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e m i ly d r i n k e l d
FASH0031
COMMUNIC ATION & MESSAGE portfo lio .
contents.
//1 SELF PROMOTION
//2 SUMMER WORK
//3 IDENTITY
//4 EXTRA WORK
SELF PROMOTION.
The creation of a business card in order to represent my personality, identity and creative outlet within the industry. This motif then carries through in the form of a visual CV, online portfolio & covering letter.
FINALIZED BUSINESS CARD DESIGN.
DESIGN RECIPE IN CONTEXT.
(https://asoscareers.asos.com:443/)
visit ASOS.com (http://www.asos.com)
LINKEDIN TWITTER RSS (https://twitter.com/#!/ASOS_Careers) (https://asos-(http://www.linkedin.com/company/asos.com openhire.silkroad.com/api/index.cfm? fuseaction=app.getJobListings&FORMAT=rss&KEYWORD
HOME (HTTPS://ASOSCAREERS.ASOS.COM:443/) JOBS AT ASOS ABOUT US (HTTPS://ASOSCAREERS.ASOS.COM:443/ASOS/EMPLOYMENTLISTINGS.HTML) WORKING FOR US (HTTPS://ASOSCAREERS.ASOS.COM:443/ASOS/ABOUT_US.HTML) VACANCIES (HTTPS://ASOSCAREERS.ASOS.COM:443/ASOS/EMPLOYMENTLISTINGS/JOBS1.HTML) OUR BUSINESS AREAS (HTTPS://ASOSCAREERS.ASOS.COM:443/ASOS/WORKINGATASOS.HTML) (HTTPS://ASOSCAREERS.ASOS.COM:443/ASOS/BUSINESSAREASJOBS.HTML) INTERNSHIPS (HTTPS://ASOSCAREERS.ASOS.COM:443/ASOS/EMPLOYMENTLISTINGS/INTERNSHIPS.HTML) THE INTERVIEW (HTTPS://ASOSCAREERS.ASOS.COM:443/ASOS/EMPLOYMENTLISTINGS/THEINTERVIEW.HTML) FAQS (HTTPS://ASOSCAREERS.ASOS.COM:443/ASOS/EMPLOYMENTLISTINGS/QUESTIONS.HTML)
Online Visual Merchandising Assistant Tracking Code 1347-071 Job Description The role:
Online Visual Merchandising Assistant
Who does it report to:
Visual Merchandising Manger
Direct Reports:
None
Where is it based:
Greater London House, Mornington Crescent, London
The hours:
9.00am – 5.30pm (Monday to Thursday) 9.00am – 5.00pm (Friday)
The Story so far… ASOS are the UK’s number one fashion and beauty destination. With 75,000 product lines across Womenswear, Menswear, Footwear, Accessories, Jewellery and Beauty, we’re setting the pace in a worldwide fashion revolution. With around 3,000 new product lines being introduced each week, we’re ambitious and we certainly know our stuff. We ship to 240 countries and also have specific sites targeting the USA, France, Germany, Italy, Australia, Russia and China, with offices in London, Sydney, New York, France and Germany and China. Our ambition is to be the world’s no.1 online fashion brand for 20-somethings, therefore it is really important to us that we continue to attract top talent across the globe to help us realise our goals. If you’re looking for an opportunity to go places and really take your career forward, we could be the perfect fit for you! The ASOS Way We do things a certain way - The ASOS Way. It’s our DNA and runs through every single thing we do here - it defines who we are, what we do and how we do it. Some things change, these don’t. We are Passionate; we are proud to be a part of ASOS, we always give our best and we celebrate our successes. We are Customer Obsessed; we know our customers love fashion and we understand what they want, we know our stuff inside and out, we put our customers at the heart of everything we do. We Restlessly Innovate; we don’t stand still, we give it a go and we’re brave. We are Collaborative and Respectful; We work together to get the job done, we grow ideas from within, we make things happen and we do the right thing. People are the future of our business and we have really big ideas. We know we need people who can turn these ideas into reality – it’s our people that make the difference.
A bit about the Team: The Visual Merchandising team are responsible for making sure the ASOS.com look as visually appealing as possible for our customers whilst also promoting the right products and trends to maximize sales.
