OFF THE CUFF

THE HANDBOOK@offthecuffmag

#OTCMag

WELCOME!

Off The Cuff Magazine (OTC) showcases a new side of Boston University—one filled will creativity, teamwork, networking, business, art, and - above all - fashion.

WHAT? OTC is a Boston University magazine that celebrates the creative collision between fashion, art and diversity.

WHO? YOU! We offer students the opportunity to showcase their skills by doing what they do best: writing, photog-raphy, modeling, styling, art direction, etc.

HOW?Through digital and print media: our website and social media, along with biannual magazine issues. We also host events that bring the magazine to life including BU Best Dressed, fashion and art-related excursions, and collaborative exhibitions.

CONTENTS

A LITTLE MORE ABOUT OTC 4

THE EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT

ROLES 5

STRUCTURE 7

ART DIRECTION 8

COPY EDITORS & WRITERS 9

PHOTOGRAPHERS 12

STYLISTS 14

HAIR STYLISTS & MAKEUP ARTISTS 15

MODELS 16

THE MARKETING DEPARTMENT

ROLES 17

STRUCTURE 18

A LITTLE MORE ABOUT OTC:

WE ARE AVANT-GARDE.

WE ARE EXPERIMENTAL.

WE PUSH BOUNDARIES.

WE ARE YOUNG & FRESH.

& AS SUCH, EVERYTHING

YOU CREATE WITH US

SHOULD EMBODY THAT.

ROLESTHE EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT

Editor-in-ChiefThe chief editor oversees the whole content and makes sure the flow of the magazine is seamless. Approves and denies stories, photospreads. As a top editor, this person is responsible for making all the final decisions and is constantly getting reports from the managing editor, creative direc-tor and the assistant editor.

Creative DirectorThe creative director is in charge of the visual aspect of the magazine and is constantly communicating back and forth with the chief editor. Their main task is in creating cover concepts and directing photo shoots. This vision is then translated into the layout by the art directors.

Managing EditorPlan and manage editorial calendar. Enforce all deadlines. Making sure everything is turned in on time.Facilitate communication between all departments: Writing, photography, styling, modeling etc.Write, edit and revise various written content.Final proofread before sent to EICResponsible for overseeing publication of website articles along with the assistant editor.

Features EditorResearching and generating ideas for features specificallyCommissioning features from writersReading, writing and researching features and articles.Attending necessary events -- launches, press lunches, on-campus events—on behalf of the magazine.

Hair & Makeup

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Art Director(s)Focuses on the presentation of both the website and the magazine lay-out.Generating creative, fresh content.Constantly remaining inspired by surroundings, media, art, everything.Reports to Creative Director and, while there is some artistic freedom, must maintain the aesthetic/vision of the magazine.

Copy Editor(s)Responsible for editing all copy (anything written that will be published online or in the issue). The work will be divided amongst all copy editors. Offers advice to writers to make content stronger.Copy Editors must also ensure that images provided with articles have corresponding image sources included and that the images are all high-quality. If not, copy editor must request higher quality images from writers.In charge of fact checking all content in an articles.

WritersResponsible for pitching stories and writing stories under assigned dead-lines.

PhotographersShoots for events, online spreads and editorial spreads for the issue.

StylistsStyles photo shoots and works directly with the Creative Director to main-tain the aesthetic of the magazine and develop the shoots theme.

Hair & MakeupCollaborates with the stylists, models and Creative Director. Works both on spreads as well as events.

Models (Print/Runway/On Call)Modeling both print/online and runway. Models on call will have provid-ed availability and may be used within a week or day’s notice for both print and runway.

MAGAZINE MARKETING

EDITORS & ART DIRECTORS

ADVERTISINGPUBLIC

RELATIONSEVENTS

WRITERS

STYLISTS

PHOTOGRAPHERS

MODELS

HAIR STYLISTS

MAKEUP ARTISTS

FASHION SPIES

STRUCTURE

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ART DIRECTORSArt directors have a crucial role in shaping readers’ first impression of the magazine/ website. The rest of the OTC team may create great content, but if the content is not displayed tastefully, no one will care. An art direc-tor’s job is to thoroughly understand the vision of OTC and beautifully dis-play the content your peers have created.

