MORPH Magazine
THE
THE
THE
TECH
LIFE
STYLE
latest technology to make your life that little more exciting
Great places to dine out or pamper yourself & loved ones.
Keep ‘on’ trend and look your best with clothing and accessories.
Issue 1 Jan 2016
Connect With Us:
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EDITORS NOTE
Hi guys and girls! Thanks for checking out our launch issue of Morph Magazine. Whether you are a reader from our previous publication Million Models, or a first time reader, we are very excited to have you here. We decided to rebrand under Morph Magazine as I feel it better reflects the content we produce. Million Models as a brand, gave people the wrong idea that perhaps it was just a modelling publication, whereas we are primarily focused on Technology, Lifestyle, Fashion & Photography.
Be sure to follow us and contact us via our social media channels, we want to be an accessible and user friendly publication, which extends across our social media. Whether you want to show us your latest project, want some advice, to give us some feedback / criticism or just have a chat, feel free to tweet us. Once again, thanks for taking time out of your day to check us out, hope you enjoy the issue!
There are a variety of ways we have improved our content creation, which will be more apparent in the near future. This includes working closely with bloggers in their respective niches. Morph Magazine always aims to help create reach for those Startups who are branching out via Kickstarter / IndieGoGo. These platforms are helping launch some fantastic brands with genius products, so we want to be there to showcase what they can do. So if we find it cool or inspiring, we will give it a cheeky tweet.
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TABLE OF
CONTENTS THE TECH Powerup 3.0....................................Page 10 Hitfilm 4 Pro.................................Page 12 Manfrotto lumimuse...........................Page 14 Kickstarter Technology projects...........Page 17
THe Life Wyboston lakes hotel & Spa................Page 19 New Year, Same ol’ Me.......................Page 28 Medium - Creators working with brands...Page 29 Hackabroad....................................Page 30 What a contradictory world................Page 32 Kickstarter Lifestyle projects............page 35
THe Style Are High-street Mannequins Too Small?...Page 37 Kickstarter Fashion projects..............Page 39 Photography Section.........................Page 42
Misc Contact + Sponsors..........................Page 62
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19
Manfrotto lumimuse
14 42
Wyboston lakes hotel and Y SPa
Photo section
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pg 6
pg 7
THE
TECH Make your life that little more exciting!
THE TECH
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THE LIFE
THE STYLE
CLICK For GIVEAWAY pg 9
PowerUp 3.0 Smart Paper Plane
A new way to fly your paper airplane!
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o w e r U p To y s a r e a company bringing new blood to a classic style of toy. Everyone loves playing with paper airplanes right? Whether you are in your teens or in your 60s, they are a timeless quality toy that are easy to create and fun to use. Well now PowerUp Toys have decided to amp the fun level up and merge it with the latest tech. PowerUp 3.0 is the latest incarnation of the toy which uses Bluetooth and Smar tphones to put the control in YOUR hands. The package itself comes with: PowerUp 3.0 Smart Module Mounting display and storage box Micro USB cable for charging Spare rudder Spare propeller Invader templates (for beginner pilots) N akamura te mpla te s ( fo r advanced pilots) Dupont® waterproof template
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To be honest as it uses MicroUSB you most probably have one available anyway, or you can simply plug it into your computer to charge it up.
It’s as simple as downloading the app, turning on the unit and your bluetooth then letting them connect. Takes a minute at most!
Takes around 30 minutes to fully charge, and that gives you 10 minutes flight time.
On the app you control the thrust level of the motor by using your finger to move the virtual joystick up or down.
t doesn’t come with a charger unit but one is available separately, it does give you a cable however.
Pretty cool! With a range of 180ft you got a large breadth of flying space to use up, so don’t worry about it dropping at your feet! You also have spare rudder and propeller, along with paper templates (and one waterproof special) to start you off with your adventures. The actual device itself is a small patch of electronics in the head that sit on a plastic body including the aerial, spine and motor / prop. This can then be attached to any variety of paper plane shapes you wish to create. It’s amazing that so much tech is packed into that little PCB.
he real driving force behind all this technology is the bluetooth connectivity to your phone.
It gives you a battery level indicator for the module as well as an indicator of the range available. You also have an ar tificial horizon so you have an idea of where it is heading, plus a super nifty magnetic compass so you won’t get lost! The way in which you control the plane once it’s in the air resembles an interactive video game of sorts. As you move your phone, tilting it side to side slowly, it banks the plane using the rudder. You feel like you are actually flying the plane itself, as the motion is so natural.
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ll of this is so easy to operate, if you turn it on, hand it to someone they will instinctively get what is going on in the space of a couple minutes. Brilliant for all the family. An astounding SIMPLE idea using some fascinating technology, adds a whole new dimension to everyone’s favourite childhood toy. We can recommend it for anyone looking for a bit of family fun when in the park or on holiday. It’s available in the UK here on Amazon at £42.72 — HERE — PowerUp have also launched a Kickstarter for their latest incarnation, the PowerUp FPV. This takes plenty from the 3.0 and updates it with a first person camera that is live streaming to your phone, which you can also use the Google Cardboard VR set to be totally immersed. Pretty damn nifty. Already sailed past their target, but that doesn’t mean you still can’t get in on the awesome early deals. Go here to check it out - HERE
www.PowerUpToys.com
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Hitfilm 4 Pro Slick, Fast and Fully Featured
A
s an avid user of Hitfilm 3 Pro, I was waiting to see what FXHome would throw into the mix of this already compelling piece of software. It was an utter surprise when I saw that Hitfilm 4 Pro was going to be available so soon. It goes to show how hard working the developers are to continually improve their program. So what does Hitfilm 4 Pro offer? Easy to use streamlined interface When it comes to the interface, Hitfilm 4 Pro has pretty much nailed it. Everything is clearly labelled and those that are not have icons / buttons that are pretty self explanatory. The main layouts you will use with your time in Hitfilm are Edit and Compositing, which each focus on their respective field. T he Edi t ing inter f ace is extremely modern, fluid and packed with features you would expert of a professional video editing suite.