The Role
Responsibilities will include: Merchandise new products, category and brand pages accordingly Maintain onsite visual standards Liaise with the buying and merchandising teams to identify key trends & key items and use this information to ensure effective product placement within categories Review and feedback on competitor websites, highlighting new products, trends, features and visual aesthetics Analyse best seller information to maximise product availability and positioning Constant monitoring of on-site product presentation Guarantee online feature pages are visually appealing and fit the story behind them Ad hoc troubleshooting and housekeeping The Person
To whom it may concern, I am writing today in regards to the job offer of Online Visual Merchandising Assistant based in London. As a Fashion Communication and Promotions student, my ability to confidently connect with others in a proactive way means that I am naturally well organized and able to form relationships with coworkers and new brands alike. Through considering me for this role, my previous visual merchandising experience alongside my commercial awareness means that I can transfer my knowledge of physical VM into the digital world. Maintaining my blog regularly alongside previous work experience roles include the designing of a website, means that I am knowledgeable of coding and a design-savvy individual. This will not only contribute to fitting the visual appeal of the site to the aesthetic of ASOS as a brand, but will also mold the merchandising of new products towards the ‘ASOS way’. As the digital presence of online brands are constantly growing and evolving, it is more necessary now than ever before to tailor the online presence to the tactile world. As an approachable individual with previous experience both through my undergraduate degree and work positions, I think that I am the right candidate for the job and would appreciate it greatly to be considered for the role. Many thanks, Emily Drinkeld
COVER LETTER
Emily Drinkeld Mobile No. 07730481799 DOB: 25/11/1995 E-MAIL: emilydrinkeld@hotmail.co.uk ONLINE PORTFOLIO: http://cargocollective.com/emilydrinkeld BLOG: www.cocoandthecloset.blogspot.co.uk Address within term time: 44 Woodborough Road Nottingham Nottinghamshire NG3 1AZ
Address outside of term time: 26 The Paddock Walbottle Newcastle Upon Tyne Tyne & Wear NE15 8JG
I am a second-year student at Nottingham Trent University, studying Fashion Communication and Promotion. I have matured and developed my knowledge of both high-street and designer brands throughout the course and have also established a solid understanding of the fashion industry as a whole. The importance of social media and the way in which it can be manipulated to suit a brand has become imperative knowledge while learning on the course – encouraging a new-fangled sense of awareness which now runs throughout both my work and my own personal blog. My knowledge of visual awareness within merchandising & advertising is also growing constantly throughout various assignments. Technological and design skills have evolved massively as I continue to code, design, and run both my blog and Youtube channel. Creating regular content for both style-based platforms has only amplified my hunger and interest for design and the online world. This has also encouraged my critical voice within the fashion industry, as well as developing my photography skills, selfconfidence as a writer and determination as a communicator. The importance of trend awareness as well as trend forecasting within the industry has also encouraged my visual awareness, whether it’s through visual merchandising, identifying or creating a colour palette, or understanding a brand.
Education Nottingham Trent University – Fashion Communication and Promotion BA (Hons) Sacred Heart Catholic High School Fenham – B in English Literature, A in Psychology, B in Sociology As well as 11 GCSE’s obtained at grades A*-C including English and Maths My knowledge and passion for the fashion industry has only grown throughout my course. Tasks such as creating my own portfolio, designing various trend booklets under a multitude of styles, and also manipulating images digitally have encouraged me enormously within the field of graphics and design work. As well as this, absorbing completely new skills and software in a short amount of time along with delivering group presentations and working together as a team has undoubtedly refined my communication skills; working both individually and as a group I have been able to express my own opinion and deliver concepts clearly. Translating this through to my own online and social
Work Experience
WRITTEN & VISUAL CV
Raw Print - Working as a part of the Raw Print intern team, I create content for the website as well as designing the site itself. Editing imagery in order to fit the aesthetic of the site as well as designing the layout to meet the standards and requirements of a set brief is an incredible insight into the digital world when it comes to representing a brand. Fabric of Nottingham - Role of dresser & stylist behind the scenes of an Indie Fashion Show in Nottingham. The show exhibited all of the hidden creativity which the city has to offer. Engaging with designers such as JC Middlebrook & Callecia Brown gave me unforgettable hands-on experience of a fashion show. Sue Ryder Nottingham - A volunteered visual merchandising role, I helped to attract a wider & more youthful clientele & created various visual displays based on a particular era, colour, or seasonal theme; all in keeping to the current style climate and with a vintage twist. Newcastle College Marketing Department - The development and design of posters using Adobe Creative Suite, general admin work with other members of staff and the use of Excel spreadsheets to evaluate and compare various stockists.
