DEI REPORT

DEI REPORT

Elle Warren 1602400 BA Fashion Branding & Communication https://ellewarrenfashioncomms.blogspot.co.uk

CONTENTS Images Introduction GFW SWOT Concept Research Tickets Model Casting NIL Shoot Flatlays NIL Reflection Conclusion Appendices Bibliography

IMAGES 1. Nanna Taville communication flat-lay (2018) [Own image]. In possession of Elle Warren 2. Jessica Leech communication flat-lay (2018) [Own image]. In possession of Elle Warren 3. Erika Whiteley, Leona Kirk & Sophie Fidalgo fashion design NIL shoot (2018) [Own image]. In possession of Elle Warren 4. Larissa Siems fashion design NIL shoot (2018) [Own image]. In possession of Elle Warren 5. Publication display mood board (2018) [Own image]. In possession of Elle Warren 6. NIL layout mood board (2018) [Own image]. In possession of Elle Warren 7. Stand interiors mood board (2018) [Own image]. In possession of Elle Warren 8. Runway show ticket design (2018) [Own image]. In possession of Elle Warren 9. Runway show ticket design T&C’s (2018) [Own image]. In possession of Elle Warren 10. Swing ticket inspiration (No Date) [Online image]. Available from: http://www.neil-watson.co.uk/index.php?/root/mary/ 11. Ticket design mood board (2018) [Own image]. In possession of Elle Warren 12. Tabby Coaker fashion design NIL shoot (2018) [Own image]. In possession of Elle Warren 13. Regan Evans fashion design NIL shoot (2018) [Own image]. In possession of Elle Warren 14. Emily Hodson communication flatlay (2018) [Own image]. In possession of Elle Warren

INTRODUCTION

Design Enterprise and Innovation is a crucial unit for deciding on future career paths and determining personal strengths. While working as part of small cohesive groups, a live project will show individuals the realities of producing work for a client and the opportunity to represent the university at a local and national level, which will offer a motivational and rewarding feeling to those involved. Within this unit collaborating with models, photographers, professionals and students from other specialist’s areas will be paramount when making contacts for future collaborations. Throughout this report, I will discuss and evaluate the ideas from conception through to completion and how the roles I have played contributed to the work produced. Conclusively this unit will enable me to better the strengths I already own, have the opportunity to collaborate with others who share my ambition and determination and to experience and learn another part of the fashion industry.

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GRADUATE FASHION WEEK Representing Arts University Bournemouth at this global event means the ideas we have, need to be executed to the highest standard as this fair isn’t only used to show off our graduates but to recruit possible new talent onto our Ba (Hons) course.

Founded in 1991 by the current CEO Jeff Banks, Vanessa Denza MBE and John Walford, Graduate Fashion Week (GFW) has become a pivotal event for graduates looking to enter the industry and forge connections in an ever growing and competitive field. GFW is a charity run event, the largest of its kind, that brings together 68 major fashion schools, 20 of which are international and 1,500 of the best graduate collections from around the globe to showcase their talent at what is essentially a huge recruitment fair. “We got all the students from various universities around the UK, we got potential employers that came from Europe and America,” recalls founder Jeff Banks.

“They sat in shows and identified students that they thought had potential and were worthwhile employing. It was quite simplistic in its approach.” (J. Banks, 2017) This event connects graduates to employment, seeing 30,000 visitors each June, and is responsible for the careers of Christopher Bailey MBE of Burberry, Stella McCartney, Matthew Williamson and welcomes Victoria Beckham OBE and Dame Vivienne Westwood DBE RDI as patrons – each of these industry success stories. (GFW, ND)

SWOT

At the beginning of the unit, we all got together to decide what everyone’s strengths were and how they could be used within each group of; Print, Digital, Film and Styling. We all chose one major group that we wanted to be solely involved in and a minor choice that would mean still being involved, but by contributing less. We found this was the best way to ensure that everyone could try and learn something new or gain more experience within something they already considered a strength. We chose group leaders that would liaise with each other to ensure that everything was being produced cohesively and to the same high standard.