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he Compositing section is pretty darn sexy, exploding with effects, particle simulators, green screen keying tools, featured packed 3D text (which we will talk about soon) and to top it off, it is all layer based! (Is sexy even a relevant term for this type of review..? I don’t care, that is exactly what Hitfilm 4 Pro is)
Hitfilm 4 Pro opens with a very helpful screen that holds tutorials and articles relating to the software. Meaning anyone can quite simply open up and play with it to learn most of the features in a minimal amount of time. There is also an official forum packed with helpful usercreated tutorials and hints / tips which can be found online. This type of user interaction and community spirit, really does help to make Hitfilm into something special, a program by the people, for the people. Anyone who has spent time in Adobe AE will find that they can adapt to Hitfilm in a flash.
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any of the features are instantly recognizable, although with a few changes. Hitfilm has a plethora of impres si ve and power f ul ef fec t s, not limited to levels, blurs, curves, colour correction, but also powerful built in particle simulations. You also have mocha Hitfilm added into the mix for robust 3D / 2D tracking! Built straight into Hitfilm 4 Pro is a pretty dazzling particle simulator that you can use to create an insane number of ef fec t s, including f ire, tornadoes, 3D Muzzle flashes, explosions, rain or pretty much anything your heart desires. They also have included Grid Emitters in Hitfilm 4 Pro which means creating cit yscapes and more specific effects are possible.
Not to leave out the new soft particles. This is HUGE and helps to get clean composites! The addition of a graph editor has made it extremely easy to smooth out your animations and effects in 3D space.
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Hitfilm 4 Pro has upgraded their 3D engine to enable a large amount of modifications, including Normal + Bump Mapping, a new lighting method for metals and plastics, dynamic reflections, Global AO and diffuse lighting.
In addition to Hitfilm 4 Pro, you also get Hitfilm Ignite which is a suite of over 140 plugins that you can add into your current favourite NLE or compositor.
ncluding the ability to import Alembic format pre-animated 3D models for the more complex scenes.
itfilm 4 Pro has many presets already built in for you to try your hand at and modify to your own needs.
Ofcourse all standard masking tools are there.
This includes the particles, light flares, keying, and colouring tools.
Built-in equalizer, noise reduction and even cool effects like the new Doppler Shift, which when attached to a 3D object in the scene, will emulate position shifting of the sound.
So even if you choose not to use Hitfilm 4 Pro as your PRIMARY software, Hitfilm Ignite gives you the power to use the tools you are accustomed to with the new variety of plugins made available.
The timeline can be played backwards of forwards at different rates, as well as being able to change the playback speed of a chosen clip to slow it down or speed it up.
Pretty snazzy!
If Hitfilm doesn’t have ENOUGH variety for you, there is always the option to use 3rd party OpenFX plugins to boost your library. This includes mocha Hitfilm which is super powerful and comes with it, as well as Red Giant Universe (which is available separately) and many more. FXHome has also partnered with Boris FX to include their 3D Titling plugin, which gives the user complete control over font rendering, extrusion, beveling and in a free early-2016 update will have interaction with Hitfilms cameras / lighting! That plugin is $299 on it’s own, but you get it for FREE in Hitfilm 4 Pro.
Hitfilm 4 Pro is easy to use, fast, powerful and back by supportive developers that listen to the community. You can tell the time and effort put into it by the developers as well as their continued updates / upgrades / community work will take Hitfilm from stride to stride. There are SO many features in Hitfilm 4 Pro that we couldn’t even START to cover them all in this review, this was just a brief overview of what we have seen so far. More details are HERE. It is available on their site from only £271.62 here in the UK which is around $399. You can follow Hitfilm on Twitter for their updates and general chit chat @HitfilmOFFICIAL.
www.Hitfilm.com
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Manfrotto Lumimuse Series 8 I
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However portable lighting is becoming more power ful, energ y ef ficient and usable in professional settings.
So you have the option of using the free ball head mount with 1/4� thread to mount it on a lighting stand, or even your cameras hot-shoe.
Manfrotto released the Lumimuse range LED lights to cover this niche and we are here to see just how good it is!
The actual light output of this little unit is incredible, it can turn a pitch black room into a moderately lit area.
Light is KEY, whether you are a photographer or videographer, it makes or breaks a shoot.
You light allows you to click the power button up to 3 times which gives you 4 intensities.
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n many situations you are limited by using large flash heads or continuous sources that have to sit on light stands from a few metres away.
f you do not have quality light, it makes it pretty much impossible to nail that shot first time.
The Lumimuse Series 8 is an 8 LED portable lighting powerhouse, featuring 550lux output at 1 metre, as well as >92% CRI and a runtime of over 1 hour on full beam (not forgetting the 4 dimming steps available). As for the size and weight, it is EXTREMELY portable, easily sits in the palm of your hand, and is comfortable to use by simply holding it.
