360 Campaign: The Visualis-
Jessica- Laine Vels 1910218 Final Hand In
The Initial ‘WHY’
When venturing upon this report surrounding/explaining the visualization of my 360-brand campaign, the main theme it followed was the practical question of why, why attempt mould a new luxury market. Where world known brands have existed within for multiple years. Is it even possible, and most importantly is it worth this economic & cultural upheaval?
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ell, in terms of the outline of this chapter, touching upon the framework of my campaign, I will address topics which first initially made me take an interest within this posed question, and that which followed. Keeping it short and sweet, the luxury market as we know it has in other words become corrupt, in terms of a loss of personal branding within companies, blind eyes turned towards climate change and in turn the push of sustainability, consumer targeting losing its morals, as well as brand morals dropping due to garment production and the extortionate demand for it. However, it goes far deeper than this, due to the lack of brand marketing, the lines between the luxury market and all other market levels have become blurred. Creating this facade of what is considered luxury and ‘high end’. In my first few weeks of research, I decided to conduct interviews with my connections on LinkedIn, where I put together a series of questions, as set below: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
What 3 words come to mind when you consider the luxury market Would you say brands have changed since you were growing up, if so, how? Which 3 brands do you associate with the luxury market? Is brand sustainability the new way forward? Would you say technology diminishes the statement of the luxury market?
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hese initial questions from myself made case study really opened my eyes,
in terms of the various answers I received back. The overall feedback was that which my research articles had already pointed towards, that being that the change of brands over time and in turn those directing them have equalled to the loss of brand morals, and brand segregation from what was a clear line of luxury fashion. One particular interview I had with Laura England, who is the founder of BusinessGirls as well as a master’s in digital design student. When posed the question of, ‘Brand changes since growing up’, she stated, “Brands such as Gucci, Prada, D&G, etc which were always viewed as these silver grail brands have lost their authenticity with their consumers. In terms of the transparency and honesty about their garments & where they come from. However, now news articles come out regularly showing up these dishonest news reports. That really in my opinion has decreased the exclusivity of these brands. Where corners are cut for cheaper products while maintaining the normal extortionate selling prices”. I found his first initial lead extremely insightful and proved to in further explanation open many more doors to come.
My Strategy
Doors between the luxury market and the remainder of the various market levels have been blurred, confusing the brands outward appearance, let alone it’s consumer, meaning my strategy will elaborate upon a sudden fix, a fix to take back what should never have been allowed to be adapted over.
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ow, firstly the concept of strategy is immediately one of promised success. Initially this was a daunting claim, as in the first few weeks of this campaign I was very much struggling for it to take shape, however as I pushed on with research, I looked into various other brands strategies. Many of them pushed upon emotion and nostalgia. I investigated Nike’s marking strategy, with their campaign of ‘story and emotion to conquer hearts and minds.’ In an article, it read, ‘Nike is responsible for global brand awareness that is likely to last for centuries to come. (“Strategies for Fashion Brand”, 2022)
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here have been competitors and imitators, sure, but with 48% of the American athletic footwear market
(and 96% of the basketball footwear markets) nobody even comes close to Nike.’In turn, Nike’s marketing strategy starts with emotional storytelling and goes a lot further than advertising spend or celebrity endorsement. From ‘Just do it’ to Colin Kaepernick, Nike keeps raising the bar with evocative, memorable campaigns that tug at your heartstrings and stay in your head, (Ong, 2022). As a rather sensitive person, I have always been heavily reliant upon feelings and emotional connections, meaning for my 360 campaign being a personal output, I wanted to relate that as much as possible. As much as Nike are off brand from myself, it continued to provide certain similarities I found extremely relevant. “Even if you don’t speak French, Nike’s message and branding comes through. Incredible.” I found key takeaways from my research into Nike, which are emotional referencing can make a brand long lasting and impressionable, meaning 86% of consumers are willing to pay more for not simply the experience, but rather the transparency a brand has to offer.
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hilst my research into other brands, I proceeded to do a case study into H&M, as this last
year as proved to be a monumental for sustainability & Inclusivity let alone the inclusion of that within H&M. Understanding that inclusivity is both a social phenomenon and an important human need, H&M creates and tailors advertising campaigns to be all-inclusive. In their 2015 campaign “Close The Loop”, H&M featured Mariah Idrissi, a 23-year old Londoner who donned a hijab for the video. This video also features plus-sized models, an amputee, and many other diverse individuals, leading to praise from TeenVogue. By making their fashion products available to a wide range of people, not just the types you see in a fashion show, H&M was able to create a brand story that its customers were happy to rave about. I found this relevant to include as once again, my 360 campaign is various aspects of myself through my work, meaning when I took the key takeaways from this case study of H&M, it proved to reflect that customer stand behind you (and your brand) by standing up for something that matters. Morals have always proved to be linked to transparency as well as brand moral output. How the world perceives your brand, and in turn the person behind it, (Ong, 2022).
