ITS - VICE PROJECT
Research
I researched who Vice are, their competitors and other publications that have a similar layout and context to Vice. I found out that Vice are a digital and printed format who focus on art, culture and news topics. Their topics are constantly updated, discussing the latest trends and using colourful, explicit images to make, sometimes, political statements in a bold and daring way. Majority of their competitors: Buzzfeed and Oath, are only online platforms that send newsletter emails to anyone subscribed to them.
Reviewing how Vice layout their magazine, I looked up other publications that also portray similar content in their magazines such as Dazed and Confused, i-D and Brick Magazine. I also did research into ‘profile features’, what they are and how they are displayed within magazines. It is delving into the background and character of a particular person (or group), focusing on a certain area in the person’s personal life.
I curated two mood boards, one that identifies how these category of magazines are formatted and the other one to explore my ideas for the project and how they can be incorporated into my own work. I have included the work of a London based photographer, Vicky Grout, who has worked on commissions for magazines such as Brick Magazine, focuses on portraiture and also does event photography.
What I have noticed about the front page images of magazines are they do not show the person’s full body. Instead they are taken or cropped to only display the subjects upper body and it’s been edited to fill up the page (full-bleed). I have also realised that the image does not take away from the heading and that they compliment each other.
Plan
For the project, I am going to incorporate a variation of bright and dull colours in formal wear, i.e. suits, with the model’s hair sleeked back and dark, heavy eye makeup, the rest of the face makeup, bare to none.
For the shoot, props will include a stool, to get a variety of height levels for the shoot, minimal jewellery such as gold rings and a pair of hoop earrings and a lighter and cigarettes as my model is not a smoker, therefore portraying something she is not. For equipment, I will be using studio lights, a grey backdrop, a Phase One camera and to edit, Capture One.
