Texture Inspiration from NYC

Hi Guys,

While in New York, these images reminded me of what our cover or other visual content for the magazine could look like.

~Zadrian Smith

Mock Layouts

I created this on photoshop using images I took of buildings in Kentish Town and of Kentish Town City Farm. I like the idea of creating layers made up of different parts of Kentish Town to reflect the diverse mix of the community

 I have been working on some mock layouts / playing around on photoshop and wanted to share some of the results on here. It is taking ages so I don't have all that much to show and they are all just to give you an idea for general feel so very much works in progress but I thought I would put them here so you can have a look and I can get feedback.

This and the following image were made using photos I took of the architecture in K Town and were inspired by the 'Enchanted Palace' print that is on my mood board and that we all liked. I like the graphic style of these.

Just playing around with the idea of layers that Alexia spoke about - this is just a jokey one really but I liked the idea of mixing photographs, sketches and graphics

Another photo I took of a building in Kentish Town... Thinking about the use of colour, our colour scheme and a more graphic pop arty style

Playing with interesting ways of presenting images / ideas...

A very rough mock layout idea for the contents page... I made the row of houses using photos I'd taken of different buildings in Kentish Town - I liked the idea of making a fictional street like this and the sketchy style.

Then I played around and made this background on photoshop - you can't see it very clearly here but there are maps of Kentish Town (old and modern ones) layered in the back ground

A work in progress layout idea for the art section (N.B the post-its aren't part of the design but my own notes on the layout)

Libby

More web research

Two more websites to look at:

Yeo Valley (yes another yoghurt website...!!) : The Yeo Valley website's homepage is a really startling image of the Somerset countryside. Obviously our area is very different (!) however I liked the idea of using one powerful image as a homepage - it gives a strong visual message. Log on to the Yeo Valley website and you go 'wow' immediately. Not only is this a strong image aesthetically but it sums up Yeo Valley's ethos. I like the idea of using one strong image as a starting point.

Also on the Yeo Valley website you can do a 360 degree tour of a fictional room - I liked the idea of using movement in our website. Could you move around Kentish Town itself? A bit like Google maps street view? 

http://www.yeovalleyorganic.co.uk/

Happy Egg company - this is the website for the organic egg company. Like Yeo Valley the ethos of the Happy Egg company is very clearly expressed in their website. They also use movement on their website and experiment with an alternative kind of layout.

http://www.thehappyegg.co.uk/

Do please have a look... As I said before, there is a reason why I am suggesting looking at yoghurt and egg company websites... I think lots of fashion magazines have been slow to make the most of their websites and it is often seen as an addition to magazine rather than something exciting in itself - I think for our website we should try and do something that is just as good as our magazine. I don't know about you, but when I click onto the Vogue website I don't think 'Vogue'. In contrast I think lots of brands have really made the most of the internet to display their brand identity and I think this is something we should really draw inspiration for for our website; it should embody everything that Fox is and link perfectly with our documentary as well as the printed magazine.

Libby

Website Research

This website for the cool shop 'merci' in Paris isn't a website as such as this homepage literally is all there is to it, but I really like the style of the text and the illustration - I think using illustrations in our magazine and on the website would work well. http://www.merci-merci.com/

Ok so you will all soon realise that of the website research I have been doing none of them are fashion magazine websites. This is because I think pretty much all magazine websites are extremely boring. Why do they all have to look near on exactly the same? Who dictates this? I think we should focus on doing something a bit different that really fits in with our magazine and overall aesthetic. None of these are the perfect model but of the ones shown here there are certain elements that I really like. I'm still looking but this is all for now....

This website for the artist Fred Butler: http://www.fredbutlerstyle.com/ isn't what we would be wanting to do - it's wrong in style and a little tricky to navigate I think, but I do like its interactivity and also the way each page has stuff going on in the background. It is interesting to look at and is a bit different.

Yes, this is a website for a company that sells frozen yoghurt (completely off subject, you have to visit. It's incredible. And healthy. Wow) but I quite like the concept of the website, even if the execution is a bit simple. I also like the way they use sound on their website and it made me think we should think about using sound on ours - the sounds of Kentish Town are a massive USP... sounds from the farm, the street, the railway etc. http://www.yogyogurt.co.uk/ Another website that uses sound well is the french shop Colette http://www.colette.fr/#/home/en/cover_left/5/. Instead of random sound effects they use a play list at the top of the screen and I think this is a really interesting idea - we could do it for musicians based in Kentish Town.