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etween these two dissected case studies and many others,
my strategy began taking shape. Where the strategy of conveying emotion, which is visualised through imaged/moving picture was my primary focus. From the beginning, I wanted to utilise my skills and strengths throughout this campaign. In turn, decided to make emotion through Imagine my strategy, through my campaign, I will be building upon the luxury market with the perspective of a keyhole. In terms of a collaboration between myself and Tim Walker in production of joint imagery which is my visualisation of the new luxury market. I plan on executing this through print and fashion film combined, to form a 3D overview of how the luxury market will look, which is captured in an online gallery-type platform. Answering the questions through an abstract and alternative viewpoint of ‘Does the luxury market look one secular way?’ ‘Is it truly seen in such a black and white way of seeing the fashion industry if not the world?’ For myself and my personal brand, visuals have always been my way of expression, which intend to see through this campaign.
Tim Walker
Tim walker has always been a monumental source of inspiration, his work first came to my attention in my first year during his exhibition ‘Wonderful Things’ in the V&A in London in 2019. After viewing his work first-hand and the presence surrounding it, I truly aspired for my own work to maintain as much of presence and immersive surroundings as him. “This exhibition explored the creative process of one of the world’s most inventive photographers, through his pictures, films, photographic sets, and special installations – including ten new series of photographs influenced by the V&A’s collections” (“V&A · Tim Walker: Wonderful Things - Exhibition at South Kensington”, 2022).
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s my previous work has heavily dissected Walker, I will simply gently remind his brief background. Born in England in 1970, Walker’s interest in photography began at the Condé Nast library in London where he worked on the Cecil Beaton archive for a year before college. After obtaining an HBC in Photography at Exeter College of Art, Walker was awarded a third prize as The Independent Young Photographer of The Year.
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pon leaving college in 1994, Walker worked as a freelance photographic assistant in London before moving to New York City as a full-time assistant to Richard Avedon. When he returned to England, he initially concentrated on portrait and documentary work for British newspapers. At the age of 25 he shot his first fashion story for Vogue, and has photographed for the British, Italian, and American editions, as well as W and LOVE magazines ever since. I would have to voice, that something personally to myself which stands out is how whimsical and other worldly his work is, I find it like a breath of fresh air as an artist myself with his multi surface way of viewing the world. This was something which seems so simplistic, however played a pivotal part within deciding my campaign and what I wanted it to visually represent. Whilst looking into his work, which exhibitions and shoots stood out best to me, I came across his shoot collaboration with Richard Avedon, where it was set in the Upper East side in Manhattan. Which the pairing in itself is one of contrast, where Aveon is known for his starkly lit portraits, often set against a minimalist white background; Walker, on the other hand, has a more whimsical, fantastical aesthetic. His work, found in magazines such as Vogue, W, Love and i-D, often exists in a surreal realm somewhere between a dream and a nightmare. It was described as, “Walker is slim, his dark hair and beard trimmed to the same length. His clothes – black T-shirt, shorts, and Nikes – are both less strange and less ‘fashion’ than you’d expect. He has no idea how the photographs will turn out, but he is already toying with Avedon-style scenarios to create a world and coax performances” (“Tim Walker: ‘There’s an extremity to my interest in beauty’”, 2022). In conclusion, my research based and additionally primary based experience with Tim Walker has been one and continues to be one of my greatest inspirations and co pushers.
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‘ asily digestible’ has always been in my mind for my campaign, where what I co produce with Tim Walker needs to be purpose understood, whilst maintaining that organic, whimsical, and other worldly type. Straight to the point of it, my planned visualisation will be one of representation, targeted and mindful images. Where I bring together my digital abstract imagery, with the gallery type fashion shoot Walker is so incredibly well known for. I use the word representation, this is used un-lightly, where message behind the emotion is of the utmost importance. When looking into shoots previously captured by Walker, the specific one of ‘The Healing’ collaboration with Charles Jefferey, yet another industry mentor I admire was all about the illusion of perspective, (walker, 2022).
