OUGD601: COP Presentation

THEME : FASHION EDITORIALS

I started by dissecting what an 'editorial' was and how this differs to a fashion editorial. My conclusion is that a fashion editorial is an attitude, no matter what the subject content may be. It is also a way to insert concept and story telling through images, where as an editorial for a newspaper may do this through journalism. 

It interests me because to me, fashion magazines are like being transported through time and space to a different world. Magazines such as VOGUE and Harpers Bazaar have had a social commentary on the world in their own style.

Has the ability to provide captivating art and escapism accessible to nearly anyone.  Magazines such as VOGUE and Harpers Bazaar have had a social commentary on the world in their own style and can often do this through the garments they pick. 

There are so many ways this project could go, it is hard to narrow down what is important and what is not. There are so many aspects I want to explore I just need to simplify.

3 Key points with room for 2 more to grow throughout ongoing research. (primary research is preferable in this process as well.)

I ended the presentation on the research question as per requested in the presentation briefing. I want to explore this question as it is something lots of critical writers are discussing simultaneously, however no-one has done a specifically editorial focus, especially using case studies which are new for the 21st century. History and fashion connotations plays a huge part in the way magazines such as Vogue operate (source The September Issue documentary), so this will be a good starting point to compare Vogues version of history to the actual history of the times as a starting point. Overall I think the presentation went fairly well, although I regret taking the opportunity to ask more questions. 

The graphic design is only to reinforce the magazines brand, often letting the images speak for themselves is a more effective form of communication. 

Feedback

- Good to define fashion editorial and why editorials are needed

- Links to modernism... whole different discussion? (Simon Jones)

- Real life is scary so thats why magazines exaggerate

- Focus research down to what I'm most interested in

- Aspect of Vogue history vs actual history was interesting (case study contrasted with similar magazines even?)

After Thoughts

- Most of these products aren't meant to be sold to the everyday person but act as a prop to entertain

- Identity= Subjective + Personal

- Visual subcultures vs 'high culture'

Essay about:

- Identity 

- Realism

- Pop culture/expression

- Brand psycology in magazines/advertising and editorials (look back over Jansson-Boyd 2010, Identity & Consumption)

- Theorists say we buy products to reinforce our identity, are magazines the same? Yes, of course they are...

- Symbolic meaning of products (brands & logos)

OUGD601: Fantasy vs Reality

(definition: Reality)

(definition: Fantasy)

Origin

Late 15th century: via French from medieval Latin realitas, from late Latin realis ‘relating to things’ (see real).

OUGD601: Initial Thoughts

Documentary photographers like Walker Evans, Arthur Rothsteine, Dorothea Lange, were initially to show ‘city folk’ what life was really like in the countryside. They photographed the Great Depression in the 1920s and 30’s and are some of the only sources of TRUE evidence. Untampered with as shot on film, un-edited and un-art directed. Very different than how Vogue portrated America during this time period, however the purpose and distribution is vastly different. Magazines provided a sense of escapism. The average American would not be living a life with excess or luxurious settings (with designer garments), so a magazine showing them what they could already see would not sell. Money would only be spend on something to take them away from this reality or provide them with additional knowledge (like a fiction/ non-fiction book would). Never the less, Magazines were not targeted at people living the kind of lives documented by the FSA photographers- they were targeted at city folk as this is where the ‘culture lived’, and these photographs (despite documenting the truth) represented a piece of entertainment/dystopian-ism, as for the city folk, the way these people were living must have been unimaginable but still fascinating. (This also starts raising issues in class divide within the publishing industry.) In conclusion, DOCUMENTARY IMAGES are for NEWSPAPERS and stories about NON-FICTION. Fashion editorials take an opposite approach, perhaps loosely based on truths yet not conducted in such a head on way- artistic concept, allure and imagination are all combined to create something not found in the public media spectrum (especially Vogue 1930s onwards).

Celebrities are used as a signifier of the times- what celebs are popular in what decade gives a good indication to who the cover star will be. 1950’s Audry Hepurn, 1960s Twiggy, 1980s musicians, 1990’s ‘the Supermodels’ (Giani’s girls)

Graphic design tries to be contemporary and new wave trends often fall into ‘time traps’ and have the potential to become overused/dated, or stuck in a certain year (eg, that’s sooo 2016) -  Era trends inform the styling, movies/films influence the art direction

Magazines like Kinfolk don’t include a date of publishing, only an issue number. This itself has the potential to disorientate the viewer (especially in the future) as an anonymity. Magazine focusing on Art & Culture will have more design freedom than something based around commerciality.

How does representation of ideals differ between countries? Vogue UK vs US Vogue vs Vogue Paris vs Vogue Milano? The culture differs between continents and so do trends-no two magazines should be the same at one given point to determine an absolute reality.

Newer wave magazines which have the luxury to look at fashion as a commodity rather than a necessity look at clothes as art, and editorials are the way to curate it all together. The raw simplified purpose clothes bring us is so we’re not naked, we’re warm and to an extent ‘safe’. However, when we remove this underlying function, aspects of identity and fantasy can be introduced. Magazines like Knotts magazine are highlighting these two elements to tell stories, using the garment as visual language to communicate the fantasy the brand wants to immerse you into. This does not cost the viewer (all content available online) whereas buying a new outfit to get the same feeling would cost $$$. Psychologically speaking, what we wear impacts who we are as individuals (and places us in subconscious boxes)- often we’re not wearing what we want for ourselves, but other people etc. Clothing also has the ability to communicate emotions, reference alternative points in history or align with a subgroup/counter-culture.