On the Yog website they also have this 'cow tv' which is funny but it made me think about how we are  going to link our broadcast to our magazine... we have to show a 30second trailer on the website and as the previous comment, although the execution isn't exactly what we'd want to do I did like this idea.

I don't particularly like the style of these images for our magazine but I thought this got across the idea of building up layers etc in our pages. http://fifi-lapin.blogspot.com/

I like the Fifi Lapin blog for the way the blogger has created this unique and amusing identity of a fashionable rabbit. It made me think about 'Fox' and how we could create a character out of the Fox and make it witty and quirky.

I don't particularly like this magazine, 'Oh Comely' but I do like aspects of it... I like the idea of using polaroid images, and I like this type. Also aspects of their website are interesting... (see below and http://www.ohcomely.co.uk/)

On the 'Oh Comely' website they have one section called 'portraits'. I found this REALLY interesting. Our magazine is largely focused on people so why not have a series of portraits of Kentish Towners? It is an easy and visually interesting way to include more people in the magazine without having to seek out more lengthy interviews. Maybe these portraits could just show the name of the person and their profession - might be more powerful that way - or it could have a few questions from them about their life or what they like / dislike about K Town. And as I really liked the idea of polaroids could we do it as polaroids even? And get the people to sign their name or write one thing that Kentish Town is to them on their photograph?

This is the shop 'Toast's online scrap book - I really liked the style of it and also the idea of a 'summer book' as well as this style of photography. It made me think that one thing we need in the magazine is a 'summer calendar' of things coming up in the summer - this is something we can all research and add things to that we find along our travels / in our research.

This is Toast's summer look book that you can flick through online.

 I liked the idea of having a compressed version of our magazine that you can flick through online. http://www.toast.co.uk/indexb.htm

This is the online shop for the store Anthropologie. I really like the text used in the different tabs and think it works well with the aesthetic we are going for. The image below is also from their website. http://www.anthropologie.eu/

This website is for a project called The Shop Floor Project- have a look at the website: http://theshopfloorproject.com/. It is really interactive and a real busy mix of images which I think works well with our ideas for the aesthetic of the magazine. It is not your standard website and I love it for that reason. Do have a good navigate through the website.

On the website they have a blog 'The Shopkeeper's Journal'. I really like the idea of having a blog that is additional to the website and also the idea of it following a character to do with Kentish Town. Alternatively it could just be a blog of 'The Fox'. It could give up to date info about things going on in Kentish Town, think about the blog 'The Kentish Towner' - follow this link: http://kentishtowner.co.uk/

Libby

HOUSE STYLE FOR WRITTEN WORK

Hi Everyone
As copy and features editor it is my responsibility to check EVERYTHING that is WRITTEN that is handed in. Therefore, I need to establish our house style. These are strict rules that will earn us credibility (and higher grading) if all work keeps to it. Any mistakes will be returned to you, so please send ALL work to me using this address before sending it to Libby. Thanks.

• All names should be written in full when first introduced, then the second name ONLY should be used throughout the piece. This adds professionally and maintains a business sense to this character. First names should only be used when it is a personal relationship (i.e John on the farm). For example; "This is John Smith. Smith enjoys golf".
• Single numbers and multiples of ten should be written in full. Anything above 10 may be written in numbers. Eg. one, ten, five, twenty, 22, 678, 12345, ect.
• Currency should be written in english pounds at all times. E.g £5.40, 65 pence, £1 million.
• Italics and bold may not be used.
• Street names and stations must be written with capital letters. E.g Grafton Street, Kentish Town Underground 
• Company names must also be written with capital letters. E.g Kentish Town City Farm, Costa
• Avoid hyphenating unless it is a double-barreled word. I will go through each piece with you to determine if editing is needed on this issue. 

Now a little on the STYLE I would like:

• Each article must have an introduction that is enticing, inviting and exciting.
• Be metamorphic and descriptive. Create images in the readers mind
• Avoid being majority abstractive- remember we are writing for the community of KT not people like us!
• Each paragraph should be like unveiling a new secret
• Always begin with the biggest point
• Use full English at all times- no slang please! 
• Avoid exclamation marks and brackets 
• Colons, semi colons and commas are OK if you use them correctly

I hope this is all easy to understand. Any issues email me. I look forward to seeing drafts by THE 10TH OF MAY- NEXT TUESDAY.