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his link with his other project ‘Diaries Vol.2’ for LOVE Magazine in 2020 was along the similar lines, however targeted more so towards that of vibrancy within diversity, (Smyth, 2022). For me as a creator, the abstract way I work has always naturally been diverse, however this campaign is taking that tone and targeting it in a way of interpretation. For this visualisation of my campaign, I truly wanted it to be authentic to who I am, where I came from, and my personal character. Meaning being transparent in the meaning behind these joint gallery images and campaign photo shoot was of the utmost importance. Solving a gap in the market whilst building upon myself personally as well as professionally. Creating a new trademark for myself as an independent creator.
Who I Might Need?
For my collaboration, the prospect of working with Walker himself is untouchable, for now at least. However, as a creative this in no means change plans to accommodate who I will need, rather adapt. For my model however, I had a fixed idea of what I wanted. Exotic origin was something I was chasing. Where unpinnable recognition was at the core. The aim of this is to maintain the illusion of unknown origin, keeping the diverse background of shoot and model withheld, letting the untouched formed opinion of the viewer shielded. In other terms, letting the work and message speak for itself. This was an extremely crucial part, as I discovered through my research that opinions change people’s perception heavily, clouding the viewpoint of images and brand output. The model I shall be using is Marwa Hammon, who I will not disclose her origin, but rather build upon the unknown to form a new. The look I wanted was other worldly, whimsical, and delicate. She was the perfect model I knew from Linked in who had previously done similar targeted shoots prior.
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n contrast to my past projects, I have always brought in my well reversed videographer Samuel Ferrel, however this final project was the one where self-growth was at the core. Meaning working on previously weak skills such as film capture and in turn the software that goes with it, that being premier pro etc. This was not thought to be executed for personal glory, however the last hurdle of leaving my university experience with the strongest skillset I can equip. That being said, the notion of almost sole responsibly for the end edited turn out is rather daunting, however this year was the one to push boundaries and previously explored territory, by which I hope to prove within this campaign.
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he location for my campaign shoot was initially going to be in a self-decorated room, to create an illusion of size disproportion like that of Alice in wonderland, hence the term of fashion through a keyhole. However, after thought and test, this proved to be ineffective. Purely in the terms of the quality was not up to what in my opinion an FMP campaign shoot should exhibit. Rather, I decided upon a 360-version type photographer. Where playing upon proportion disrupt whilst maintaining the virtual 360 rotation approach. I focused my thoughts upon a figurative hill setting, where digitally I could rotate the imagery to reveal different sides and abstract make ups of my collaborative images. This is something I have never explored yet, which meant it was the path for me to take. How this will turn out I am still uncertain however walking into the second part of this campaign shoot I will attempt the best possible within my ever-growing skillset.
Conclusion to ‘The New Luxury Market’ As previously mentioned, the luxury market is one of great corruption, where brands have altered their ways into negative directions. This losing sight of the morals they once stood for, all narrowing down to the very same reason, the viewpoint of fashion through a black and white lense. Losing touch with the abnormal. Severing the connection with the unknown and transparent truth of what the new consumer wants and chases. In conclusion to this campaign report, I hope that with the coming together of my plan within my mind and what It entails speaks for itself, that the unknown or other early process could be our new way froward, within this dying reality.
The Calling Card As a creative who identifies strongly upon illustrated type visuals, the concept of a portfolio always felt limited in a sense. For myself, I view this creative industry in a multi angle viewpoint, meaning that is reflective in my work. My brand, ‘Colour in White’ has always been one of contrast, whether that be in the name itself, visuals, concepts, ideas etc. My website which was designed by myself, was planned to be a gallery free flowing type. Where as much as I brand myself as a brand developer and content creator, my work has a freelance space for self-promotion and adaption from fellow brands/artists if graphic images. That being if they wish to incorporate it.
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y future plans go into a carved direction of an individual self-business of selling my abstract
targeted prints. Whether that be as prints, T-Shirts, etc. This inspiration primarily came from an original Studio 204 lecturer Tony Green. Where his images are extremely sought after, that having an original piece is considered “Instagramable”. I always stood by the statement of, not wanting to be a freelancer, as I viewed it in the light of staying at home, every day being the exact same. Which always made me feel suffocated, however, as an illustrator, having the best of both worlds while maintaining a corporate workplace, as my new way forward career wise. In conclusion, with the hopes I have for my brand, the execution of this website and in turn future digital portfolio will help elevate that plan of brand developer and digital curator for fellow brands. Telling a story through visualising the concept of abstract open-minded work. Keeping in close likeness with my industry influencers of Tim Walker, Tony Green, Matty Boven, etc.
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