Marketing and Communication Department Book by oliviaeggington07

CONTENTS PAGES 4-5: STUDIO 204 INTRODUCTION

PAGES 16-37: OLIVIA EGGINGTON PAGES 28-55: OLIVIA BUCKLEY

PAGES 6-7: MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT INTRODUCTION

PAGES 56 -73: MILLIE WRIGHT

PAGES 8-9: DEPARTMENT RESPONSIBILITIES

PAGES : LIBBY CHAMBERLIN

PAGES 10-13: MEET THE TEAM

PAGES : JESSICA VELS

PAGES : GROUP CONCLUSION PAGES : REFERENCES

STUDIO 204 IS AN ESTABLISHED COMMUNITY FOR CREATIVES. WE STAND FOR PROFESSIONALISM, POSITIVITY AND OFFER ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES WITHIN THE INDUSTRY. WE ARE A CREATIVE AGENCY RAN BY STUDENTS FOR STUDENTS WITH A... 91% EMPLOYABILITY RATE RATED NO.10 IN THE GUARDIAN THE OPPORTUNITY TO GAIN A DEGREE WHILST GAINING FIRST HAND INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE

WE ARE THE MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT AT AGENCY 204. AMBITIOUS AND POSITIVE IN OUR OUTLOOK WE STRIVE TO EXHIBIT A FRESH PERSPECTIVE ON THE WORK OF THE CREATIVES WITHIN THE STUDIO 204 COMMUNITY. OPTIMISTIC IN OUR APPROACH WE LOOK TO PROJECT THE WORK OF THOSE WITHIN OUR AGENCY/COURSE IN A PROFESSIONAL MANNER ENSURING THEIR LEGACY REMAINS STRONG AS THEY MOVE ON IN THEIR CAREERS.

PROMOTE THE CLASS OF 2022 ORGANISE AND SECURE VENUE TO PREPARE A WELL PRESENTED AND EXECUTED LAUNCH NIGHT TO INDUSTRY, ALUMNI AND PEERS SECURE SPONSORS FOR THE EVENING CREATE AND PUBLISH A CLASS OF 2022 ZINE PROMOTE THE CLASS OF 2022 VIA SOCIAL MEDIA CREATE A CLASS OF 2022 PRESS RELEASE CREATE AND SEND SAVE THE DATES/ INVITATIONS TO PEERS 9

THE MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT IS A SUB-GROUP WORKING FOR AGENCY 204. THE TEAM CONSISTS OF FIVE MEMBERS. AGENCY 204 IS A CREATIVE AGENCY THAT AIMS TO PROMOTE STUDENTS WITHIN THE STUDIO 204 COMMUNITY BOTH PAST AND PRESENT. AS A DEPARTMENT, WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PROMOTION OF THE CLASS OF 2022. TO ACHIEVE THIS OUTCOME, WE ARE CHALLENGED TO PLAN, EXECUTE AND PROMOTE A LAUNCH NIGHT THAT SHOWCASES AND HIGHLIGHTS THE WORK THAT WE HAVE COMPLETED. WE HAVE ALSO BEEN TASKED TO WRITE AND PUBLICISE A ZINE PROMOTING AND SHOWCASING THE WORK OF THE CLASS OF 2022. EACH MEMBER OF THE TEAM HAS CLEARLY DEFINED ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES. THESE HAVE BEEN DELEGATED AND ASSIGNED TO EACH MEMBER BASED UPON THEIR SKILL SET. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE CAN OBSERVE AND LEARN FROM EACH OTHER DURING THIS PROCESS.

OLIVIA EGGINGTON

OLIVIA BUCKLEY

MILLIE WRIGHT

PRESS MANAGER

VENUE MANAGER

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

FINANCE MANAGER

ZINE MANAGER

ZINE EDITOR

CONTENT CREATOR

LIBBY CHAMBERLIN

JESSICA VELS

EVENT STYLIST

CO-RESEARCHER

SPONSORS TEAM

EVENT ASSISTANT

PART ONE OLIVIA EGGINGTON ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

I N T R OD U C T ION When we were assigned the Studio 204 Agency brief, I intuitively knew I wanted to be a member of the Marketing and Communication department. This was the department best suited to my skills. Throughout my time at university, I have focused on and enjoyed developing both my marketing/ business and my creative/ communication skills. The next process involved deciding, within our team, the roles and responsibilities that everyone was going to have that best reflected their key strengths, skills and interests. We ensured that everyone was given fair and equal responsibilities. I took responsibility for conducting a press release, Instagram content creation and a Zine Editor/ Copywriter. I opted for these roles as I am confident that I have the skills and capability to execute them successfully, whilst learning a variety of new skills in the process. They were roles that allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of sectors I am interested in with relation to a future career choice. As a result of my role the following became my KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators): The deadline for the completion of my KPI’s is the 5th of May 2022.

