Petal Pushers

Watching petal pushers really made me think about all of the things that go into photoshoots, the attention to detail with every part and also the shooting and doing the images twice in order to get them perfect. After watching this I need to...

• Practice shoot before final to make sure it is perfect.
• Think more about costume/ accessories and nails.
• Create a concept to base my shoot on.

http://video.vogue.com/watch/vogue-in-motion-series-trailer

Tom Ford Ethos

The main ethos of Tom Ford as a brand is 'The Modern Master of Luxury'. As a brand Ford set out to redefine luxury for a new era. His signature fragrances were inspired by perfumes alluring past, when the worlds most exquisite ingredients were crafted into timeless scents with lasting impact, with the power to intrigue and seduce.

"BEAUTY IS A POTENT WAY FOR A WOMAN TO TRANSFORM HERSELF. HE BELIEVES THAT MAKEUP, SKINCARE & FRAGRANCE HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO ENABLE A REAL WOMAN TO BECOME AS GLAMOROUS & AS INSPIRATIONAL AS SHE CAN POSSIBLY BE."

•Who is the customer profile for your brand? You will need to consider target demographics. 

I believe Tom Ford makeup products are targeted at the prestige beauty consumer, these people have often higher earners, keep up with the latest fashions, spend a lot of money on toiletries and cosmetics. I would say that the products are marketed to women from the age of about 25-35 but maybe a bit higher as the products are highly priced and are a lot more sophisticated so appeal to an older more mature audience.

•What does the brand symbolise?

Luxury, Glamour, Success, Transformation.

•What is its brand appeal? 

The appeal of the brand Tom Ford is that is very prestige and luxurious, the packaging is black and gold which is very glamorous, and also timeless but slightly excessive. The adverts are often highly sexy and the women can look really powerful and successful.

•Where is this brand usually promoted– in a magazine? Online? On a bus? On the underground? In store? Advertising hoardings etc.

Usually promoted in store and also in magazines like InStyle, Vogue & Elle.

•Visually analyse the images that you find – is there a common theme within their promotions/ad campaigns?

 I have included here some images of Tom Ford beauty advertisements, as you can se there is a few common themes that run through all of these images, the eyes are always very smoky with similar shapes, and it is always bold, I have yet to see any natural looks, and is often paired with either a complimentary or analogous lip. The skin is contoured but very naturally and subtly. The makeup is striking and glamorous and in some cases a little over the top and unwearable. Some more themes that you can see in these images Is the lighting, all the images have strong contrast between light and dark, minimal colour schemes with the base colours being, nude, black, gold and white, and sometimes a pop of colour. The posing is strong and there is usually a hand in the picture, the nail polish will always match one of the colours that is in the image, if you look at the 1960's inspired one the nail colour is matched to the lipstick. The ads are also very clean and de cluttered.

•Some campaigns are clearly aimed at women but are also devised to attract men. How?

Tom Ford's advertisements are defiantly devised to attract men they are very overly sexual and powerful I believe this is to attract men to buy these luxury products for their wives/ girlfriends. There is often images of powerful and seemingly successful men in these images and the women is depicted naked, and most men will probably gravitate to these images.

•What product are you selling? What does the brand want to say about the product?

I am wanting to sell either the Tom Ford lipstick in flame/ wild ginger or the eyeshadow quad in Honeymoon.
Tom Ford lipsticks "To Tom Ford, there is no more of a dramatic accessory than a perfect lip. It is the focus of the face and it has the power to define a woman's whole look. Each clip colour is Tom Ford's modern ideal of an essential make up shade."
Tom ford eye quads "The centrepiece of the Tom Ford colour collection, each eye colour quad is designed with four opulent complementing shades that achieve multiple looks, from a bold smokey eye to a sexy splash of colour and everything in-between."

