g alex s k i n portfolio
CONTENTS
TREND HALLMARK 7 THE FUTURE LABORATORY 15 POLARITY PARADOX 16 THE FLAT AGE SOCIETY 21
PHOTOGRAPHY AND STYLING VALKYRIE 27 ISABEL X PALACE 30 JODI X SUPREME 38 ERIKA X THRASHER 44
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- ALEX GASKIN BA (HONS) FASHION COMMUNICATION NORTHUMBRIA UNIVERSITY STYLING/PHOTOGRAPHY/TREND +447980173706 alexandragaskincontact@gmail.com alexgaskin.co.uk
SPIRITED, UNCONVENTIONAL AND DILIGENT. Inspired by subcultures, my knowledge and understanding of street culture is strong. With a forward thinking attitude, my creative direction often follows current affairs, placing emphasis on equality and empowerment. I believe that collaboration and cultural influences are essential for innovation and creative growth. Japanese lifestyle,
ABOUT
fashion and culture has always been a personal inspiration. Completing a rewarding internship with Aesthetica magazine, a prestigious and leading international arts and culture platform, opened my mind to the world of editorial. Here, I developed on my journalistic, branding and marketing skills to industry standard. My graphic design style can be described as experimental, contemporary and geometrical, regularly incorporating layering and textures to provide the consumer with a divergent experience. Shortlisted for live briefs with award winning and international greeting cards company Hallmark and London based trend company The Future Laboratory, my creativity is projected through graphic design, photography and outstanding research skills to create visionary projects.
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CHALLENGE Working on a live brief with international greeting cards company, Hallmark, create original images for Hallmark products to coincide with Hallmark Agent SS16 trend.
STRATEGY Approach the brief in a contrary manner and instead of focusing on solely card designs, create flexible and surreal digital prints that the consumer has to glance twice at. Incorporate geometry, inversion and bold textures that would appeal to the Agent consumer. Layer textures to enhance complexity of the Agent consumer.
AIM To fuel creativity in Agent inspired males by creating surreal imagery. To place emphasis on other Hallmark stationary instead of cards to expand market and sales growth.
OUTCOME Shortlisted by Hallmark after the following work was presented.
GRAPHIC DESIGN / TREND / ADOBE SKILLS
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COLLAGE CREATED FOR AGENT SS16 HALLMARK TREND
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TARGET AUDIENCE AGENT TREND SS16 Gender: Male Age: 12-21 Personality: Indie characteristics, interested in action and spy films such as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and James Bond. Holds a Topman clothing aesthetic and style. Leather, metallic, geometrical, and sleek.
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CHALLENGE Working on a live brief with London based trend agency, The Future Laboratory, carry out extensive research into macro trends, The Polarity Paradox and The Flat Age Society. Create a trend publication revolving around the beauty sector.
STRATEGY Convince the consumers of the Polarity Paradox that they have the opportunity to be even more exciting and extreme through their beauty regime. Create surreal and inspirational visual imagery including divergent materials, colours and textures and use positive and persuasive language to capture the readers attention. Convince the consumers of the Flat Age Society that they are only as young as they feel and that wrinkles do not define them through confident, graceful yet experimental imagery.
AIM Convince Polarity Paradox consumers that previously existing beauty products on the market are not satisfactory for expression. Generate confidence and youthfulness among consumers of the Flat Age Society.
OUTCOME Shortlisted to present trend publication in front of representatives of The Future Laboratory. .
GRAPHIC DESIGN / TREND / ADOBE SKILLS / CREATIVE WRITING
THE FUTURE LABORATORY - 15 -
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TARGET AUDIENCE POLARITY PARADOX A group of consumers that enjoy indulging in extremity and testing their senses. Confused in what they want to explore in life, consumers will indulge in luxurious food and extreme diets and work hard and play hard in short periods of time. Bored of the ordinary way they are used to living, a consumer of the polarity paradox will adopt an extremist lifestyle to restore a significant life.
HOLOGRAPHIC
“Bored, spiritless and disinterested. When one plain colour is not enough and one specific shade on the colour spectrum cannot bring you utter satisfaction. Imagine, your small visionary eye moves a millisecond to the left and you are taken into the abyss of a whole new world of colour. From one angle, your retina is filled with a glimmer of shimmering cotton candy pink. But then you move. Only slightly, and you are visioning a subtle yet ambient lilac. You make greater movement and your retina receives a flush of sparkling moonlight blue to glowing sea green. Holographic. You want to show the world your personality. Yet you fail to put your soft, youthful fingertip on a colour that is able to capture what you stand for and what you represent. Distributing glittering colours of alienation that you thought were only available in another distant galaxy. The wait is over, and you can now explore both subtleness and intensity through a brand new spectrum that has always been accessible and often overlooked. But once it has been viewed, cannot be ignored. Allow yourself to access this extraordinary universe through beauty and wonder. Soft, vibrant holographic reflections appear through fragile materials such as thin, clear cracked glass and smooth, stretched cling film. Filling the room with a vibrancy of light from metal foil reflections. Burning sensations of gratification and warmth rush through your body when discovering the power of the holographic spectrum. Your life is just beginning.�
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POLARITY PARADOX - 18 -
PAINT AND UV LIGHT “You want to combine the earth’s natural elements. UV. Achieve chivalrous beauty at dawn and luminescent beauty at dusk. Unleash incandescent oranges and phosphorescent lime greens. As the light becomes dim, your face radiates feelings of astonishment and wonder.”