KPI 1: PRESS RELEASE The role of conducting a press release was one that I was excited to commence. It best suited my skill set as I have a passion for creative writing. Public Relations is a sector that I have not delved into before but have been extremely eager to explore as a potential career path because of my effective communication, strategic planning and time management skills. As I had never conducted a press release before, my initial task was to research how to conduct a press release that would effectively celebrate and market the Class of 2022. I researched the key elements that would be required to create a successful and engaging press release (please see research file). It was clear that a successful press release included key elements such as an attention-grabbing headline and needs to be short but powerful. I also conducted research into how other university courses were marketing their final year students. This enabled me to gain an insight into what other courses were doing and allowed me to explore new and creative ways to market our class. It was highlighted that few courses were creating press releases or had Instagram pages dedicated to their graduating students. The initial stages of conducting the press release allowed me to develop my research skills and awareness of a variety of marketing methods such as websites, zines and social media.

The next step was to consider the content to be included in the press release that would best reflect the Class of 2022 and engage the reader. I concluded that it was important to include aspects such as: information on the projects that the Class of 2022 are currently undertaking, individuals within the industry who have acted as mentors and highlighting the careers that current students will be entering as they graduate. To ensure I created an engaging headline, I wrote multiple headlines which I proposed to my peers and CEO to collaboratively decide on the one that was most attention grabbing and appropriate. Once I had completed a draft copy I sent it to Jennifer Hodgson, the CEO and Founder of MODA PR. MODA PR is a public relations agency based in Chester. It was highly beneficial speaking to an individual within the public relations industry to get effective feedback on how to further enhance my press release. This task has given me the vital skill of being able to conduct a press release which is a key skill I can take forward into the industry and put on my CV. I thoroughly enjoyed being given the opportunity to write a press release that celebrates the Class of 2022.

PRESS MANAGER My initial KPI of conducting a press release then evolved into me becoming the press manager for my department. This involved me taking the lead role in creating the Studio 204 Agency press package. I worked with Luke Owen, a member of the Creative department, to combine every department’s individual press release’s to create a package that included information on the Class of 2022, the new course and industry mentors. Once I had collated our writing, I considered how the press package was going to be presented and branded. Therefore, I collected imagery to put in the press package which involved me organising a Class of 2022 photo. Once I had collected all components needed to create the press package, I created both a word version and InDesign version which I made into a visual booklet. This allowed me to develop my teamwork skills but also my leadership skills through taking the lead role in the creation of the press package. Once I showed my press package to the CEO, Tracey Hall, which she was pleased with, I contacted a printing company to inquire about how much it would cost to get printed. I checked the budget with our Finance Manager, and then organised for 20 copies to be printed which will be put in the Storyhouse on the launch night for guests to read.

My role as Press Manager then involved me contacting businesses about publishing our press package. This allowed me to gain experience in contacting industry, adopting a professional manner. I contacted the Public Relations manager at The Storyhouse about ways we could release our press package. As we were holding a private event, we were not able to have any content uploaded onto their website or printed onto their billboards. However, I was able to take printed packages which they exhibited at their venue. I also put a copy of the press package and zine on the studio_204_alumni page via a Linktree account I set up. I sent the final press package to my CEO as she wanted to send the package to personal contacts she has within the industry. She was happy that I had fulfilled my tasks for this role and said she would contact a Public Relations company where she had an industry contact about publishing our press package.