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he body has a metallic feel with a reassuring weight that lets you know this is a quality build.
n the lowest setting it is nice to just add a soft highlight to a person or object, while the top setting can be used for environmental effects or for use as a key light. Due to the lights great colour accuracy it will not muddle your photos or videos with strange tinted colours, keeping skin tones natural and colours exactly as they should look.
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f you want to get even more creative you can use the included filter set which lets you adjust the colour temperature as well as diffuse the light more. This works by having a push on filter holder, which you can then clip in up to 2 of the filters to augment the light.
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t charges quickly through the USB cable that is provided which is actually the only disappointment I can think of, it is INCREDIBLY short and for a product in this price range that really is abysmal. It’s ALMOST unusable.
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ll in all though the Lumimuse 8 LED light is an awesome bit of kit to shove in your bag and brings about many opportunities to shoot when perhaps other lighting would not typically allow.
ou can also purchase extra filter sets that offer better portrait lighting or creative colour sets.
For the sum of £99.95 you can go pick one up, or if you don’t need QUITE as much power there are the smaller units that begin at £44.95.
The place I feel that the Lumimuse range really comes into it’s own is for food and product photography, the small size, light output and ability to hand hold the unit to get the correct lighting, fits right into this niche so well.
www.manfrotto.co.uk
‘Our favourite way to use the Lumimuse was to hand hold the light, with camera on A tripod.’
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his enabled us to get a steady shot, while refining the lighting by moving around, up and down to nail the right shadows or coverage. As mentioned previously battery life is great, ranging from 1 hour to 4 hours in my experience, depending on the intensity of use. Quite remarkable really considering the amount of tech that was stuffed into such a small unit Manfrotto has always been fantastic when it comes to quality products so I am not surprised.
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Awesome
Kickstarter Tech projects
GOLapse GoLapse seems pretty amazing, it takes away the huge heavy rail systems needed to get smooth movement on timelapse shots. Simply string it up, balance your camera onto the mounting system, set your speed, and away it goes. Genius. Go Grab One - http://kck.st/1OP5OXM
Revols Slick bluetooth earphones that mold to the shape of your ear in 60 seconds? Yes please. No more slipping out, irritatingly ill fitting rubber earpieces, the Revols are fixing that problem from the source. Definitely want to try these! Go Get A Pair - http://kck.st/1Pxw885
ZKOO The ZKOO ups the ante in the world of motion and gesture tracking. Works on Android and Windows devices to give you ‘Air Touch’ controls, nifty! Will be interested to test it out. Go Get One - http://kck.st/1IE5vOr
FIND MORE PROJECTS pg 17
THE
LIFE Dine out and Pamper yourself & Loved ones
THE TECH
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THE LIFE
THE STYLE
Wyboston Lakes Hotel & Y Spa
Wyboston Lakes Hotel is located on the Wyboston Lakes Estate which is a 365 acre property in between Cambridge and Milton Keynes in the Eaton Socon / Little Barford area. The Y Spa is nestled within the Hotel itself as a separate section. They offer a wide range of treatments, from a hydrotherapy pool to varying saunas, mist showers, relaxation rooms, a Cafe and even an ice wall for those adventurous enough! We were invited to try their Stop Over Spa which gives you: A free treatment from the following — Y Spa Fresh Face Y Spa Soothing Scalp Y Spa Happy Hands Dinner, overnight hotel stay and cooked / continental breakfast, 2 course hot and cold buffet lunch, 4 hours use of Thermal Spa on day of arrival or departure.
This was our diary of the experience. pg 19
Day 1 (Arrival)
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e were told that we could book in and our room would be ready by 3pm, so we went for lunch at the local Chiquito on the way for a lovely meal and headed onwards. We arrived slightly early at around 2:45pm, were greeted by the lovely front of house who booked us in, gave us our welcome package bags and room key along with directions to our suite. The place was undergoing some renovations as they are upgrading the suites, so we had to go in the side entrance. There were a few ground sheets splayed on the floor and work men doing some decorating, but this didn’t bother us in any way, there was no way around it without them shutting down. The room was in the Atlantis block of suites, it has a nifty swipe card for entry, as well as for turning on the electric / lights upon entry. There is more than enough space for a couple in the room, with a humongous well presented bed, nice neutral decoration, well placed lighting and a great big HD TV. You couldn’t ask for much more to be honest, the bathroom was lovely and light, with a power shower, glass screen, large mirror and complimentary soaps / essentials. The room is filled with extras such as USB plug sockets which is BRILLIANT and we certainly made use of them. Not to mention the free high speed Wifi, a must have in this generation and extremely handy. A coffee machine was fully stacked and ready to use, along with the typical robes and towels, A+ for effort. There is a vanity make-up mirror, as well as mirrors on the door and next to the TV. On the shelving unit across from the bed was the brains of the operation, the tablet. This tablet does pretty much everything you can want, it lets you get info about the Hotel / Spa, the nearest amenities, order room service and even book spa treatments. Wyboston Lakes Hotel takes your credit card information upon arrival which means they can just give you a ‘tab’ which you pay upon leaving, meaning you don’t have to carry around your purse or wallet, we loved this idea.
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e left our bags and non-essentials in the room and ventured out to check the rest of the Hotel and Spa. Jessica had used the room tablet to book herself in for the Hot Stone Back Massage treatment which was at 5pm, so we had a couple of hours to burn, which is why we headed off to the Waterfront Restaurant & Grill to get some drinks. The room is nicely decorated and has adequate amounts of seating, including lovely long leather couches for chilling on and watching some of the provided sports TV. I went up and ordered us a couple of Mocktail Mojito’s, we sat down and relaxed while waiting for our drinks to turn up. This is where a little disappointment creeps in, it took over 20 minutes for our drinks to arrive and when they did they weren’t Mocktails, they were fully fledged alcohol packed Mojito’s. While the long wait time was a minor inconvenience, we were disappointed in the wrong order, if we had ordered Mocktails because we were allergic to alcohol it could have been a nasty experience. The bartender was gracious and apologetic, immediately gave us a refund. Sadly due to the long wait time we didn’t end up having any drinks as Jessicas’ treatment was soon.
