasted, it is time I could have been devoting to design work. However, I am looking forward and focusing on completely my project independently. I don't feel I need other people's work and I want to task myself with creating everything. I'm sure I will have plenty of opportunities in the future to be the creative director, but for now, I want to be the creator!

WHAT IS THIS PROJECT DOING? WHAT AM I JUDGING IT AGAINST?

Luxe Undone aims to inspire and influence its audience, introducing the readers to interests and experiences that they will enjoy reading about. Including plenty of personal advice and understandings throughout, Luxe Undone highlights a belief, that being on a budget doesn't need to define you.

This project explores the way in which cost effective lifestyle content can be presented to its audience. Throughout the process, I regularly compare and judge the design and relativity to the likes of  The Edit, House of Coco, The Frugality, The Londoner. Each online publication invites a different element of inspiration, essentially all influencing my magazine in one way or another. 

House of Coco

The Frugality

The Londoner

http://www.thelondoner.me/category/travel

http://www.the-frugality.com

https://www.houseofcoco.net

HOW HAS MY TECHNICAL SKILLS DEVELOPED?

My technical skills have improved tremendously throughout this project. Initially, I had a very basic knowledge of the adobe programs that I have now come to use regularly. My understanding would not have been possible without the weekly IT sessions where I learnt invaluable skills that I then put into practice throughout the process of building the site. 

My ability to critique and edit my own work has advanced significantly too. I regularly reflect on my work and compare it to the standards of professional publications, inspiring me to evolve the design or reconsider the written copy. The progress of my content pages is improving thanks to my own critical observations. 

HOW MY CONCEPT HAS DEVELOPED AND ADAPTED OVER THE PROJECT SO FAR

Elements of the project that have changed

• I had originally intended to do regular uploads of content. This has since changed to having all the content available on the site prior to its launch. This will make working on the magazine much easier as any design changes won't implicate the entire site. It means I can rework the aesthetic right up until the launch, giving me the opportunity to focus on creating a professional visual.  
• I have scrapped the idea of including lots of flat lay shots, I may include one or two but ultimately, I want to focus all my effort on feature photoshoots. 
• Within my FMP proposal, I placed considerable emphasis on including contributors. Though this is an element I am still interested in pursuing, I am interested in taking on more of the workload that I had originally planned. As I explore new content ideas, I find myself more motivated and interested in producing the pages myself. 
• Though the USP of Luxe Undone is affordability, I don't want the magazine to be overwhelmed by budget concepts, I am attempting to find the fusion between editorial and cost effective advice and suggestions. 

Stylistic Issues

Though I talked about the success of yesterday's photoshoot, I did not mention the issues I faced before hand. As a makeup artist, your role within the production of a photo shoot is relatively small.
You are so reliant on others to make your vision happen and sometimes that doesn't always go to plan.
 The clothing the stylist had sourced for the shoot did not best reflect the vision of the shoot I thought I had clearly explained. I saw these clothes the day before the shoot and it was then that I decided the styling needed to be revisited. I could have gone ahead with the outfits we already had and used the experience as a test shoot, but I didn't want to waste time. Another model would be hard to source and I hadn't scheduled in a time for re-shooting.

So, I decided to go forth, to go out and buy some new clothes for the shoot which wound up being a couple of hours before the shoot. I was worried, when buying the new clothes, that they wouldn't fit the model but I preferred to take the risk than shoot in the originally sourced outfits. I simply trusted my instinct and vision and thankfully it paid off.

 Altering the fashion was the right choice to make, the image outcomes would never have been so successful if I hadn't. By quick thinking and acting on changes, I have saved myself from hours of re-shooting.