Employment Primark April 2015 - December 2015 An insight into customer service and the crucial elements which make an in-store experience special. Visual merchandising & organisation of the store gave me a taste of industry life & matured my sense of commercial style. McDonalds Sept. 2013 – Current Crew Member at the restaurant, assisting with cash handling on till and stock replenishment amongst various other skills. Overall contributing to a fast-paced and customer-driven environment whereby serving the customer quickly and to a high standard is always prioritised.
Interests and achievements
My creative mind-set has been expanded massively through playing musical instruments such as Guitar and the Drum Kit up to a standard of Grade 6, as throughout my whole high-school career and now recreationally music has always been a way for me to use my teamwork and time management skills to their full potential. Designing and coding my own fashion and style-related blog has encouraged my critical voice within the fashion industry, as well as developing my photography skills, self-confidence as a writer and determination as a communicator. The importance of trend awareness as well as trend forecasting within the industry has also encouraged my visual awareness, whether it’s through visual merchandising, identifying or creating a colour palette, or understanding a brand. Finally, being chosen as a Course Rep throughout my second year at University led to regularly attending meetings with Lecturers in order to feed back opinions and act as a voice for the students on our course. References are available upon request.
WORK EXPERIENCE
R a w Pr i n t - Wo r k i n g a s a p a r t o f t h e R a w Pr i n t i n t e r n team, I play a par t in creating content for the website as well as designing the site itself. Editing imagery in order to fit the aesthetic of the site as well as designing the layout to meet the standards and requirements of a set brief is an incredible insight into the digital world when it comes to representing a brand.
E M I LY DRINKELD
V I S U A L CO M M U N I CATO R & B LO G G E R Instagram: @emilydrinkeld Issuu: Emily Drinkeld
w w w. c a r g o c o l l e c t i v e . c o m / e m i l y d r i n k e l d
PROFILE Currently studying in my second year a t N o t t i n g h a m Tr e n t U n i v e r s i t y, I a m a 20 year-old style hoarder and social media fanatic. A lover of film, indie music & independent magazines, I have a penchant for photography and a soft s p o t f o r t h e 2 0 ’s .
C O N TA C T M E 07730481799 emilydrinkeld@hotmail.co.uk w w w. c o c o a n d t h e c l o s e t . b l o g s p o t . c o . u k
interests
I have always had a strong love of music and penchant for travel from a young a g e . G r o w i n g u p p l a y i n g t h e g u i t a r, d r u m s and violin encouraged my enthusiasm for creativity and sense of self, while travelling to various different countries has broadened my cultural knowledge and understanding of ar t.
PERSONAL SKILLS styling trend forecasting social media photography
F a b r i c o f N o t t i n g h a m - Ro l e o f d r e s s e r & s t y l i s t b e h i n d the scenes of an Indie Fashion Show in Nottingham. The show exhibited all of the hidden creativity which the c i t y h a s t o o f f e r. E n g a g i n g w i t h d e s i g n e r s s u c h a s J C Middlebrook & Callecia Brown gave me unforgettable h a n d s - o n e x p e r i e n c e o f a f a s h i o n s h o w. Sue Ryder Nottingham - A volunteered visual merchandising role, I helped to attract a wider & more youthful clientele & created various visual displays b a s e d o n a p a r t i c u l a r e r a , c o l o u r, o r s e a s o n a l t h e m e ; a l l in keeping to the current style climate and with a vintage twist. N e w c a s t l e Co l l e g e M a r k e t i n g D e p a r t m e n t - T h e development and design of posters using Adobe Creative Suite, general admin work with other members of staff and the use of Excel spreadsheets to evaluate and compare various stockists. Pr i m a r k - A n i n s i g h t i n t o c u s t o m e r s e r v i c e a n d t h e crucial elements which make an in-store experience special. Visual merchandising & organisation of the store gave me a taste of industry life & matured my sense of commercial style.
