AMY NEWELL
COT.TON noun / k채tn / cottons, plural 1. A soft, white, fibrous substance that surrounds the seeds of a tropical and subtropical plant and is used as a textile fibre and thread for sewing. 2. A plant that has been responsible for the destruction of large-scale ecosystems, such as the depletion of the Aral Sea.
BUY LESS. BUY BETTER.
3. A plant that contributes to a multi-million pound industry, and makes up 48% of textile production, which sees the exploitation of farmers and employs child labour. 4. A water-wasting crop that requires greater amount of education in order to help preserve and protect essential water supplies and the environment. The ethics and sustainability of the cotton industry is the central theme of my hypothetical printed awareness campaign.
Through this project I have been able to experiment with various creative elements that are involved with the production of printed and online publications, such as typography, layout, illustration, art direction and more.
Using Adobe Photoshop and Adobe InDesign was an essential part of this project. I have learnt that the Adobe suite plays a large role in creative professions and that therefore, understanding of how to use these tools is essential within the creative industry.
Technology is advancing at incredibly fast rates, pushing society to enter a more virtual reality that has opened up the availability and connectivity of the world and global information, all through our hand held devices. I wish to embrace this advancement in technology, by creating an innovative device application, which combines our love of ethical consumption and technology, into an application that can aid us in making informed procuring choices, as well as explaining that ethical and sustainable goods cost, and that you are not consuming these products, but investing in them.
SiMi://
SiMi is a downloadable application for all personal smart devices. A simple tool that intends to educate, demonstrate, and formulate, a means for us to better understand how our purchasing habits impact the environment, locally, globally and personally, with the aim of encouraging better, more ethical and sustainable consumer decisions within the apparel market. SiMi would have the ability to scan and read the digitally ingrained information of a product barcode, and then geographically maps the production line of the product, from the origin of the materials, to the point of assembly, showing the journey, financial and ecological cost. SiMi will then calculate the carbon footprint of that product, taking into consideration: a product’s manufacturing process, material/ ingredient sources, treatment of workers, waste emissions, among other sustainability concerns, and then translate this information into a clear and understandable bar-chart and traffic light system; the more red you score, the more unhealthy those jeans are.
My research was diverse, utilising a broad spectrum of resources to enable me to build an accurate and insightful customer profile. Using reports that represent both global and national markets, featuring a range of demographics, and, have been published in the past three years, to ensure accuracy and relevance, we are able to draw well-rounded conclusions and build truthful customer profiles
CUSTOMER ANALYSIS://
I came to identify that there were three types of customer that may invest in SiMi, all of different demographics, and all of which were in search for a tool that would enable them to make the wisest procuring choices in order to suit their needs. The secondary research was sourced via market and trend forecasting sites that would provide me with the most accurate and applicable statics in order to draw accurate conclusions. The most useful and relevant sites were: Mintel, a global and awardwinning provider of market research, LS:NGlobal, a trends forecaster created by The Future Laboratory, and WGSN, the fashion trend forecasting site. Primary research that was conducted as part of the investigation revealed that there was great interest into the apps that better fed people’s desire to be educated in the background of a product/brand, in order to identify whether that product/brand compromises the welfare of that customer.
The conducting of competitor analysis involved me looking into other businesses that were offering a similar service to SiMi. My analysis looked into the strengths and weaknesses of two potential competitors, Oroeco and How Good. Oroeco, A carbon footprint calculator that reviews your consumer purchases, travel, food consumption and daily life activities, which is then totalled and provide a CO2 emission score. The purpose of OROECO is to encourage individuals to take an active role in minimising their CO2 emissions and reducing their environmental impact, with the aid of inapp incentives and personalised goals.
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS://
Based in the USA, How Good is a phone application created by two brothers, whose aim is to help shoppers identify the best, most sustainable food products. With the aid of independent experts, How Good is a tool that advises shoppers on all aspects of food production, from geographic areas, to food & environmental policy. The information is all summarised into a coherent scoring system. What both apps lacked was, the power to intrigue and inspire potential users due to their ‘preaching’ tone of voice in their written language, uninteresting aesthetic and being unavailable to users in the UK. SiMi would not only be available to a global market, but also be inviting, contemporary and stimulating.
The operation of SiMi is simple. Open SiMi display the scan screen. Focus the barcode of the product and tap the centre of the framed box, which will blink red.
SiMi INTERFACE://
Swipe screen to the left, where a world map will load and the maufacturing journey of the garment revealed. For the traffic light rating, swipe the screen up, where the facts will be simplified into a bar chart, where links to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+ can be located, and enable the user to ‘shout’ and share product information. To return to the beginning and scan a new item, swipe the screen down.
Utilising multiple social media platforms, allows SiMi to interact with users in a shared and friendly setting. Social medial is at the heart of every person’s online life today. It is also an important part of daily life for businesses. Customers enjoy interacting with a brand in a social context, for a feeling of being in control and influential over a brand’s future.
SiMi & SOCIAL MEDIA://
SiMi shall benefit with having closer relationships with our customers in order to promote brand loyalty and user feedback. Where Facebook is targeted at relationship building, Twitter target itself at users who are more interested in current events, and quick news updates. Either platform is important for any entrepreneurial business to be part of, in order to interact with a global community and to share SiMi’s ethos; Scan it. Map it. Shout it.