Honestly, I have never really paid much attention to the table of contents of a magazine so when I started looking at this one I didn't know what to look at exactly. However, I did know that I liked this specific style of table of contents. Nylon's table of contents is simple and 2-paged. I figured two pages is appropriate for the magazine's length which is approximately 150-170. The pages always features one woman in each page. They are of different ethnicity and always embody boldness and confidence, as you can see in the April table of contents. Usually the models are looking at the camera to demonstrate their confidence and to really strike the reader. I like this because it creates intimacy between the reader and the model as if they had something to say that you want to hear about. For me it shows the strength and uniqueness of women which is something I want to demonstrate in my own magazine.
There are no more images aside from that of the model, and the text is relatively small to not cover up the model. The only large text is the month name in sans serif. It seems like all the text in this magazine is sans serif which gives the magazine a more modern and bold look. This has made me realize that I too want to make my magazine's text sans serif. To the left is the contents of the magazine divided by different sections like fashion and beauty, features, and radar and to the right is the specific page number where you can read more about the feature done on the women in the table of contents. Additionally, there are always photo credits in small font separate from the left side with the descriptions of the articles. Each article in the table of contents has a mini description to give the reader a sense of what it is going to be about and what person/product/issue it is going to cover. The only parts that don't seem to ever have a description is the news and the shopping list which is self explanatory.
The June/July issue is a bit different from the others because it is an older issue from 2015 but it still has only one model per page, sans serif text and mini descriptions of the articles. The only difference is that they box the text in white and the month is in pink rather than white. I prefer the newer issues although there is only a slight change. The change makes all the difference and it makes the magazine look more aesthetically pleasing. This helped me learn that even the slightest change can change the whole look and appeal of your magazine.
Moving forward, There are some features that repeat and certain articles that similar to the ones I want my magazine to have. For example, Nylon has a feature called "girl we heart" in each issue
that talks about a woman who has shown success in her field and can be used as inspiration for women of all ages to do what they love and be successful. Additionally, they look at feminist issues or related topics and write about it with positive and encouraging diction. As you can in the collage of some of the articles in the three issues I picked they talk about feminism in different subject areas like music in "new wave." and how women can have strong roles in films like Jessica Henwick in iron fist on "the good fight" article. They also have a feature called "model citizen" that is reoccurring and talks about an empowering figure for minorities and communities that are often judged or oppressed, in this case, the trans community. This is the type of language I want to use for my magazine and although I don't want to focus too much on beauty or fashion like Nylon does, I do like how they talk about it in a positive and empowering way. It reminds me of this Ulta commercial that says "we know you're not here to get beautiful, you're here because you already are."
To sum up, the table of contents really helped me figure out what I would like to see in my magazine and helped me further explore my subject area. I also liked how simple it is and the fact that it only has one image per page that emphasizes the importance of the model. The only thing I would say that I didn't like was the 2015 issue I just thought that it did not look as nice as the first two issues I presented. The white color block behind the text took about from the main image and made everything look cluttered, the opposite of the clean bold look that I want. I'm glad to have looked at the table of contents and have realized how much these details matter and how they can change the feel of the magazine.
Up to now I have been heavily inspired by flowers. I think they are beautiful in the colors they produce and to me represent femininity not just in the traditional sense but also, at least for me, represent empowerment and strength. Specifically I thought of the picture of a woman during the Vietnam war who held up a flower to soldiers. Therefore, I thought to name my magazine "Flowers that Empower," "Flowers" referring to the women that would be featured in the magazine. I decided against it because I just wasn't convinced and I didn't really want to call the women featured flowers because of the connotation (for many people) of flowers being fragile and delicate. I then thought to name the magazine "Women in Bloom" which I liked more. However, I thought it sounded like I was aiming at an adolescent audience by saying that they were "in bloom." Additionally, the title was too wordy so I decided to shorten it to "Bloom."...
Putting together my mood board for my magazine really helped me realized what kinds of colors, fonts, textures, and photos I want for my actual magazine. It also helped direct my idea from a vague concept to a more specific one. As I was looking through the different magazines from which I cut my pictures and words, I realized that I want a brighter color scheme to reflect my magazines theme about happiness and optimism. In the image I tried to include a lot of green and yellow with pops of red, which I circled in red to the left. At first, I had issues picking out the colors. I had purple and pink in mind, but I had to go with yellow and green because it just fit my magazine so well. The green is very natural looking and bright like a grass green rather than the darker shades of green like olive which will relate to the natural vibe I want to go for. The yellow is bright like the sun and exudes cheerfulness which will be the theme of m...
Since I last posted I have been thinking quite a bit about the format of my cover and the title of it. I know I love flowers and since the beginning have been heavily inspired by them but I just realized that it won't go too well with the picture I plan to shoot for the cover. I want the model to be in her police uniform and I feel like that doesn't match the "flower vibe" and although I said I wanted to do the two sides of her I just don't think that it would look nice. I have been researching how to shoot and edit a picture like that but I have yet to see a magazine cover with that idea executed nicely. For that reason, I am just going to focus on one picture of my model and in the feature spread I will look at her "both sides." For the title, since I am not doing the flowers on the cover I want to change the title to something else: power. My magazines goal is to empower women and the cover will be of my model in a police uniform s...