To do so, Art directors must:have an interest in graphic design keep up with trends in graphic designremain constantly inspired by your surroundingstranslate that inspiration into beautiful visuals teach themselves how to use platforms like Photoshop, In Design, and Wix.

General timeline: First meeting: introductions, Wix training, article uploading schedule, website ideas. Publishing 1 article per week: you will be sent article on Friday and must have it published by midnight on Sunday. Meeting regularly (every 2 weeks or so) to talk about website updates and ideas for layout of next issue. Early November is when crunch time kicks in! Receive all content for the next is-sue, divide the work, and meet weekly to go over each of your assignments. Art Directors have about 3 weeks to do the entire layout of the magazine.

***If you are unable to meet a deadline, you must let your Creative Director know at least 48 prior, so that he/she can get your work reassigned.

Disclaimer: We have very high standards here at OTC and expect everything that we publish to exceed those standards. We also want to see you produce the best work that you possibly can, so if we feel that what you have created is not the best and/or does not fit our aesthetic, we are within our right to send it back to you to edit/ rehaul or reassign it.

COPY EDITORS & WRITERSWriting Standards At Off the Cuff, we maintain high standards for the quality of writing that we publish in both online blog posts and our semesterly print issues. Although the Executive Board has put many measures in place to make sure that what we publish is up to the magazine’s standards, we have high expectations for what our writers produce.

Each semester a mandatory workshop will be held for all staff writers, copy editors, and anyone on staff who may be interested in writing a freelance article for the mag-azine. Although the workshop is mandatory, Off the Cuff’s Editorial Department has compiled a condensed set of guidelines that must be kept in mind as you write any-thing that will be published by the organization. (Note: The Powerpoint used in the workshop will also be made available to all attendees).

- When writing your article, please keep in mind and establish its relevance to the Off the Cuff reader. - Although your pieces will be looked over by at least three editors, be sure to re-read your article before sending it to your assigned copy editor. Pay particular attention to:

Sentence structure (word order, punctuation, sentence length, wordiness)Sentence/paragraph placementRedundancyWord choicePassive voice

=Be sure to spell all names properly in your article–this is the writer’s responsibility to do correctly and double check throughout his/her work, as some names have unusual spellings.

It is at the editor’s discretion to fact-check the spelling of a name.

In terms of photos that can be used with your articles, the easiest option you have is to use any of our on-staff photographers. Unfortunately, there are a limited number of websites from which photos in the public domain that can be downloaded and used in articles legally.

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- Wikimedia: We can use any image that has been posted under a Creative Commons License or that has been released into the public domain. Please note that in the case of the CC License, we must still cite the author of the work and link to the author’s Wikimedia profile, which is posted on each image page. - Flickr: We can only use images that have been posted under licenses that allow for commercial use, and we must cite the photo and link to the user’s Flickr profile page. - Instagram: Photos from Instagram may be used and embedded only in posts written for the Off the Cuff website. - In rare cases, promotional images or images under copyright may be used as long as they prescribe to the Fair Use Doctrine.* If using images under copyright, you must contact the Publisher and Editor in Chief for advice and permission before inserting them into your story. Please use this option as a last resort.

*http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html

If you have any questions about Off the Cuff’s writing standards, please contact your assigned copy editor.

The ProcessOff the Cuff publishes a printed Fall/Winter issue first semester and a Spring/Summer issue second semester. Additionally, Off the Cuff publishes weekly Sunday blog posts online and less frequent event posts.

Deadlines

Printed Issue Articles:

All written content will be submitted in October for the Fall/Winter issue, and in February for the Spring/Summer issue. Deadlines will be determined on a case-by-case basis, as stories vary from extended features to short interviews.

Online Blog Posts:

Regular online posts are always Mondays – writers will be assigned their Monday deadline during the first general meeting. Exceptions are event posts, which are more sporadic—deadlines depend on the day of the event, as the post will be pub-lished the day following.

Pitch Process

All pitches are rolling, and submitted via a shared google form. No one is bound to their own pitches—pitch suggestions are always encouraged.

For regular online posts, writers have the liberty to pitch stories up until one week prior to their assigned Monday story deadline.

