Production Timeline (February-March)

Production Timeline

Brief due date: March 22, 2026

February 18, 2026

I am planning on producing the 6 original pictures with my model, Sofia, on a day of the last week of February/first week of March. 

The exact date is undecided. However, I do know that immediately after I get the images I need I will be able to immediately edit and design the magazine on InDesign.

February 19, 2026

I have decided on either Saturday, February 28 or Saturday, March 7 on meeting with Sofia and doing the photo shoot. 

After some deciding, both Sofia and I have agreed on Saturday, March 7. 

February 21, 2026

The location is going to be a forest scenery after much discussion with my model. The photos will be taken at night, where the sky will be dark and the vibe will fit the goth aesthetic much better.

Some examples of how the background/location will be like:

(all examples from Google)

Once I get the exact location of the park we will be taking the photo shoot at, I will update this blog.

March 1, 2026

The location we have decided for the photoshoot will be Tree Tops Park in Davie, Florida. 

There was another park location which was the back up suggestion I had in mind. It was Enchanted Forest Elaine a Gordon Park in North Miami, Florida. 

March 5, 2026

Due to location changes, I will taking the photoshoot at Enchanted Forest Elaine a Gordon Park in North Miami, Florida instead of Tree Tops Park.

March 7, 2026

The Enchanted Forest Elaine a Gordon Park was closed early, so we had to move to another location being Arch Creek Park in North Miami.

In total, I had taken ~40 pictures. 6 photos were chosen and I shall begin editing them on InDesign later this week. 

Here are the 6 original photos I've chosen to implement in my magazine:

The photos weren't taken with the background being as dark as I'd like, however they still came to be perfectly good in the end. The quality came out perfect and the posing helped with how the magazine will go.

 Magazine Text Planning

(Using these two images as examples)

What will my magazine be about?

As I have explained before, my magazine's purpose will be to educate the general audience on traditional goths, and what the goth women's fashion represents.

Of course, if I could I'd display all the different types of goths there are. However I only have the ability to do one which is traditional goth.

The model of this magazine, my best friend Sofia, will be asked questions surrounding the traditional goth culture and fashion for the feature article.

What are the questions being asked?

1) How did you know you were interested in the traditional goth fashion and culture?

Response: "When I was younger I remember always fixating on the characters that were depicted as dark and alternative (i.e. The Addams family, Lydia from ‘Beetle Juice,’ Jack Skellington from ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas,’ Gwen from ‘Total Drama Island,’ etc.), but I never really realized it was a possibility for me to appear as they did till 6th grade which is when I started to shift my clothing style and doing makeup that was more gothic which made sense since even prior to that I had been doing special effect makeup typically seen in movies that some would consider obscure from their my interest in gothic culture has only flourished." 

2) How were you able to find the materials you need to commit to the traditional goth fashion?

Response: "Well when I first began I simply found the darkest clothes I could find in my closest and practiced the makeup I was ridiculed quite often in the start and I can admit I looked a mess but I enjoyed it so much I preserved despite others opinions now I’m able to make anything into gothic/alternative fashion whether I’m at a thrift store purchasing clothing second hand or taking my trash and recycling it piece by piece into a piece I know I’d use."

3) How do you use goth culture morals and values in your day to day basis?

Response: "Well prior to understanding gothic morals I had already been participating in majority of what would be considered gothic morals as a vast majority of them is having basic empathy and human morals, however I’d say things that shifted as I grew into gothic culture is in middle school I used to buy from fast fashion but now I ensure I avoid it at all costs, I recycle daily, I’m invested in politics, and other small actions although those are majority things I did even prior."

4) Which material/makeup tool is your favorite to use in your outfits?

Response: "I wouldn’t say I necessarily have a favorite material/makeup tool, however I’m a very big of fan of accessories as I feel regardless of the outfit you’re wearing with enough accessories you can heighten any outfit although something I do quite enjoy doing is teasing my hair and making it look like I have a bird’s nest on my head."

5) What are both the best and worst parts of being alternative in a society?

Response: "The best part is I’m able to express myself creatively and however I want without to much of a care of what others think. While I wish I can say I don’t care at all humans are undoubtedly affected by one’s words or actions wether conscious or unconscious of such, however I don’t think their opinions will ever hinder my individuality and how I choose to express it. Although the worst part about being alternative I’d have to say goes back to people, not just those who aren’t in the alternative scene, but even those inside of it. The whole point is to go against societal standards and to be unique however often times we’ll see fellow ‘alternative’ people diminishing one’s worth and treating others maliciously for not being the typical alternative person we often see displayed which I find extremely contradicting that being alternative has its own societal standard but I believe that’s a whole separate conversation about social media and its harms on people."

Reflection

After doing this planning, I am 100% sure that this brief will go great. I will make sure to update and include the answers I received at a later time.

Most of the information that will be on my magazine is on the 'Project Proposal' blog and the 'Research - Magazine Inspirations' blog.

Of course, there is a lot to work on specifically with the production. However as for the writing and what I will include as a message to the audience.

Location/Mise-en-Scene Planning

 Location/Mise-en-Scene 

Using this edited image, I will be teaching myself how to do the mise-en-scene for my magazine

Setting/Location

The location of the photoshoot will most likely take place somewhere with a dark background. I have no plans for it yet. 

However I do have some thoughts of where it could possibly take place. This is yet to be completely official though.

I do want the pictures to be taken at least in the dark at night time, or maybe some time around 6-7 pm where the sun goes out and the sky is darker.

Model

I have planned for who I am going to use as my model in the magazine. The model will be my best friend, whose name is Sofia, whom does not go to the school.