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essica and I arrived 10 minutes early as requested, welcomed by one of the Spa employees into the Cafe to wait for our time.
freshly warmed bread along with dips, plus our room was a little way from the main area and through a series of manual doors.
Asked if we would like a drink, Jessica had a water while I opted for a herbal tea.
Bless the Porter who brought it, it was a large tray!
The room was filled with a sweet aroma, relaxing music and pleasant lighting, just want you would want before or after a treatment. Once it hit treatment time, Jessica and I were taken up into her dimly lit treatment room. Relaxing music was pumping into the room, she was asked to lay down on the table and the Masseuse got to work. This was apparently super relaxing and got out a lot of kinks in her back, she couldn’t stop raving about how good it was, which made me sad that I opted out of having one done!
(Next time…next time.) So the treatment got a huge thumbs up. We then went back to our rooms to relax and chill out before dinner which was at 7.30pm. On the spur of the moment I decided we should try out the room service, so we ordered a couple of drinks and a bread platter along with a complimentary ice bucket.
(In hindsight this was NOT a wise decision JUST before dinner…) From ordering to someone arriving to our door with order was 12 minutes, a mere 12 minutes! That is seriously impressive considering it was
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fter munching our way through the gorgeous bread platter (which was really divine by the way) we had a nap on the bed, which was EXTREMELY comfortable. That quick snooze went by in an instant, I really didn’t feel like getting up because I just sank into that amazing bed. Got ourselves dressed up and ready for dinner then headed out. Dinner was at the Waterfront, having a reserved table by the window. I am sure the view would be lovely on a Summer eve, overlooking the lake, sadly it was dark as the nights are drawing in. All of the staff were accommodating and helpful while ordering our food & drinks.
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or starters I ordered Pork Belly bites and Jess had the Sticky Chicken Wings.
While waiting for our starters, they brought out some complimentary sharers, they were like large crispy tortillas with some olives and dip. They were actually really nice, lightly spiced with Paprika and had a great crunch. Within 10 minutes of ordering, our starters came (in record time). The Pork belly bites were warm, crispy on the outside and melt in your mouth buttery softness in the middle. Jessica was making reassuring noises while eating the Sticky chicken, so I gather that to mean she loved them. I also managed to try a bit, and I can also agree, the chicken was GOOD. sweet and tender. After our starters were done and dusted, our plates were collected and the mains arrived about 10 minutes later. We really liked that we didn’t have much waiting time between courses, it flowed smoothly. For the mains Jess ordered Haddock & Chips, while I went with a spicier option of the Jalfrezi curry. The Haddock was a MASSIVE fillet, smelt great and looked like a feast fit for a King/Queen. Jess liked it although felt it may be a bit saltier than usual, but it did not stop her demolishing it. My Jalfrezi came beautifully laid out, with a Poppadom, Naan bread & Mango chutney dip.
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he curry was aromatic and tasted sublime, spicy but not overly so, meat cooked to perfection, along with the rice. It also had these really adorable little onion rings which were so cute! Overall while it was not the BEST curry I have had, it was certainly tasty and I would order it again. After all was finished, we really had no room to eat a dessert, but they did sound appetizing so we asked with they could be arranged to take away. We opted for the Apple Crumble and the Cheese platter. The staff were lovely and wrapped them up on dishes so we could take them back to our room for later. Jess really liked the Apple crumble, with the crumble itself and the custard separate ready to be mixed. The cheese platter was extremely satisfying as well, a mixture of Brie, Danish Blue, a white cheddar, along with grapes, chutney and crackers. All tuckered out from the amount of food we had just engorged ourselves on, we were ready for bed. A quick stunningly relaxing shower later, we slipped under the sheets and nodded off while watching some programs on the TV.
Day 2 (Departing)
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aking up this morning was one of the toughest things I have ever done, we were so well rested and relaxed, I never wanted to leave the bed.
Jess and I went into our respective changing rooms, opened our lockers, inside there were a robe and slippers waiting. So I changed, put my valuables and items in the locker, locked it with the wristband and headed out to meet her.
Sadly however, our booking out time was 11 and our Spa sessions was booked in from 9 to 1.
In the main Hydrotherapy area, you lead into the large 11 metre pool.
So we got up, had a quick shower, got dressed and headed out to breakfast at 8am.
The water was beautifully warm as we stepped down the steps into the heated pool.
Break fast was a mixture of cooked and continental self serve buffet food. So I had some crispy American style bacon, Croissant, Mixed berries & Melon slices.
As we were there early in the morning it was only us and one other couple, we started by walking into the centre placed standing Jacuzzi style area.
All cooked to perfection, copious amounts for people to choose from, you could not be disappointed with the selection.
You press a button and jets shoot up from the floor / walls, creating a massaging action as you stand or lay and float.
We were both impressed with the food and filled ourselves nicely, ready to take on our day of pampering. Breakfast finished just in time for us to head off to the Spa.
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t was GORGEOUS, great way to start.
After a little while of just enjoying the bubbles and jets, we noticed the area either side of the centre, where there are metal platforms that look like underwater loungers.
