| dc.description.abstract | ABSTRACT:
As a young girl, I was always fascinated with the fashion my parents grew up with, the music they heard on the radio for the first time, and the culture surrounding their adolescence. I was so drawn to decades of the past that I always wished I had been born into a different generation. This overwhelming feeling led me to a lifetime of reminiscing on a period in history that I never got to experience, ultimately leading me to this project's creation. Julie Andrews famously said: "Feed the body food and drink, it will survive today. Feed the soul art and music, it will live forever" (AZ Quotes). This quote provides a glimpse into music and art's influence on the individual and communal human experience. Music and art challenge every waking individual's mind as they encourage them to think differently and open their mind to new ideas, feelings, or ways of expressing themselves. The 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s were three decades that made history for their ground-breaking music, new ways of artistic expression, the rise of photography, and ever-evolving fashion trends. By creating a creative magazine, all art will be appreciated as the string that binds us together.
This project involves the marketing and branding of Anemoia, - a subscription-based magazine that digs into the different elements of music, art, photography, and fashion of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. The word "Anemoia" is a brand new term that is defined as "nostalgia for a time or place one has never known" (Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows). The creation of the magazine was accomplished through extensive research of Whalebone, a subscription-based magazine focusing on spreading positivity, as well as researching the different eras and what made them each unique and powerful. Through the use of online historical databases and books, substantial research was crafted and combined. The final deliverables include a logo design, advertising, product design, business collateral (business cards, letterhead, and envelope), and digital collateral (social media and website).
This senior thesis research paper uses two types of research: descriptive and secondary. The first method is explanatory research, which "aims to accurately and systematically describe a population, situation or phenomenon. It can answer what, where, when and how questions, but not why " (Scribbr). Descriptive research provides a good understanding of the problem and sheds light on different examples. To provide real-world examples, the case study method was used, which is defined as describing "the characteristics of a specific subject (such as a person, group, event or organization)" (Scribbr). The first case study conducted in the thesis was an overview of Whalebone magazine's business model, social media, advertising, and brand identity. Whalebone is a modern-day subscription-based magazine that spreads positivity through creative design, photography, illustration, and writing. They have achieved great success since their company launched in 2010 and have continued to grow and become a well-established brand. Secondly, three case studies were conducted on the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Within these broad case studies are more specified case studies, which include breaking down the cultural ways of the time, the music and album art, photography, and fashion trends. Throughout these studies of these generations of great art, inspiration is taken and applied to the magazine Anemoia. Lastly, the second type of research conducted in this thesis is secondary. Secondary research is described as "research that analyzes or describes prior research" instead of gathering new data and analyzing that (Illinois Tech). This was completed using books featuring famous photographs or record covers of the era studies. Additionally, the physical magazine of Whalebone has been used to understand the layouts and better understand the brand identity. | |
