A photo that represents ME

To correctly portray myself in an appropriate career light, I initially wanted to post a photograph of me at a music festival or gig. The photo I had in mind was this:

Me at Splendour in the grass 2014. 

Unfortunately I wasn't happy with the quality of the picture and it wasn't really recent enough. So I was forced into the art of self-photography. I tried to take photos of myself with my instruments and they all turned out too "try-hard". So instead, I opted for a different side of me. I went outside and sat on my balcony so that the natural light was doing it's job and took a photo of myself, on my iPhone, with my plants in the background. I'm hoping this photograph communicates my love for nature and the outdoors which is an integral part of ME.

Header

When creating a banner for my page, I kept to the colour scheme but also wanted to select a picture that communicated music and night life.

I'm hoping that once I get this blog up and running, I will use it to continue writing about music but also review the gigs I go to, especially those in the Brisbane area. Therefore, I felt that this banner not only has the name of the blog within it and works with my selected colour scheme, it also demonstrates a little of what this blog is about.

The name, Beats Per Minute, is a musical reference usually reffered to in its abbreviated form, bpm, which determines the tempo, or speed, of a song. I chose this title as one that I thought tied in with the kind of theme and look I was going for with this blog, but also when I created the URL I shortened it to 'beats-pm' which I think appropriatley represents night life - live music (beats) at night (pm).

Unfortuantely, to fit it in the header banner above, I had to stretch the image just enough so that it didn't appear distorted. This is how it looked before I uploaded it into the template:

Colour me happy

The colours I chose for my blog, probably aren't colours I would have normally gone for. My favourite colour is yellow and secondary to that is hot pink. I thought this combo may have been a little bright and girly for the kind of look I was going for this time around. The last few years though - judging by my bedroom - I've started to incorporate Turquoise into that mix.

The colour pallette I've gone with is made up from two shade of Turquiose, or one of mint if you like, paired with grey, white and black to keep it a little edgy and simple.

When researching the meaning of the colour Turquoise, the first definition I came across fitted what I hope this blog will live up to.

"Turquoise helps to open the lines of communication between the heart and the spoken word. It presents as a friendly and happy color enjoying life." - Colour Psychology

A mixture of these cool colours with a bit of pop, as well as neutral colours produces a clean white background with black text which makes for easy reading with a calm, happy and pleasant surrounding.

MyPod

The top 10 most played songs on my iPod:

1. Seeing Angels - The John Bulter Trio
2. Rhyme and Reason - The Cat Empire
3. Withdraw - Kimbra
4. White Blank Page - Mumford & Sons
5. The Suburbs - Arcade Fire
6. Seven Devils - Florence + the Machine
7. Prisoner - The Jezabels
8. Better Than - The John Butler Trio
9. Clovis' Son - Josh Pyke
10. Like Eating Glass - Bloc Party

I've included links for all songs so feel free to check any of them out! I'd also like to make special mention of a few of my other favourite artists who didn't make the list: Missy Higgins, Boy & Bear, Django Django, Sarah Blasko, Regina Spektor, The Smiths, The Black Keys and Radiohead. 

Fontastic

When looking for a font that might describe me, I knew instantly that it would most likely be a round and loopy font. I've always been drawn towards them and my handwriting resembles those characteristics. After much searching, I came across a type which I believe is curly and classic with a contemporary twist whilst still maintaining a neat, tidy and symmetrical look. The font I  have chosen to represent me, is Capistrano BF:

I would love to have used curlier fonts on this blog, but they can often be difficult to read in sections of large text. The font I have used to head posts: Indie Flower, is a font that I believe resembles a "tamed loopy font"- something similar to a cursive writers print writing. The post text font I have used is Josefin Sans. This is a font that I just couldn't go past. It's easy to read, clean, simplistic but still matches up well with my favourite cursive fonts. 

My Theme

The theme I used for this blog initially was a lot louder than the one I have now. I would describe it as paint splashes in different hues of reds and oranges. I chose this theme thinking it was kind of edgy and reminiscent of a music and night-life scene. I chose to discard it for what I have now because it was just too busy and despite fitting the industry that I would like to be a part of, it just didn't fit me. So to substitute, I chose something with a bit more white-space and used the mint green/turquoise blue colour because it is one of my favourite colours. It's clean style is definitely more representative of me and my personality because it is organised and neat.

My Personal SWOT Analysis

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats

What is your dream job / career? 
Broadcast music Journalist.

What strengths do you already have in that area? 
I have played multiple instruments since the age of 6 and I have taught music for 3 years. Due to my heavy involvement and love for music, I have a broad knowledge of music and this assists with deconstruction and critique of music. My studies in media and communication have given me the skills to keep up to date with current media and to communicate with different audiences in an appropriate manner. My journalism studies have taught me to form effective angles for stories, but also to write for both print and broadcast.

What are you a little weak in that you need to work on to get that dream career happening for you? 
I need to develop practical experience in this area and also form relationships with people in the industry to give me a head start.

What opportunities are there for you to be well prepared when you graduate for your dream career? 
As well as finishing my degree, I believe it really is essential for me to gain real life experience working in the industry. Whether that be in broadcast or print, any kind of internship or work experience will prepare me for when I graduate.

What is the biggest threat for you in getting your dream career? 
There is much competition in this industry, but especially when I have my eyes set on something so specific. So the competition I may face with other people striving for similar success, may be my biggest threat. Especially from a self-worth/self-esteeem perspective - I may face challenges believing in my self enough to set myself apart from the rest.

Dream Job

My earliest recolection of a career aspiration was from when I was a very young girl dreamimg of becoming an Acrobat. I don't know where the urge to be thrown around in the air came from, but that dream has since grown and changed numerous times to eventually result in a categorized, tiered system of dream jobs.

There are those that you know will never be achievable because you really don't know too much more about them other then that they sound really cool. And those that are just so out-of-this-world and you don't even know if they're real jobs or just seen in movies. Then are those dreams that you will forever wish you attempted to achieve but always doubted your talent and/or ability. Which leaves us with the shortlist of those dream jobs which are both practical and achievable.

On that list for myself, are; fashion designer, events manager, musician, music journalist, TV presenter and radio presenter. All these areas and dreams rolled into one has resulted in my decision to strive for the career of Broadcast Music Journalist.

The idea of interviewing bands and musicians and talking about music on either radio or TV is definitely something I believe is both achievable (with some hard work put in) and practical (it's actually a real job!). I still hope that in my whole lifetime I have more than one job and that perhaps I get to do some of those other things I aspire to. But at the moment, if I have to sum it all down to ONE dream job, that's what it's gotta be: a broadcast music journalist.