At the Spa desk we were asked to fill out some health questionnaires and sign them off (we had actually done this before the Hot Stone Massage to save time) just so they know of any health conditions or allergies.
You can lay on these and be semi-submerged as you once again warm jets shoot up from beneath.
We were then given this nifty little wristband that they use to open the Spa doors and also for your lockers. You hold them up to the sensor and it opens or locks depending on what you want it to do. Nice safety system.
Across from the ‘beds’ there were 2 large metal pipes, these looked a bit odd and I didn’t know exactly what they were, that was until Jess went under them.
I really like this, it was so relaxing, especially as the air that morning was fairly brisk.
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hey turn on and shower you with a fairly fast jet of warm water, splashing left and right as the beam hits your head with a torrent. Certainly a spectacle to behold. On the side of the pool is lovely decking which houses a few couches and seats where you can go and chill out while others settle into the pool. After we had our fill of the pool, we wanted to explore some of the other aspects, first off starting with the Kelo Sauna, which is the hottest sauna in the Spa. Boy oh boy, was it hot. We walk in to an immediate wall of heat. Set the timer to 15 minutes, but after 5 minutes I was already feeling it. The decking style seats were very warm, there were 3 levels, along with a couple of lounger style slopes to lay on. After about 10 minutes I felt my glasses burning the sides of my face, so we decided to leave early. One thing it did extremely well was drying out our swimming wear! So that was a handy secondary effect. If you like HOT Saunas the Kelo is definitely for you, just don’t over do it. Once we left the Kelo sauna, we headed back to the main hallway where there are a variety of showers. There is a specific hallway for cold showers, a light mist spraying shower which was lovely after the sauna, a cool mist encompassing your body after that type of heat was satisfying. Next to the mister was the Glacial shower which streams out ice cold water, I ran through it just for the experience, but I am too much of a wuss to do it properly!
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e quickly exited and headed to the other sauna which was the ‘Softy’ sauna, which consisted of what I would call the ‘perfect’ temperature for relaxing. A slight warmth like being under a furry blanket on a cold winters night, I felt like I was snuggling the air, it was lush. Definitely my favourite sauna. Once we got our f ill of the sauna and hydrotherapy areas, we dried off using the supplied towels, chucked them into the towel bins and headed to the relaxation areas.
Beyond those cold showers there was a door that led into the Ice wall room, exactly what it says on the tin, a room with one wall covered in ice, lowering the temperature of the air. It was actually quite pleasant and soothing.
These consist of the Big Sleep and Time Out areas, where they have quiet rooms for either sleeping on their wicker memory foam topped beds, water beds or sitting and reading in their wonderful Egg chairs in front of the glass fronted fireplace.
Wanting to experience all of the facilities, we tried out the Steam room and the salty steam room.
We tried out all of these quickly, Jess fell in love with the water beds. However we headed into the Big Sleep area for a nap.
Both of which were REALLY not to our taste, completely filled with steam so we couldn’t see, the air was WAY too hot to be comfortable.
The room has peaceful light music playing in the background, after about 10 minutes we were sparked out.
Not sure if that’s how it was supposed to be, but we didn’t enjoy it.
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oke up a while later, well rested and decided to go sit in those cool looking Egg chairs. We sat across from each other, rested our legs up and had a chat till it was time for our lunch reservation. 1pm had come around SUPER quickly, time flies when you are relaxing. So we got changed, handed back our wristbands and thanked the staff.
‘Off to Lunch we Went’
Lunch was lovely, variety of cooked foods including Pizza, Tempura vegetables, rice, tender aromatic chicken and a gorgeous Goats cheese tart. We even went up for seconds, it was that good. Finished up with a cute Brownie in a pot. With lunch out of the way, it was time for our included Y Spa Soothing Scalp treatment. We headed back to the Spa, where we were invited upstairs to wait in the lounge till our masseuse was ready. After a few minutes we were individually called into our rooms where we were asked to get ready. Top came off, socks came off, laying on my back on the warm massage table. My masseuse came in and told me the treatment was going to begin.
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he treatment started with a complimentary foot massage with mint oils, it was lovely.
They put heated mint oils on a towel and rub it into the sole of your foot, while compressing the heat down. Felt AMAZING. She then went on to massage my neck, top of my shoulders / arms and then eventually onto my scalp. Gently caressing as she went, I was almost ready to doze off, luckily she moved onto trying to work any stress and knots out of my neck / shoulder. This was actually refreshing and I feel it worked out a few kinks that were there. Once again she moved to the scalp, massaged gently and delicately with her fingers rotating slowly around my temples and all over. I felt like all my worries just swept away, definitely a relaxing session. The treatment was over before I knew it, 25 minutes has never flown so fast. T his is something I would DEFINITELY recommend. So our Spa experience had finally come to an end, but what a way to finish. It was like we were gliding on air all the way home. We went to the front desk, paid up any of the extras we accumulated over the stay, and were waved off by the smiley women as we said our goodbyes.
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Conclusion
All things considered, our stay at Wyboston Lakes Hotel and the treatments we had at Y Spa were pretty flawless. The staff were friendly and helpful, the rooms were spotless and comfor table, the Spa experience was smooth and relaxing. What more could you want? We would love to go back and try out some of their other packages if invited, we will keep you updated on Twitter with our experiences! Prices for a similar experience start at ÂŁ119 per person, which when you take into consideration what it includes, is actually quite a steal. If you or someone you love are in need of a couple of days to unwind, this is definitely somewhere to consider.
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5.