Pitches, regardless if they are for print or online, should always be as detailed and well developed as possible. A pitch should always include three major components:

1. Thesis: What is it you plan on writing about? What’s the main idea behind your post? Include the basic who, what, when, where, why, how but go further... Always consider why this will be a topic our readers will find interesting and relevant. A paragraph or two should suf-fice. 2. Plans for sources: Thinking of interviewees and places of reference should always be pre-thought out before pitching. Things that are certainly encouraged: reaching out to inter-viewees prior to pitching, and including links to research you’ve already done! 3. Plans for images: Off the Cuff can in fact get sued for using copyrighted images. Let’s avoid that. Always include a description or link to your plans for images. Hint: use our won-derful photographers! Otherwise, see above for approved image sources.

Editing Process

All posts will be edited directly on a shared Google document. Stories, both print and online, go through a chain of people before being art direct-ed and subsequently published:

Writer(s) -> Copy Editor(s) ->Assistant Editor -> Managing Editor -> Editor in Chief

After submitting your contribution—whether it is the piece itself, edits in the middle, or a final look—we ask you check off your name at the bottom of the document in the provided t-chart. This way, we are able to track the piece’s progress. Any ques-tions or concerns regarding writing or editing should go directly to editors.offthecuff-mag@gmail.com.

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PHOTOGRAPHERSSince fashion is a highly visual experience, we aim to make our magazine and website one. This is where our photographers come in.

Photographers are responsible for photographing: - Events: launch parties, exhibitions, fashion shows- Anything writers need to accompany an article they are writing (i.e. how people wear Doc Martens on Comm ave, the wardrobe of a past BU Best Dressed winner etc)- Editorial Spreads: the lengthy spreads at the end of our magazines, which usually follow a story or idea.

All photography is crucial because our photographs are the face of our publication. However, we take special pride in our editorial spreads because they make up a large portion of the magazine issue and we use a lot of the OTC team to make something beautiful out of everyone’s individual talents.

EVENTS PHOTOGRAPHY: Arrive on time to the event and remain for the duration of the assigned time slot. Take photographs of the event and aim to capture the es-sence/ambiance of the event. Minimal photo editing required. Submit photography within no more than a week prior to the event. FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHY: Work with writer to figure out what type of photographs he/she is looking for. Schedule shoot between both of you and any third party there might be. Average photo editing required (more if in print). Must submit photogra-phy the same day that writing is due. EDITORIAL PHOTOGRAPHY: Theme/idea of the shoot will be assigned to you ac-cording to your preferences. There will be a meeting with the team involved (model, MUA, hair stylist, stylist etc) to plan and schedule the final date for the shoot. Pho-tographers will have creative leeway as far as possible location, idea development etc. The team involved will meet the day agreed upon and the shoot will take place. High photo editing required. These pictures must be pristine. Must submit photog-raphy by assigned deadline (typically about 2 weeks).

Please note: - Aim to shoot in RAW format as much as possible. - If you have ideas for shoots please submit them the first few weeks of the semes-ter to the Creative Director. - If you are unable to meet a deadline for final photos, let the Creative Director know at least 48 hours prior to the assigned deadline. - Not every photographer will photograph editorial spreads: we hire photogra-phers with unique talents and distribute the work accordingly. - Not all photographed work will be published. If we feel that your work does not meet OTC standards, it will not be published. We encourage you to challenge yourself as photographers and produce the highest quality of work possible. - If you need extra equipment let the Creative Director know within 7 days prior to shooting.- We own rights to the photographs taken while working with us. We may be us-ing photographs for promotional purposes including advertisements, flyers, social media, etc. - We will credit corresponding photographers for the photographs they take when-ever possible.

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STYLISTSStylists will be working with the Creative Director to brainstorm ways to acquire the clothing necessary for shoots. Some shoots are sponsored, others we shop for and others we use pieces from our closets to shoot with. OTC will host a meeting where the Editor in Chief and the Creative Director will explain the upcoming shoots. We will ask Stylists to submit a ranking of shoot preferences. The Creative Director will attempt to allocate stylists in teams according to their preferences. The Creative Director will explain the theme/ general idea of the shoot, providing images whenever possible. Stylists will proceed by styling complete looks according to theme. Stylists are required to: attend initial meetings with entire team to brainstorm & pick a shoot date, go shopping with other stylists for shoots, set up fittings with models, and be present the day of the shoot. If the stylist was assigned to a shoot and is unable to do most of the above listed, he/she will not be credited in the issue.

