Research: Target Audience

Research: International and Pakistani Brands

I researched into some of the most famous international and Pakistani brands. I felt that my research will be incomplete if I don't look into the already existing international and national brands.
Here is a slideshow of the most famous international clothing brands:
Slideshow created on: kizoa.com 

Here is a slideshow on Pakistani clothing brands. The mentioned brands in the slideshow are based on casual wear.

Slideshow created on: kizoa.com

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Research: Characteristics

Below I have mentioned some of the major characteristics that are seen in a Fashion, casual wear magazine for Women.

• Clothes:

 Plain, simple and decent and not that extravagant.

• Make up:

Follows the contemporary trends. Natural or light make up or according to the clothes worn by the model.

• Hairstyle:

A variety of hairstyles used, tied hair, open hair or semi-tied hair. Whatever, hairstyle best fits the clothes.

• Typography:

The font style used is sans-serif to give a casual impact.  

•  Background/Settings:

The setting is usually indoor and the background is most of the time plain in very rare cases the shoot is done in an outdoor location.

• Expression:

A serious expression or the model could be smiling.

• Body Language:

Is casual and spontaneous.

• Accessories:

Delicate and light jewellery worn. A necklace, studs or bracelets worn. Bags could be used.

• Colour scheme:

Too much bright colours or too much light colours are not used a balance is maintained.

• Props:

Could be a chair, sofa,bench or pets.

• Masthead:

The font used is sans-serif as it is curvy and gives a casual impact.

• Puffs and pugs:

Are used to catch the attention of the audience.

The content the magazine contains:

• On clothes
• The latest fashion
• The hairstyles
• Make up
• Where to get outfits from
• Shoes

Research: Similar Magazine Research

Here are some magazine similar to my genre (Fashion) I will look at these for help to better understand the codes and conventions when it  comes to fashion magazine.

Research: Genre

Genre: Fashion

Sub Genre: Casual Wear for Women

A genre adopts the codes and conventions of other texts in that similar genre and the content and style tells us what genre a media texts belong to. 

The genre I have chosen is fashion and the sub genre is casual wear for women. Fashion is of great importance in our society and our appearance is greatly affected by the clothes we wear. Fashion matters in our day-to-day lives. As, we see casual wear attire has become very popular in Pakistan especially in the teens and young adults. Teens want to experiment with their looks. According to the statistics the Pakistan's youth population is 30%. 

The casual wear is the Kurta with Jeans and Trousers. Tight half sleeve and sleeveless shirts with Capri trousers and a top and jeans have also been adopted. The casual wear is inspired by the American fashion. The youth feels that casual wear is comfortable and gives them a freedom of expressing themselves. There are no magazines on casual wear to guide the women and keep them up to date on the latest fashion. I have a general knowledge on this sub genre. But, I will have to do a lot of research and conduct  a survey in order to understand my audience. I am going to take this as a challenge as it does not belong to my culture, but to a foreign culture adopted by our society. But as it is becoming dominant in my society I want to help the audience so they could have the right guideline on casual wear. A lot of Pakistani fashion designers are launching their casual wear collection. Which shows that casual wear is becoming dominant in our society.

Research: Understanding Camera Shots

In our photography class we were also introduced to different camera shots. When it comes to the camera shot it is about how much of the subject matter you have included in your photograph.

Below is a presentation on the different camera shots.
Presentation created on: Microsoft PowerPoint
All images taken from: google.com

Research: Size & Software

We were told to research on the various sizes that magazines are printed out. After conducting my research on the sizes of the magazine I came to the conclusion that the majority of magazines were in portrait. The most common size was 7x10 inches or 8x11 inches.

The software we will be using:

Adobe Photoshop CS3

The basics of which were introduced to us in class such as working in layers and the basic tools we will be using. Below is an image of the basic tools introduced to us.

Image taken from google

All of the tools mentioned above are equally important however as mentioned by our teachers there are tools we will be occasionally using throughout the construction of our magazine such as the text tool, selection tool, move tool and cloning tool.

Research: Understanding Camera Angles

In another class we were introduced to different angles that could be used to capture an interesting photograph. How various camera angles are essential when it comes to photography. Which allows the photographer to capture a unique image.

Below is a presentation on Camera Angles.

Presentation created on: Microsoft PowerPoint
All images taken from: google.com for referential purposes.

Research: Codes and Conventions of a Magazine

Below is a presentation created by me on the codes and conventions of a magazines pointed out. As it is important to understand some of the major codes of a magazine before I begin towards my preliminary task.
Presentation created on: Microsoft PowerPoint

Below is another presentation created by me in which I have further in detail explained the codes and conventions of a magazine using a magazine cover page of Vogue.
Presentation created on: Microsoft PowerPoint

Preliminary Task (Inspiration)

As I mentioned in my earlier post for out preliminary task I have to make a school magazine. Therefore, I decided to make a school fashion magazine. But starting something from scratch always requires inspiration. Therefore, I looked at some existing fashion magazines. For example the cover and contents page. To help me have a better understanding of what a fashion magazine is sure I read fashion magazine often but I have never looked at them from the point of view on how they are made and do all magazine follow certain codes and conventions. The magazines I looked at were Vogue, Marie Claire, Elle, Glamour and Cosmo Girl and Teen Vogue.

Below is a slideshow of the cover pages of magazines as my inspiration for my own magazine.
Slideshow created on: kizoa.com 


I selected these cover pages because they have interesting color schemes how carefully they have selected the fonts and color schemes for the text, how the main image is still dominant even in the presence of cover lines and main cover lines almost on all sides and foremost importantly they follow the codes and conventions of a magazine. Also he photographs taken are very conventional such as a mid shot, cow boy shot and close up.During my research I came across magazines which really inspired me.

Below is a slideshow of the contents page of magazines as my inspiration for my own magazine.
Slideshow created on: kizoa.com

I am using these as my inspiration because they are easy to navigate through as the photographs are very nicely placed in accordance with the features in the magazine. Not a lot of photographs are used which makes it pleasing to the eye and does not give an effect of crowdedness.