Dandy-Lion

The past three and a half months on this project have gone by so fast, I have learnt a lot during the time, building on my technical knowledge about publication layout as well as learning new skills on Illustrator, Indesign, Photoshop and iweb.

On starting this project the shoots were the aspects of the publication that I was looking forward to doing least, as I always seem to have trouble sourcing photographers and hair and make-up artists, however early planning paid off, and I managed to get the teams together that I needed for each of the shoots, as well as the locations, turning out to be one of the more enjoyable aspects of the process.

The shoots within the publication are therefore something I am incredibly proud of as it took a lot of planning and reorganising, and at times I didn't think they would ever get done, particularly when Ben (photographer) pulled out of the Land Girls shoot and the initial difficulty at finding a farm location.

My mentor Jess has provided me with some invaluable help and advice and our meeting really helped me with the overall layout of the publication, and looks all the better for the alterations that she suggested, such as adding more fonts to the publication, and using the dotted box more throughout to segregate different sections. The decision to change the cover, spurred on by feedback from Jess and potential readers, as well as tutor feedback, have drastically improved the overall image of the publication. The cover is now a much more fitting reflection of the publication content, and the fact that it's on tracing paper gives the reader an idea of the quality and make do and mend style of Dandy-Lion.

Collaboration was a major part of this project, and at times it was hard relying on others to get back to me with images and information of their work, but it was an enjoyable process none the less, with many of the contributors within Dandy-Lion coming from contacts made at the Boscombe Vintage Market, and collaborations in previous projects, such as those with Rachael Dinnage on the illustrations and interview and Sarah Hallsworth on the packaging design, both from the Illustration course. The collaboration with Vicky and Naomi on the styling of two of the shoots proved really successful, giving the shoots a unique and individual look, as they chose clothes that I would never of picked up and put together and their help and advice on the shoots was invaluable.

The Dandy-Lion website is another aspect of the project that I am proud of, given more time I would like to develop the site further, incorporating the stamped and stitched lettering making it truly reflective of the publication, but for the initial release of the publication it provides all the information the reader would ever need to know, and as the Dandy-Lino publication would hopefully continue to grow so in turn would the website, developing into more of a community site, where readers can interact with one another as well as staff members at Dandy-Lion.

The craft nature of the project had meant that I have been able to experiment further with the types of materials used to print the pages of the publication on, it was a shame that the printing onto fabric wasn't quite as successful as I was hoping, but is an area that could be investigated further if the publication were to actually go to print.

Producing the advertising campaign and my business cards on the laser cutter was another new skill that I learnt whilst on this project, and is completely different from other publications advertising campaign and a true reflection of the craft nature of the publication, giving a traditional craft such as hand paper cutting a modern twist, such as using the laser cutter. An element of the project I would love to have developed further with the made with love card range as well as the advertising. I would also have liked to experiment with using the laser cutting within the publication for the cover or one of the photo shoot title pages.

Similar to the SWOT analysis produced for the marketing plan I have gone over each individual area and identified the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats within the project as well as the Dandy-Lion product -

Strengths -

* Niche subject nature and the tactile nature of the publication make it unlike anything else that is currently available on the market, a unique and individual product.

* Links and promotion of British and local businesses, as well as up and coming talent within the make do and mend and craft field.

* Collaborative projects with professionals that wouldn't usually be put/work together such as the ' Fall in love with the Countryside' feature with Rachael (illustration) and Holly (photographer)

* Specialist subject knowledge - for example within the baking section of the publication there is an article written by Lisa Tracey who owns and runs her own bakery company, and Frances Morel who produced the how to guide on cushions, all of the information within the publications was produced by people who have a passion for the subject matter and have a broad knowledge of that particular area.

Weaknesses -

* The niche nature of the publication is not only a strength of Dandy-Lion but also a weakness. Along with the £25.00 intended retail price it limits the availability of the publication to potential readers.

* Opportunity for advertising within the publication is limited to product placement and brand profiles, with the main advertising income coming from the packaging that can be tailored to the ethos and style of the particular brand, would need to look at featuring discrete advertising on the Dandy-Lion website, and other forms of revenue to fund the production of the publication.

* Packaging is quite fragile, I would of liked to experiment further with different materials for the packaging, however I was limited to the cards that were available to me as I wanted it to be recycled like the papers used within the publication.

Opportunities -

* Brand Diversification with other products linked to the Dandy-Lion publication, such as the 'made with love' card and stationery range, and the potential lifestyle Lookbook Scarpbooks, and online/physical product pop up shop.

*Make do and mend and grow your own are growing in popularity as a result of the recession, and the fact that people are becoming increasingly aware and conscious of what they and their family eat, resulting in a potential growing readership for the publication.

* The opportunity to expand the publication, to looking outside of the UK, to other destination within Europe looking at markets and places to explore all over the world, attracting more readers potentially.

Threats -

*Competition form new publications which are constantly coming onto the market, particularly within the fashion/lifestyle market.

* Rising cost in paper may result in the publication becoming too expensive to print in the future, and therefore result in it becoming a digital publication, however, this would make it available to a match larger, making it available globally opposed to just within the UK.

* Time taken to stitch and stamp the titles and page numbers - this is a time consuming process, however I did get quicker at it the more titles I stitched and the page numbers took considerably less time than I initially planned for. This factor could again push up the end price of the publication to the reader as I would need to employ someone to help me stitch into all the publications if Dandy-Lion where to ever be produced in bulk.

I got the last page on my portfolio printed today, and scanned them all in so that I can send my portfolio along with my CV when applying for jobs, I've included the digital version below -

The scans haven't come out that well, and some of the text is hard to read so I've also included another version substituting the stitched titles for an actual font, I would just need to scan in the tactile bits and pieces, but I'll do this at a later date.

I'm really pleased with the final outcome, the stitched titles work really well, and although I've included work from other projects it all looks part of the same thing opposed to different project arranged together. The dandelion end stop that I have used throughout the publication works well placed on pages throughout the portfolio.