When answering the question of: 'How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?', I decided to create a Prezi presentation, as I find it to be extremely interactive, entertaining and interesting. Besides presenting the original text here, I will also provide a link to the Prezi presentation and screenshots of it in case the link can not be accessed due to any reason.
Therefore, here is the text:
1. How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?
The Sylk April 2021 Issue has been a project incredibly important to me. It has given me the opportunity to experience a reality that I hope will one day become true, making me realize just how much work can go into a fun yet tiring project.
I tried shaping the product as for it to resemble a fashion magazine by its looks, while still being original and including articles relevant to its topic. Starting with the cover, its overall look is certain to be that of a magazine, but in my opinion, it is the details that differentiate it from the typical Vogue or Bazaar media texts. For example: although the Masthead follows the same convention of it being at the top of the page, in the middle of it and furthermore covered by the models’ heads, the picture it is combined with gives off a more artistic look than commercial - as seen in the L’officiel magazine analysed in my research posts - this being exactly what I tried to do - to combine these two aspects. Moreover, the cover line presented is a single one on the whole page, its purpose being the simplicity and artistic side of Sylk coming to life as well as the audience being informed of only the main topic. As confidence is such an important aspect of our lives especially since 2020 and the pandemic hitting our mental healths, I believe that any sub-topic related to it would be welcomed by people interested to read about it. It is thus important to take into consideration the changing era that we live in, in regards to technology and social media, and to realize that the print industry is rapidly changing with every passing day, many companies opting for a radical change of their magazines from print to online. For that reason, the decision of creating a separate Instagram account and presenting it on not only the Cover page but also the back Cover and the Table of Contents has been - to me - a really important aspect of the process of creation, as it gives Sylk a fresh look and uses the continuously growing conventions of real magazines as well.
I tried following the Table of Contents conventions of a commercial magazine most, as I believe that the best way in which to present the contents of a magazine is by not putting too much emphasis on them in regards to comparing their importance to the actual content - as they are a mere representation of the whole of the product and should be treated as such, for the audience to only look over them for reference. Therefore, besides adding the Instagram account once more and further emphasizing the importance of our April 2021 contest - which in theory is a photography contest - I also added some photographs, to attract the reader more to the articles they are from and also to bring some life into both pages. What I found hardest was to balance both the writing and the other details on the pages so that none lose importance and all aspects of the topic are covered - but now I am really satisfied with how it turned out.
As for the double spreads, they both cover the same article of ‘confidence’. This being an important and the main topic of my magazine, I decided to even more emphasize it by allocating one entire article to it - this being an important convention to follow ( that of covering the main topic in an article ). Therefore, the convention that I have seen in other magazines such as Vogue is the title of the article being used at either the top or the bottom of the page. As can be seen in mine, the term ‘confidence’ is seen at the bottom of the pages - a reminder of which article the reader is on.
In terms of challenging conventions, I wanted to do so through the first page of the article - the photo being surrounded by a quote that would otherwise be used underneath it or above it. I believe that this specific detail brings originality to the magazine and moreover brings out its artistic side, which is why I did not choose to add anything else and leave all pages of the double-spread simple. Such can be seen on the last of them as well, which does not contain any photos but a simple rose drawing - meant to emphasize the idea of beautiful but dangerous. The writing is the main aspect of the page, so adding any other colors or pictures would have just blurred out its importance. The double spreads that I have created - in my opinion - both use and challenge conventions, as I used the normal magazine text on top of the photos in which the models, photographer etc. were presented.
I chose to also create a back cover, in order for the magazine to look as real as possible not only in the final mock-ups but as a project to me. Therefore, I did not use the convention of having an advertisement to a brand on the back cover as fashion and lifestyle magazines usually do, but used a photo taken by me and included a QR code which brings people to the Sylk Instagram account, as I mentioned before of that being an important aspect.
As for the representation of social groups and issues, I believe that this was the main reason for shaping my issue and its topic in the way that it is. I started out with a present social issue in our lives and created a survey related to it. Then I managed to build a topic based on the answers received regarding confidence and being strong through these tough times (the pandemic) and created my content from there onwards. I believe that through the empowerment of not only women but anyone who reads the magazine through such specific topics related to, after all, a factor most popular these days, The Confidence Issue provides a fresh perspective towards the approach upon these aspects - as can be seen in the article on the last page of the second double spread - and encourages readers to grow their wings and not be afraid of who they are.
In my opinion, being aware of the present in regards to the historical background of an issue is most important - making people feel understood and comfortable while reading the magazine. Besides this being the way in which to build a magazine meant to express warmth, it is also a marketing strategy of building a base of loyal customers, who will look for comfort in every month’s issue, as to step over their personal problems and feel free to be themselves.
Besides being a fashion magazine, Sylk will always focus on reflecting social issues, considering their roots and finding ways not to make people get over them, but to make people get through them with a powerful attitude and positive approach - because once you can get through your own problems, you can get through anything.
Here you can find the screenshots of the presentation in the right order:
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