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The Understated Issue
I realise I've been quite quiet about everything this year so far, but I've been so busy with uni (I swear this has become my tagline...) and I didn't want to reveal too much about my Fashion Communication project in case things changed about.  However, we're more than halfway through the project and I figured it was time to show you all what I've been up these past 5 weeks.

Throughout this semester's we've been put into groups of about 8 to make a cool, new fashion/lifestyle magazine.  Also, because we're doing a general first year at uni, not everyone in the group is studying Fashion Comms. (only 3/8 in my group).  But luckily, everyone in my team is really enthusiastic and cooperative about the whole project, which makes everything so much easier and definitely more enjoyable.

Every magazine must have a "theme" which is then to become our "issue" title for the magazine.  Our magazine is called PLUS - but using the symbol '+' -  and the launch issue is the "Understated" issue.  On top of this, our publication must be in the style of a certain magazine - ours is Dazed & Confused.  For our issue, we've been heavily inspired by 'real people' who ooze cool and understated - this includes everything from what they wear to what they do.  Slowly slowly, I will do individual posts on what's being included in the magazine (from illustrations, to articles) but for this post (& next) I wanted to concentrate on the photo shoots.

Below are pictures from our "GIRLS & BOYS" photoshoot.  This shoot was inspired by the classic song by BLUR - hence the title - and we based the storyline around a girl and boy who like each other and get up to all sorts of things.  I referred to the cuurent Dr Marten's, Iceberg & The Kooples' ad campaigns for inspiration.  The aim was for each picture to capture a certain mood, eg the last one is clearly quite tense, as suggested by their body language, but you don't know exactly what's happened.  The styling was also inspired by street style and what understated-but-stylish people would wear, but we also wanted Sarah, the female model, to have an androgynous edge. The 'understated' part of this shoot highlights what real, cool people do and where they hang out.

I hope you guys understand where I'm coming from with this photo shoot.  Have a look at the photos below and let me know what you think!  Ciao for now.

Photography: Tatiana Cockburn-Aldana

Styling: Lauren Devlin

Models: Sarah Findlay, Fergus Gallagher