Facebook: YSpaUK Twitter: @YSpaUK
WWW.YSPA.CO.UK pg 26
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pg 27
New Year, Same ol’ Me F
or example, this year I have become the kind of person who gets up before noon and doesn’t get (too) drunk on weekdays. I mean, mostly that’s due to the fact that I am no longer a student and I have to go to work, but nonetheless, it’s an improvement! This year, however, I have decided to take on a new tact. Partially because I think I am now at a stage in my life where I’m not likely to improve much more than my current state, but also because I like the idea of something measurable yet not too difficult to achieve. I’ve written a list of family members and close friends, complete with their birthdays etc and I’m going to send them birthday cards on time.
“New Year, New Me”, cr y the Miniondecorated Facebook status’ of people you used to go to school with (who, FYI haven’t changed in 15 years so are unlikely to do so this year) whilst every other advert is for a washed-up celeb’s workout DVD.
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fter being encouraged to indulge over Christmas, with ever-shrinking boxes of Roses, and “Just a little buffet” that takes up several tables, a switch is flipped just before New Years, and suddenly everyone turns into a boot camp drill Sargent. Boxing Day sales are full of frantic shoppers, stocking up on sports wear (which will later become lounge wear) and gym equipment which makes a great clothes airer… Nicorette patches adorn arms up and down the country whilst everyone resolves to learn an instrument/call their mum more often/get out of their dead end job/stop picking their toenails… Chances are, we will have forgotten our promise not to eat fast food at 1am on New Years Day when we’re scoffing a John’s Kebab House Special to soak up the copious amounts of alcohol that has penetrated our liver… Again! I enjoy a nice vague resolution usually. I tend to sway towards “This year, I’m going to become a better me”, because that is open for interpretation and until I do something awful like kick puppies or steal from old ladies, I can usually get away with saying I’ve achieved it.
pg 28
I have all the best intentions when it comes to things like this, but my sieve brain means that sometimes birthday packages arrive a good 2 months after the date. To make it worse, I’m pretty lucky to have thoughtful packages sent to me regularly from some of the aforementioned and the gifts are covered in a slimy layer of guilt (metaphorically of course). If I manage to achieve this, I’ll be pretty impressed! In fact, I won’t even make a resolution for 2017 as I reckon I will have reached my peak!
by Codie Louise Austin
Medium Creators working with Brands A good idea?
ABSOLUTELY. Medium is a fantastic platform that is heralding in a new generation of blogging and publication, but one area in which is lacks currently is monetization for the users. I know many people that are avoiding the switch simply because they can write content on their own blogging platform that enables a variety of ad placements, which is how they earn their living. There are some that take content from their own blogs and simply repost them on Medium for an increased reach. While there is nothing inherently wrong with this, I feel it would be far better for the writer and also Medium if the content ORIGINATED solely on Medium.
‘So for Medium to also incorporate an aspect for monetization seems to be the next logical step.’ They have the best platform for publication, now they need to make it a viable product for full time bloggers / editors to earn a few pennies from their work.
T
his is a great start, as it will create more well written content for the platform while drawing eyes of potential advertisers / businesses that would like to work with the writers. However there does have to be MORE, while the brand initiative is a well thought out and considered approach, it will not benefit everyone. You will have to be one of the lucky few to get chosen by the specified brands, whereby there needs to be a more accessible ‘Universal’ scheme that can be taken on board by all users. In an age where anyone can sign up to one of the other free blog platforms, write content and use advertisement services to generate an income, this has to somehow carry over to Medium. I will be extremely interested in how the brand scheme works within Medium and to see what other monetization options they can provide. Medium is OUR favourite platform, so to see these changes is wonderful. Keep it up Team Medium & Ev Williams.
by Paul Bryan
There are a variety of routes Medium could take to achieve this, I hear they are talking about working with content creators and matching them with brands that want to work with them.
pg 29
HackAbroad
S
urely everyone at some point has dreamt of working overseas, somewhere fresh and new to start your career. However once it comes to actually pursuing that dream, not even Google can help you, it all get’s a bit too tough to pursue. This is where HackAbroad comes in. They have set up a site to match job seekers with Tech companies that are open to acquiring some foreign talent. Companies that are looking for International employees has steadily grown over the last few years, generally because they are looking to add new blood to their team, expand their horizons and the vision of the company. Typically this has always been tough as it is hard to find companies that would Sponsor someone for a work Visa, but HackAbroad wants to step in and make this process far more streamlined by matching these to potential workers. The bright minds behind HackAbroad are Eric Fung and Minh Nguyen, bringing experience from various tech startups, as well as companies such as Oracle and EMC. They came up with the idea of Hack Abroad af ter seeing how tough it was for people to get hired Internationally. This included Nguyen’s own cousin who struggled to find employment in the US.
pg 30
S
o bridging the gap between these two worlds is of utmost importance, this is where Eric and Minh are changing the landscape of employment. Hack Abroad is FREE for the job seekers themselves to use, while employing a freemium model for the startups looking to recruit. The first 30 days are free, whereby they are then offered the ability to upgrade their listing for increased visibility. Overall it is a fantastic project that will help many inspired talents find their way into the International job of their dreams. Be sure to go check it out over at www.HackAbroad.com
Millions of people are moving out of their country each year, or wanting to, but struggle to get hired internationally. The biggest obstacle is that most people require visa-sponsorship. Tech companies do sponsor, but it requires too much manual research to find these job listings online. Current options require filtering and reviewing of thousands of job listings. There is no central location for all of these jobs.