CONTACTING BUSINESSES:

LINKTREE:

PRINTED PRESS PACKAGES:

QR CODE TO FULL DIGITAL PRESS PACKAGE:

KPI 2: SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER My initial KPI as content creator for the Instagram page also evolved into the role of Social Media Manager for the Instagram account for our department. This was a department decision as originally we planned to use the Studio 204 Instagram, however we decided it was best to create a new page dedicated to our alumni students. This allowed us to create an account where content was posted solely to celebrate the Class of 2022 in a way they deserved. Therefore, by taking the role of manager, this ensured there was someone responsible to maintain and organise the account. This role allowed me to demonstrate and utilise the skills I already had due to being a Social Media Manager within my parttime job. My first task was to set up the account. This involved choosing an account name (studio_204_alumni), writing a biography and communicating with a member of the Creative department to ensure the account was visually on brand. The experience of setting up and branding an Instagram account is a vital skill to gain if you want to work within the social media industry. As the Social Media Manager, I also had to create awareness for the account. I had to ensure that the account was gaining awareness by increasing the number of followers. I contacted the manager of our uoc_studio_204 account and asked my peers to share content on their accounts to help gain awareness.

ACCOUNT BRANDING

VISUAL CONTENT PLAN:

ACCOUNT LOGO

CONTENT PLAN

QR CODE TO INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT

The next steps involved me creating a content plan on an excel spreadsheet. This allowed me to ensure I had strong time management. I considered the types of content that would need to be posted on the account. I then created a visual content plan to consider how the posts would look on the feed and what order they should be posted in. I oversaw and was responsible for creating captivating content to post on our Instagram feed. Myself and Olivia Buckley, a fellow Zine Editor, created interview questions to send to our peers. I then edited and proofread the questions to create the Instagram posts choosing the strongest four answers that were written by each of my peers. However, this task did prove to be challenging as I was having to chase up my peers to ensure they were meeting the deadline I had set for the questions to be returned to me by. I created multiple design template options and then had to decide on the template I was going to use to gain maximum impact. This task involved me utilising and building on my content creation skills. I also had to collect content off my peers to post on the account that best showcased their skill set. Therefore, I asked for people to send over a range of content including still images, GIF’s and reels. I wanted to collect as much video content as possible as from conducting social media marketing research, video content is predicted to be the future for marketers because of multiple reasons including its versatility and the success of current video marketing platforms (Stanimirovic, 2021).

CONTENT EXAMPLES:

INSTAGRAM LAYOUT:

CHOSEN LAYOUT:

KPI 3: ZINE COPYWRITER Creating a Zine to promote the work of the Class of 2022 was one of the most extensive tasks our department had. Therefore, we decided to share the responsibilities equally for the Zine to ensure there were Zine Copywriters and Zine visuals. My role as Zine Copywriter involved me writing an introduction, conclusion and collecting written submissions from my peers that summarised their final major projects. As Zine Copywriters, we proof-read the summaries before placing them in the zine. We also had to consider aspects such as the placement of the writing on the zine and the fonts that were being used. This was important to ensure that it was on brand. We then had to proofread the whole zine before it was printed. This role involved me utilising my copywriting and teamwork skills.

MEETING THE VICE CHANCELLOR As this was an agency brief that involved us collaborating with the other departments, I also took on further responsibilities that were not included in my KPI’s. I volunteered to represent my group in a meeting with the Vice Chancellor of the university to formally invite her to the event. I went to Parkgate Campus with Heleena Houston and Kit Dickson and spoke with the Vice Chancellor for over an hour. This involved me informing and updating her on the Class of 2022 and what we would be exhibiting on the night. I also had to confidently and clearly respond to any queries and questions that she had. It was a wonderful experience to have the opportunity to speak to the Vice Chancellor and it was highly rewarding to hear how complimentary she was about the work we were undertaking. This opportunity allowed me to improve my entrepreneurial skills as I had to use effective communication and promotion skills to ensure she would attend the event.

INVITE MADE BY KRISTA HELLON:

