Future of St Helier

Overall I found my chosen pieces in the newspaper to be particularly effective due to them representing my best work from the shoots. I found that these images represented the vibrant colours of town and the architecture that surrounds it, whilst using the contrast to provide an insight into how these buildings are portrayed. I really liked how the images selected both portrayed my stance on how St Helier has been constructed, a mismatched area where there is not real coordination into its display.

Hoarding Installation

The unveiling of the Future of St Helier Hoarding at the International Finance Centre on the Esplanade in St Helier took place on Thursday 13 Dec 2018.First published as a 52 page newspaper supplement in September by the Jersey Evening Post the work produced by A-Level Photography students at Hautlieu School have been transformed into a 34m outdoor installation as part of Masterplan Community Arts and Education Project

We were challenged with responding to specific areas, streets and neighbourhoods divided up along the urban vingtaines of St Helier and to explore through research, archives and photography the built-environment, urban living, diverse communities, town planning, land use and re-generation projects.

 My images below are the photos from my various shoots that I have selected to be used in the news paper spread for the Future of St Helier project newspaper article, which consists of various landmarks in town being photographed in an abstract manner to be then inverted using shapes. This idea behind the images were to bring awareness to the randomness of St Helier’s landscape, and how the design is overall a mess with no real coordination to how town would look like as a final result. I believe that these images will be great in the newspaper as they provide an aesthetically pleasing result which compliments the title Future of St Helier, whilst drawing the viewer’s attention from afar. I edited the images in Photoshop, using an inverted technique which inverts the colour of the selected area, as a result changing them into an almost alien like landscape not previously recognisable. The images are actually both of the side of an apartment in which I found to consist of contrasting colours, grey and orange, something not usually associated with each due to them not mixing.  Here is an aerial map of the area of the images taken:

After my experimentation with various layouts for zines I had come to a conclusion on what I wanted the design to look like. When making the zine I decided to go along an illustration path, here it to me would allow for more creativity and flexibility within the zine. The zine would consist of sixteen pages including the front and back cover, I concluded that I would try to make use of the blank space around certain images to bring out other photographs that I wished to bring into the viewer’s attention more. Finally when choosing each image I found that the inverted shape imagery was the best choice for the pictures as they has their own sense of uniqueness to each one, whilst making them aesthetically pleasing as a result. Here is my final design: For the front cover I used the Reitam font which I separated the distance between each letter to fill any blank space in the titles area. By placing it at the bottom of the page I thought it would reduce it being the center of attention and instead make the main focus the bird design, this font compliments the stencil like outline of the birds matching the symmetrical pattern. The black box in my opinion within the middle acts as a way of bringing the whole piece together, deterring the bird pattern from being too overpowering and strong.

For the next six pages I decided that I would incorporate related imagery on each double spread, done by displaying two remotely relevant images together that represented similar things. By doing this it would create page spreads that worked well together rather than against each other.
For the first two pages I found that palm tree imagery was most effective. This is because of how I thought they represented the message of inversion and the unseen world the most out of all shoots, with using two different compositions for stopping the receptivity becoming too overpowering. This was done through the use of blank space which separated the two pictures from each other whilst showing the similarities both had.  Here I used dark lighting and unseen patterns as my main theme for the two page spread. I used this because of it reflecting the hidden beauty that can be seen in everyday objects in different light, such as lights and chairs. The added inversion created further symmetry and aestheticism which produced contrasting colours that I thought worked well with the overall pieces.
This spread explores the theme of the sky and the silhouettes created by buildings and the contrast they have between them and the environment. To do this I used two images that I thought incorporated gloomy and dull imagery highlighted through using inversion, seen through the birds and the clouds. By using nature in this spread I thought it highlighted the hugely contrasted environment that our urban world has with nature.  The idea behind this double page spread was to highlight specifically the interior architecture that the majority of the buildings in St Helier possessed. By inverting the majority of the image I found that it reflected the beauty in the individual placement of beams and fabrics, which completely contrasted the previous pages which highlighted beauty in individual objects instead.  I chose this image as the second double page spread because of its effectiveness of summarizing the random structure and colour sequence that most of the exterior of St Helier has. The use of inverted square presents us with the completely contrasted difference that the structures have with their surroundings, putting across my opinion of how I perceive that town had become ill planned.    My aim for this image was to provide an insight into the symmetry and lack of development most buildings have in Jersey, where much of St Helier looks the same with continual investment into financial structures. The use of black inversion is to show how the financial industry can be seen in a black and white perspective, either loving or hating it.  Here I created a collage of people travelling towards work, I wanted to highlight here the repetitiveness that occurred in their everyday lives, and so manipulated their pictures so that an impression of endlessly walking was created. Inside this collage I added another picture, this was to add more context from the two people walking in a line showing subtle indoctrination from the financial sector. Overall I was really pleased with the outcome of the zine as I thought it reflected my views about the development of St Helier. Done through the subjective topics about individual aspects of town such as the buildings, people, night life and development, I found there to be a constant recurring theme that allowed for a smooth transitioning between pages, whilst the use of composition for certain pages put across stronger ideas than others.

