FCP

reflective journal | based in nottingham uk

[visualjunkee]

New York based menswear purveyors UNIS 15th Anniversary  Editorial (Autumn/Winter 2015 Collection)

model: Ola Morafa Dynamo - photographer: Andrew Jacob - stylist: Mac Huestler

featured: LA-made T-shirts - Scottish-made sweaters - Signature Gio, Davis and Ford chinos - Classic varsities and leather bombers.

[automaticpastels]

pastel 17329 - #f6d1c3

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YEAR TWO

Towards the end of my first year studying fashion communication and promotion I began to stop being terrified of InDesign and Photoshop and actually started to enjoy experimenting and playing around with all the features. I spent a lot of time over summer browsing different layouts and ways of presenting, I adore the search to discover these beautiful publications and it really inspires me to improve these skills further. Platforms such as Pinterest restore my faith in the internet and social media, the amount of ideas and inspiration that can be found on one website is pretty amazing and probably taken for granted as it would have been unheard five/ten years ago.

I love the research side of the course, and gaining inspiration from different places so I think and hope this will play to my advantage throughout this first term.

Although I embrace what the internet has to offer, I often forgot about my workbook last term. I used it more as a scrapbook for little prints and publications I found to be aesthetically useful but I forgot to offer any analysis or context for these things, so this year I must ensure to keep the workbook in mind.

In general, I wish to improve my general consistency and engagement. Although I really enjoy the course, living in Notts is definitely a distraction in itself, however I am confident that being settled into the city and new house will ensure that the next step of the degree is less daunting. I’m sure this is important as I doubt the workload will be decreasing!

I’m also super excited for the opportunities this year will bring, and to develop and learn skills needed for the communication and promotion industry. Working the entire summer meant that I missed out on finding work experience which is definitely at the top of my to-do list this year. The working world is definitely becoming more of a reality now I’m aware that this time next year our course will be undertaking our final projects before (hopefully) graduating. I’m aware how difficult it could potentially become but excited for the outcomes that can be produced.

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How To Ruin Your Life (Without Even Noticing That You Are)

There are moments that will stay with you, words that will stick. You cannot let these define you - they were simply moments, they were simply words.

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(via diesel deconstruct fashion advertising)

I am already loving diesel’s new A/W 15 campaign, I have noticed a lot of brutal honesty around advertising lately and I love it! Consumers are far from stupid and the marketing industry is finally embracing honesty as the best policy.

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“FASHION SHOULD BE A FORM OF ESCAPISM NOT IMPRISONMENT”

It’s no secret that the fashion industry is filled with controversy, one that has been most prominent for a while is the battle between models that are considered ‘stick thin’ and ‘plus size’.

The dominance of social media exaggerates this conflict with constant posts shaming both sides of the argument. These mixed messages are confusing to say the least and are constantly trying to dictate to girls inspired by the fashion industry what they should aspire to look like and preach. 

I just scrolled down my twitter feed and came across this...

http://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/model-barbara-ferreira-is-plus-size-and-proud?utm_source=idtwitter

An article named ‘model ​barbara ferreira is plus size and proud’.

It celebrates the girl’s confidence in her body and ability to get modelling work however, I noticed text completely disregards any mention of what being plus size means- essentially, the model is overweight, a serious cause of health issues.

Don’t get me wrong I believe celebrating all body shapes and sizes is something that is so so important, however stick-thin models have been slated for years for being a bad inspiration for young girls, but surely plus size models are equally as bad.

I learnt in my sociology A level that in order for there to be change in society that there must be deviancy (activity going against what is expected)… like everything Miley Cyrus is doing lately and many things mentioned in my previous blog post CHANGING PERCEPTIONS IN FASHION, at first these things are shocking but generally people learn to accept these changes and some people will embrace them.

I do believe that the recent celebration of diverse body types is a positive change, I just can’t help but think that rather than trying to persuade people to aspire to being ‘stick-thin’ or plus-size’, the fashion industry should focus energy into promoting a guide towards a healthy lifestyle and the healthy bodies that are a result of this.

Referring back to the title of this post, as Mcqueen once said ‘Fashion should be a form of escapism, not imprisonment’. Individuals should feel free to express themselves and their bodies in whichever way they feel necessary. Although huge brands such  as American Apparel have already done a lot for diversity of body shapes and sizes, it’s their and other dominating brands responsibility a lot of the time for how people feel they should look, whether these people know it or not. Although things are slowly changing for the better, and although this sounds very cringe, I think that the future of model focused marketing should encourage and inspire healthy living in order for life to be enjoyed as long as possible.