FINAL KPI’S

REFLECTING ON MY KPI’S COMPARING MY KPI’S: INITIAL ROLES/ KPI’s: PRESS RELEASE ZINE EDITOR INSTAGRAM CONTENT CREATOR

FINAL ROLES/ KPI’S: PRESS MANAGER SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER ZINE COPYWRITER

As demonstrated above, my KPI’s have altered quite significantly from the initial stages of the agency brief. My titles within our agency changed to Press Manager, Social Media Manager and Zine Copywriter. This was due to multiple reasons including having to take on more responsibility to ensure tasks were fully completed and roles involving more aspects than initially anticipated. Completing further tasks made me develop and have a greater awareness of the importance of effective time management and organisational skills. Having a bigger workload also allowed me to test my ability to work effectively under pressure to ensure I met the deadlines set by my CEO. Taking on further responsibility gave me the opportunity to enhance skills that my initial KPI’s did not give me the opportunity to do such as creating a press package. This has taught me how it is possible for KPI’s to adjust whilst you are working for a business to reflect an adaptation to the responsibilities and tasks undertaken. The ability to work flexibly to achieve an outcome was highlighted during the task. However, there were also tasks that I was not able to complete as anticipated such as conducting recorded interviews. Taking on further responsibilities meant that we had to think of ways to get some tasks completed in a more time-efficient way. I also conducted a survey that I sent out to my peers asking them to be involved in decision making such as their preferred location for the launch night and how they would like to participate in the interviews. Some peers responded by wanting to complete the interviews in a written format. Therefore, we decided to digitally send the interview questions and get people to write out their responses. This was the best way to ensure as many people as possible were involved. This allowed me to use and test my problem-solving skills. To conclude, I am confident I have been able to complete all my Key Performance Indicator’s to the deadline and of a high standard, which I am proud of. 31

INVOICE Once I had completed my tasks, I made an invoice which to send to Studio 204 Creative Agency. This was a vital skill I was able to develop as I had never completed an invoice before. It is also highly beneficial to me personally, as working freelance is something I would like to consider doing in the future and therefore this skill is essential. It was insightful to see what prices people are charging in the industry to complete similar work for future reference. This skill is one of many business skills this module has allowed me to develop which I am extremely grateful for as I can take them into industry.

PART 2: SELF REFLECTVE REPORT Upon reflection, the Contemporary Fashion Business module has allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of the business and marketing side of the fashion industry. I have been able to broaden my knowledge of the skills needed to pursue a career in the areas I am interested in within the industry. It has allowed me to gain vital experience of working for an agency and having to meet deadlines that have been set within our weekly meetings with the CEO. It has demonstrated how important professionalism, time management and organisation are whilst working in a role within the industry. For example, when you are working within a team you need to complete your tasks on time otherwise it could impact on another team member’s role. It has allowed me to better understand the orgnisational systems that exist within a business structure. It demonstrated the importance of having clear roles and responsibilities to ensure that tasks are completed. For example, having clear job roles made it easier to know who to speak to about certain inquiries. It also highlighted the importance of gaining that balance between collaboration and discussion and the necessity to act and complete tasks.

The Marketing and Communication department was the best team for me as all the skills I have been able to develop will help me in my future career path. After graduating, I am hoping to gain a job role within the social media marketing industry. This is because of experience I have gained from my work placement and my part time job. This module and the tasks I have completed have allowed me to gain a range of beneficial skills that I can put on my CV when applying for graduate job roles. This includes my business, entrepreneurial, promotional and management skills. It has also given me the opportunity to conduct my first press release and work under an industry brief. Having strong organization and time management skills are also essential for my career path. I will need to be able to work under tight deadlines and pressure. With regards to my self-reflection, I am proud of the role I have played within my department. I executed my assigned tasks in a professional manner from concept through to production. This module allowed me to utilise and develop a range of skills I can take into industry. This includes my leadership, teamwork and communication skills. I have learnt the importance of conducting effective research prior to completing a task. This ensures that tasks are completed in the most effective way and that time is not lost by making the mistakes that others have previously made. The research provides an unambiguous evidence base on which to build your own creativity and ideas. However, this project has highlighted to me that I am a perfectionist which can sometimes slow down how time efficiently I can complete a task. The weekly meetings with my CEO and regular presentations to my peers made me focus on my time management and ensuring I was travelling each week. It also provided me with the opportunity to have increased confidence and skill when speaking and presenting in public and consider the optimum approach when considering the audience.