Before going ahead with the final layout for my zine I decided to come to some sort of resolution for the design I found best fitting for the topic. To do this I would have to create five individual layouts in order to find what would interact the viewer whilst posing as an aesthetically pleasing piece. I will be using the software Adobe InDesign to produce the final product as I found that the tools and settings that accompanied it allowed for the best possible result I wanted, giving me previews of what the final piece would look like. Here are the five layouts that I found to be most effective:

Layout 1: For the first layout I wanted to experiment with simplicity, to do this I thought the addition of only two images could work. By using one image as a cover page and the second as a four page poster page filler I aimed to see what a multi-use book would be like, where you could read it and convert it to a poster page. When deciding the pictures to select I had to take into account what pictures I thought best reflected the shoots so far, putting across my idea of inversion.

Layout 2: My main focus for this layout were collages, incorporating a picture and manipulating it until the outcome was different to the original product. This is linked into the unusual presentation of the second and third page, where the images don’t match up and aren’t as aesthetically pleasing to us as viewers, however the topic of each page and the setting neutralizes this as it section is dedicated to some aspect of Jersey. Here I tried to use white and black borders effectively on certain pictures, by doing so I hoped to create a contrast between backdrop and photo, eliminating the background from becoming to overpowering.

Layout 3: For this design I tried to mainly focus on introducing aestheticism and varying designs. To do this I used the final page as a double spread whilst using the first three as topical subjective pages, focusing on night life, buildings etc of Jersey. When making it I made sure to use white borders as I found that they were most effective when wanting to look solely at certain images, as it implicitly boxed in photos.

Layout 4:
Here I attempted to find how effective using two double page spreads and just a cover photo would be. This to me was the least effective design as there was an overwhelming lack of content and design, as the finished product just looked thrown together in a hurry with no actual idea behind it. However the idea behind it was to give the users two miniature posters which could be assembled out of the book.

Layout 5:
For my final design I tried moving around the layout of my previous design, this meant switching the double page spread with the two individual images on either side. I didn’t find it to be as effective however as the original as I found that the spread worked best as a last page design as it looked more like a final photograph, and the individual pictures being presented as a build up to the last piece.

Final evaluation of layout three as my choice. 

Once I had finished looking at the possible five designs that I could then use for the layout of my final zine piece, I decided that I would have to choose my third layout at the most effective. I chose this because of how I found that each page incorporated a different element of design into it, such as the use of a double page spread, borders and white space. When analysing why I made this decision I found that when regarding future aspects of potential newspaper and book covers, design number three used more elements of photo-manipulation and experimentations than the rest of the layouts, this would enable me to use the design as a template for near-sighted projects of interest or other photography shoot presentations. When looking over the layout I found that by adding each category of my opinion over the development of St Helier: architecture, nature, contrast and nightlife, it enabled me to use the five-page spread to its full use, as each image represented a certain topic of opinion that I had over Jersey. The theme of my zine layout was the inversion of out everyday life, and seeing everyday objects through an otherwise invisible perspective only available by photo-manipulation. By doing so I wished to highlight the contrasted elements that are displaced and unmatched throughout St Helier, creating a vision in my eyes of an uncertain future to head towards.

The use or borders surrounding particular imagery to me prevented the overall effect of the zine layout from becoming too overpowering to the eye, as it created a sense or order and aestheticism to that page. This was contrasted on the double page spread where I went against the use of this border, because of how I found the only useful aspect of the border was in singling out a photo from the rest, it was not needed for the double page spread as the image there was the only image present. My ideas regarding the double page spread was to add diversity to the zine as I wanted to be able to dissect the book and convert it into other uses like small posters, however I could only do this through the creation of a separate double paged spread that would be de-attached from the other photographs.