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Please follow my FCP inspiration instagram account

@fashcp

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Publication porn

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AD DESIGN

composition & layout 

images/ choice is vital

headings/ a promise

logotypes/ size matters

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BRAND ME

I recently attended a lecture focused on using yourself and identity in order to be successful. Michelle (the lecturer) encouraged us to play to our strengths and question what is most important to us... because at the end of the day, only we can form genuine opinions and have genuine interests & there’s no point in pretending.

We also got encouraged to take a Myers Briggs personality test (just type in on google), although mine resulted in being a campaigner, although I’m not sure I completely understand the outcome!

In addition to the lecture I bought Paul Arden’s book ‘Whatever You Think, Think The Opposite’, who also wrote the world’s best selling book ‘It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be’. The book ‘explains the benefits of making bad decision... shows how risk is your security in life... why unreason is better than reason... and about having confidence to roll the dice’

I’d recommend reading it as I genuinely think that anyone could, it’s also very visually strong which appeals to my inner fcp student. A quote that particularly stood out was ‘DO IT, THEN FIX IT AS YOU GO’. If only we all had Arden’s thought process!

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CAPTURE original designs

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the eight looks that defined alexander mcqueen's career | read | i-D

i-D Fashion Director Alastair McKimm delves into the McQueen archives to chart a course through the designers most revolutionary looks.

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Cara Delevingne: Screen Test

I don’t particularly want to like Cara but she does seem like a bit of a hun

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McQueen And I

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Fashion should be a form of escapism, and not a form of imprisonment

Alexander Mcqueen

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SAVAGE BEAUTY

This weekend, me & a friend from the FCP course ventured to London,whilst there we visited the (what I can only describe as intense) Savage Beauty: Alexander McQueen Exhibition at the V&A. Savage Beauty is ‘the first & largest retrospective of McQueen’s work to be presented in Europe’, brought over from the Met in New York after being in the top ten most popular exhibitions over there. Its popularity was very clear as we entered the exhibition with each room filled with people & rumours of tickets being sold out for months in the future.

The exhibition was as I said before- intense, but so so inspiring. One McQueen quote that particularly stood out to me was ‘give me time & I’ll give you a revolution’. 

The level of creativity & innovation was almost overwhelming & before going to the exhibition I had no idea just how talented Alexander Mcqueen was. The exhibition created an atmosphere I can’t really describe, each room was meant to represent the stage of his career along with his mental state of mind & inspirations, and this was represented perfectly with his best & most relevant designs in thoughtful room interiors. 

I found his link to nature and romanticism most effective and almost disturbing, I found a quote by McQueen afterwards stating ‘I find beauty in the grotesque, like most artists I have to force people to look at things’. It’s hard to explain exactly what I mean unless you experience it yourself, I would definitely recommend going before August!

I think wherever you go in London can provide you with plenty of inspiration. Definitely a goal of mine to move there after uni.

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CHANGING PERCEPTIONS IN FASHION

After following Chantelle Winnie (@winnieharlow) on instagramfor a while now I thought she was quite relevant to my previous blog post (ICONS IN FASHION) about individuals having to ability to change & influence the fashion industry. Chantelle Winnie has a skin condition named vitiligo (which also effected Michael Jackson). Vitiligo affects 1% of the population & will affect any skin type of age of person, the condition can attack any part of the body including eyes, hair and mouth, resulting in depigmentation patches. Chantelle’s Instagram is what caught the industry’s attention and her big break came when she appeared on America’s Next Top Model, and since then her career has been growing and growing. Chantelle Winnie is an example of how the internet can bring about change & break through social constraints. 

Similarly, the internet presence of Shaun Ross (@shaundross) is another inspiring example of the positive changes to the fashion industry, as a result of being the first male albino model. I think it’s quite self-explanatory that to be a model you must fit a certain criteria, but why should you?

Recently I’ve noticed more and more the impact what impact social media has on the state of apparent issues. The hashtags I’ve listed below are few of many issues being hit hard by younger generations…

#heforshe

#freethenipple

#thisgirlcan

#equalpay

#freedomofspeech

A relevant summary & constant updates of the positive changes the internet has provided can be found online at ID magazine;

http://i-d.vice.com/en_gb/article/how-generation-z-will-change-the-world