HackAbroad is a job site comprised of only tech companies around the world willing to provide sponsorship. Job seekers can spend less time filtering job listings, and more time applying to jobs they can realistically get. People are reaching outside their borders for new and fun opportunities, while tech companies are doing the same to gain new perspective and ideas. CEO - Eric Fung
www.HackAbroad.com pg 31
What a contradictory world The Evolution of the Blogging community
A brief history. The blogging phenomenon has been around for over a decade, some say earlier but the “blog” didn’t take off until the early 2000’s. Blogger started in 1999 and took off, gaining in popularity. The emergence of Wordpress in 2003 (during the time when Blogger was bought by Google) and Tumblr in 2007 added two new competitors to the market. These platforms gave users an outlet to spread their knowledge, experience and opinion on a mass range of subjects. If we look at Wordpress alone, in Oc tober 2006, 595,412 people across the world were posting blogs on the site. If we look at October 2014, eight years later, 64,765,865 people were blog ging on Wordpress alone. Blog ging has undoubtedly become a popular way to share online and with Youtube offering people a chance to video blog their thoughts, the bloggersphere is only going to expand.
pg 32
But what about the blogging community? The blogging community is a large group of people that congregate on other people’s blogs and on social media websites and applications such as Twitter and Facebook. They or should I say we — as I’m a “blogger” too are a bunch of dif ferent people talking about everything. We don’t hide behind our computer screens too often, we do come out and attend events and lead our own lives outside of the four corners of our computer screens. Satirically, I’ll split us up into three categories. You have: The newbie — the person who’s just started blogging and wants tips, lots of them. They are dipping their toes into the blogging community, releatively and blissfully unaware of some of the negativity that can fly about. Ignorance is bliss. The long-termer — the transition is swift and people may not always realise it. This person (a la moi) has b e e n b l o g g i ng fo r o v e r
a year or more. They ’ ve commit ted themselves to the bloggersphere for better or worse. It’s not a formal ceremony but it feels like one when we announce that we’ve been blogging for a certain number of years. It’s an achievement, okay? The part or full timer — the person who has turned to their screen and said “Well it looks like we are going to spend a lot of time together.” It’s like getting engaged to your computer. People can star t to make money from blogging and can get in deeper by hosting advertisers and the like. It’s not for everyone but there’s a lot of people out there. That is of course in jest and a testimony to the diversity of people within the community. I’ll stick to using “they” to refer to the blogging community from now on to be generic. I don’t want to be too critical.
You always have to blow your trumpets, don’t you? The blogging community is not one for idly standing by or staying quiet. They blow their trumpets in a grandeur fashion, not least in an effort for self promotion and to the lack of dismay from others, trying to do the same thing. They are a loud and proud communi t y w ho for t he most part stick together and support one another. They have their different opinions and acknowledge that dutifully — most the time. They can be a great group of people — celebrating blogging milestones with one another; networking on different social media platforms and being genuine and generous people. But at times, there may be some bad ducklings out there who want to rustle some feathers and kick about the nest. But there’s a bad side too, right? Trying to do the same thing is what puts the blogging community at a disadvantage.
Many bloggers want to see the same fames and fortunes as Zoella, without the loss of privacy (yet we all put ourselves online with haste.) It’s a competitive world out there and everyone wants to be the best. It starts out as a hobby, as something we enjoy doing. Then it spirals out of control into a competition. It turns into a squabble that isn’t what the blogging community is about. It turns into a big headed farcical of people frantically b**** fighting over who is the best. It turns into a slagging match and a show of “look who I’ve collaborated with” and by no means least — “look how many followers I have.” It’s all about the followers for some. Many of us can get blinded by the “bloggers haze” — if you look at the first picture, you’ll understand what I mean. There’s also the idea that beauty and fashion bloggers have more calibre than “other” bloggers. Being a multi-subject blog ger, I see myself no different to any other blogger.
I offer something different but that doesn’t make me any better than any other blogger out there. Zoella has had a large influence on this, but we forget that one of the most popular bloggers is Swedish gamer, PewDiePie who has “the tick” of doom and a mouth-watering number of followers. He’s like Pavlov with his positive reinforcement — yet isn’t every blogger? (Please don’t say it’s only me that gets the reference?) Being a “big” blogger like Zoella and PewDiePie has become somewhat of a destination for celeb-dom for many people. We see these people creating merchandise and attending meet ups like many celebrities these days and that’s where things can get nasty. In the community it has been known that some can become deafened by the depths of being famous and become fame-hungry or “fangry” as I like to call it. They ignore the depravities and the problems that come with it. Their eyes grow wide and the claws can come out.
pg 33
This is where real friendships can be broken and where the blogger community can affect “real life”. Even though we are blogging about our real lives anyway, aren’t we? So has the blogging community evolved for better or for worse? It comes down to what we publicise — what we share and say online has changed how weave evolved. With the growth of blogging only going up, more and more people are joining the blogger community. Could it get too big for its boots and spill over causing people to stop blogging out of fear of other people? I hope not. It has evolved for better as there’s a lot more support out there for people and more avenues to aid self promotion. But there are times when it’s for worse.
The blogging community can turn around and be vindictive. The community is not a true community when there’s an overbearing divide. People can sometimes lose sight of why they started blogging nd it becomes all about “only for self” and not a free for all.
It’s a contradictory world.
pg 34
by Sophie Dishman
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pg 36
THE LIFE
THE STYLE
Are High-street Mannequins Too Small?
