Product Development: Originally when I was designing the collaborative product, I was producing garments including hoodie’s, sweatshirts, and tank tops. However, as my research developed and I gained a greater understanding of the two brands I had chosen, I was soon to realise this was not the product design I should go ahead with. I had come to this conclusion as the designs were not representative of the two brands, it was important for me to ensure both brands were identifiable for it to be a successful collaboration, and these designs were not satisfying this standard. My current illustrations (at the time) had great resemblance to Patagonia yet lacked any significance to Sunspel, fortunately I recognised this early into my development and prioritised my time gaining a greater understanding of what type of brand Sunspel is. Understanding both brands into as much depth as possible was essential for me to successfully pull this off. A key turning point for my collaborative piece was when I discovered The North Face and Gucci collaboration. I was inspirated how one brand (in my opinion, The North Face) took the lead and Gucci flavoured them. I felt this was suitable for my collaboration as Patagonia are certainly ahead with the sustainable movement, it felt reasonable to similarly collab the brands. Brands including Off-White, Louis Vuitton and Vetements are also examples of brands which I gained inspiration off. This selection mentioned are famously known for saturating their entire product with branding, this was where the final design of my product started to come together. Maintaining both brands consumer trust and interest remained prominent throughout my development, it was something I remained conscious of throughout. Although it was a challenge to design a product to two very different target markets, I am confident I met this ultimatum.
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