Monday 19 August 2013

The Finishing Line

By DEWI NURJUWITA

The NOSH journey has come to an end, and I am both elated yet sad. For one, I can now bid farewell to sleepless nights I spent working on layouts and articles. But at the same time, I have fostered close bonds with my group mates and it is unfortunate that we have to part ways.

As with every other group assignment, there were bound to be hard times and conflicts. Despite that, I am glad that the NOSH team managed to work past it and produce a magazine. At the start of this module, the idea of producing a magazine from scratch seemed a little far-fetched. What do we do? Where do we begin? None of us had a clue what lay ahead of us.

As one of the designers for the group, I felt pressurised to produce quality layouts for the magazine. It was hard at first, especially with no prior InDesign knowledge before embarking on this assignment. At times I was even on the verge of giving up. But I sucked it up and forced myself to improve on my designing skills and get the layouts done as I felt accountable for the final grade of the whole group. Without the layouts, there'll be nothing to be printed out.

I feel accomplished now that our magazine has been printed, and the satisfaction of seeing the final product is surreal. Designing the layouts wouldn't have been possible without the help of my group mates and co-designer.

Scott efficiently cut articles, even within short notice, so the designers could fit the text into the layouts. Pamela and Wei Sze helped with last minute edits and article-cutting the night before we printed our magazine, helping to ease the load of the designers. Mandy willingly followed the other writers around to take photos for their articles, even if it wasn't to her convenience. And lastly, Claudia too stayed strong and spent long nights doing her part of the layouts.

Although we all had different working styles, we managed to compromise and understand each other and worked well together. I am proud of how far we have come and the skills we have acquired from this assignment. My team mates are a bunch of talented and dedicated writers, and I look up to them.

Of course, all this would not have been possible without the guidance of our lecturers, Ms Koh and Mr Victor Seow, who are always willing to help and even go as far as sacrificing their lunch breaks for consultations. Thank you so much, we couldn't have done it without you! 

Time of our lives

by SCOTT LIM

It's quite amazing how 4 months could fly by and you're sitting in front of your computer thinking of the times where you had to go to places just for reviews or make sure everything was in place for the final lap - the printing of NOSH mag. Working with this team has been a completely unique experience, I don't think I have ever worked in a team where each individual was so different but with the differences we were still able to rush across the finish line with our heads held high.

What a lovely experience this has been and how apt as well, to think creating a magazine from scratch would be the way I would finish my last semester in school. Completely lost and directionless in the beginning, I have only the dedicated writers in the team to thank and their easy-going nature made this experience that much more enjoyable.

Watching Dewi (our designer) create layouts from scratch was absolutely amazing. At first she struggled to find her footing but as we neared the end, she really pulled through and carried the weight of our team on her shoulders. So thank you Dewi, for everything because I honestly do not know how we could've done this without you - a true figure of inspiration.

Everyone else in the team also played a vital role as I learnt more about each writer, I could not help but feel more attached to them. I am going to miss the 8 am classes where we sat in class, lethargic from the lack of sleep, brainstorming with macdonald's on the side.

I will think fondly of the times where we headed out to Haji Lane for our communal article and the time where we made red velvet cupcakes at Mandy's lovely home. So I would just like to thank everyone for making this an incredible journey for me. It was thanks to you guys we now have NOSH.

Sunday 18 August 2013

The Final Product: NOSH Magazine

After a whole semester of hard work, it all boils down to this. Presenting to you our final product, the NOSH Magazine.














Diving into the world of magazines

By Claudia Wong

Publishing a magazine from scratch is not simple at all but I had the honour and pleasure to work with a team of five hardworking individuals to execute it. With our food theme in mind, we named our magazine NOSH because it is quirky and easy to remember. Like every new project, there are bound to be obstacles that will require courage and perseverance to overcome – and so the six of us did.

I am one of the two designers for NOSH. Besides that, I contributed five articles that were featured on the final magazine product, namely ‘Success at Wok’, ‘Is Gordon Ramsay A Gorilla Or Not?’, ‘Eating Right For Sweet Slumber Nights, ‘Maki San’ review and last but not least, ‘Wanton Mee’.

Initially when I first joined writing lab, I had no idea what was in store for me. I was clueless on how to embark on a magazine project and where or how to start. With the guide of Ms Koh and Mr Victor Seow, my team and I then took steps to progress further ahead. I could still recall there was one period of time when we were all stuck in a rut on the story ideas for our magazine. There seemed to be few or no interesting pieces that caught our eye, and Ms Koh was not impressed with them too. After what seemed like an eternity, our editor, Scott selected and organized our final story ideas to be put in the magazine. Finally, we could move on to the next step which was to start writing the articles each week following a deadline.

