Monitoring log - Week beginning 24th February

This week i have exported my products ready for for feedback. I have started to write some questions up for when i ask my target audience what they think of my magazine front cover, contents page and DPS's. This is so that when i get feedback i know how to change my work so that it is more suited to my target audience. I have already got feedback from my assessor after exporting my products on the deadline date so i already have feedback to be working with. Therefore this week i am up to date with my work and have followed my schedule correctly. My schedule has been very helpful in keeping me on track throughout this process and i think my client would be pleased with how i have worked throughout. although i have had some problems i have managed to pull them back and get back on track. I am pleased with my work.

Call sheets

MODEL RELEASE FORMS

Do it again - Article

The highlight of the 80’s and 90’s was the clothing. Leotards, leggings and leather jackets, sound familiar? Of course it does! 80’s and 90’s fashion is trending again! And we love it!

We did some research and found out exactly what the fashion trend was back then and we came across some very familiar sounding items of clothing!

What went?

·       Doc Martens

·       Jumpers

·       Patterned shirts

·       Cropped jackets/tops

·       Leather and denim

·       Fitted skirts and dresses

From the likes of Madonna to

Back then it was all about style and they definitely had it, it was so good that we’ve just have to bring it all back! High-street clothing stores such as Topshop, Topman and Urban Outfitter’s sell everything you need if you’re into vintage clothing! Baggy denim jeans, boots, crop tops, sweatshirts and much more are all right on your doorstep!

Your local stores that sell all these cool and trendy items of clothing are:

Topshop - The Cornmill Centre, Darlington, County Durham

Topshop/Topman - Metro Centre, Gateshead

Topshop - 3 St Mary's Square, York, North Yorkshire

Topman - 13A Newgate Street, Bishop Auckland, County Durham

Urban outfitters - 139-153 Grainger Street, NE1 5AE Newcastle upon Tyne

Cheaper alternative to high-street:

Scarlet Ribbons Vintage & Retro clothing store - 3 Neville St, Durham, County Durham DH1 4EY

Scarlet Ribbons is an independent male and female clothing shop situated in Durham. The shop focuses on vintage fashion from the 80’s and 90’s and they sell their clothing for half the price of high street stores! Everything from Levis jeans, dungarees and shorts to shirts with funky patterns its definitely worth a visit!

The repetition of fashion trends is something we can see quite often but this trend is our favourite! Guys and girls! Get out there and get yourself something! After all a treat could be just what you’re in need of!

What do your tattoos say about you? - Article

It’s 2013 and if you can’t express yourself then what can you do? Tattoos to us are a way of expressing ourselves aren’t they? They don’t determine who we are, but unfortunately we live in a world where being judged is an everyday thing in modern society.

Tattoos are a way of life and self-expression is very important to everybody, we all have our own way of doing it… tattoos are our way, typically they are seen as ‘stupid’ or just drawings but the meaning and passion behind some of them is incredible. Dragons, dream catchers and daggers, they all mean something to each specific person, they are a part of who we are, they can help us move on into a new life and forget the past and make us the people we want to be, why be judged for that? Research by a series of questionnaires shows that 70% of would judge someone who had tattoos all over their bodies, thinking they are weird, scary, aggressive and stupid, I guess everyone has their opinion but these are the wrong opinions for people who are trying to express the way they feel simply through art. It needs to change but society doesn’t change but at least you will know what it’s all about right? Like I said, self-expression is important, everybody does it, whether it’s through fashion or music etc. it’s all the same, except if you’re dealing with something learning to move on, healing or wanting to remember good memories, why not have it on our bodies to remind us every day? After all it’s part of who we are!

Margaret Newlands is a 19 year old university student studying graphic design, obviously? She’s full of tattoos and she looks amazing! And of course I met up with her to get the details on her and her absolutely awesome tats!

So first of all Margaret, what was your inspiration for actually deciding to get tattoos in the first place?

It was kinda like all my friends, like my friends have musical influences and like bands I listen to, and they have tattoos and they look wicked, the bands inspired them to get tattoos and I really liked them, they looked great, so that’s kind of it basically.

Why are your tattoos important to you?

Well it’s just because it’s a way of expressing myself, and I just think they look great, like really cool. I just think a way of showing your personality and just letting other people see visually what kind of person you are I think.

Do they represent who you are, as a person?

Yeah I’d say that they do, they represent the fact that I listen to specific types of music because I have like band tattoos and yeah, I say that they do, it shows that if I want to do something I will? If you get what I mean?

What do your tattoos mean to you?

The majority of my tattoos don’t mean much to me in a sense that I think they just look cool and they are things that I like, so it kind of is showing who I am, but the ones on my feet they’re for my mum and dad and obviously parents mean a lot to you and the writing across my toes saying homesick represents when I moved to uni, and I miss my parents a lot when I’m there and that’s what that’s for, but yeah they all are something close to me, meaning they say who I am.

Do you feel like you are typically different to people who don’t have tattoos?

I wouldn’t say different, I’d say that maybe I’m not as afraid to express myself with it because you don’t have to have tattoos and you can still be into the same things as I am, but again visually it makes it obvious, that I’m like what I’m into, if that makes sense?

Do you feel like some people may stereotype and discriminate against you, because you have tattoos?