Before finalizing my own zine I decided to experiment with the possible layouts that I could use for my cover and interior designs. To do this I would use Adobe InDesign to create the template due to the amount of changeable settings it supplied. I will be selected some of my best images from each of the shoots to add into the piece where I will be experimenting with the combinations that they could be put in.

Firstly I will be selecting a few of the images that I think would be the most effective to appear in the zine, here are a few of my ideas on the set-up and compositions of the booklet: When considering the page layouts I wanted to use a variety of types consisting of a double pages, multiple imagery and a single page to find the design most effective for what I want. Once I finished experimenting with how the zine could look I decided to create a front cover for it, to do this I would use a single picture and manipulate it on Adobe Photoshop to something I’m happy with such as a pattern. This was my result:Step 1: Choose an image that could be used to create a simple graphic out of my photo shoot. Step 2: Using the stamp tool produce multiple prints of the bird in a symmetrical pattern.
Step 3: Add a white box with a thick black border to create contrast between the original image and the design in the backdrop.

Once satisfied with the final result I decided I would need to incorporate a font which would suit and compliment the rest of the cover. To do this I experimented with different fonts in Adobe Photoshop to come to a conclusion, by doing this I created a mind-map displayed a mixture of fonts that could potentially be used. Here was my result:Once finished discovering different styles of font for the text within the zine I was fairly certain on the one I would choose. This was the Reitam font, I chose this because of the simplicity but effectiveness of the overall result, with the black and sharp-edged symmetry posing as an ideal thing that would draw in the attention of any viewer’s gaze straight away.

When researching inspirations for my zine I decided to reference my ideas to a photography who had in their career produced a zine them self. To do this I would firstly look up any inspirations for zine designs and layout before actually looking into people who made them, I would need to make a moldboard of potential ideas that could influence my mind-set about what I wanted the final outcome to look like. Looking online these were the results I found most effective due to their composition and overall effectiveness: I found the overall thing that drew me into these designs and layouts were the effective use of black and white imagery, borders, and fonts which created a sense of aestheticism on front covers and pages within. A photographer that I found to be particularly useful when looking at zines was Alexis Maryon, a portrait and landscape photographer who has photographed famous and influential figures such as Amy Winehouse, Fatboy Slim, Alicia Keys, travelling world-wide as a photographer for magazines, record covers and long-term projects. Maryon’s zine called Port of Newhaven I found to be an interesting take on his perspective of circumstances regarding the conditions around the people.

To understand what made it in my opinion such an effective zine I would have to analyse three factors regarding the design and layout of it. Technical aspects, visual aspects and conceptual ideas behind the piece will be my main focal point of the analysis due to finding that they sum up the development and process behind the photographers thought.
Technical: The photographer uses solely black and white photography to put across their perspective of  Newhaven, using it to present the contrasting sides regarding the areas around the port. This is effective as it implicitly highlights different sectors that the port consists of and the variety of life living their, putting my definition on the people and objects rather than backdrop. A relatively high exposure and clarity have also been used to add more detail and depth into the people rather than the places, once again directing the focal point towards what is not suggested in the title, being not the place but society instead. Borders have tended to be used on left hand pages to prevent them becoming too overpowering and clashing with the opposite picture, becoming aesthetically pleasing in the process.

Visual: Visually the piece is created around the focal point of people and their environments, blurring and reducing the backdrop so that we focus and get to know who is in it. A low exposure and high clarity create visually pleasing results as shadows are emphasized and people are presented over dramatically, almost as if it was staged. The use of borders can be seen as representing the contrasting environment that the opposite page possesses, with one being inside a factory and the other outside, this implicitly draws our eyes to the out-of-focused background which we can only relate to so much around the people working and living their.

Conceptual: The zine is meant to represent the different sectors and people within them that make up the port of Newhaven. By highlighting the people rather than place it provides a more accurate representation which reflects the environment surrounding society,  however the overall focus of the zine is to provide us an insight into the photographers perception of the port and their love for it. She tries to present this through identifying what should finds beautiful and unique about the area, which in this case is the people and landscape.

What is a Zine?