Each of the roles I completed challenged me in varying ways. My role as the team’s public relations manager allowed me to improve my communication skills, both written and oral, and my interpersonal skills working with other team members. My role as social media manager allowed me to create an innovative social campaign from concept to completion. I was able to enhance my creative content creation and strategy planning skills. It was also a valuable experience taking management roles as it has allowed me to develop my leadership, and organisation skills as I was having to ensure that not only was I meeting my own deadlines but that team members that were completing tasks under my management. My leadership roles have allowed me to develop my confidence knowing that my CEO and fellow department members trusted me which big responsibilities. My role as Zine Copywriter allowed me to build on my collaboration, creative writing and proof-reading skills. My most challenging yet rewarding role was completing the press package as it allowed me to utilise and develop new skills and pushed me as both a marketer and creative. Working within a team has allowed me to expand on my communication, collaboration and problem-solving skills. These skills were vital for this module to be successful as we needed to work collaboratively and use our problem-solving skills. Although each of us had our own tasks and responsibilities we worked well to assist each other with our individual tasks. For example, I attended all the viewings for possible launch night locations with Millie Wright and Olivia Buckley. Working within a team has also demonstrated the challenging aspects of working within a team such as a lack of communication. For example, regular communication with our department and weekly meetings with our CEO were vital for tasks to be completed effectively and on time. I learnt the importance of acting in a professional manner and demonstrating composure when other department members were not completing their tasks or were absent. This aspect has demonstrated that there are both negative and positives to working within a group. Upon reflecting on working within a team, I am confident I interacted effectively and responsibly with my department.

CONCLUSION Overall, the Contemporary Fashion Business module has allowed me to develop a variety of key industry skills. I thoroughly enjoyed completing my roles and am confident I chose the correct roles and responsibilities. It has also been highly valuable working within a team and an experience I have enjoyed as it has allowed me to develop my communication skills. I am also grateful for the opportunity to work for the Studio 204 Agency and work with my department on the marketing and promotion of the Class of 2022. It has been a highly rewarding and enjoyable experience that has given me a wide variety of vital skills to take into my future career. Upon completing this module, I am proud to announce I have been offered a job as a Marketing and PR officer for a leisure brand. This project has allowed me to gain and enhance key skills that supported me gaining this job role.

INTRODUCTION

The Contemporary Fashion Business Module was an opportunity to work as a team to create a successful Launch Night for the FMC Class of 2022, that would be a

memorable evening to celebrate the achievements of our class. For this module, our class was split into three departments with differing responsibilities in representing the Agency Studio 204 brand. I found I fit best into the Marketing and Communication Department as this department offered a balance of business and logistical tasks and creative opportunities. This department suited my skill set well as it encompassed a need for organisation, problem solving, communication, research and planning as well as creative skills of Photoshop and social media knowledge. Understanding both the business and communication side of marketing equally, this team also offered me the chance to expand on my entrepreneurial skills adapting to challenges within event planning, communication, and promotion, skills key in industry. 39

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES The Marketing and Communications Department were responsible for promoting the Class of 22 to industry, our goal was to create a Launch Night event involving organising and securing a venue, finding sponsorship, sending out save the dates and invitations, writing a press release as well as promoting the Class of 22 over social media platforms and through the creation of a digital Zine. Working as a collective over the past few months we began by delegating the roles and responsibilities between the group. We reflected on each of our strengths and weaknesses as well as the transferable skills we could bring to the responsibilities in the team. From this discussion, it was determined that my Key Performance Indicators and subsequent responsibilities were to be Venue Management, Finance Management, Content creation for Instagram 40

and Zine editing.

My first responsibility was to find and secure a venue to host our Launch Night.

diverse opinions however, it was clear our class wanted the event to be a social

I was tasked to contact appropriate venues

celebration where we could interact with

within Chester and the surrounding areas

members of industry and alumni in a less

that had capacity for 100-150 guests for

formal manner creating connections,

Friday the 24th June 2022, that could

moreover an open space was requested

provide food and drink all within an

where our work could of course be the focus.

original budget of £500. Finding a venue

Taking on all desires and suggestions I

was a crucial component for all teams within

researched into venues that fulfilled these

this project as its acquirement informed the

requests to provide a solution that

progression of other tasks such as invites,

encompassed everyone’s needs. I

venue décor etc, hence there was much

initially found it difficult to find viable venues

relying on me to not only find a venue quickly

to contact due to the number of guests

but to find somewhere that was suitable

invited as well as the tight budget. However,

for everyone. This was a key point in my

I inputted my problem-solving skills and was

role and research, liaising with my team, I

able to find and compile a list of venues to

conducted a survey to gain feedback and

contact, this included: Chester Racecourse,

suggestions of locations our class wanted

The Story House, Chester Zoo and Odd

the event to take place in. This allowed

Fellows.