The meaning of an object can be lost when a group connotation relates it to something else, which can also change over time. Polo by Ralph Laurent was advertised and seen as for many years, for the privileged. Civilised garden parties, croquet & horse riding, preppy. Now, street wear has taken Polo by Ralph Laurent under its wing just as it has taken Burberry’s iconic check print in the past. The brand (and logo)(even if a fake product) is used as a status symbol, devaluing the brand and placing ‘high culture’ with ‘low culture’, ultimately messing with the hegemony of society and the products underlying intentions. Brands develop yes, but does Ralph Laurent really want to be known for east-end ‘roadmen’ wearing his caps and jumpers? Could this detract the future generations of preppy teens buying into the brand? Considering Polo from an editorial point of view, Ralph Laurents adverts and fashion photography has gone further to the ‘high society’ style again, portraying overtly civilised perceptions of reality (and who symbolises the brand) (very Hamptons)

Methods in production have meant the photographic image has been implemented into cotemporary publications, and a shift away from illustrations. Line methods were used from the 1870s, composed of metal plates, etching and halftone photo relief processes. This was refined in the 1880s so photographs and paintings could be duplicated- something discussed heavily by Walter Benjamin. – ‘The Studio: Photomechanical reproduction and the changing status of design’ (JSTOR)(2007)

The above essay also examines ‘The Studio’, which Clive Ashwin considers the first ‘visually modern’ arts & culture (monthly) magazine, which later influenced the next century of publishing. Established in London just before the turn of the century. The Studio were the first magazine to use the ‘new method’ of photo relief processing, using a mixture of half tone plates to replicate photographs.

The Sketch was the first middle class photographic magazine to capitalise on the new reproductive techniques, combining design and editorial considerations and established in 1893, just before The Studio.

(Vogue capitalised on these printing techniques to reproduce illustrative communication, debut some of fashions most prolific photographers and give fashion culture a world wide platform)

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https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/dec/06/based-on-a-true-story--geoff-dyer-fine-line-between-fact-and-fiction-nonfiction

David Hare had provided the epitaph a year earlier when he wrote that “the two most depressing words in the English language are ‘literary fiction’” (which sometimes feels like the aspirational, if commercially challenged, cousin of genre fiction).

-       Theres no need to say the same thing twice. Image and text. Fantasy through image, truth through text. Would this be confusing for the audience?

OUGD601: Brainstorming (Not Graphic Design specific)

FAST FASHION CAUSED THE LARGEST SUICIDE WAVE IN THE WORLD (India)

People are dying in factories to produce clothes for western societies, who walk around purchasing something ‘cheap’ with pride, which has actually had blood, sweat, tears and family destruction as a byproduct. Retailers, especially fast fashion orientated brands do not own the factories, yet their pressured demands of lowering cost per unit and benefiting from economies of scale means meant the factory owners and workers compromising on safety/working conditions as a last resort. This has continued for 15 further years, plummeting the already poor into a deeper state of living where wagers are lower, conditions are worse and less people care as it is not publicly discussed, nor visualised. A cohesive, socially responsible brand is to make the consumer fully aware.

Second hand clothes now goes to Hati which used to have a rich tailoring industry, yet as Hati does not have a cultural association with quality and ‘class’, tailors from within fashion hubs or more established countries were instantly favoured through modern history, abolishing the trade. A London tailor will always be chosen for quality, yet the Hatian tailor for the price. Considering the social implications this could cause, especially in the countries where these clothes are made, modern slavery is occurring. Distortions in offspring, villages of retarded children and toxins polluting villages from dying fabrics

MLK ‘Revolution of Values’s highlighted to ‘stop treating like things and people in a way which was just about profit, instead treat people in a real, human way.’ The updating of fashion is necessary for progression in society, yet it needs to be in an appreciative way- making products more valued and last longer- a nostalgic idea but its premise could be transferred in a contemporary way- such as making high street fashion like an event. Could even charge tickets for store admission to make up for the dip in profits, and celebrate the creativity of fashion and people. Look at fashion as an experience, manage profits another way. We think we need that item, we don't actually need- another item would do just as fine with imagination, yet in a search for happiness we deserve better than that, so no matter the cost the consumer wants it because it needs it to feel alive. A cultural shift in values would position clothing with the ‘luxury’ goods, raising prices but also raising qualitative commodities- possibly increasing brand loyalty, image and integrity along the way. Future of fashion industry perhaps? 

The categories of ‘disposables' compared to ‘luxuries’ impacts how clothing is now perceived, and will act as a benchmark of societal consumption indefinitely. Just like being born into darkness can make you a monster, being born into a state of not knowing anything other than consuming regularly, cheaply and often is the right way to behave.

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- The idea of having fashion as an event would only work for middle bracket retailers- or would it? By taking more couture aspects forward needs to be done respectfully, yet in a way to enhance the present shopping experience…

- If Primark charged £2 on the door every time a new collection came out, providing an exclusive ‘early access’ for eager shoppers wanting the most up to trend things, people may still go elsewhere as it is still more expensive than it was before. 

- If Topshop charged £2 on the door every time a new collection came out, yet the collections were limited, I think people would pay it for the early access, convenience to try on, service/store factors and size flexibility when trying on.

- Will prices only ever go down without a mental shift at looking at goods?

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People consume for multiple reasons, yet increased consumption levels have lead to an increase in mental illness- depression and anxiety mainly. We were a generation born into it [back up with statistics].