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THE FUTURE LABORATORY - 21 -
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TARGET AUDIENCE THE FLAT AGE SOCIETY “With age comes beauty, wisdom and advanced style. The Flat age society is a group of creative individuals fighting for youth and excitement. Beauty is subjective, coming in an array of different values and the devil is in the detail. Glowing chestnut hair, combining natural materials for eyelashes. Fragile, yet theatrical is what they achieve. Frail, delicate wrinkles no longer represent a lifeless lifestyle. Instead, representing reborn youth and wonder. Ostentatious vitality.�
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THE FUTURE LABORATORY - 23 -
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THE FLAT AGE SOCIETY - 24 -
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PHOTOGRAPHY AND STYLING
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Created as a final major project, Valkyrie is a style bible for the lost, confused, misrepresented valkyries* of the world, attempting to unite strong minded street style females. In a series of printed publications, with a lack of style inspiration for females in street clothing, Valkyrie aims to inspire the girls of streetwear today through photography, styling and creative direction. *IN NORSE MYTHOLOGY, A VALKYRIE IS “ONE OF A HOST OF FEMALE FIGURES WHO CHOOSE THOSE WHO MAY DIE IN BATTLE AND THOSE WHO MAY LIVE.”
CHALLENGE Evolve the streetwear community into a culture where females feel they can express themselves and be comfortable. When conducting a survey on street culture, 78% of females stated they did not feel comfortable expressing themselves because they felt intimated.
STRATEGY Create a series of publications dedicated to male dominated brands and their clothing in order to make streetwear more accessible for women and attempt to close the gender gap.
AIM To inspire street wear brands to regularly involve women in campaigns and look books, providing style inspiration to women as much as they do to men. To remove the stigma attached when women wear street wear brands such as Palace, Supreme and Thrasher. The assumption is often made that they may be wearing their brothers or boyfriends clothes. To inspire women to be more confident and expressive in street wear, giving them ammunition to develop their style in a positive community. To challenge the “menswear” label that street wear brands hold and challenge gender identities within this culture. Essentially allowing street wear to be viewed as unisex instead of menswear.
PHOTOGRAPHY / STYLING / ADOBE SKILLS
VALKYRIE - 27 -
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ISABEL X PALACE
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VALKYRIE: ISABEL X PALACE - 31 -
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VALKYRIE: ISABEL X PALACE - 33 -
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TARGET AUDIENCE GENDER: Female
AGE RANGE: 16-30
POLITICAL VIEW: Left wing, liberal
SOCIAL CLASS: Working class/Low-middle class
LIFE STAGE: Sixth Form College/University/ Young Professionals
LOCATION: London, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol, Amsterdam, Berlin. Urban, enjoys the city lifestyle.
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JODI X SUPREME
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VALKYRIE: JODI X SUPREME - 39 -
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ERIKA X THRASHER
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VALKYRIE: ERIKA X THRASHER - 45 -
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VALKYRIE: ERIKA X THRASHER - 47 -
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MODELS 31-36 ISABEL BARRACLOUGH 39-42 JODI HARRISON 45-48 ERIKA BOWES
ORIGINAL IMAGE REFERENCES 16 ORIGINAL IMAGE: WILLIAM HERWIG HTTP://WWW.WILLIAMHERWIG.COM/ 19 ORIGINAL IMAGE: BEOBEYOND HTTP://BEOBEYOND.COM/ 21 ORIGINAL IMAGE: DAPHNE SELFE HTTP://HAARSTICKJEWELRY.COM/2014/10/DAPHNE-SELFE/ 24 – ORIGINAL IMAGE: ADVANCED STYLE HTTP://STYLELIKEU.COM/PROFILES-2/CLOSETS/ILONA-ROYCE-SMITHKIN/ *ALL FOUND IMAGERY IN THIS PORTFOLIO HAS BEEN DIGITALLY REMASTERED AND WAS AUTHORISED TO USE IN BRIEFS BY TREND COMPANIES INVOLVED.
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- ALEX GASKIN BA (HONS) FASHION COMMUNICATION NORTHUMBRIA UNIVERSITY STYLING/PHOTOGRAPHY/TREND 07980173706 alexandragaskincontact@gmail.com alexgaskin.co.uk