me insight into how our class wanted to be

KPI ONE: VENUE MANAGEMENT

represented, understanding the aesthetic and more practical equipment I would need to source within a venue. There were many

I emailed each venue enquiring about their availability as well as including a small proposal of our event and awaited their response. This allowed me to expand on my email communication and pitching skills, tailoring my emails to each company in the hope they would host our event. I received a reply from Oddfellows stating that they had no availability in June and a further reply from the Racecourse with a price out of budget moreover they could not host us on our preferred date, therefore both these venues were discounted. However, the responses from Chester Zoo and Story House were more promising Liaising with these venues, I arranged meetings to view them with my group, to discuss the space, possibilities, and prices. Whilst Chester Zoo’s Oakfield rooms were large, bright and viable spaces, with car parking available the room was priced at £1000, which was double our budget so unfortunately this venue was also discounted. On the other hand, the Story House, Garret Bar was a perfect option. The Storyhouse is described as one of the UK’s foremost cultural charities, incorporating 42

a library, theatres and a cinema. It is one of the

country’s most successful arts buildings, with more than one million customer visits each year. (Storyhouse, 2022) The space we were offered within the Storyhouse was the Garret Bar, which included two adjoined rooms, one bar space to allow guests to interact with each other whilst looking out over a large view of Chester, and one large open room with technical facilities and enough space to show off each students work. After viewing and expressing our interest in holding our event at the Story House, I began an email thread with Mark, the Service Manager, in which I was able to gain more information about the costing of the event and staff that would be needed as well as the food and drink options. Having reserved the date from 5pm-10pm allowing time for set up and take down of our work with the event due to start at 6pm, after a little negotiation, I was quoted £445.20 for the two rooms, a manager, 2 bar staff as well as a technician. This was near the top end of the original budget without food and drink, something which was initially requested by my peers.

My second role as Finance Manager was also imperative to this

as communicating with the Creative Agency and PR groups about

project, making sure all costs such as venue, décor, food and

costs that would likely incur for them prior to the event. Managing

drinks, invites and zine printing were all within budget as well as

finance is something I have limited experience in, but I understood

ensuring everyone was happy with the final outcome. As a result, I

that it is an important part of industry. In my current role as a

knew I had to communicate with all groups to feedback information

marketing assistant outside of university I have seen how important

about the venue and to understand what was most important to

budgets are to photo shoots, influencer gifting and social ads so

them as it was unlikely that everything could be purchased within

I was eager to expand my skills in this area. I have been able to

the original budget. After discussing with our class and CEO,

expand my knowledge of setting up and using Excel/spreadsheets,

collectively we came to the decision that the Story House was the

something that will be invaluable in future. Creating a spreadsheet,

best location that suited the professional branding 204 has built as

I communicated with our CEO often to feedback the status of the

well as encompassed all that had been asked for. I confirmed the

budget, what had been or needed to be paid. I liaised with Millie

Story House without food and drink and our group sought to find

Wright on sponsorship money, how much we had been sponsored

sponsorship that could enable us to purchase this at a later date. I

and how this would be gathered and used in our finances. I had an

feel that this was a successful outcome having secured a venue that

original budget of £500 however, after enquiring to the university,

met all criteria and 204 branding, quickly and within a tight budget

I was able to source further budget meaning I had a new total of

in a professional manner. I feel that although my skills were tested

approx. £2000 as well as £250 sponsorship. This extra income

in this role due to limited options and budget constraints, I was able

allowed the purchase of food and drink at the venue as well as

to overcome this and feedback in a clear manner to my peers to

covered the printing costs of the Zine, invitations and large final

gain their opinions and understand what was best for our Class and

prints to be displayed at the event. Upon reflection, I feel I was

brand. In doing this I was able to secure the best outcome for all

successful at managing the budgets as I was able to maintain an

and provide a venue everyone was proud of.

organised manner as all invoices were paid on time, I did not go over budget and I was able to keep on top of other groups’ spending,

My role as Finance Manager also meant I was responsible for

updating them and my CEO on how much we had left to spend.

managing and organising incoming sponsorship money as well

KPI TWO: FINANCE MANAGEMENT

My third KPI surrounded content creation.