This was a long and tiresome journey because it was difficult to get the right angles and perfect story that fits our overall magazine. We had to be consistent in each of our writing, and at the same time create our own voice for the magazine to stand out from the rest. Being assigned to five articles sounds easy but it required a lot of time and effort to accomplish and I have to say the experience was worthwhile after all as I felt a great sense of achievement from it.

Amidst the writing, my other designer, Dewi and I had to quickly get started on the designing and layout of the magazine. We came up with layout sketches and agreed on the standard typography and set-up for the whole magazine. As it was my first time being a graphic designer in all of my projects thus far, I was nervous and sceptical of my own abilities. I was clueless on how to use InDesign and I felt that I had not much past design experience to back up. Nonetheless, with the encouragement of my team members and lecturers, I pressed on and studied on InDesign tutorials and whatnot for many late nights just to master the basics. As I gradually improved on my InDesign skills, I was able to experiment and play with the different software options to beautify the layouts.

The most challenging part of all these is the refining of the layouts for the magazine. It required so much precision, consistency, creativity and diligent effort to achieve the results we wanted. I must admit that I was very lazy and almost gave up halfway but the rest of the team cheered me on. Although it was very time-consuming to complete 12 layouts within a few short weeks, the final outcome of the magazine was worth all the blood, sweat and tears.


I am really glad that I had the opportunity to work with these people, and of course the lecturers who took their time to advice and give feedback on our performance along the way. I learnt so much from everyone - the writers who did an amazing job creating interesting stories, the photographer who snapped all the lovely photos for the magazine, the editors who made all of this work - it would not be the same without you. NOSH magazine would not have materialized if not for these people and I truly had a blast being a part of this magazine project. All the excitement would die down but the memories made from this period will last all the way with me, deeply etched in my heart. 

Thank you for the wonderful journey, noshies!

Saturday 17 August 2013

The end of a magazine marathon

by SOON WEI SZE

It's finally over. After a whole semester long of churning out articles, rushing to meet deadlines, pulling all-nighters, it has all come down to our final product- the NOSH magazine. 

To say that it's been a wonderful experience, will be somewhat of an exaggeration. There were tough times, and it wasn't fun all the time to be working on this magazine. Many times exhaustion got the better of us, and to be honest, there were times when this whole project felt like a burden. 

But now that's it all over, I can say without a doubt that it has all been worth it. Witnessing the birthing process of our magazine from scratch, to see how we started with nothing and ending up with a magazine that if I might say so myself, looks good enough to be sold on magazine stands. When we went to print our magazine and watch it "come to life", an immense sense of pride welled up in me in knowing that all our hard work has paid off. 

Sure, there were the inevitable conflicts and misunderstandings. We all have very different personalities and working styles, but we all had a common goal, which was to create an "A" grade magazine. Working together has also taught us the importance of teamwork, compromise, understanding, and how we cannot always put ourselves first.

My role was the writer for the group, and I have to admit that my role wasn't very demanding. So I tried to help out in any way that I can, especially with the designing work as there was the most to be done. I now have a new found respect for Dewi, the designer, as I see her pulling all-nighters to complete the layouts, perfecting every minor detail. 

I'm sure all of us have something to take away from this project. For me, I've learnt to pick up on minor details, and how consistency is a very important factor throughout the magazine. Writing articles of different tones have always honed my writing skills. As there were many articles which I helped to cut down on, I've also learnt the importance of summarizing main points, and which are irrelevant details that are not necessary to include. 

It's a surreal feeling, having our magazine printed and submitted, coming to the end of this project. It's the day that we've all been waiting for since we got this project brief, but I can't deny that it's a bittersweet feeling. Strong friendships have been formed throughout this project, and I think the hardest part of this being over is leaving my group mates. I'll definitely miss working with them, and I'm really thankful that I have the chance to be part of the NOSH team. 

Hot Off The Presses

by MANDY CHNG

It's finally over. After edits, edits and more edits, we have finally printed our magazine. Seeing our baby being born, and being done with the module was rather surreal. I can't believe all of us managed to do it.

It is rather unbelievable that us, six students, could produce a magazine. At the start, I had no idea what was in store for us.

There is so much more to is than to just merely write and print. There was a huge amount of thought, planning and hardwork put in in order to execute the entire project.

In the beginning, I had troubles finding my voice while writing, and am very thankful that after going through this module, I feel that my writing skills have been sharpened.