E D U C AT I O N N OT T I N G H A M T R E N T U N I V E R S I TY F a s h i o n Co m m u n i c a t i o n a n d Pr o m o t i o n B A ( H o n s ) S AC R E D H E A RT S I XT H F O R M - A- l e v e l A - English Literature A - Ps y c h o l o g y B - Sociology S AC R E D H E A RT H I G H S C H O O L 1 1 G C S E ’s o b t a i n e d a t g r a d e s A *- C i n c l u d i n g E n g l i s h and Maths
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS
ONLINE PORTFOLIO RESEARCH . dribble was an alternative choice however didn’t have a very strong portfolio format and was too design-led.
wixx was not vary varied and quite difficult to update and design, despite being portfolio-based
cargo was simple to navigate, had a wide choice of templates and was a very visual option showing the more creative side to my work.
Visit my portfolio by clicking on the image above
D
SELF PROMOTION DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
SUMMER WORK A selection of work which I completed over the summer, including moodboards to summarize work experience and the ‘What Am I Like’ brief.
PHOTOGRAPHY
WORK EXPERIENCE
REFLECTIVE BLOG POST
http://viimode.tumblr.com
what am i like?
Originally briefed with the theme of ‘Gender’ in our Identity module, we came up with Seahorse; a powerful feminist zine to capture the young female mind in the most mischevious and sarcastic way possible.
identity
DIGITAL PRESENCE
PROMOTIONAL IMAGE
Chloe Moore Charlie-Rae Legge Samantha Harvey Emily Drinkeld
Well hello Sisters, if you’ve strutted upon this then you’re one firmer heeled boot closer to a sassy, crazy and more equal future, because here at Seahorse our singular, most important aim is to give you young women the strong, powerful voice that will always be worth listening to. Seahorse derived from this sarcastic idea that men could actually be the poor souls that give birth, because within the animal species it is one of few animals where the male bears the unborn young. Ultimately, we are creating a parody twist of the real human world. Absolute liberty to be a man,eh. Seahorses, we are here, and we are here to make a stand!!! We didn’t just make Seahorse as a product of girl power, oh no, it took us a lot of time and carefully asked questions alongside investigation at HQ when we learned that it wasn’t just us four that thought there was a patriarchal problem. Although we had all encountered sexism first hand we want to understand why feminism is being seen as a trend that can be worn upon t-shirts and not a topic that is being shouted from the (champagne bar) rooftops. Gender Equality Being all rounded individuals – we aren’t talking about body size – we took ourselves out into the big bad world and delved straight into gender equality heads on. Looking at previous soul sisters of our female history we question why are we still being predominantly objectified through outright meaningful ways and even worse so, mentally and on the sly. Whether this be a sexist remark at work, or asked if you are on your period when voicing an opinion – sexism was by far no means left at the coffin of Emily Davidson. Looking up to theoretical goddesses like Simone De Beauvoir it seems female power struggle has been a very archaic matter. Continuing from post-World War II when women were tied to the household as 1950’s housewives. Advertising and fashion lead females into a domestic sphere in which we are still fighting to leave. Giving women a role in society was pitiful and patronising and created long lasting stereotypes that we need to leave behind. Categorising women does not stop there, the Madonna-whore complex coined by Sigmund Freud, refers to the notion that men cannot be sexually attracted to a woman who is “good” and ‘”innocently naïve”, the Madonna – but nor can he respect a woman who is “sexual” and “daring”, the Whore. The virgin/whore dichotomy expands on Freud’s idea and is used by many feminists who critique popular culture as in many modes of communication women are often seen as the good, innocent, caring, nurturing mother, or polarised as the home wrecking, opinionated, career driven whore. This understandably places women into two pathways of life and culminates the feeling of failure if a woman does not become a mother, or pressurises guilt upon women who enjoy their education and work hard. Either way this is a way of reinforcing dominant ideology upon us all and keeps male domination afloat. Battling Sexism Seahorse wants to give women a platform to learn more about these inequalities like salary pay and fair coverage of sports. Ask yourselves, how can we battle the sexism away? We wanted to see what stigma was attached to the word feminism and wanted to understand why it was being perceived this way. The results showed that many people associated feminism with anger, irrational