communications portfo-
industry
--EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/STRATEGIST--
INDUSTRY MAGAZINE: ‘YEABOOK’, 2016
PUBLICATION: HTTPS://ISSUU.COM/ MAYAGULIEVAPORTFOLIO/DOCS/FOR_PORTFOLIO
GOAL: 1. TURN AROUND A FAILING STUDENT FASHION MAGAZINE (GO FROM SHUTTING DOWN TO BOOMING). 2. MAKE INDUSTRY RELEVANT AND KNOWN TO THE STUDENT READERSHIP. INSIGHT: STUDENTS DON’T FEEL THAT “FASHION” IS RELEVANT TO THEM. STRATEGY: 1. TRANSFORM THE PERCEPTIONS OF “FASHION” FROM EXCLUSIVE (RUNWAY STEREOTYPE) TO INCLUSIVE (FOR EVERYONE). 2. DRAW ON THE THEME OF ‘YEARBOOK’ TO REPOSITION INDUSTRY AS A MAGAZINE ABOUT REAL PEOPLE WITH PERSONALITIES. 3. GIVE AGENCY TO THE STUDENT AUDIENCE BY LETTING THEM DEFINE WHAT FASHION MEANS TO THEM. RESULT:
- 5,000 PRINT RUN - 10,000 READERSHIP (PRINT+ONLINE) - STOCKED IN WARDOUR NEWSAGENTS (SOHO, LONDON) ALONGSIDE KINFOLK AND I-D - FEATURING AN INTERVIEW WITH THE EX-EDITOR OF VOGUE, ANNA HARVEY - BRANDED CONTENT FOR ESTABLISHED BRANDS: ALEXANDRA PR (INTERNATIONAL PR AGENCY, HTTP://ALEXANDRAPR.COM/), RACHEL DUCKER (HTTP://WWW.RACHEL-DUCKER. CO.UK/) & FASHION RETAILER REIGN VINTAGE (HTTPS://REIGNVINTAGE.COM/) - NOMINATED FOR ‘STUDENT MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR’ BY STACK AWARDS 2016
READ: HTTPS://ISSUU.COM/MAYAGULIEVAPORTFOLIO/DOCS/FOR_PORTFOLIO
AFTER
READ: HTTPS://ISSUU.COM/MAYAGULIEVAPORTFOLIO/DOCS/FOR_PORTFOLIO
SOUNDCLOUD: HTTPS://SOUNDCLOUD.COM/INDUSTRYMAGAZINE
MEDIA ADVERT: HTTPS://WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/INDUSTRYOXFORD/VIDEOS/939133802851456/
the i s i
---------CREATIVE DIRECTOR-------THE ISIS MAGAZINE, 2015 READ: HTTPS://ISSUU.COM/THEISIS/ DOCS/MT15_FINAL_CONTENT_II
GOAL: MAKE THE ISIS (PRINT AND WEBSITE) LOOK LIKE IT WAS DONE BY PROFESSIONALS. INSIGHT: STUDENT CREATIONS END UP LOOKING IN-COHESIVE (UNPROFESSIONAL) BECAUSE THE DESIGN PROCESS IS
STRATEGY: 1. “RADICALLY” COLLABORATE AS A TEAM, TACKLING EVERY SPREAD TOGETHER, AS OPPOSED TO EACH TEAM MEMBER WORKING ON ASSIGNED SPREADS IN ISOLATION. RESULT: - FOLLOWING THE DESIGN SUCCESS, THE MAGAZINE RECEIVE HERE HIGH TEST NUMBER OF CREATIVE APPLICATION IN THE HISTORY OF ISIS TO JOIN OUR DESIGN TEAM. - SHORTLISTED FOR “BEST STUDENT WEBSITE” BY STUDENT MEDIA AWARDS 2015, THE GUARDIAN: HTTPS://WWW.THEGUARDIAN.COM/STUDENT-MEDIA-AWARDS-2015/2015/NOV/02/STUDENT-MEDIA-AWARDS-2015-SHORTLIST
HTTP://ISISMA ORG.UK/
AGAZINE.
MY SUBMISSION AS AN INDEPENDENT ARTWORKER IN SUMMER 2015 WHICH GOT ME HIRED AS THE CREATIVE DIRECTOR.