Tips:- We are a fashion publication, stay informed of the trends in the industry! - Grab magazines, and REALLY look/ analyze the editorial spreads. Look at the de-tails and the styling of all the clothes. - Editorial styling is not the same as every day styling and what looks good for day to day styling may not stand out in a photograph… don’t be afraid to take risks! - Pay attention to the skin tone and body type of the model and make sure you find pieces that accentuate both. - Be resourceful and creative. Don’t be afraid to think out of the box.

HAIR STYLISTS & MAKEUP ARTISTSThe Creative Director will allocate hair stylists and makeup artists(MUAs) according to their styles/skills and then notify them of their assigned shoots. Hair stylists and MUAs are responsible for attending team meetings including the model(s), stylists, photog-rapher(s), etc to discuss the shoot, brainstorm and schedule a date for it. They are required to attend these meetings with possible hair and makeup ideas and present those to the Creative Director and the rest of the team. They are also required to be present the day of the shoot at the time assigned by the Creative Director.

Hair Stylists and Makeup artists will also be used for any events involving fashion pre-sentations. They will be required to show up at the designated time on the day of the event to prepare models for the presentation.

Tips:- Keep up with hair and makeup trends! - Be open to trying new things—a lot of the hair and makeup we look for in editorial shoots are strange and bizarre and would likely never be used in day to day life. - If you think you will need extra makeup or hair products, please let the Creative Director know AT LEAST seven days in advance of the scheduled shoot/ presenta-tion.

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MODELSPRINT: Models will be assigned to shoots by the Creative Director & Editor-in-Chief. They will be required to attend team meetings for shoots involving stylists, makeup artists, hair stylists, photographers etc to brainstorm for shoot and schedule a date for it. They will be required to attend fittings, and be present the day of the shoot. The day of the shoot models will be notified what type of poses/ mood we are looking for. Shoots may last from an hour to 8 hours.

RUNWAY:Models will be required to attend model workshops to practice their walk whenever necessary. They will additionally be required to attend fittings for the show and arrive early the day of the presentation. Specific instructions will be provided.

MODELS ON CALL:Models on call will be considered for both runway and print modeling. MOCs can be called upon within a day’s notice to be available for a shoot or a show. MOCs will pro-vide their availability and measurements in order to best serve on short notice.

Please note: - If you are unable to attend a shoot/ show, let the Creative Director & Editor in Chief know immediately so that we may be able to fill your spot. - You will be required to bring your own makeup to shootings and shows in case the makeup artist needs to use it to supplement their products.

ROLESTHE MARKETING DEPARTMENT

THE DIRECTOR OF MARKETING A member of the Executive Board manages The Marketing Department. All Chairs within the Marketing Department report to them. The Director of Marketing will also be available to provide feedback and help to cre-ate content.

PUBLIC RELATIONS CHAIRSThe Public Relations Chair is responsible for creating content for social media platforms as well as writing press releases, creating press kits, etc. all for the promotion of OTC. Platforms we use include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr. All social media platforms, including #BUBestDressed, must be updated on a weekly basis and follow the correct OTC format. Weekly assignments will be given in order to pro-mote the creation of content and keep all forms of social media relevant to the BU community.

ADVERTISING CHAIRSAdvertising chairs are responsible for creating advertisements that pro-mote Off the Cuff, including images for all social media platforms, the magazine, and other creative outlets.

EVENTS CHAIRSEvents chairs are responsible for planning all Off the Cuff related events including launch parties, New York trips, fashion shows, and other events that help promote the magazine. Events Chairs will work directly with the Executive Board and SAO to find spaces and execute events.

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STRUCTURETHE MARKETING DEPARTMENT

EXPECTATIONS

Each team is responsible for promoting the ideas and content of OTC to the Boston University community and beyond. Teams have access to all social media accounts. They are responsive for creating new and innovative ways to market off the cuff as well as creating content that fits the off the cuff aesthetic

MEETINGS

Weekly meetings are held with each separate department to discuss updates, ideas, and improvements. Meetings are mandatory and will be held based on which time is most convenient for each team. Failure to attend 3 or more meetings per semester will result in a possible termination of a position.

OFF THE CUFF