dis magazine.

just a short, sharp, sneaky post whilst at work today. my work colleague emailed me a great link to an interview with dis magazine. from my very quick browse it looks just up my street but i will need to read properly and dissect another time.

enjoy for now and leave me your thoughts.

ArtEz

recently, i was lucky enough to be involved in a project collaboration between my university, UCA Rochester, and ArtEz in Arnhem, The Netherlands. we visited them for Amsterdam Fashion Week (you may remember the blog in which i was anxiously pondering over what i should wear to the event?) and they came to visit us during London Fashion Week. split into four different groups we worked together through the topic of fashion as performance to come up with new concepts to revolutionise the fashion show as we know it. the project was very fun and gave me the chance to meet some wonderful creative individuals who were also tonnes of fun.

my tutor emailed a link to a blog about the ArtEz students own work about a week ago which, i must confess, i have only sneaked a peek at today. to my delight and surprise, the work shown are mood movies by the MA fashion strategy students in reaction to the project title "the future of visual communication in fashion". much for me to mull over and be inspired by. may even think about making my own little mood movie myself.

enjoy.

*** just read that susie bubble has quit her role as commissioning editor at dazed digital. whilst not upset, i always thought that her taking on that role gave hope to bloggers everywhere and showed how bloggers were beginning to be taken seriously by the fashion industry. what's interesting about susie bubble's latest post is her remarks on how she feels the fashion industry are not as accepting of bloggers as they like to claim they are. perhaps bloggers are just a passing fashion fad and not as dominant as we first thought? or perhaps its the eternal battle of the establishment versus the revolutionary? whatever it is it, the fact that the fashion industry as seemingly reluctant to accept bloggers just proves what i always thought about the fashion industry... conformed individuality. i hope that time and continued research into this project of mine will prove it all wrong.

The future of fashion blogging.

those of you who have been with my blog since it's beginning about umm.. 5 months ago will know that i regularly read tavi gevinson's blog and am constantly in awe of how right on the money she is for a 13 year old girl. i'm not at all intending that to be patronising... it's just that i was never as stylish, knowledgable or coherant when i was 13 as she is always is. and i am (i said before and i'll say it again!) constantly in awe of it all.

anyways, the wonderful tavi has drawn my attention this week to the Independant Fashion Bloggers conference that happened during new york fashion week. a vast community of fashion bloggers were invited to the conference to discuss what they feel is the future of fashion blogging. *eureka!* how very relevant for me and my field of research.

so currently... there are lots of lovely images on the IFB website but i need more info so i'm continuing to dig for the time being. once i've found what i'm looking for i will be back to update. for the time being i would love to know your opinions on the future of fashion blogging. leave me some wonderful feedback.

it's goodnight from me, and goodnight from him.

my new found love for louis vuitton.

it often seems to me that the best things come when you're not really waiting for them... or, in fact, expecting them. today... i came into uni expecting an all day seminar/workshop on fashion branding. all very exciting i felt. so. in the little quiet time that i set aside for myself before the uni day begins, i check my email only to discover that the all day seminar/workshop that i had so been looking forward to had been cancelled as our guest tutor had succumb to an unfortunate tummy bug and instead we would be having an art and design lecture from our regular tutor. not that this was a bad thing you see but a little "oh" of disappointment did escape my lips.

about half an hour later we settled down to the lecture.... and then two hours later and we're at the end. i don't exactly know where the time went because i was so terribly engrossed with the entire thing. in fact, i almost protested that surely our tutor should be talking to us more as we simply hadn't filled the usual lecture giving time slot... then i realised we had actually surpassed it.

so today, my tutor talked to us about the relationship between art and design and the increasing synergy between the two fields. as well as brief history, we discussed the ideas of quotation/pastiche/copy & appropriation as well as focused on art within the design environment with much reference to fashion (of course... bit of a given.). there were many visuals and references to artists (fine and applied) and designers and i just wish i could gush about all of it for pages upon pages. this would, of course, make for a very boring blog.

instead... i have chosen to talk about the artist/designer combo that made me smile the most.