behaviour, men hating, female power and being quite frankly - gobby. These depictions couldn’t be more that what we wanted to hear! Feminism stereotypes are bound together by the bourgeoisie (the bald, middle age, upper class politicians who somehow run the country) and they generalise these through conforms like the news, film and celebrity to make us not want to become said feminist, so this leads to women not fighting for power, in turn so patriarchy can happen… DUH! However, we need to hail the drivers that alternatively approach the media gobbledygook and go against the, dare we say, norm. Take note seahorses these people are propelling our beliefs and ideas into the next century and with your help can become our futures. Sophie Walker, Catherine Mayer and Sandi Toksvig are a triumphant trio – founders of the Women’s Equality Party they allow a community of both genders to converse about the omnipotent topic that is equality. Oh and yes we must thank those innovators of the suffragette movement and Emmeline Pankhurst is #femalegoals or so she should be as without her your education, rights and ability to confidently speak up would be non-existent. Who are we?! Seahorse is the sassy stop for strong, open-minded and artsy women with a mischievous edge. We’re a zine illustrating the inequality of gender in a modern day world, with a flirty and quirky twist. Amongst the fun and often fluff-frenzied pages of our mag however, you’ll find one key message; we believe that patriarchy still exists. Fuelled solely through our own passion for equality and drive for creativity, we stand for giving young women a platform to question their roles in society. Without being coined as ‘another whining cow on your soapbox’, Seahorse is here to provide you with all of the backup needed to show that Feminist is not a dirty word. Our story is a political parody of myth vs. reality, combining the cheeky and carefree nature of envisioned myths with the cold hard reality of society. Our audience is aged 16-25, as we strive to capture young and visionary minds before they enter the workplace to start with a confident voice of who they are. So, if you’ve ever been beeped at by a white van man, heckled by a builder with his arse hanging out or simply just thought to yourself ‘hey, remind me again why women don’t get equal pay, are still sexualized ridiculously within the media, and can’t seem to have sex with more than 3 people without being slut-shamed’ then Seahorse is the zine for you The movers and shakers So, here’s how we did it… We delved deep into that old feminist world for material to inspire our new cause for a formula to conceive our brand identity. First influences came from the exotic and rather strange movement, Dada. “If you have serious ideas on life, you make artistic discoveries, and all of a sudden your head starts to break up in laughter, if you find that all your ideas are useless and ridiculous, know that DADA HAS BEGUN TO SPEAK TO YOU’’ (De L’Ecotais,E, 2002). Dada was spontaneous yet meaningless and less refined than typical oil paintings and traditional art works at the time. Dada’s signature was collage and photomontage to represent views of modern day life. This hugely influenced our work as we wanted our zine to be! Like Busy bees, we pretended to be Dada artists, ‘Down with art! Down with bourgeois spirituality’ (De L’Ecotais,E, 2002); and collaged newspaper together, created bold text and a mishmash
Seahorse
of any materials we could lay our hands on! The weird and wonderful genre that is Pop Art was described as ‘Pop is everything art hasn’t been for the last two decades. It’s basically a U-turn back to a representational visual communication, moving at a break-away speed...Pop is a re-enlistment in the world...It is the American Dream, optimistic, generous and naïve.’ (Wolf,2016). Pop Art inspired us to be bright, exaggerated, drug feel, a psychedelic feast to the eyes. As abstract as Andy Warhol we are bold, elaborate and down right raring to go. As you already know Seahorse was born through the shocking headlines of the tampon tax so naturally, we researched feminist artists and saw how they put their views across. ‘Feminism is the conviction that gender has been, and continues to be, a fundamental category for the organization of culture. Moreover, the pattern of that organization usually favours men over women’ (Reckitt, H, 2012). Jenny Saville challenged the portrayal of the ideal female form. She says: ‘I want to be a painter of modern life and modern bodies’ (Artsy.2016). We admired the way she stuck two fingers up to sexist views of women by experimenting with her own body to create distorted and disturbing images. So, in a similar way to how Saville did this, we also wanted the first reaction of the reader to be one of shock and