Olivia Jade Lower

Preparing to print I have been taking some more time into really studying and understanding industry practice and layouts. The layout is proving to be such a crucial part of the book itself so I have been researching and looking into the best way to show and display my imagery in and industry quality way.

Looking at the June issue of British Vogue and their most recent Jewellery Editorial shoot for inspirations;

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In doing so, I was also inspired by the advertisements within the pages and the way the images had used 3/4 of the spread to create a really good use of negative space.

In a recent tour of the British Vogue offices, I was able to look around what the picture desk and the art editing team- in doing so I noticed on indesign how they were using the programme and grids upon the programme to finalise their layers and layouts and this inspired me to do the same within my work;

For example, here I have used grids in indesign to help me align writing and imagery as well as providing a 3mm bleed across the programme to make the document industry and print ready.

Taking inspiration from industry practice should really help me make sure everything about my documents and layouts are polished and presentable, and not only this- has really helped me get into the mind set of my dream career and align my skill set to such.

With 5 days until the hand in of IFCP and 8 days until I present my final concept and work to tutors, now seems the right time to reflect on my progress throughout this whirlwind of the IFCP module. Below is my calendar structure for my time and day management for the project:

Looking back, I have stuck to this very strictly so far, although I aimed to print the book earlier than I have due to the fact I was under the understanding that the physical copy could be submitted this coming Monday, as that wasn’t the case I am now aiming to print towards the end of this week in order to have the physical copy at my presentation on the 22nd of August.

I have over come a few obstacles throughout the process, mainly early on, when I was tasked in completing a separate project for CN Publishing the week in which I aimed to create a layout and structure for the book. This was a very hectic and busy process trying to complete a project brief in 3 days for CNP as well as begin IFCP (as reflected on in a previous post) however information and feedback gained from the CNP project was really useful to feed into my IFCP project. As I aspire to work for a luxury publishing brand undertaking the project on for that company was a huge responsibility and privilege but also made me feel good at the fact I knew I could do it for a renowned publishing brand, and therefore spurred me on to create my IFCP to the highest standard possible!

Other problems that have pushed me back in time have stemmed from the glass box- admittedly, this was my over creative and ambitious mind wanting to fully execute everything I have dreamt, however when I first came up with the idea of a glass box I really underestimated the cost, time and scarcity of glass box creators in the UK! As mentioned in a recent post I am currently sourcing other options, glass or acrylic- but whatever happens- I have pushed through, and I hope the box can be rectified and solved. Luckily, through my own time management, I have been able to have enough time during the end of the process to sort the problems that have occurred with the box. Fingers crossed for the last week!

I am currently putting together my digital strategies document in doing so, I am intrigued to know how people response to creativity, luxury brands, the arts, digital story telling and brand communication. In developing a questionare I needed to outline what I wanted to understand from people to validate my project. I took to a blank piece of paper in order to write down all my thoughts as being a hands on creative this is the most effective way of me being able to visualise my thoughts.

I often find it a lot clearer to see my ideas on paper and in doing this I was able to see what questions were not needed and what needed to be re worded (as shown above)

I then went on to create the survey on Survey Monkey in order for me to send it around – I tried to send this to as many people as I could that fitted into my consumer profiles. I sent it to 11 people, male and female, aged between 20-40, that were passionate about art, luxury and fashion brands. In order for me to have a valid survey to justify my decisions for my digital strategy. I undertook a project on behalf of Condé Nast Contract publishing, in which I did some primary research on young creatives so my results from this project will be interesting to see in comparison to those, as to understanding how consumers and readers respond to new and emerging creatives. I look forward to analysing my results tomorrow.

An update on the glass box. So, the girl I had organised to create and make the box is based in Spain, she was willing to start making the box yesterday and have it sent out by Friday to arrive by the day of my presentation in order to present a high class piece of work. The woman creating it got back to me today saying she wouldn’t be able to fedex over the box in time due to their being a bank holiday effecting delivery over Friday-Tuesday, meaning it would not arrive in time. She then offered to post it over in a first class fed ex that would cost an extra £100 on top of the £200 cost of the box. The price was adding up so it was an idea I was having to let go…

I have spent all afternoon googling, emailing and calling everyone in London who could possibly be able to create a glass or even perspex box. I have found a company in Soho who were so helpful when I called (out of all the 20 companies I called today), and are trying to help me with making the box.

I am waiting to hear back from them currently- this is such a big worry of mine, the glass box will really make the project everything I have dreamed of, I am so passionate about artistically created publications so I am praying I can bring this dream to life in time for my presentation.

This morning I met with my video editor, we went over the short clips of footage that I had shot and over my mood boards to talk over the best way to generate the best outcome. Melissa, is a video editor at LOVE and a close friend of mine, she was willing to help with the project as she has such as passion for fashion video editing.