Takashi Murakami and Louis Vuitton.

i don't feel like i really have to give it but, just for illustrative purposes, here is an example of the kind of bag design we've all come to associate with Louis Vuitton:

and here is an example of Murakami's artwork:

and... lo and behold... this is their love child:

whilst i realise that those of you a bit more up on the knowledge about Louis Vuitton know all this and i am probably boring you half to death but i didn't know this and it fascinates me no end.

i will openly admit here and now that i am not a Louis Vuitton type of girl... never had been and never will be. in fact i would go so far as to say as the brand and the generalised chavtastic connotations that surround the brand absolutely beyond doubt repulse me. so therefore because i have never wanted to know before, i know nothing at all of the brand except the over saturation of it's logo throughout the fashion industry.

i never knew that Louis Vuitton collaborated with Takashi Murakami and i am absolutely in love with the fact that this collaboration exists. now... i will also admit my failings in never really knowing who Murakami is before today BUT i know i love his work being hopelessly in love with anime that i am (yet again... i know nothing of anime details i just appreciate the aesthetics). Murakami's anime style art work led to him creating an art movement known as Superflat Art. this term refers to "various flattened forms in Japanese graphic art, animation, pop culture and fine arts as well as the shallow emptiness of Japanese consumer culture" (wikipedia... citing Hunter Drohojowska-Philp, artnet.com ) and is a branded art phenomenon design for western audience (again, wikipedia... citing Kitty Hauser, Superflat: Kitty Hauser on fan fare, ArtForum, Oct, 2004. )

even though i love the fact that the Vuitton/Murakami collaboration exists, it's definitely NOT the final product that i appreciate most (see picture of love child above)... it's how it has been marketed to Japanese consumers.

please see the following wonderful short anime films used to promote the Murakami/Vuitton collaboration in Japan. i think you may fall in love with them as much as i did.

Superflat Monogram & Superflat First Love

also.... some images of the new shop design for Louis Vuitton in Japan.

is it any wonder why i enjoyed my lecture so much? your opinion may differ so let me know.

that's how for now.

marshall mcluhan, true life and perez hilton.

i'm being a bit naughty today. i'm still suffering from severe lack of internet at home so i'm taking the opportunity to blog whilst i'm at work (on a saturday! i always thought the perks of being a tutor were that you wouldn't have to work on saturdays... what a swizz). i can't wait for the day bt receive my housemate's cheque and decide to reconnect us. i imagine it to be a very liberating experience. but anyway... i could go on all day about the liberating experience of getting the internet back in my life... but i won't. back to the topic in hand.

i'm beginning to think this research blog is potentially the bestest idea i've had in a very long time. with my first post, i received a fantastic link to a rare audio file of Marshall McLuhan. already a great addition to my research. thanks to the author of the star larvae blog for sharing that with me.

this week i watched an interesting channel 4 documentary, my daughter grew another head and other true life stories, well... i say it was interesting, it seemed initially so anyway...

the documentary was about the phenomenon of the British "true-life" magazine industry. despite the rise of the internet, use of blogs etc as well as the rise of more coffee table or collectable magazines... "true-life" magazines have a readership over approximately 11 million every week. my brain of course went "bing! that's research right there!". so i decided that i would watch it... but it quickly turned into the sensationalist channel 4 documentary that i thought it would. there were some view points from the journalists which i found quite interesting but then it inevitably focused in on the experiences of the people who sold their stories, which wasn't why i watched the programme in the first place to be honest. by all accounts, i got increasingly irritated and switched off at the second ad break.

i mean i could be wrong... it could have got really good and i'm sure when i've got my internet up and running at home again i will catch up on 4 OD so if my opinion does change i'll eat my hat (and write an update).

in other news this week... i wrote an email to Perez Hilton. oh yes. it's of course been unanswered but hell i thought i'd give it a try. it was all in the name of research as he is arguably king of the blogging universe when all he's done is essentially make a career out of bitching about famous people. i think he is a bit like marmite and katie price... you either love him or hate him. either way he is certainly controversial and rather fascinating. as i have yet to hear from the horse's mouth i would love to get some opinions from you lot. feedback would be appreciated whether you love him or hate him. maybe you have a theory as to why he has become so successful? whatever... i would just love to know. leave a comment or email me should you want your opinion to remain anonymous.

anyway i guess i best get back to work... although nothing is happening right now. if you're bored and you're in the area come down to Southampton's Learning Festival to learn lots of ace new things... it will also give me something to do.

project proposal.

severe lack of internet has hindered my progress... blame the british telecom not me. so i shall now make a start by introducing you to the project that i hope to develop and explore by using my blog. be warned... it is rather long but i hope you'll take something from it. please comment with any feedback or suggestions you may have...

