Four Different Opportunities.

FMP Planning

For my FMP I created multiple mind maps that showed my ideas growing, for example my initial idea mind map consisted of the things I need to take into account when doing further research, as well as what I want to include and my inspirations. This was a good start after my initial ideas blog post (here) as it showed more visually the aesthetic I want to go for, in more than just the 'magazine' department.

   
   After I had done this I created another mind map that showed my ideas growing, for example what else I could do as opposed to a magazine (website, blog, poster/advertisement & fashion magazine) this way I was able to explore and research the different options and media I could use. This was really important to do as it opens up your thinking to the possibilities in which I could do for my FMP rather than sticking with my first option. I explored different bloggers, different websites for clothing as well as further magazine research. This was a positive thing to do as from this I gained a few bloggers that have very good fashion blogs in which I will now use for inspiration for my magazine. I knew all along I wanted to create a fashion, minimalistic magazine that is very photography based as these are the types of magazines in which inspire and grab me. I did however want to explore the possibilities as it made me see my options for this project and it also made me realise that I most definitely want to produce a fashion magazine.

  Upon creating the four different opportunities of projects, I later went on to create another mind map of the 4 different pathways of magazine in which I could create. For example fashion based, music, photography and life hack based! I explored these ideas and did even more secondary research into the different genres. This way I was able to explore the things in which interest me, giving my further websites to use and even more inspiration.

Dazed Magazine

   I first explored photography as this is something I am interested in and enjoy learning about. If I were to create a photography based magazine I would need to research photographers, as well as photography based magazines that already exist. I would most likely need to also increase my knowledge using Lightroom and Photoshop in order to have my photos at the highest standard possible. An advantage of doing this is that it would challenge me to produce work in which I needed to learn a lot for and it would all be a learning and new experience. The negative to producing a photography magazine is that by learning the softwares in a much higher quality and to a wider depth, it would require a lot more pre production work, something I don not have time for as the deadline for the overall product falls on May 12th.

   After this I explored 'Life hacks/self help' as I see a lot of social media plat forms discussing and sharing these facts/tips, but I never see a printed magazine on them. I was able to use the website 'BuzzFeed' as they use this theme a lot, creating facts, quizzes, posters etc all based upon the theme. The disadvantage to doing this is that it isn't something I enjoy/am passionate about and therefore I would easily loose interest. A positive to this however is that it would be something new to learn and explore and play with, putting my own creative spin on it. I also included a screen shot in the mind map of an Instagram account I fond as I regularly see social media accounts associated with this type of theme, therefore making it popular among my generation.

Billboard Magazine

   Thirdly I looked at music and a possible theme I could use and create based off this. This was really interesting as personally I really enjoy music and concerts etc, so it is a subject I would find fairly easy to write about. When researching I looked at music magazines such as Billboard, they incorporate the aesthetic I want to use whilst using the theme of music/bands in the industry. In addition to this research I looked at Dean Sherwood and his work. He is a big inspiration of mine, he produces all types of work, including photography, music videos, DVD's, lifestyle etc. His images are very powerful and eye catching and he works closely with a band I follow, therefore I was able to use him for inspiration. If I were to create a music based magazine I would however need to know a band. This would help as I could interview them and include it as an article in my magazine, adding to the content and interest for readers. The disadvantage of this idea is that it isn't really practical and would not be easy for me to produce within the given timescale, so therefore would avoid it, even though it would most likely be my second option if I were not to continue with a fashion magazine.

  Lastly I explored fashion, I tried keeping this segment fairly vague and simple as I had already produced two mind maps (above) showing my ideas for a fashion based magazine. However I did add to my ideas the element of comparison. I had not thought of having this as an article in my magazine, yet after researching I would like to add a 'look for less' or something related to this. It would be interesting to compare for example a t-shirt available in New Look, to one in Top shop and then Gucci. It shows what you can get for your money and would be an interesting segment in my magazine. The positive to creating a fashion magazine is that it is something that highly interests me and therefore would be a fun learning curve and experience. a disadvantage to this is that it may not interest a lot of people, it may be hard to create something unique and different compared to the existing magazines out there.

Images: Google images
MindMap's: Lucid Chart