I
t’s rare to find me shopping in the high-street as often as I used to a few years ago. Why? The main reason is lack of time. Why the hell would I bother to reserve a day to go out shopping when I can get it done online (where there’s also a bigger range of clothes) while watching my evening soaps? The other reason though, is that every time I go out shopping, I more often than not come home with a bit of a body image complex. And whether you think it’s silly or not, shop mannequins are part of that problem. It’s the same scenario for pretty much any shop you walk into. There they are, mannequins everywhere; with tiny waists, legs that are so much longer than yours but are only about as wide as your arms, and as for their arms, well… they’re like sticks. It makes you wonder if anyone could really be that skinny. I certainly haven’t seen anyone with those kind of proportions. So why are the mannequins shaped this way? Many reasons have been given over the years but none that justify the real reasoning behind it.
S
ome say it’s the boost sales; that clothes sometimes look their best on tall, skinny models and the better they look, the more it encourages shoppers to buy the clothing. Of course, I can’t speak for others, but this cer tainly doesn’t apply to me. The outfit may look amazing, yes. But I don’t buy it. Why? B e c aus e I t hink t h e re ’s absolutely no way the outfit is going to look that good on me. I look at how a shirt just falls effortlessly onto their skinny figure and how it’ll more than likely catch onto every bump and lump that my figure has and make me look awful. When a mannequin has it’s pin thin legs in a pair of black skinny jeans all I think is how much bigger my thighs would look compared to theirs. I hardly ever buy clothes that are displayed on mannequins for this reason. And if I do, chances are I never wear it because I just don’t believe I pull it off as well. Others in the fashion industry claim that mannequins aren’t supposed to look like normal human beings, and the figures are skewered so they look more pleasing to the eye. Surely the figures of real people are deemed pleasing to the eye?
T
hat clothes should always look better on the realistic figures of women and men, not on figures that are almost impossible to achieve with the measurements almost being on par with what is considered a marker for anorexia. I t ’s b e en rep o r te d t ha t the average dress size for women in the UK is a size 16. So how come high street stores typically don’t have mannequins that are over a size 8? Plus size high street stores are no better when comparing to the average dress size, with their mannequins generally being a size 12–14 and no bigger. Not only can this potentially cripple of the confidence of the many woman who wear larger dress sizes, it is potentially gi v ing younger a girls a distorted view of what they are supposed to look like and feeling like they’re inadequate if they don’t look like that, triggering eating disorders which are already on the rise. So what needs to be done? Ma n y p e o p l e o u t t h e re are calling for these skinny mannequins to be taken out of shop windows and for plus size ones to be put in.
pg 37
T
opshop already announced earlier in the year that they would no longer be ordering any of their stick thin mannequins and I’m sure many will follow. And I agree with most of that; these current mannequins are in no way representing a healthy figure and probably cause more harm than good to consumers, and plus size mannequins are long over due in high street stores. ‘Realistically proportioned Mannequins are the way to go.’
H
owever we need to remember that while the average size of women in the UK is a size 16, that not everyone is a size 16. There are size 4 clothes on the rails for a reason, because there are some people out there who are a size 4. To only have size 16+ mannequins on display would only make people who are smaller feel like they’re not made for the clothes on display either. There needs to be a diversity in the mannequins on display, making it clear that the clothes are suitable for people of all sizes (unless of course the store is a plus-size store and therefore are only targeting those who are plus-size).
pg 38
B
ut they need to be realistic, and all be an appropriate height for their size that would be deemed healthy by a doctor on a BMI chart. After all being healthy is what should be desirable to people, right? Maybe one day this will happen. We’ve certainly made leaps and bounds with subjects like this in the past few years. Topshop isn’t the only one trying to make changes, Debenhams introduced size 16 mannequins in 2013 and slowly but surely I have started to see more of them around. More and more people have taken to the internet to speak out about the unrealistic expectations of women’s figures, trying to let other girls know that it’s okay and actually healthy not to be like that. There is still room for improvement, though. Size diversity in mannequins still isn’t quite there, and there are people still out there who argue that size 16 mannequins are normalising obesity without even thinking that size 16 can be a healthy size for some people. So I think until there’s been a little more change, I’ll be sticking to online shopping.
By Johanna Worcester-Barrett
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FIND MORE PROJECTS pg 39
Photographer - Znapps Photography Model - Mistyy (PurplePort)
pg 42
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Photographer - Znapps Photography Model - Alyxandra (PurplePort)
pg 44
Photographer - Znapps Photography Model - Alyxandra (PurplePort)
pg 45
Photographer - Znapps Photography Model - Holly stone model (PurplePort)
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Photographer - Znapps Photography Model - StacieD (PurplePort)
pg 47
Photographer - Belinda Buxton Model - Nate Addams
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Photographer - Belinda Buxton Model - NigelJohn (PurplePort)
pg 49
Photographer - Belinda Buxton Model - Nate Addams
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pg 51
Photographer - Jae Storer (PurplePort) Model - CharlotteHH (Purpleport)
pg 52
Photographer - Jae Storer (PurplePort) Model - CharlotteHH (Purpleport)
pg 53
Photographer - Les Paul Model - CharlotteHH (Purpleport)
pg 54
Photographer - Les Paul Model - CharlotteHH (Purpleport)
pg 55
pg 56
Photographer - Owen jones (purplePort) Model - fatheha / phatz (Purpleport)
pg 57
Photographer - stuartful2 (purplePort) Model - fatheha / phatz (Purpleport)
pg 58
Photographer - stuartful2 (purplePort) Model - fatheha / phatz (Purpleport)
pg 59
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