Session 8 : Eye of the Beholder

Article 1 – The Enormous Appetites of Lil Uzi Vert - https://www.gq.com/story/lil-uzi-vert-fit-pic-profile
 
The first article I am looking at is GQs ‘The Enormous Appetites of Lil Uzi Vert’. Rapper, Lil Uzi Vert is known for his very unique and over the top style, as well as defying stereotypical gender roles in his fashion, which this article showcases. The article written by GQs writer Samuel Hine and photographed by Danielle Levitt, and documents their encounter with the rapper Symere Woods in his New York hotel. He describes the room as being a mess of high fashion mentioning he ‘trips over a suitcase overflowing with Balenciaga runners and Louis Vuitton high tops’. This article is very simple and doesn’t feature any complex typographical elements apart from a quote from Virgil Abloh, who is the Artistic Director for Louis Vuitton and founder of the fashion Brand Off-White.
 
I would say the target audience for this article fits in nicely with GQs overall target audience of males from 18 – 30, with a secondary audience which features a younger age demographic of 16 – 24 who are fans of Lil Uzi. In the psychographic I would say this article appeals more to Aspirers, as they would appeal to the materialistic side of fashion and would enjoy reading about all the expensive clothing mentioned in the article and aspire to be able to afford and rock said clothing, as well as reformers who are socially aware of the changes in society and more accepting of these changes, this article would also appeal to them because it mentions Lil Uzis genderless style when talking about this stand on iconically wearing women’s wear in the article showing off his expressive personal style through wearing clothing from the women’s section and wearing purses.
 
The photographs in this article are all following the same style and theme, they feature the rapper in a grocery store in Brooklyn overdressed in various extravagant outfits featuring a archived $13,500 Dior vest, a $7,850 Louis Vuitton jacket as well as other personal pieces such as Maison Margiela, Goyard, Gucci, Raf Simmons and much more high end luxury brands. These photos embrace Lil Uzis playful and unique style by placing him in colourful outfits which are similar to his iconic Instagram fit pics which he mentions in the article about being able to go into any store he wants and ‘buy it all’. These photos set a positive tone to the article by being very bright and colourful which easily grab the reader’s attention. Since this is an online article It also features two videos, on showing the behind the scenes of the photoshoot for the article, and the other being a video titled ’10 Things Lil Uzi Vert can’t live without’ which includes topics mentioned in the article and more.

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Article 2 – Goyard: Waking a Sleeping Giant - https://hypebeast.com/2017/10/goyard-hypebeast-magazine-issue-19-interview
 
This second article I have selected about the French fashion label ‘Goyard’. It is featured on the website hypebeast, which is a website and magazine which features men’s contemporary fashion and streetwear. This specific article focuses on Goyard, giving a brief history of the brand and its ideology, as well as how the brand has grown and adapted, or not, to modern day society. I would say this article is aimed at anyone between the ages of 18 – 30, who has a passion for luxury fashion. This article helps introduce the reader to the brand as well as giving more information on the secretive brand. The article refers to Goyard as ‘mysterious’ and ‘secretive’, The labels reasoning for this is described in the article as ‘We believe that whispering softly in someone’s ear is not only more elegant but also much more efficient than screaming at the top of one’s lungs. The whole structure of the article is very open and is allowing the reader to hear about the brand which is unique due to the exclusive nature of the brand.
 
The layout and photography of the article is done very well, it brings a modern tone to the article with the simplistic and minimal layout, while bringing a pop of colour in the images of the products and models. The pictures at the top of the article are more modern and colourful, showing a male holding bright Goyard bags, these images will appeal to a younger viewer who is more into streetwear, and who would fit the psychographic of an Aspirer. Then as you make your way down the article the colour fades away and there are some photographs of some old Goyard pieces, featuring trucks, suitcases and other vintage boxes and bags. This allows some history to be brought into the article, although while these photographs are featuring the older Goyard pieces, the images are boarded in the newer more colourful iconic print, this reinforces its roots and shows the reader how the brand has changed overtime and adapted to the modern age of streetwear, but while still maintaining its original roots. All of the pictures on the article all feature a collage boarded affect by having the main image of the model, then layering unique rounded shapes behind this in the same colour scheme of the image, then layering all of that over another image, this helps being depth to the images as well as allowing to stand out more and add a more unique design element to the article.
Another unique feature this article features is an interactive timeline, giving the user a row of dates from 1792 to 2016 all with factual information about the label, this offers the reader a more immersive experience when viewing the article, and shows how technology has had an impact on digital magazines. There are also several pull quotes in a larger font size around the article before each new paragraph, this helps introduce the paragraph as well as giving a more professional tone to the magazine, all the separate pull quotes are in the same colour scheme as the related paragraph, this is done to allow a continuous flow throughout the magazine which will help guide the reader through