Yeah all the time! Like even if I go to a shop and I buy something like chocolate, people have said I’m surprised as how polite you are, and I’m like well just because I have tattoos and stuff doesn’t mean I’m not going to be nice, literally I get it all the time. I did work experience and again they were like I’m surprised and how polite you were and they wrote me a letter just saying that they were shocked and they actually said we shouldn’t be so prejudice against people like that, and yeah just people in the street or people are uni think I’m really rough because I have tattoos and I’m not.  

Where, from experience for the readers, would you say is the most painful place to have tattooed on your body?

oh my god my knee without a doubt, I thought it was my feet because I got my feet done the same day I got my knee done but literally he did about three lines on my knee and I was like ‘I’m done’ ‘I’m ready to finish’ but it’s one of those things where if you stop, you’re not going to do it again because it’s that painful and I’d never ever get my other knee done.

What is your latest tattoo?

It’s the arrow and the bat on my arm, I got those two last Thursday.

And finally, what are your overall opinions on tattoos? Even though you’re covered in them!

Well I love them! And I think they’re awesome, like I’m really glad they are becoming more mainstream because everybody’s getting them, like celebrities and stuff and in this generation it shouldn’t matter what you look like and I understand old people don’t like them and it wasn’t part of their thing but now it’s like a normal thing to do, which will hopefully kind of make people realize that we shouldn’t judge, but yeah I just love them and I think you can tell a lot about a person by what they have and where they have them, so I think they’re awesome I love tattoos.

So, in conclusion to this, I just think that those people who do judge other people for having tattoos should think twice, what about you? Tattoos are a form of expression and art, and clearly everyone is not what we may think they seem. Tattoos are awesome!

Can you define beauty - Article

Magazines can have a great impact on our lives, we see them every day and they can make you think, “I want to look like that” or “I don’t look like that so that must mean I’m imperfect” personally I think magazines should show more women and men of all shapes, sizes and looks because why does it matter if we aren’t a size 0 or a muscle man? The thing is, it doesn’t matter but as it’s all we see on front covers and all over the media we think that this must be the only acceptable way to look. Can beauty really be defined?

Carly struggles with putting on weight she’s currently underweight and the media don’t see this as beautiful, but she doesn’t let this get to her like it did in the past. I talked to Carly to find out what impact these magazines had on her life.

“I used to walk into a supermarket or just a small shop and see that all the women on the front covers of the magazines were a lovely healthy weight, not too fat, not too thin, with big breasts and perfect hair, it kinda got to me because this image is everywhere, its seen as ‘the perfect image’ the best way to look, but I realised it isn’t. After trying to make myself look like these women and failing I just gave up, I talked about not liking how I look with a few people, even doctors, it became quite a problem wanting to look different and it made me feel really bad about myself, after talking and realising that every ones different, and it’s good to be yourself, everything picked up from there”.

“I started to eat healthy and this gave me so much energy, the right food really makes you feel good, a few treats are acceptable here and there though after all you’ve still got to enjoy yourself! I also started to smile a lot more, even in the mirror at myself. I can’t stress enough how important it is to love yourself, you’re you and you can’t change that, people need to learn to embrace who they are and be happy! I’m still underweight but I’m working on it and I’m not letting models and people who are in the media or just people who I see around let me be unhappy about myself . It’s true when people say beauty is on the inside, what if the prettiest woman in the world was an awful person? Looks aren’t everything guys”

Andrew used to be unhappy about his weight and the way he looked and this again was due to media and the way the perfect man is portrayed. Muscly, great hair, skin and manly. This got to him and made him depressed. This isn’t fair? And a lot of you probably feel the same but why should you? These people are just like you, they’re happy and they are pleased with how they look so why aren’t you? You’re your own person you can be and do anything you want to!

“I’m really glad I realised that it doesn’t matter what these people look like in magazines or on TV because they’re different people to who I am? I’m not them? And just because I don’t have perfect skin or a muscly body doesn’t mean that I’m a disgrace the way I am, which is what I used to think. We look up to people in the media as we see them publicised every day, they’re always in our eyes so what they look like sticks with us, which I know now it shouldn’t but it does and it did. Being chubby or not looking like the people in the media doesn’t change who you are on the inside, we are all still the same people, and even if we did manage to look like them, what’s changed? Nothing? Apart from appearance but does it really makes a difference and solves our problems? No, if you really want to be happy I agree with Carly, eat well, and be happy even exercise if you want to be fitter but don’t go to extreme lengths and be disappointed if you don’t look like the people in magazines. You can only be yourself and why waste time not being happy with who you are? You can’t change who you are, and people will love you no matter what”

So can beauty really be defined? I don’t think it can, do you? Beauty comes in all shapes, sizes and looks but we are all the same, we’re all human. Embrace who you are and you will be happy, just like Carly and Andrew, ignore the magazines and focus on you and your life, not anybody else’s otherwise it might make you unhappy. Comparing yourself to others will get you nowhere because as I’ve said, you’re your own person and you can be anyone else. Beauty is in all of us even if you don’t realise that it is, but it is. Beauty isn’t defined into any categories it’s everywhere and it’s in you!

First Products

Do it again - Double page spread

Can you define beauty? - double page spread

What do your tattoos say about you? - Double page spread

Front cover

Contents page