70% of Gen Z view Instagram stories (List, 2021)

Instagram is a large platform used by Studio

showing the significance of the platform for our

204 to promote our work currently, therefore

brand in expanding its reach. To begin, I

it was important to make use of this prior to

brainstormed story concepts to produce and

our event. We originally split the social vis-

created a content calendar alongside my team

uals for Instagram 3 ways, where I was given

who were working on static grid posts and reels.

responsibility of producing Instagram stories.

Story ideas ranged from student highlights

This was due to the fact I have been able to

focussed on the students work, BTS of students

develop my creative and Photoshop skills both

FMP progression to create engagement

in university but also by creating Instagram

surrounding the final outcome to be seen at the

stories for my marketing role

exhibition, as well as a countdown to the event.

outside of University. The main aim of this

I planned to post these stories once or twice a

role was to create content targeted at Gen

week in the lead up to the event on the Studio 204

Z that aimed to increase engagement for

Alumni account our team created. I created short

the 204 brand, promoting the brand ethos

engaging stories specific to each student, 3 slides

to create a stronger digital footprint when

long, consisting of an introduction to each student,

showcasing the Class of 22 students’ work.

an overview of their FMP and some of the

KPI THREE: CONTENT CREATION

question answers from our questionnaire. These short stories ensured interest was maintained surrounding our Class and were subsequently saved into Highlights dedicated to each student for newer followers. The first few stories I have posted have been well received and showed a good engagement rate suggesting they were successful against my KPI, promoting the Class of 22 to Gen Z. 47

My final role was to edit the Zine. The Zine is a large component of this project, so our group split the responsibilities to make sure we promoted the Class in the best light. Alongside Olivia Eggington, I conducted interviews of all class members asking questions about their time at University, their feelings of the course and their future plans. This provided us with much content to use not only in the zine but on social media platforms too. Alongside this, I collated information from students about their FMP, asking for a short abstract to proofread, edit and place into the zine. When curating the zine, it was important to maintain the branding of 204, working with the creative team we ensured that the fonts and layout were on brand creating a zine that represented the Class of 22 in a professional and cohesive manner. My copywriting skills were also improved writing an introduction to the Zine as well as a short acknowledgements paragraph to conclude the zine. Overall, the zine came together well, we worked well as a team to curate the zine having gathered the images and abstracts from our class.

KPI FOUR: ZINE EDITOR

Throughout this module my KPI’s have expanded

and ensuring I worked well with my team

importance of team work in completing a brief

slightly due to unforeseen circumstances that

supporting them and problem solving to ensure

for a brand. I feel I have been able to meet

meant that some team members were not

we prioritised our workload embodying the

my Key Performance Indicators of venue

present each week. Hence, I have worked more

204 brands professional and positive values.

acquisition, finance management, content

closely with my team members Millie Wright

creation and zine editing, ensuring all my

and Olivia Eggington to ensure that all tasks

To complete the business plan within this

tasks were completed on time and to a high

had been completed thoroughly. Alongside my

module, we were asked to create an invoice to

standard. Despite some difficulties in initially

personal KPI’s I have aided in finding potential

exhibit how we would charge for the services

finding a venue and taking on further tasks

sponsors, emailed companies such as printers

we have undertaken in the creation of the

that needed to be completed by my team,

regarding zine costs, researched into styling

launch night. I split my costs specific to each

I have been able to overcome challenges

for the event sourcing decorations, as well as

of my roles as this was the most effective way

both in my personal tasks as well as within

this I fully supported my team in their specific

to making my invoice clear.

This gave me

my team communicating thoroughly and

roles too. Alongside this I have also attended

insight into how to create invoices, something

feeding back to our CEO regularly. I have

meetings with the Head of Art and Design to

that will be valuable to me in future if I was

been able to expand on my strengths of

pitch our event to her, gain her support as well

to freelance as I was able to research how

communication, organisation and teamwork

as personally invite her to the Launch Night. I

much to charge for my work in comparison to

skills and learn new skills such as managing

have also had a further role in the presentation

others. I charged for consultancy, zine editing

budgets and excel sheets, all which will be

of the event, from creating an itinerary of the

and content creation costs and created a

invaluable to me in future. I believe that the

running of the night to working with the PR

‘Venue Management’ package encompassing

Launch Night will be successful and meet the

team to source bags for guests to take away.