To be the photographer for NOSH mag was definitely a challenge. I had to hustle from place to place, covering the different stories from the other writers. I did not have much experience taking beautiful shots, nor did I have the skill to edit our pictures. But thankfully, Mr. Victor Seow was patient and kindly taught me through.

Another challenge during this module was also teamwork. In a group of 6, all with very different personalities and opinions, it was not easy communicating and working together at the start. But from this, I learnt to look past our inhibitions and work collectively towards a goal. I learnt that everybody has to make an effort, and sometimes do more than their assigned roles. Even though I was just a photographer, I tried my best to ease the slack by doing the back advertisement design, and help out with the planning process, as well.

I am very glad to have been able to work with the NOSH team the past few months. It was an enriching experience to have become friends with them and to go through the uphill battle with them. And most of all, I am ecstatic that it is all finally over.

Thursday 15 August 2013

Six people, Four months, One magazine

by Lee Pamela

It's a bittersweet feeling.
Four months ago, we were not quite sure what's in store for us. "What? We are producing a print magazine? Us? Students? Oh no, what should our magazine be about...?"
Food shall be the theme of our magazine, it wasn't a tough decision made, in fact we decided and settled on it pretty quick, no second thoughts.
(Thinking of our magazine name was brain cracking though, because our choices were said to be too sexual and hence, we came up with Nosh, something elegant and not sexual at all)

The six of us do enjoy working on the magazine together, or rather I, am glad to be in this team. Not only do I get to explore good food (Nosh: your guide to good food), I have made friends and our friendship blossomed over these four months. I've never knew our editor, Scott personally until this project. The impression I had of him was negative: stuck up, judgemental, someone who thinks more than he speaks. Today, I see Scott as an approachable friend, a listener and calm person, not forgetting his favourite line, "Get your sh*t together!"
Thanks Scott, for being a great team player, responsible and efficient editor.
Working together is never easy. Different opinions, viewpoints, and different personalities. That's probably the essence of teamwork- We learn to compromise, have good sportsmanship and be open minded. Although I'm the sub-editor, I have my part in designing as well (just a small part hehe)
But hey I've learnt a lot from my friends!
To the designer, I'm really impressed and respect you. I wouldn't have been able to come this far if I were you, I might have already raised my white flag because of my inadequacy in inDesign skills.
Kudos to you.

This blog. I had a great time designing this space, although it's not even graded. It feels that Nosh is a legit, published magazine publication!!! Thanks to all my friends who keep this space alive with interesting posts.

Four months seem to be a long time but no, in fact we are short of time, because designing the layout is extremely tedious, and requires good team coordination which we seem to lack.
However the magazine is taking its shape already! With a little more refinement and improvement, we are good to print! *Fingers crossed*

Is it easy producing a magazine? No.
Interviewing is the biggest challenge to me. I admit I'm sheltered, socially awkward, shy, introvert, reluctant to approach strangers. Hey my articles are mostly interviewing strangers, through writing lab I'm trained to walk out of my comfort zone and talk to strangers and leave a good impression too- for the school, for DMC, for the lecturers, my friends, my family and myself.
The first stranger I interviewed was Mr. Fwah from Blanco Court prawn noodles. Thanks to Scott for accompanying me during the interview, I've mustered the courage to speak to Mr. Fwah in his twenties, who was unexpectedly amiable and helpful.
The longest time spent during an interview was at The Cheese Ark with Ms. Syu, that lasted for a total of four hours on two days. I am appreciative of Ms. Syu's time in the interview. And it was pretty tough because the interview had to pause whenever there were customers in her shop.
That, was definitely the greatest experience throughout the project. And thank you Wei Sze for accompanying me, thank you for the support!

Cutting articles. Oh no how do I cut articles as every article is every writer's hardwork? I am sure the words were written not to fill up the spaces or word count but it has significance in the article. If I paraphrase, how do I retain the writer's voice and personality?
I can't seem to find a solution yet.

One magazine, of six people's relentless effort and hardwork, in four months.
It's definitely memorable, although there're tough times too. Nonetheless we grew closer during those hard times- in the midst of understanding each other.
Through this food magazine and reading my friends' articles, I've learnt how to be a better writer myself, in terms of vivid descriptions to add colour to my articles.

Special thanks to Ms Koh and Mr Victor Seow, for consults amidst your busy schedule and constructive feedback and lending us a hand in proof reading and designing!

Nosh Magazine is certainly a remarkable project the mark the end of my academic year at SP.