12.09.2012

Juke Magazine

My monthly subscription to Stack graced me with the awesome Juke magazine which this month was The Weird Issue. Juke is a music magazine which incorporates fashion. What I like most about this magazine is the fact that they have ad campaigns made exclusively for them from young fashion brands. This ensures that the ads fit in well with the magazine and that it makes it a little more personal.

The graphics used linked the whole magazine together with the triangle motif used throughout. I think that the design of this magazine helps to create a feel for the certain hip audience it is aimed at. I love the cover pages shown below as they really catch your eye and help to segregate the magazine.

11.09.2012
Reading Festival
Reading festival has to be one of my favourite festivals I have been to this Summer, not only because the line-up was awesome but because it is the one where a large majority of my friends go and the weather was the best it has ever been. The sun shined over the festival as we drank our way through what was a memorable weekend. There were so many amazing bands some of which I have seen before and others that were a new experience for me. 

On the first day of music I couldn't decide between The Cure and The Maccabees and I know some of you may think I am crazy but I am glad I decided to see The Maccabees as they completely blew me away. Their set was totally magical and I know that it is one that will be remembered for a long time. Earlier this day the bands that stood out to me were Cancer Bats, Touche Amore and Foster The People all of which managed to capture the crowd.

On the Saturday the headliner was Kasabian, I don't tend to listen to this band but my oh my they have totally turned me into a fan. I didn't realise but I actually knew every song of their set and it was just a great laugh to chill and dance away at the back and just really enjoy the moment. Mastodon were a great band to see that day, they just did their own thing and that is something I admire. 

However the most exciting part of this day was the secret set from Green Day. There had been a lot of rumours flying around and so therefore I thought I would play it safe and  try and be in the arena as soon as it opened. Little did I know that the set was to start at 11 and stupid me I was all the way in Reading town getting breakfast, luckily I had a phone call off a friend to let me know so I ran all the way back and made it just in time before they closed the gates.  Well what is there to say I mean a secret set of a band who would be more likely to headline this festival, of course it was going to be crazy. Billie Joe Armstrong knows exactly how to get a crowd jumping the whole way through a set, the NME tent was rammed with fans and it was just amazing.

The best of the festival was left to the Sunday, I mean Foo Fighters to end the weekend what more could you want? I literally cannot put into words how unbelievable and inspiring this band were, they have to be one of the greatest bands of our time. Dave Grohl interacted with the crowd telling stories and really making the show much more personal. Bringing the set to a close with Everlong and plenty of fireworks topped of my weekend and although Glastonbury is back next year I am sure I will definitely find money in order to attend Reading for my fourth year. 

At Reading this year there seemed to be a lot more brands linking Social Network sites and the festival together in order to promote themselves. An example is shown in the image above where we had our photo taken and then had to tag ourselves on Facebook in order to be entered into a competition. I thought this was quite cool because we were given props to dress up in making the photos look more fun.

05.08.2012

2000 Trees

So I thought I needed to do a post about 2000 Trees which I went to at the beginning of July. It is a festival which supports new and underground British music and is only down the road from where I live so I definitely had no excuse for missing out. Below is the line up which I thought was more than pretty decent for a small festival and also it included some of my favourite bands.

When we arrived on the Thursday the weather was perfect and the grass was green, but come on this was a British festival...as if it would have lasted.

There were amazing bands spread across 4 stages with 3 of them being in tents which is definitely what was needed as the weekend was wet to say the least. It was great to see Gallows for the first time with their new lead, Wade MacNeil, who I actually thought fitted in perfectly with the band. I took some photos of the amazing artists that I saw over the weekend. All of the bands embraced the mud especially The Computers who are known for wearing all white which within seconds had turned brown...

(Pulled Apart By Horses)

(Dry The River)

(The Computers)

(Lucy Rose)

(Turbowolf)

 

2000 Trees festivals had such a good vibe as it is only a small festival and really does represent new and underground British music well. They have themed fancy dress Friday and the photo above shows the best costume I came across. Its great because everyone gets involved which means that you can let loose and just  have a really great weekend. 