------------------------FOUNDER / EDITOR-CURATOR------------------THE DRAIN, LAUNCHES IN 2018 THE DRAIN IS AN ONLINE PLATFORM — A BACKLOG FOR SEMI-PROFESSIONALS. (I AM CURRENTLY SELF-EDUCATING WEB-DESIGN.) GOAL: HELP AND ENCOURAGE EMERGING TALENTS PUBLISH THEIR IDEAS AND GAIN EXPOSURE. STRATEGY: CREATE A CENTRALISED PLATFORM THAT CURATES UNPOLISHED WORK. COPYWRITING/ONLINE ADVERT: SEE OPOSITE
the
e
-------------------------------------JOURNALISM:------------------------------FULL ARTICLE: HTTP://ISISMAGAZINE.ORG.UK/2015/11/THE-BRITISH-WILLGO-DOWN-IN-HISTORY-FOR-BEING-THE-ABSOLUTE-ASSHOLES-OF-THEWORLD-LAWRENCE-WEINER/ GOAL: BREAK THE ICE WITH THE INFAMOUSLY “UNINTERVIEWABLE” FATHER OF CONCEPTUAL ART, LAWRENCE WIENER. INSIGHT: MOST ARTISTS FROM THE 1950-60S HAVE A REBELLIOUS ATTITUDE, RESISTING AUTHORITY. STRATEGY : 1. ALTER THE INTERVIEW DYNAMIC FROM QUESTIONING THEM TO SEEKING ADVICE. 2. APPROACH LAWRENCE WIENER AS A STUDENT SEEKING ADVICE, NOT AS A JOURNALIST.
On the outskirts of Oxford, Blenheim Palace rises up out of the morning mist like it’s momentarily forgotten that the future doesn’t belong to it anymore. We’re here to meet Lawrence Weiner, the so-called father of conceptual art and creator of the second exhibition by the Blenheim Art Foundation (the first was of work by Ai Weiwei). His presence makes itself known even before we enter the building: blocky blue letters are suspended above the vast entrance, spelling out the words ‘WITHIN A REALM OF DISTANCE’. It’s the first of seven deceptively simple works installed throughout the palace, which are surprisingly fitting to their new surroundings. While ‘FAR ENOUGH AWAY AS TO COME READILY TO HAND’, a silver PVC banner that takes up a whole wall, seems like a mocking postmodern echo of the tapestries it’s hung alongside, the rich yellow of ‘NEAR & FAR & EQUAL MEASURE AT SOME POINT’, located at the western side of the Great Hall, gives it the appearance of an antique sundial. The words could be a biblical quotation exhorting patience. What moved Weiner to take on the palace’s commission in the first place? He admits to not having known how to react when approached by Blenheim; “They said, ‘Would you be interested in the show?’ and I said, ‘I have no idea’. I was not looking for another show.” Weiner says that when he saw the space, “The thing that made me think it was a possibility was that it was not royal. It was regal, not royal.” In Weiner’s telling of it, the palace is closer to a museum or a gallery than to a royal castle: artworks and precious objects have accreted here over time in the same way that a museum’s collection expands, and tell similar stories.