When we first went over the footage I think all together we had around 10-15 seconds of footage once it was put together, so Melissa explained to me about taking cuts and rewinding and replaying some more dramatic parts in slow motion. We thought this would work really well to work with the images on the mood board as well as to really add emphasis on the youthful aspect of the book and to add focus onto the jewellery pieces. Over a coffee we chatted about where the video would be showed, not being big into video editing myself this was an aspect I hadn’t actually thought about when developing my idea for the video. I said that the video would be put on the Swarovksi website and clips on social media. Melissa then told me from her experience having a branded youtube channel works really well for traffic viewing and she recommended youtube as a route to distribute the film. She stated that if editing for youtube and website the best way to do it is to make it short and snappy, something that will be aesthetically pleasing on the eye with some neutral tones as well as easily describe the message of what you want to say.

From this we went on to look at what aspects of the mood board Mel could use to add to the design of the video, I was really inspired by these images from my mood board:

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These stills from videos really inspire me with the idea of new and youthful creativity mixed with heritage trough the aesthetic of the edits which is something I want to portray within the book.

At the end of the meeting Melissa took my video clips with her and was going to start editing them and send them over this evening for me to have a look at what she takes from the clips. I think it will be really helpful to understand what she sees from the project having met and spoke about it this morning. I am excited to see what she comes up with!

I was writing my last feature, The Future of Swarovski, when I had an email through from my tutor Harriet saying she had connected with someone from the development team at Swarovski. I then looked them up and sent a message to my connection at CN Publishing and Swarovski Communications. Meanwhile, Harriet sent me over their new future promises pack- with some really valuable information on the future of Swarovski within “2019 Sustainability Report” as well as, the community, social aspects and ethical considerations.

Once Swarovski had gotten back to me, all they were able to send over was the same pdf of information! Regardless, this was amazing timing for such a piece to be published online from the brand. It gave me such valuable information on where they view the future as well as the future of design and creativity.

I printed the report out and went back over it with a pen trying to highlight the most important pieces into the future of creativity that I could use and cultivate within my snippets of editorial. It has been really useful to pull quotes from this report due to how relevant and current they are, but not only this, it has really given validation to my project as a concept. It is clear through the 2019 sustainability report that the brand is moving forward to make a way for the future of the creative industry as well as support them on their rise, so what better time to publish an artistic book on a topic that so many heritage brands fear.

During my second shoot, where I had more product, I took some short video clips with the idea to collate these together and create a short and snappy promotional clip for the book that could be rolled out onto social sites/websites and youtube.

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I aim to edit these shots with the help of a Video Editor whom can assist me with layering, utilising the right clips and getting the right filters. Something that has stuck in my mind whilst looking over and reviewing these clips is that they need to remain on brand- as much as I am pushing the future of creativity and Swarovski they still need to be something that the brand would display and roll out as well as being something that speak Emergence.

I am meeting with my Video Editor tomorrow to go over these clips. I have sent her the mood board and she has replied saying she will look over the clips and come up with a few good routes to go down when editing these.

Having a second eye on the video is crucial for my work within this project, as much as I have led every aspect of the detail within the project so far getting help from a video editor will push my skills further as well as the project.

I have sketched up an updated flat plan, of which I have tried to detail where the objects sit onto the page as well as where full bleed and non full bleed imagery sits to understand how the bleed will work upon the pages. I have also added where there will be pieces of text as well as quotes to understand the depth and dimension to the page.

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Doing a physical activity like this has really allowed me to understand the scope of the publication, understand where negative space works well and when it doesn’t and really make me think about where full bleeds can and can’t be used , making the best and most effective use of space.

I am currently working on my press release that will go inside the Launch Event and Media Kit for Launch document. Having recently studied PR and Digital strategies I was able to open the information from that module and refresh my memory on the structure (the pyramid structure) and where the key information needs to be placed. I also have experience of press release writing and writing copy through my past year of working in PR.

Key aspects that I need to include are:

• who, what, where, when and why
• the celebration of the birthday of Swarovski
• Key theme of the book
• The launch event
• Cost and where to purchase

In developing the digital strategy, it was important for me to outline who we are actually talking to- in order for my communication methods to resonate with the correct audience.

I have outlined 3 consumer profiles for Emergence by Swarovski, the first being ‘Artistic Celebrator’ the second being ‘Luxury Creatives’ and the third being ‘Jewellery Magpie’.

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(details on the traits of these consumer profiles will be detailed within my digital strategy plan)

Targeting these profiles has given me a clearer vision on the kind of people the communication methods are speaking to- and have highlighted the importance of merging a digital strategy alongside the collectors coffee table book piece, to translate the modern communication pillars mixing but to also form a direct dialogue with all of these profiles.

When interviewing Editor In Chief of CN Publishing for my dissertation research Darius highlighted a really important aspect of print and digital communication methods, saying,

, highlighting the importance of being able to combine both aspects now and form a direct and trusted as well artistic dialogue of communication.