SWOT OF MYSELF Strengths

Publication layout & design Writing Organisational skills Interior design

Weaknesses

Film Communicating with senior members of staff Social media Content creation/layout

Opportunities

Styling Merchandise design Runway management Allowing enough space for everyone in NIL Team members not participating the same Health and safety of the stand

Threats

SWOT OF AUB SHOW Strengths

Show casing local talent Supporting local businesses Everyone has the chance to showcase work

Weaknesses

Not ideal if visitor/businesses/industry experts are not local

Opportunities

Good publicity for student work Potential opportunity for employment

Threats

The catwalk/dressing could go wrong Garments could get damaged before GFW Some students won’t be able to show collections to key members at GFW

SWOT OF GRADUATE FASHION WEEK Strengths

The chance for students to show case work in front of leading industry professionals Accessible and good London location Industry standard hair and makeup Large communication area on the stand

Weaknesses

Travel expenses Not local to Bournemouth More expensive

Opportunities

Job opportunities Good publicity Seeing other universities work / the competition

Threats

Models not showing up Missing garments Running order goes wrong on the catwalk Over sale of tickets for shows Not enough help in each section of GFW Health and safety of lots of people

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4 P’S OF AUB SHOW Price

£10 each Each student receives 1 free ticket and can then purchase up to 4 each

Promotion

Social media Word of mouth Posters Flyers

Product

Graduate collections Communication work Sketchbooks Portfolios

Place

Bournemouth Pavilion BH1 2BU

4 P’S OF GFW Price

£14 for each catwalk show Entry to the event is free with registration

Promotion

Social media Word of mouth Tickets / Invitations being sent out to industry University promotion Work on the stand

Product

Level 6 collections, communication work and portfolios

Place

Old Truman Brewery, London, E1 6QR

CONCEPT

After visiting Bicester village to research into trends and displays of high fashion, we all came together to discuss what we had seen and how we wanted to use them. We chose three key colours that stood out to us as being on trend, dark cobalt blue, fiery orange and baby pink, and agreed that these would be used through the print elements and the stand. As a larger group, we all concluded that the running theme would be ‘Bright Industrial’ as this was the umbrella to which all of our research was formed. We wanted the theme to visually represent the handwriting that is AUB, fun, forward-thinking and innovative – all key components when being selected for GFW.

RESEARCH

When researching, we looked into different areas that we were interested in personally. For me, this meant looking into the layout styles of contemporary magazines, zines and publications, ticket design for both the Bournemouth show and GFW and interior elements for the stand. Because my major role is within NIL, I looked through the previous editions, and those from other universities, to analyse the strengths and weaknesses as this would help us to create the strongest edition of NIL so far. We have mainly followed the same theme as edition 2 because we really like the smaller size, organic nature and layout style. Our other ways of researching included; creating mood boards with visuals from WGSN (where the name of our concept came from), Pinterest and photocopying from books, sending out surveys to level 6 about their FMP’s and our trip to Bicester Village.

Arts University Bournemouth Publication Display

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Arts University Bournemouth NIL layout

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Arts University Bournemouth Stand Interiors

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TICKETS

We began by looking at the tickets from last year, for each show and analysing what we thought was strong and what we wanted to change, and we liked the size of the ticket and the tear-off element at the end. We continued with the box around the date to match the box around ‘NIL’, made them in pairs, one for the day, one for the evening and made them look different by using opposite colours. We received feedback on these and were advised to develop the design more using the shapes and including the plywood table top texture. We tried to create something totally new based around the tickets being like swing tickets for clothes and I was much happier with this design but unfortunately, these designs were not chosen and other ticket designs were agreed on, for both the Bournemouth show and our catwalk at GFW.

Arts University Bournemouth Ticket Design

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MODEL CASTING

After designing, putting up and handing out the flyers, working the casting was a good opportunity to see how successful they were by how many potential models showed up. Over 50 people showed up, which was more people than I was expecting and many of them looked exactly the way we wanted them to, diverse and multi-cultural. Because of the casting, I had a head start on who to expect at the shoot and this meant I gained some experience I probably wouldn’t have if I had gone on placement.

NIL SHOOT/FLATLAYS

The NIL shoot was the biggest job, it needed the most planning and we had to be organised on set when changing the outfits, sorting who would be wearing what, when and with whom as we needed to take group shots because else not everyone would be featured. We assigned outfits evenly, especially amongst the girls, so when looking through NIL it wasn’t the same model wearing all the collections and we used this process when shooting again outside.

The flat lay shoot for the communication work was researched and planned by us and these images matched the aesthetic of the publication of being clean and concise. We used props to encourage the photographs to look professional and they look brilliant in NIL.