Tom Ford

Thomas Carlyle "Tom" Ford (August 27, 1961)

Tom Ford is an American fashion designer and film director, he gained international fame for his turnaround of Gucci and the creation of the Tom Ford label. He studied Architecture at the Parsons The New School for Design, where he also studied fashion in his final year. After graduating he became Hardwick's assistant for two years. He decided the best way to launch his career would be to move out of America stating that "If I was ever going to become a good designer, I had to leave America. My own culture was inhibiting me. Too much style in America is tacky. It's looked down upon to be too stylish. Europeans, however, appreciate style." His role at Gucci started when the brand was seeking to strengthen its women's ready-to-wear presence as a part of a brand overhaul. Within six months he was designing meanswear, and then shoes soon after that, and then took over as director in 1992. There was many clashes between Ford and Maurizio Gucci as "Maurizio always wanted everything to be round and brown, and Ford wanted to make it square and black."
In 1994, Ford was promoted to creative director at Gucci, and brought in Carine Roitfeld and Mario Testino to create a series of new advertisements for the company. After 1999 Gucci was worth almost $10 billion and it acquired the house of Yves Saint Laurent, and ended up leaving in April 2004 and he started his own label in 2006 with the flagship store opening in New York and coincided with the debut of the Tom Ford menswear and accessory collection. In September 2010 he presented a womenswear collection, based on some of his style icons Lauren Hutton  and Beyoncé Knowles/

Taylor, M. (2011). Tom Ford Biography. Available: http://www.vogue.co.uk/spy/biographies/tom-ford-biography. Last accessed 23rd Feb 16.

How to Identify a Beauty Brand

The 7 brands that changed beauty advertising

The Dawn of the Gift - Estee Lauder

• Estee Lauder launched in 1947, she was from a working class family and worked for her uncle who was a chemist, after an advertising company turned her away she posted personal letters to people that promised a free gift for every purchase. 

The Medical Approach - Clinique

• Clinique launched in 1968 and was born through the growing concerns about chemicals in makeup, they offered 'fragrance free' and 'hypoallergenic' they were then selling the products ingredients rather than the product itself. If you go into a Clinique they are not called makeup artists they are called consultants, and there is a colour scheme that is very green which makes you think of medical.

The Colour of the Season - Revlon

• Revlon introduced the idea that makeup is seasonal and that you needed to get new makeup every 6 months. Revlon started with nail polishes and introduced different colour schemes for A/W & S/S. So makeup was now seen as an accessory to what you wear.

The Celebrity Factor - Max Factor

• Max Factor started of working for the grand opera and then moved to the US, he was linked to the rise of film and formulated new products for makeup that was not as thick as what was worn in film. He signed an endorsement with the film stars and made them appear in his adverts.

The Distributor - L'Oreal

• L'Oreal started to sell its products to the finest salons and launched a trade publication and a magazine. The thought behind it was that if it is good enough for the professionals then it is good enough for people at home.

The Regimen - Ponds

• Ponds started off a two step regimen for skin which is still used today.

The Aging Debate - Dove

• Dove thought that current standards in beauty were unrealistic and some companies have been fined for this, so dove launched real beauty campaign to show real women.

How beauty brands seduce you through emotional design.

Beauty brands use different emotional standpoints to sell designs, they use sex, shock tactics, body image, exclusivity, colour and loyalty, for example Dove gives the viewer quite a comfortable response, soft, light fresh and clean.

Colours can also prevoke an emotional response for example white can be pure, blue can be trusting, black and gold can be elegant and exclusive.

Pintrest board Updates & Favourites

Pintrest, since my last post I have started to pin more pictures of makeup onto my Pintrest board, this is to get some ideas for the storyboard. I have chosen my favourite image and it is of a close up of the veins on the back of someone's hand, the reason I have chose this is because of the colours and also the patterns that are in the skin they sort of look like little triangles, I also like how the light reflects off the skin and creates a natural gleam. I think this image has a reference to the highlighter lightscapade and I think It has reference to some of the colours that you can see in it.

Advertising Camera Set Ups

In todays technical lesson we learnt 3 different ways to shoot an advertising image, this can take up to 30-40 minutes to set up so it is advised that you get assistance.

Equipment...

• Beauty dish
• Light diffuser x2
• Softbox x2
• Tripod
• C Stand x2

All of the lights need to be about half power.

Lenses...

• 50mm
• 80mm
• 100mm

Camera settings are...

• ISO 100
• 1/160 Shutter Speed
• F5.6 Appeture (Medium)

Set up 1

 Set up 2

 Set up 3

Gleam Initial Moodboard and Feedback

Out of all the definitions the one I liked the most was to shine brightly, especially with reflected light. This gave me the initial starting point to look at prism's, refraction and also mirrors, and how it looked when light passed through these, so I started pinning things about this e.g - light passing through windows, light on top of water, street lights on rainy pavements and infinity rooms. After looking at these I started to think about the colours in them and they were all very iridescent and holographic including lots of baby pinks and blues, silver, gold and white. I started to think where you could naturally get these colours in nature and found iridescent colours in pearls, shells, beetles, crystals and also fish scales. I then linked to how this stuff was depicted in fashion, clothing and jewellery to get textures and prints. I also looked at the colours in pale skin, for example pink and yellow and blue and green veins, with all of these things in mind I created my mood board with some of my favourite images from Pintrest.