Ellie 

The FOX from NYC

Greetings All,

This is quite a lengthy email, so please read thoroughly to ensure everyone is on the same page.

After our meeting with Alexia yesterday, it is obvious to see we have a lot of work ahead of us, but I am 100% confident we will rise to the occasion.

Libby:

*Working on completing articles

*Beginning efforts to create architecture story

*Beginning to work on layout of magazine, will assist Tom with Creative Director duties

*Importing footage from the farm

*Creating flat plan

*Researching magazines/web magazines

*Printing quotes due 13 May from printers near her home

Tom:

*Working on editing footage

*Helping Ellie finalize typography

*Going to film this Saturday, 7 May

*Researching magazines/web magazines

*Mock layout

Ellie:

*Selecting typography options

*Researching magazines/web magazines

*Developing target market: age, income, professions, lifestyle choices, race and gender. 

*Mock layout

*Decide on house style and relay to writers on team

Zadrian:

*Researching magazines/web magazines

*Mock layout

*Printing quotes due 13 May

3 May, 2011: Alexia Meeting

*Alexia gave Ellie feedback on food section and mentioned the Ethiopian community as a valued resource.

*Stressed development of flat plan, layout, story layout/ideas and typography for next week.  ALL DUE MONDAY, 9 MAY in the next meeting with her.

*With regards to creating textures in magazine, Alexia mentioned layering images on top of each other to show both contrast and layers.

*Suggested that the overall look of magazine should be really busy (anti-design) or clean, choose one and be full out!  I am really drawn to this whole busy concept, I know at first I wasn’t, but yesterday I saw things in a new light.

*Text should be simple and clean

*If a piece is submitted that does not really fit the objective or scheme of the magazine, It can be omitted and handed in individually.

Zadrian’s Research:

Favorite Magazine in relation to this project:

On the plane ride over I engulfed myself into about 10 different publications, thank god for WHSMITH in the terminal.  Surprisingly, the magazine I fell in love with was WALLPAPER.  (I always avoided reading this magazine, for fear of being bored, but I’m a new subscriber!) The layout is phenomenal, though not busy, and the content was splendid.  I’ve pulled several spreads from the magazine to share with the group regarding possible section and magazine layouts.  Although, the magazine does have quite a clean approach it’s a bit all over the place content wise…anything, fresh, new, innovative and contemporary is there.

Possible additional sections, if needed (things we haven’t talked about, that could be added):

*Features

*Culture

*Books

*Films

*Restaurants (Ellie might have this included, but they had an interesting layout I love that I will share with you)

*Beauty

*Zodiac (Is there a psychic in Kentish Town we can find to give us some zodiacs?)

*Travel (any spots in Kentish Town that are travel destinations, places that other Londoners would travel to just because it’s there)

Two possible sections or working titles:

*The Best of Kentish Town (It-List): Can be a collaboration of the top things/places, etc. in Kentish Town

*Tatler Magazine had a section called: “Tatler About Town…” (which included tidbits happening around Londontown and surrounding areas) maybe we could take a play on that for our magazine

Online magazine references:

Here are some online fashion magazines that we can use for reference with regards to magazine layout.  I’ve placed them in order of my favorite to lease favorite.

http://www.fashion156.com/

http://www.lumiere.com/

http://www.hintmag.com/

http://www.flare.com/

http://www.self.com/

http://www.fashionplanetonline.com/marc-jacobs-super-influence

That’s all for now.

~Zxx

Who is the Fox?

FOX: our manifesto

- Fox is a reinvention of the community magazine. It serves the same purposes as your traditional community magazine, but is presented in a fresh and trendy way.

- Fox promotes the people and spirit of Kentish Town. It is affectionate and witty. 

- Fox is homegrown, organic and rustic.

- Fox is for the people and of the people. Fox is down to earth - just like a fox is an animal of the street.

- Fox is for the working Kentish Towner - see statistics below: income bracket £18,000 and £35,000. Core target age range: 25-35, however including all people in the community so will feature people each side of this age bracket too. 

- Fox has keen eyes - it looks at things in a fresh way and celebrates things other people might ignore.

- Fox wanders the streets of Kentish Town and discovers interesting people and places

- Fox is a magazine of contrasting harmony - it gives a snapshot of the multi-faceted community that is Kentish Town.


This is Fox. So everyone, when you write your articles or prepare visuals you should all the time be thinking: what would the Fox do?

Libby