A zine is a noncommercial, and often small homemade or online publication usually devoted to specialized and often unconventional subject matter. Usually one tens to be the product of a single person or small group who photocopy their designs, and it popularly defined as only having a circulation of 1,000 or fewer copies. The production of a zine is usually intended to share niche-skill, art, or story as opposed to seeking any profit, which tends to disregard the traditional conventions of professional design and publishing houses as an alternative, whilst usually being handwritten to emphasize a personal connection between the reader and the creator. Here are some example of zines below:From here I will be analyzing what to me makes a good zine, and the aspects within the design which bring it out to me as a reader. By doing this it would allow me to go ahead with the actual making of my own zine, knowing what I wish to incorporate into it. When looking over the cover of these zines titled “AINT – BAD”, I found the use of font to be particularly effective. This is because of the simplicity but boldness it uses, making it not too overpowering, but at the same time fits with the overall design of the pictures and blank space incorporated into the cover.  The use of blank space also compliments the image in the center as it defines the vitals of the cover, this is done through how it acts as a natural border for the fonts and the photographs which adds a touch of complex simplicity. The images chosen for each cover I found were not too visually sore, but not too simple, meaning that they perfectly blended into the layout of the design as the mainly bleak colours worked well with the stark black of the writing.

For my final shoot regarding the future of St Helier I wanted to explore the area of the hospital and the buildings that surround it. By doing so I hope to accomplish photographing the architecture present there and the type of people who associate themselves with the area. To do this I would have to look at vivid colours and occasional portraits of local businesses there in the area, providing a reflection of the life in that one place. Before doing this I would need to create a mood board which presents my views and ideas that I would like to achieve by the end result of the process, here are some ideas: After I had completed this mood board I decided I should make a mind map which would reflect my ideas that I intend to use on the shoot. By doing this it would reduce the amount of time wasted walking around aimlessly and instead give me objectives that I would need to finish by the end of the shoot, producing more imagery as a result. Here are my ideas regarding the shoot:Once I had finished this I deemed myself ready to go ahead with the shoot, I would mainly be walking around the area of the hospital and car parks near it in order to capture what the landscape is really like, here are my images from the shoot:  I then proceeded to whittle them down to only ten images in order to select a final image of the shoot that I thought best represented the aim and goal of the purpose. These are the ten images I selected:

Within this edit I will be cropping various images to a better composition, by doing this I hope to create a more interesting approach to how my pictures are viewed. The software I will be using is Lightroom due to it providing the best tools needed to manipulate the images in the way I want.  Here are some examples of the cropping I applied to a few of my photographs:

Example 1: I chose this crop because of the contrast which is created between the light and dark areas of the image, I found that this framed the piece whilst stopped it becoming to eye sore for the viewer from the amount of colours and objects. By transferring it to an A4 portrait size, I realized that a smoother transition formed from the bottom right to the top left very gradually, making it look more aesthetically pleasing as a result.

Example 2: What made me crop this image was because of the symmetry which is available in the picture. To do this I straightened the image settings from the camera, which as a result but an equal distance from the border and building. It also trapped the grey sky above which contrasted the building well in my opinion and also stopped it being too overpowering.

Example 3:Finally for this image I made sure to crop the image to capture the tip of the building contrasted against the detail of the looming clouds above. I think this emphasized the buildings found in Jersey by how the dull colours matched that of the occasionally dull environment around it.

Once the base shoots were done I then wanted to proceed into editing certain images in different styles to explore the effect they had on the presentation of how I saw my area of St Helier. To do this I used a process of inverted collages where I overlapped two images on top of each other (one being inverted) and cropping the un-inverted image into a shape which is placed in the exact same area of the other image. I found that the results of this were quite successful as they defined a more black and white world that I saw the development of St Helier in, whilst presenting them in a more abstract and unique way than they were originally. Here was the process that I went through along with the final outcomes of the edit: Using either the circular or square highlighter I positioned the shape anywhere on the image, choosing to do the center because of the symmetry it would create from the overall picture. Once I was happy with the shape placement I then proceeded to press Ctrl + I, by doing this it would convert the area inside of the shape into inverted colours making an abstract effect to the piece from the layered filters.

After this I used the effect on various images from the shoot to see how the lighting would affect the outcome, these were my results from the experiment:

I found that after editing each image that using shapes to invert certain areas was most effective as it allowed for a more abstract impression on the picture due to it attempting to reflect the shape of the object itself. To me this produced aesthetically pleasing result as the colours used were polar opposites but at the same time complimented each other.