Project Development Blog

One of my biggest aims of this project is to explore kink deeper than the gay lifestyle. Look at ‘kink’ in nonsexual environments, ‘kink’ in heterosexual couples and the history of kink. 

How can I steer my project away from the obvious? 

According to ColorPsychology.org, each color has an association with a reaction our brain has when we internalise it: 

Red: energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as we ll as passion, desire, and love.
Orange: combines the energy of red and the happiness of yellow.
Yellow: joy, happiness, intellect, and energy.
Green: symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility.
Purple: symbolizes power, nobility, luxury, and ambition.
White: Signifies safety, purity, and cleanliness.
Black: Associated with power, elegance, formality, death, evil, and mystery.

My newspaper publication is all about positivity, self-care and self-love, I want the colours to represent that emotion too. 

Below is my first draft of the introduction to my publication. I wanted to write about why I’m making this publication, have statistics which back up my reasoning but also keep it light hearted:

According to The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) over 50,000 children and young people received counselling for a serious mental health issue in 2016. The helpline has seen a 36% rise over four years in youngsters needing help for depression and other disorders - with a rise on youngsters feeling suicidal too.

To ensure our generation and the next generation aren’t left to deal with a mental health epidemic there needs to be a more compressive network of personal and professional support accessible for young people to keep their lives on track.

Mental health issues are something that are rarely taught in primary and secondary education. I was never educated on the impact anxiety would have on my ability to make friends? We need to openly discuss the impacts of mental health, what we can do to recognise it and support it.
But with the discussion of mental health comes a lot of misconception, stigma and discrimination.

That’s why with this Issue of Shift Magazine I’m partnering up with Proud2BeMe to spread ‘self-love’. Self-care and self-love are things that we often overlook when are lives are so hectic, but are crucial to living a positive life.

As millennials our lives can be so hectic: we’re often rushing from University to work, staying up ‘till the AM cramming in work to meet deadlines and then skipping lecturers to catch up on previous ones, we often forget to take care of ourself. All of these things can have an impact on our physical and mental health, self-care is something that should be pencilled in, no matter how busy you are. Taking care of yourself gives you the best chance to be the best version of you. I want you to have a positive outlook on the world no matter what you’re going through.

In this issue, you’ll hear from people of all ages, races and genders from what it means to love who you are. You’ll find a diary entry to my 13-year-old self, a short essay on learning to love yourself regardless of your mental health status and our selfie empowerment movement. We’ve all struggled with mental health issues, whether it’s not feeling good enough, feeling alone or struggling to accept who you are. With this publication I want to give you a sense of unity; no matter what you’re going through, you’re not alone and they are people in the world just like you. We are all like you.

I asked my followers on social media if any of them would like to write an article on beauty, confidence and self-love regardless of their colour, age, gender or sexual orientation. Edward was one of the people who responded with excitement, read his article below: 


When I was a child I always wanted to prance and flounce about. I used to love running around with a scarf trailing behind me. I remember wanting to have acting and dance lessons but my parents couldn’t afford this. By the time I was 11 or 12 I was being sent to a big school and my parents and my two older brothers told me over and over how I needed to toughen up, as I was going to an All Boys school and prancing and flouncing about was absolutely unforgivable. As it turned out I managed to pass as straight for an incredibly short space of time and ended up being outed and bullied severely, for several years, to the point where I had to move schools.  

I imagine a lot of men have stories like this, feeling that they are not allowed to fit in as they are, having to modify their behaviour in order to pass.

My prancing, flouncing side came out every now and again, I was good at drama at school and I was good at dance. I always had that little voice inside me saying, “do more of this, you love this, it makes you happy” but it often was not practical to. It wasn’t until much later when I moved to London in my mid-twenties that I found dance classes in Ballet for adult beginners. Then called “Irreverent Dance” it was an incredible class run by Amanda Leon-Joyce, an utterly inclusive space for the LGBTQ community where people could come and dance without judgments about gender-roles and without fear of body-shaming. Learning ballet as an adult changed my life. I suddenly realised I can stand with my head held high, with my back straight. I suddenly realised I deserved to inhabit the space my body took up in the world. I moving in unison with my class I was part of a dance troupe and I felt beautiful. I carry this confidence with me every day now. I tell myself to remember my posture. I walk with purpose and grace, relaxing my shoulders and holding my head high. Feeling beautiful is about a lot of things but for me it comes from being in touch with my body and who I am now. Not in changing my body or aspiring to be anything other than what I am. 

Totally Stockholm is a monthly free guide for things to do in the Swedish capital. Their website and free publication focuses on Arts & Culture, Clubbing and Food & Drink. It’s designed to show locals and tourists the hidden gems around Stockholm.

Just like The Metro, Totally Stockholm relies on advertisements for funding. However, aesthetically their advertisements and content have a more minimal approach. With a larger line height, softer sans-serif typeface and a larger padding, the newspaper is easy to read and the advertisements don’t distract from the content.

In the January/February issue, the publication features 55 pages and 33 advertisements - a lot of the ads are disguised as original content through sponsored posts rather than image advertisements.

Because newspaper often get folded in half due to the way the public carry them, Totally Stockholm have embraced this idea and have split their pages into half: the top features images and the bottom featuring the article. This prevents the content from being creased and allows for the articles to still be legible. This is something that should definitely be taken into consideration for my own publication.