I was really pleased that the feedback for my moodboard was positive, these are the feedback that I received below;

• What stands out the most when you first see it?

1. The image of the window with the light seeping through.
2. The metallic and iridescent look to the dress and water reflections. 
3. The window and reflection.

• Explain the reason you notice the thing you mentioned in number 1.

1. The attention to detail of the word is brilliant.
2. The shine captures my eye.
3. Eye catching photography.

• As you keep looking what else seems important?

1. How the word has been expanded into the world outside of makeup.
2. The colour section as all the images fit perfectly together in correlation.
3. Reflecting light.

• Why does the thing you mentioned in question 3 seem important.

1. It is not just about makeup.
2. It brings together as a collection of images and allows the board to flow.
3. And interesting and unusual interpretation of the word.

• How has layout been used?

1. The layout is good just a few gaps in the pictures.
2. Staggered grid formation; brick layout.
3. Neat formation (except the edges)

• What leads your eye from place to place?

1. The arrangement of pictures.
2. Triangle formation.
3. The connecting colours.

• What tells you about the word used by the designer?

1. It is very shiny colours, more crystally colours
2. She see's it in a futuristic way.
3. Deep analysis of word - light/ refraction / colours

• Have they used appropriate typography? How?

N/A

• If they have used typography, why do you think it was used?

N/A

• Imagine the feelings and meanings this mood board represents? What do they evoke to you?

1. Shiny Colours, Sparkly Colours.
2. Futuristic, Metallic, Modern, Alien
3. Full of life, Enchanting.

• What titles could you give this mood board?

1. None
2. Futuristic, Ahead of time, Shine, Glass, Alien.
3. Traveling light.

• What other things interest you about this mood board?

1. None
2. The sharpness of the board, all the images made me feel like glass is present and there is delicacy about it.
3. The aspect of nature that has been explored.

I was really happy with the comments made, I really think that they understood what I was trying to convey through my images, after getting this feedback I think I could improve on is the layout of my images, I think changing these about would make it look more exciting I want to try adding in different shapes and some typography, and also make sure that the white space is perfectly the same between all of my images. I intend to do this for the next lesson so I can quickly move on.

Gleam Mind Map and Initial Ideas

For the development of my word gleam I first looked at the literal definitions of the word gleam these are;

• To shine brightly, especially with reflected light.
• A faint or brief light, especially one reflected from something.

Some synonym's of this word that I found really interesting are;

• Phosphoresce - emit light or radiation by phosphorescence.
• Fluoresce - shine or glow brightly due to fluorescence.
• Coruscate - (of light) flash or sparkle.
• Luminesce - emit light by luminescence.
• Incandesce - glow with heat:
• Scintillate - emit flashes of light; sparkle.
• Fulgurate - a flash like that of lightning.

This is my initial moodboard;

Beauty Ads Throughout the Ages

 For my research into photography for advertising, I have gathered some images from 1920 - Now to  see how photography and beauty advertisements have changed.





















1920's
I have got this image from a Maybelline mascara advert that was published in 1921.
Makeup was still relatively new so  there was lots of descriptive detail about the product.

1930's
This was a lipstick advertisement that was around in the 1930's, illustration was still heavily used.

 

 1940's
This is an advertisement from the 1940's, like the ones before illustration is used but there is less text detailing how to use the products.
Women were often encouraged to buy lipsticks to increase morale of men during the war.

 

1950s

In the 1950's this was seen as the golden age for makeup, photography was starting to get used. Lots of celebrities were seen advertising products.

 

1960's
This is an advertisement for fresh start in 1966, models were on the rise and were taking over celebrities, there was also a new fascination with youth that came across in advertising photography.

 



1970's

This is a Yardley cosmetics Advertisement from 1971, that reflects flower power fashions.

 

1980's

Sally Hansen advertisement showing classic 1980's makeup.

 

 

2000's

This is an image from a 2006 Rimmel mascara advertisement as you can see there is a lot more of a minimal approach with less writing, the product seems to sell itself.