NIL PUBLICATION When working on NIL we wanted the layout to be clean and allow enough room for it to breathe with no over-crowding or clutter. NIL visual communicates the story of the hard work and dedication of the level 6’s, from the past year and everything they have learned from being at AUB, so the placement of visuals and text was really important. This year we decided to group each category of fashion because previously communication work has been scattered amongst the graduate collections and we thought it looked stronger stood together at the start. I contributed to the placement of visuals and context, designing the smaller details of each page, gathering all the necessary information and was involved in making important decisions like the printing process and meetings, paper choices and who would have a feature and synopsis – something new we bought in this year. Six to eight makers and two communicators were chosen to be featured on a double page spread with a short synopsis of their work because we thought it was important for some individuals to explain their collections if they told a significant story. Because of the way the publication is bound, the inserted pages for the synopses have to fall on every 8th page. We did not have enough pages within NIL for everyone meaning we evaluated the strong collections and it was these students that had a double page spread of visuals. Because I did the model casting and the NIL shoot, I knew roughly how the end result would look so I felt comfortable when describing our vision to senior lecturers and all our ideas were happily accepted and agreed to.

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REFLECTION When reflecting back on the past nine weeks it has become clear to me how important being a good team member is within this industry. Throughout we have collaborated and worked closely with so many people, including designers, communicators, photographers and specialist technicians, that one of the biggest things I’ve achieved is a growth in my selfconfidence when speaking to new people and senior members of staff - which was something I considered a weakness at the beginning of this unit. Because of this, I excelled in being able to put my ideas across clearly, act promptly on feedback and face my fear when approaching new people. Our group worked productively together by working to each of our strengths and allocating jobs to each person involved.

Even by doing this I learned new things, from layout and design rules to how to compromise and designing for a client with a specific concept. Because I was mainly involved in everything surrounding NIL, if I had the chance to work on this unit again, I would like to improve my skills in social media and content creation as this something that will grow to become pivotal in the fashion industry as brands turn digital.

CONCLUSION I definitely enjoyed this project and it offered me much more than I anticipated in terms of what I learned, not only from lecturers but from peers, new people and myself. I wanted to do the live project and help to produce the fourth edition of NIL because it is what I am hoping to pursue next year and as a career and would say with confidence that it has shown me the realities of working to a brief, in a team and with restrictions. By completing this unit, not only have I found a new sense of confidence within myself but learned more about how the communication industry works when dealing with unreliable people, problem-solving and working under pressure and to tight deadlines. I have enjoyed seeing our ideas become realities through our hard work and feel privileged to have been able to represent the university at such a high level. Knowing so many people will be owning a publication that we made is such a rewarding and motivating feeling and something that will benefit me massively next year and within possible future ventures of this kind.

IMAGES 1. Nanna Taville communication flat-lay (2018) [Own image]. In possession of Elle Warren 2. Jessica Leech communication flat-lay (2018) [Own image]. In possession of Elle Warren 3. Erika Whiteley, Leona Kirk & Sophie Fidalgo fashion design NIL shoot (2018) [Own image]. In possession of Elle Warren 4. Larissa Siems fashion design NIL shoot (2018) [Own image]. In possession of Elle Warren 5. Publication display mood board (2018) [Own image]. In possession of Elle Warren 6. NIL layout mood board (2018) [Own image]. In possession of Elle Warren 7. Stand interiors mood board (2018) [Own image]. In possession of Elle Warren 8. Runway show ticket design (2018) [Own image]. In possession of Elle Warren 9. Runway show ticket design T&C’s (2018) [Own image]. In possession of Elle Warren 10. Swing ticket inspiration (No Date) [Online image]. Available from: http://www.neil-watson.co.uk/index.php?/root/mary/ 11. Ticket design mood board (2018) [Own image]. In possession of Elle Warren 12. Tabby Coaker fashion design NIL shoot (2018) [Own image]. In possession of Elle Warren 13. Regan Evans fashion design NIL shoot (2018) [Own image]. In possession of Elle Warren 14. Emily Hodson communication flatlay (2018) [Own image]. In possession of Elle Warren

BIBLIOGRAPHY Business Of Fashion 2017, The Future Of Graduate Fashion Week [Online] businessoffashion.com. Available from: https://www.businessoffashion. com/articles/education/the-future-of-graduate-fashion-week [Accessed on April 3rd 2018] Graduate Fashion Week, ND, About [Online] graduatefashionweek.com.

Available from: http://www.graduatefashionweek.com/about-the-charity/ [Accessed on April 6th 2018]

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