29.07.2012

WOODEN TOY QUARTERLY

I have a subscription to the amazing Stack Magazines which is a service that distributes independent magazines from around the world. Each month I have the excitement of being delivered a brand new magazine which I most probably haven't come across before. If you are into magazines and love trying new things I would definitely recommend giving it a go, visit the Stack magazine website HERE. This post however is based upon my most recent delivery from Stack Magazines which is the beautifully produced Wooden Toy Quarterly.

The graphics of this magazine are one of the best I have come across, the attention to detail is truly something the creators should be proud of. When reading you are not just given large chunks of writing which ensures the readers interest is kept throughout. It was also exciting having a number of items to look through rather than just having the one magazine.

This was the 7th edition of this magazine which happened to be the music edition which I was double excited about. Each edition has a different theme ranging from vintage to collectors to black and white. I definitely will be keeping my eye out on this magazine as I believe it has a lot to offer and really comes across as something that should be collected and be given pride of place in your bookshelf.

 My favourite article within this magazine is shown in the images below and was an interview with Matthieu Bessudo most commonly known as McBess. I absolutely love his illustrations and the interview was interesting to read as it was not one of them *ask the same question and give the same answer for every interiew* kind of things.

 I think McBess is the coolest illustrator I have come across in a while and he even makes music, check out the short video below...

        

25.07.2012

Tara McPherson

I have fallen in love with the work of the talented Tara McPherson. She is known for producing posters for bands and this is how I came across her work. I just think that every piece she does is something that I would quite happily cover my walls in. She is an American artist who produces drawings, paintings, illustrations, prints and sculptures. McPherson also has a range of merchandise which include toys styled using her own unique designs. My favourite piece of work is the Neurosis and Mastodon poster shown below as I am a big fan of Mastodon and I think that the design is perfect. Check out her website from the link below to see all of McPherson's work.
http://www.taramcpherson.com/info/

(Isis) 

(Neurosis and Mastodon)

(The Guilt Will Eat You Alive... If You Let It)

       (Somewhere Under the Rainbow, Turquoise)        (Somewhere Under the Rainbow, Green)

15.06.2012
DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL 2012

I have just come back from what has to be one of the muddiest however best weekends ever and I have Download Festival to thank for that. With headliners such as Metallica and Black Sabbath I was almost guaranteed an awesome time seeing some amazing live bands. This was my first year going to Download and after going to Sonisphere festival last year I wasn't expecting it to be as big as it was. Arriving and setting up camp in the pouring rain was not ideal but we were at freaking Download so made sure that the weather would not get in the way. Even though we were covered in mud from the minute we arrived the weather perked up over the couple of days resulting in me getting a rather sunburnt face on the last day.

Tenacious D, La Dispute, Soundgarden, Refused, Machine Head and Skindred are just a number of the bands which totally blew me away. I would say that anyone who is anyone needs to add seeing Tenacious D live to their bucket list because it was definitely something that I will remember for a long time. Refused and Soundgarden are 2 bands that have just got back together and made their debut appearances in the UK that weekend. I am so glad I was a part of it as these bands exceeded my expectations and I can't wait to see them again at their own gigs. All 3 headliners from the weekend were unbelievable and I didn't think Metallica could get any better after seeing them last year but oh my...The Black Album is just gold. I was so glad the Ozzy was on top form getting the crowd going crazy for Black Sabbath resulting in the perfect end to the weekend. 

(Soundgarden)

(Refused)

(Black Sabbath)

I will leave you with a video from the weekend...

  

11.05.2012

ANNA TREVELYAN

At Uni I have just completed a project where we had to produce our own photo shoot brief. We had to pick our own stylist and photographers that we want to use and come up with an innovative idea to link a chosen brand to New York. I had chosen the stylist Anna Trevelyan for my brief and she is someone that I really admire and therefore thought I would do a post on her.

Above is an image of Anna Trevelyan herself. I not only like her work but I also love her style, she always has amazing hair and dresses in her own, unique way. Trevelyan has recently been named in 'The Independent' as one of the top five emerging influential figures in fashion. I have added some images of shoots that she has styled below...

(Working with Daniel Sannwald)

(Working with Ellen Von Unwerth)

(Working with Frederik Heyman)

(Working with Malcolm Pate)

(Working with Bullet Magazine)