my makeover strategy for Uber (independent case study):
UBER IS A BRAND THAT NEEDS A MAKEOVER, BECAUSE IT HAS A BAD REPUTATION. UBER HAS HAD A BAD YEAR. DESPITE THE RECENT DEPARTURE OF THE CEO, TRAVIS KALANICK, A REPUTATION OF WORK-PLACE HARASSMENT AND FASCISM STILL HAUNTS UBER, NOT TO MENTION THEIR MOST PRESSING UK CONCERN — THEIR LONDON LICENCE HAS BEEN REVOKED. PEOPLE, INCLUDING TFL, THINK THAT UBER LACKS SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, LEADING TO A CURRENT PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF: “UBER IS A CORPORATE BULLY WHO ONLY TAKES FROM PEOPLE AND THREATENS THE CITY’S SAFETY.” AS A RESULT, MANY HAVE ACTIVELY CAMPAIGNED AGAINST IT ON TWITTER (#DELETEUBER), RESULTING IN 500,000 DELETED ACCOUNTS. PEOPLE HATE UBER; BUT THEY SECRETLY LOVE UBER’S PRODUCT. MANY SEE UBER AS A DREADED NECESSITY, HOWEVER GUILT AND FEAR OF PEER JUDGEMENT HAVE LEAD TO USERS PREFERRING UBER’S COMPETITORS. UBER NEEDS A MAKEOVER TO CHANGE THE REPUTATION THAT IS HOLDING BACK THEIR GREAT PRODUCT. MY GOAL IS TO ELIMINATE THE MORAL CONFLICT AND ALLOW PEOPLE TO OPENLY LOVE UBER. TO ACHIEVE THIS UBER MUST MATURE INTO A COMPANY THAT PLACES SOCIAL VALUES AT ITS HEART; INCLUSIVENESS AND SAFETY WILL BE THE TWO TOUCHSTONES OF THIS MAKEOVER. I WOULD ADJUST UBER’S BRAND POSITION FROM “ANYWHERE, EFFORTLESSLY” TO “ANYONE, ANYWHERE, EFFORTLESSLY”. THE ADDITION OF “ANYONE” WOULD CREATE UBER’S NEW DEDICATION TO PROVIDING AN INCLUSIVE SERVICE THAT TRULY DEMOCRATISES TRAVEL — FREEDOM IN MOBILITY — FOR ANYONE, NO MATTER THE RACE, GENDER OR DISABILITY. THIS NEW, POSITIVE MILESTONE IN THE BRAND’S HISTORY WOULD NEED A MEMORABLE SHOWCASE TO BEGIN THE SWAY IN PUBLIC OPINION. FOR THIS I SUGGEST PARTNERING WITH STORMZY (MICHAEL OMARI) — A TRENDING GRIME-ARTIST FROM SOUTH LONDON WITH A HISTORY OF GETTING BEHIND ACTIVISM. HE COULD LEGITIMISE UBER’S DEDICATION TO INCLUSIVITY, WHILST CONNECTING TO THE TARGET AUDIENCE (UNDER-30S), AND ALSO BRINGING PERSONALITY AND ENTERTAINMENT TO A CORPORATE BRAND. THIS COLLABORATION COULD BE A GATEWAY FOR UBER TO ENTER THE ENTERTAINMENT DOMAIN — A GOOD MEANS TO TALK ABOUT SERIOUS SOCIETAL ISSUES IN A POSITIVE, ENGAGING WAY. ALL UBER USERS KNOW AND HAVE A RECORD OF WHO THEIR DRIVER IS; THIS IMPLICITLY MAKES CITY TRAVEL SAFER AND SHOULD BE MADE MORE APPARENT. STORMZY COULD BE THE INTERMEDIARY IN DELIVERING THE PAIRED MESSAGE AND THE SECOND MAKEOVER TOUCHSTONE: “UBER IS FOR ANYONE, BECAUSE EVERYONE DESERVES SAFE TRAVEL.” I WOULD ALSO INTRODUCE THE OPTION TO HAVE A SHORT BIO FOR ALL DRIVERS, SUCH AS: “LOVING HUSBAND. FATHER OF THREE. AN AVID ELTON JOHN FAN.” THIS WOULD HUMANISE THE DRIVERS, BRINGING SAFETY AND SECURITY OF THE UBER SERVICE TO LIGHT. BY PLACING SOCIAL VALUES — INCLUSIVITY AND SAFETY — AT ITS VERY CORE, UBER COULD REMOVE THE DISDAIN AND KEEP ITS CUSTOMER BASE. THE RECENT UBER MANAGEMENT CHANGE WOULD MAKE THIS MAKEOVER MORE BELIEVABLE, GIVING IT A BETTER CHANCE TO COMPLETELY DISASSOCIATE FROM THE BAD REPUTATION IN THE LONG TERM. PERHAPS, EVEN THE TWITTER ACTIVISTS COULD BE CONVERTED WITH UBER’S REPUTATION TRANSFORMING INTO: “UBER IS A FUN, CARING FAMILY WHO GIVES MORE THAN WE EXPECT AND MAKES THE CITY A SAFER PLACE.”
HTTP://WWW UK/DEGREESH
W.RSA.OX.AC. HOW/2017/
between the floor an
nd the milky
way
200 wooden bannisters, spray paint, resin