revulsion instead of instantly seeing the beautiful female image they might have been expecting. Up to the late 1960s, female artists were expected to have‘a feminine‘ side to their work and weren’t taken as seriously as men. This changed in the 1980s and 90s as the likes of Sarah Lucas challenged this with feminist interpretations and racy imagery of sexualized objects. We therefore did our own Lucas photoshoot, using a Barbie Doll in different shoots, for example Barbie sat on a banana and laid out onto a plate, also featuring Barbie’s head in an egg carton to show ‘woman as objects’. Terry Richardson is a highly controversial fashion photographer, being accused of being distasteful in the way he creates highly sexualized images of women using the likes of Miley Cyrus amongst others. We were intrigued but horrified with the way he shows the female body so we used a male figure with Barbie to create controversial images with the female form (Barbie) to counter his work. Guy Bourdin is a photographer well known for his bold colours, high contrast images and bright speed of flash.. This gave us ideas for our own daring, feminist pinks and eye-catching palette. We sifted through a pile of magazines to find work that resonated with what we were trying to do. In ‘Adbusters’ , the anticonsumerist magazine we found large, bold imagery that makes fun of the advertising industry. We also wanted to do this in the way that the industry uses images of women to sell their products and to poke fun at men. Bite Me magazine is a weird one, based on vampires and the supernatural, a strange source you may think for our work. However, it has some weird imagery of women that gave us ideas to shake up the feminist portrayal of woman. Brands such as Kenzo, House of Holland, Moschino- bring, playful and rebellious spirits to their designs. We were fascinated by their levels of energy and wanted to be just as savvy, eccentric and empowering as we show off our views and contributed to the light heartedness of our work. Seahorse takes a serious look of feminism and puts out the message that patriarchy and feminism very much still exists. We have taken a stance across a powerful message through imagery. We know what we stand for, the Seahorse Girl Power! Let’s get one thing straight girls, don’t let anyone ever dull your sparkle. We are a zine illustrating the inequality of gender in a real-life, modern day world, built upon foundations that patriarchy still exists. We may have lost a few battles, but we have no intention of surrendering. Us seahorses may be a mockery and controversial twist, but let’s be serious, well behaved women rarely make history. These visionary women need to portray that every week is shark week, because a sass a day keeps the basic away. We provide a pink, playful platform to gather as sisters and share a voice, because although god first created man, he then had a better idea. Pardon my French, but, bitches unite!
Referencing: Essay Website Artsy. (2016). Jenny Saville.. Available: https://www.artsy.net/artist/jenny-saville. Last accessed 13th Dec 2015. Wolf, J. (2016). Pop Art. Available: http://www.theartstory.org/movement-pop-art.htm. Last accessed 12th Dec 2015. Books De L’Ecotais, E (2002). The Dada Spirit. France: Assouline. P6. De L’Ecotais, E (2002). The Dada Spirit. France: Assouline. P14. Reckitt, H (2012). Art and Feminism. USA: Phaidon. p18.
A culmination of work produced within creative seminars and workshops with brands such as Dizzy Ink, alongside my own independent work and internship.
EXTRA WORK
DIZZY INK
Dizzy Ink Risograph workshops both encouraged creative spontinaity and helped me to develop my illustration skills.
lord
whitney
The Lord Whitney workshop was something which I had never experienced before, and really made us open our minds up as a team to different creative possibilities.It was also interesting to create something which merged the physical and virtual worlds.
LIFE DRAWING
This seminar kickstarted my interest in illustration and developed my personal style.
www.raw-print.com
raw printWorking internship as an intern with Raw Print has led me to play a part in website development and design. As well as this, it has made me appreciate the requirements of sticking to a brief and gave me insight into the professional sphere.
berlin
A selection of photography from my time in Berlin.
photography
STOP.START.CONTINUE. Stop disregarding creative ideas before I’ve tried them or experimented with them; the only way to find out is to try everything. Start taking more of an innitiative with my own work in order to develop individual ideas as well as group work. Continue experimenting with illustration work both digitally and through hand drawings. @emilydrinkeld www.cocoandthecloset.blogspot.co.uk www.cargocollective.com/emilydrinkeld