Fashion Week of Rochester

A group of students and I created a website for our Picture Editing I class to host our class coverage of Fashion Week of Rochester that we completed in Photojournalism I. We decided early on that we would use each person’s story from the class. The event includes a wide range of people from talented designers and models, to people who are leaders in the community, so we wanted to demonstrate the variety of people who were involved. 

We began conceptualizing the website by creating a mood board, wireframes and style guide. We chose several theme words to center our edits around: community, creativity, urban, opportunity. In the mood board, we selected images to reflect the themes by using color palettes and design that felt urban and edgy.

We organized the website into three sections: Behind the Scenes, Inside and Mission. Our original design concept was a choose-your-own-adventure experience based on the different locations in and around the main event tent. We wanted the design to be immersive and democratic, not necessarily placing emphasis on one story over another. As we began the web design process, we realized we did not have the technical expertise at the time to make it as interactive as we wanted it to be. Instead, we opted to simplify the layout and streamline the menu, but still tried to keep with our original concept.

We chose to present the stories as character-based narratives and divided them up into the different areas of the tent depending on the focus of the coverage. The characters who were behind the scenes focused on the fashion, the characters inside focused on their involvement in the event and the one story beyond was related to the cause the event benefited. The design of each layout acted more like a print layout than a traditional online one. We did this keeping in mind that the website might be viewed on a phone, so a scrolling layout best suited that medium. Each of us in the group contributed to the overall design process, but we split up the work on individual edits. I was the editor for Kaydian and Sage’s stories.

Kaydian Hayle’s story

Photographs by Cassidy Keith

Web layout

I decided to tell Kaydian’s story primarily focusing on her being a clothing designer. There were other aspects to her personality to explore, like modeling and being a personal trainer, but I made those things secondary to the main theme because we chose to place her behind the scenes. It made sense to focus on the fashion because that was primarily what was available in the full take. I touched on the personal training at the beginning because it was part of the description for the story. I also wanted to show how she was working out of her house, and balancing having her day job with preparing for the event. Images of her working at her kitchen table and the exterior of her building say a lot about her commitment to her craft. A lot of the story is about process, so I made sure to include the image of her with her husband to add more dimension to her character. It was important to emphasis the image of Kaydian on stage walking in her own clothing because it shows she is independent and a strong woman. I decided to end on her with one of her models and one of the organizers of the event to show that the process she went through to prepare wasn’t all her, but a collaboration with her friends and family.

Print layout

The purpose of the print layout version Kaydian’s story was to show how it would be presented differently on a printed page. I edited in some more transitional images as compared to the online layout and chose to talk more about her balance between being a personal trainer and a designer. Instead of beginning with her being at the gym, I decided to bring it in the middle to show that is something she does while also being a designer. I had more freedom to choose different sized images with the print layout, so I included smaller detail images. I chose to end on the image of her on the runway because of the impact it leaves the viewer with about who she is as a person. The ending online talks more about Kaydian being one of a group of characters that was present at the event, which is the focus of the website coverage. The end of each of the stories ties back into Fashion Week as a whole and encourage the viewer to look at the other stories. The print layout is a stand-alone story that is more about Kaydian as an individual, so it made most sense to leave a lasting impression with her in this powerful position. 

Sage Cruz Field’s story

Photographs by Rebekah Hange

Web Layout

Sage wears several hats, being a designer, artist and also the event photographer for Fashion Week. I went into my wide edit looking for images to connect these different parts of the story together. The full bleed image at the beginning of the layout foreshadows his involvement with Fashion Week as it’s a behind the scenes look before the event started. I then introduce him as an artist. I made the connection to him being a clothing designer using the visual link between his portrait and the painting of him next to his clothing. Some of the strongest images in the take were of his process of being a painter, so I wanted to emphasis his interest in building his individual brand by showing him painting and his signature. To make the connection between him being an artist and a photographer, the image of his painted hands on his camera photographing his clothing serves as a transition into seeing him in action at Fashion Week. I ended on an image of him photographing because it brings the edit circling back to Fashion Week.

Instagram concept

The purpose of the Instagram edit for the Fashion Week coverage is to show images that were not included in the final edits on the website layouts. The campaign would be used to promote the launch of the website on @rit.photo Instagram account. The feed would show a more in-depth behind the scenes look at Fashion Week as an event, abandoning the confines of the character-based narratives we have on the site. I selected images from a wide take of all the coverage, mainly focusing on showing who the audience is for the event and what is done in preparation overall. The images I chose were features that would stand out in a small size on the phone screen as individual images. I also was conscious to sequence them in a way that it would make sense appearing as a grid on the feed if you were to view it on the profile.