Title of Project:

Revolution in Fashion Publication: the struggle between analogue and digital.

Brief Description of Project:

I intend to use my main Masters project to explore how fashion publications are being influenced by advancing technology currently and predict how this influence will manifest itself in the near future. From my research, I hope to develop an innovative form of fashion publication with the hope of taking the relationship between fashion publications and information technology to the next level.

I have chosen this particular area of research as it follows on from my undergraduate dissertation “Paper VS Web: What does the future hold for traditional paper publications as the internet takes a predominant hold on our daily lives?”. My dissertation focused on the effects of internet self-publishing and the popularity of social networking sites on traditional paper publications. Research for the dissertation was based on Marshall McLuhan’s late 1960s work on the “Extensions of Man”. McLuhan’s predictions that technological development of man’s communicative extensions/tools would lead to a “global village” became the backbone to my dissertation’s conclusion. In the dissertation’s conclusion, I suggested that the internet would become an increasingly reliable cultural medium but something that we would have to learn to embrace in a different way to the printed publication. As nothing will rid man’s ability to use his legs for basic transport, no new technology will ever completely rid civilisation of the simple printed publication. New technology could enable the printed publication to grow and develop into an entity completely removed from its original intention. The Internet’s predominant hold on our lives could even encourage the printed publication to become the most creative, physical art-form in society.

Since the submission of my dissertation in January 2007, information technology has developed even further to accommodate the internet’s influence in our daily lives. Mobile devices, such as iPhones, have grown increasingly sophisticated, internet connections have become faster and personal computers have become more affordable. It has never been easier to access and contribute to the internet. The past time of internet blogging has exploded leading to fashion blogs becoming a huge commodity and a reliable form of fashion publication in their own right. However, despite this continued and rising popularity of internet publishing, printed fashion publications are still going strong evident in the introduction of Love magazine in 2009 and the rapid sell-out of it’s first issue. It seems that, despite the convenience, affordability and increasing reliability of internet publishing, people still crave the physicality of the printed publication. This poses a dilemma in terms of fashion publishing as relevant as the debate of high street fashion versus couture. Should we, as fashion followers, use the ephemeral, limitless arena of the internet to keep ourselves updated with continual fashion news and trends posted by bloggers that know what the average fashion lover wants rather than reacting to demands of advertisers treating our reading as we would a throw away Primark purchase? Or do we continue to invest in expensive yet beautifully designed printed fashion publications created by the influential players of the fashion industry treating our reading, in this instance, in the same way we would cherish a classic Chanel suit?

Faced with recession and environmental issues, both fashion publications and readers must consider the effect of their choices thus design ethics are central to the development of an innovative form of fashion publication for this project. With regards to both recession and environmental issues, the idea of recycle and reuse will also be a key factor in my research and project development as well as issues surrounding collectibility versus desposibility. I am also interested in how collage and detournement can influence the development of an innovative form of fashion publication. As we are currently caught between analogue and digital media, magazines versus blogs, surely the next logical step would be to combine the two? During research in semester one, I came across an online BBC video demonstrating the use of integrated mini screens in a paper magazine. The mini screens were being used in advertising but could also be recorded over providing opportunities for reuse and for the reader to introduce their own content to the magazine also providing opportunities for collectibility and recyclability.

When I initially researched this topic for my undergraduate dissertation, I found that there were not many academic resources I could use to inform my research. From my reading over the first semester of my Masters I have been more successful in finding academic resources and have found some key texts from which I can continue to develop upon McLuhan’s theories. “Digital Shock: Confronting the New Reality” by Herve Fischer looks at the relationship between humans and digital technology comparing the importance of the “digital revolution” to that of the discovery of fire suggesting the rise of digital media affects all aspects of human life. “The Legacy of McLuhan” presents essays and discussions on McLuhan’s theories in light of digital technological advancement of the last two decades. Both these texts have acted as good starting points in my research but I hope to build upon these with additional academic research as well as primary research.

I hope to arrange an internship to help inform my primary research. Alongside my internship, I intend to utilise the opinions of readers of both printed magazines and blogs to analyse the relationship between people and both forms of publication. I will do this through questionnaires and focus groups. Additionally to this, I hope to take inspiration from blogs and online fashion publications as well as using newspaper and magazine articles for research.

From this research, I shall compile a thorough investigation that shall lead to the development of an innovative and interactive fashion publication. I hope that the final outcome will help to take the relationship between fashion publications and information technology to the next level.