She is the perfect model for this magazine due to how she herself is goth and wears traditional goth clothing alongside with the makeup. 

(Pictures of the model in her goth makeup)

Props

The props being used in the magazine photoshoot will be very minimal. As for the front cover, Sofia will not be using anything.

However, goth-related materials my friend uses for her looks and outfits will be photographed and pictured in the feature article alongside her other photo.

Lighting

In a previous blog of mines ('Women's Fashion Magazine Photography Research'), I had mentioned the type of lighting I'd use.

The lighting in my magazine photography will be either low-key or natural to fit the vibe I am going for in my magazine.

However using the Eminem photoshoot as a reference, I believe the high-key lighting could be possible to use as well.

The ballerina photoshoot pictured above is similar to what I want to try to achieve for the magazine. 

Performance

Sofia will be posing as I instruct her to. But she will of course have creative choices. She is more involved and informed when it comes to the goth community. This will be great help in the performance.

Costume/Color

The "costumes" in this case would be the traditional goth outfits being worn by Sofia. All clothes will demonstrate the traditional goth fashion

The color will obviously be black.

Reflection

This blog, in my opinion, is the most efficient one I've written yet. I'm really happy that I have made good progress in who my model will be, the performance being done, the costume already decided and the color chosen.

I am going to struggle with the location/setting and the props, but we have to see how it goes along the way. Maybe I'll figure out something soon enough.

Layout Design for Magazine Planning

 Layout Design for Magazine

First Things First,

In order for me to demonstrate how I want my magazine's layout to be like. I will be using Canva to make an example of how it will appear on InDesign.

Front Cover

The white character shadow/silhouette on the front cover represents the model of my magazine. The hex color code used for the specific dark blue background is #090239. The stroke weight of the black border is 20 pixels (or px). 

This is somewhat how the magazine front cover will look like.

Tables of Contents

This is somewhat how the magazine tables of contents page will look like. There will be more details 

Feature Article

(https://elibrarynj.overdrive.com/media/12845539?cid=1296125)

I took this screenshot from an online library of fashion magazines. My feature article will be presented in a similar manner as the Grazia magazine example.

With my magazine (INNOVATION)'s model being presented on a black background either on the left or right page, with text on the other page alongside goth fashion pieces located at the bottom.

Reflection

To be working on the layout design for the magazine will be a bit tricky. Hopefully I have understood the way of doing the layout design planning. If I have more questions, I will ask Ms. Acosta in class.

Color Theory Planning

 Color Theory

(Will be using this color wheel to discuss color theory)

The image above consists of a color wheel, color mixing, color meanings, color properties, and color relationships.

The primary colors are Red, Blue, and Yellow. The secondary colors are Green, Orange, and Purple. While the tertiary colors are yellow-green, blue-green, and red-orange, etc.

For my magazine, I will be using the dark shades of Blue quite often. The blue shades will most likely work to be the background of the magazine.

The black (and some white) shades will be used for the graphic pictures.

Blue is known as a color that represents calm, trust, and professionalism. I want to incorporate professional work in my magazine so I'm happy I've chosen a good color to demonstrate it.

Black is a very contrasting color, meaning light text on dark backgrounds. So this means I will be using a somewhat shade of white font color on the dark blue background.

The way that this magazine example has a dark blue background with readable white text on it is very similar to what I am planning on doing. Hopefully I am able to execute it well.

Reflection

I had already known the basics of color theory before, but now that I have learned some more about the specific aspects I am much more knowledgeable.

Project Proposal

Introduction

My name is Michelle, and I am working on this project independently. 

Magazine Genre/Sub-Genre 

The magazine genre I chose was fashion, the specific sub-genre being women’s fashion. 

As I mentioned on the 'Research for Brief' blog, "Women's fashion is a good genre to convey a message that speaks out to people, as it is a form of art."

Social Issues/Representation

Alternative people, for many decades, have been seen as outcasts or "outliers." As the name of the term says, alternative people do not fit in the norms of society.

One of the most underrepresented and stereotyped alternative group are probably the goths. The fashion and politics that comes with being goth is very important.

Obviously for this magazine, I will be focusing on the goth women's fashion. However I will also make sure to inform the readers more on what goth values are and how goth women dress and represent themselves.

I must add that the goth style I will be focusing on for this magazine will be traditional goth, also known as "trad goth."

Examples of stereotypes:

Examples of influential/good representation goths:

Potential Target Audience

The potential target audience I am trying to reach are younger millennials and Gen Z. But most importantly people whom don't understand goth culture.

Software Chosen + More Info.

The software I will choose to edit and create the magazine is InDesign. Back in November 2025, I had posted a blog on how I created a practice magazine on the software.

Using my knowledge from what I've learned back in November, I can utilize this for when I am in the process of creating the magazine. 

Plan for Magazine

I'm planning for the magazine to be focused on the fashion of traditional goths, but also making sure to speak about the social issues and the bad representation with the stereotypes in modern media.

The font I will try to use for the front cover will be similar to the Old English font. As well as the colors are mostly going to be dark shades which are the usual goth colors.

I will also add some blue shades which will be apart of the magazine's overall design. I like the color blue specifically dark blue so it will fit the magazine's aesthetic.

The attire/fashion I will present in this magazine will be mostly black such as:

(80s trad goth)

(Modern trad goth)

Reflection

Since I last made the 'Research for Brief' blog, I am happy to say I am getting a more clearer image of what I want for my magazine. 

With the research I've been posting on these blogs, I'm able to learn better and to demonstrate my knowledge of the portfolio as well.

(Also, I noticed that the 'Research for Brief' blog could count as the style guide as I have more details of how the magazine's style is going to be like on there)