For my final major project I wanted to
create a make-up magazine for start out professional make-up artist or for
people who may just have an interest in make-up. The reason I decided to make
this way because I did not feel there was much if anything on the market for
people considering a career in make-up. I looked at FaceOn Magazine and Make-up
Artist Magazine but I felt these were aimed at a more professional and
experienced audience. I also felt these magazines were more high end and high fashion,
I wanted to carry this through with FaceCake I didn’t want it to be too
commercialized and young. Although it is aimed at 16 year olds but it needed to
be relevant from 16 to 25 year olds therefore I didn’t want the magazine coming
across to young and attract the audience I wasn’t targeted at.
I then looked through magazines to decide
what I wanted to put in FaceCake. I knew I wanted to do a “How to” section. I
already make “How To” videos on YouTube and they have been received well so I
thought this would be a key point to the magazine. Also as I was aiming
FaceCake at people who may be considering a career in make-up artistry I
thought this would be a good starting point for those readers. Furthermore,
Make-up Artist Magazine does occasionally have a “Hot t” section but it is
aimed at a more experience audience. I decided to do two “how to” sections one
on eyebrows and the other on lips. The reason for this is because when I
started out I did not know the importance of shaping eyebrows or using a lip
liner. Eyebrows really frame the face and they show expression and this is
important to convey the mood you are trying to get across as a make-up artist.
Lips are also extremely important. It’s so easy to change the shape of lips and
without lip liner the look can look unfinished and amateur.
I also wanted to conduct interviews with
people in the industry, so the audience could get a better idea of what the
industry and future clients will expect of them. I firstly conducted interviews
with students as they are of similar ages rages and can relate well to the
readers, they have also been in the same situation and some of the readers. I
decided to go with a stylist and a photographer, as these are people the readers
will be working with and it will give them a better idea of what to expect of
the industry. I also conducted interviews with the founder of Illamasqua and
Agenda beauty. The reasons behind these interviews is that Illamasqua is a
well-known and well respected brand that will appeal to my readers and Agenda
Beauty is a new brand so it will appeal to people who want to start their own
brand or cosmetics line.
I didn’t just want the magazine to be for
enjoyment but I also wanted it to teach my readers about the industry and
products. So I decided to make a “behind the scenes” section. I thought this
would be extremely relevant to people who may be starting or considering a
career in the industry as it could give them an idea of what to expect and how
to prepare. I wanted to aim this particularly at the make-up side of things
rather than the photography. I started with how to set up a make-up table. As
sometimes people forget how important it is to keep things clean and organized.
The next step was at the photo shoot itself reminding make-up artists that it
is important to jump in if something doesn’t look right. The camera will always
pick it up. This can be quite daunting as a photographer can be quite
intimidating; especially if it’s his or her own shoot. I wanted to assure my
readers that is important to jump in otherwise you may not get hired again as
the make-up artist would get blamed if it did not photograph right and this may
lead to losing future jobs. The final stage is to make sure you look at the
images on screen. I thought this would help my readers get the most from their
work. In FaceCake I also created a must have product list. These products
weren’t all make-up products, as many make-up artists do know the importance of
sterilizing make-up. I wanted to inform my readers that keeping everything
clean is just as important as the job they have been given.
I also wanted to feature new make-up trends
that will be popular in summer 2012. I found a few but decided “Heavy Metal”,
“UV” and “Pastel and Hypercolour Brows”. The reason for this is because UV
make-up is popular at festivals every year so I knew this trend would popular. I
though Hypercolour Brows would be a great festival look as festivals are
becoming increasingly popular with each passing year. I also thought metallic
make-up especially in eye shadows have always been on the market and they can
be great for any occasion and it’s easy for anyone to pull off.
I had some test copies printed, before it
was completely finished. The reason for this was that I felt I needed to check
the printing quality was good enough for FaceCake. I also wanted to check
colours and fonts. I was worried that the font may have been too small and
difficult for my readers to read, but after the test prints I found that this
would not be an issue. One issue I did have was that some of my images came out
a little yellow. Therefore I had to pull down the yellow colouring on Photoshop
and I also spoke to my printers about this issue. They did suggest that this might
be because of the paper so I then tested another type of paper and this was no
longer an issue.
Overall, I feel that my magazine, FaceCake
reached the brief I set for myself. It did teach and inform the readers and
also was entertaining. It does appeal to my target market age 16 to 25; it was
not too advanced but still informative and educational. If I had more time I
would of liked to add more pages, however, I did create 12 images and write the
whole magazine and I understand that in a real magazine their would be more
than one person creating it all so I think the amount I did was acceptable. I
know I could of put more thought and have a better process with choosing my
photographers. I did have issues with two of my photographers when it came to
getting the images. With the first photographer she would not give me many and
she also said that she would not allow me to have the raw files or unedited
images. I did state in an email before hand that I would need this but I needed
to have it in writing. This did put me a week behind, but I did start early
incase I had any issues. Although this was a problem I did learn from it and
after this I had everything in writing. I made sure to create contracts for my
models and photographers stating that I was allowed all the imagery and that I
was allowed to use it in my portfolio, final major project, and my website. I
do feel I organized myself extremely well. I started my project early to leave
time if any problems or mistakes would occur. I also made sure I’d book studios
as soon as they became available, as I wanted to use studios for all of my
images. I also feel get a test copy of my magazine was extremely useful as it
became clear what I needed to work on further and I had something to show my
lectures to get advice on what needed to be done and what I needed to edit.
This allowed me to go back and fix these issues without having to worry that I
wouldn’t finish my work in time. Another issue I did have was I did fall behind
with my learning journal. But I had all the dates, times, models and
photographers in my diary so I was able to go back and look over my notes to
catch up. Overall, I’m pleased and proud of my final project and do intend to
put it on my website with the option to sell, I have made sure to get written
permission for everyone in and involved with FaceCake.
I also had an issue with the printing, one image
has come out pixelated and unfortunately I did not have the time to fix this so
I have printed the image and put it in the magazine, I do not understand why
this problem occurred as I printed out the same file and had no issue.