all tasks I have undertaken over this project.

professional and personable 204 branding

Despite these added responsibilities, I have

and am excited to see how the night unfolds.

been able to ensure all tasks were completed

In conclusion, this module has allowed me to

to the highest standard, organising my time

expand on my skills base and understand the

CONCLUSION 49

PART TWO : REFLECTION On reflection of this module, I feel that as a team we have been able to successfully plan, execute and promote the Class of 22 Launch Night through the creation of an event and a well-rounded, engaging zine and social media platform for our peers. We have been able to meet the positive and professional brand values of Agency 204, as a team and personally encompassing the brand, opinions and needs of our peers at every chance. On a personal level, I have been able to meet my Key Performance Indicator’s to a high standard and enhance my skills base to ensure the completion of all roles within this module. On reflection, I feel that I have worked well in my team, supporting, listening and collaborating well with others. I have been able understand the importance of accountability and responsibility within my roles, completing my personal tasks to the topmost standard to benefit my team and the 204 brand. As a team we have been able to effectively complete our tasks set by our CEO as well as work in tandem with the other two groups in this module liaising with them at many points to ensure they felt represented. As a team we have overcome unforeseen circumstances to resolve group issues to ensure that all roles were accounted for and completed on time, in an effective manner prioritising the most important as well as sharing out responsibility equally. To begin this module, our class was split into teams, I feel my choice of the Marketing and Communications department was the right one for me. This department allowed me to expand on my previous skill base, both within business and creative outcomes improving my abilities and giving me the opportunity to learn more entrepreneurial skills. My roles of Venue Management, Finance Management, Content Creation and Zine editing all provided me the opportunity to manage and lead as well as work in a team, consequently preparing me for the future. 50

SKILLS I HAVE LEARNT:

Considering the skills I have gained and improved

skills would be key in industry taking on opinions and

upon over this module I have been able to identify

communication from different departments to bring

how these skills will be invaluable for my future

together a cohesive concept to best encompass the

career. My communication skills have developed both

brand and the ideas of all, compromising and finding

verbally and in written form throughout this module.

a resolution. Furthermore, the process of securing the

My verbal communication improved through weekly

venue improved my written communication, pitching

correspondence with my team where we talked

and negotiation skills when liaising with the venue to

through what we had achieved over the week, what

enquire and talk through prices, dates and the space

needed to be completed and what we had to move

itself. Emailing venues with an original proposal,

forward with. We then fed back these successes and

I was able to make my pitch short and engaging to

plans to our CEO, Tracey, in weekly presentations

express our needs from a venue. I was professional

we had prepared collaboratively. Moreover, frequent

and concise with my communication and was

discussions with other teams regarding the venue,

successful in securing the Story House for the event.

taking on and respecting their opinions also allowed

Other skills I expanded upon were my organisational

me to understand the importance of communication

and time-management skills which were enhanced

with a wider group. This ensured the class was

over this project due to my role as Finance Manager.

happy and felt well represented and heard within all

Managing the flow of money in and out of the budget as

decisions, further improving my listening skills. These

well as adapting to changing financial situations meant

I had to keep a close eye on all purchases keeping the

of students work to maintain interest surrounding our

spreadsheet I had created up to date and organised.

Class. These stories were posted in line with a content

This role also allowed me insight into skills needed with

calendar and saved into Highlights dedicated to each

a leadership role, keeping other teams up to date with

student. The stories were well received and showed

finances and discussing further costs they may incur.

good engagement showing they were successful

Other skills I expanded upon were my organisational

against my KPI. This content creation allowed me to

and time-management skills which were enhanced

gain understanding of working to brand guidelines

over this project due to my role as Finance Manager.

whilst expressing my own creativity giving me a

Managing the flow of money in and out of the budget as

deeper understanding of promotion on social media.

well as adapting to changing financial situations meant I had to keep a close eye on all purchases keeping the

My problem-solving skills were also tested and

spreadsheet I had created up to date and organised.

enhanced during this module. Unfortunately, due to

This role also allowed me insight into skills needed with

unforeseen circumstances some team members were

a leadership role, keeping other teams up to date with

not always present each week, meaning that as a team

finances and discussing further costs they may incur.

we worked together to share out their responsibilities,

Additonally, my creative and digital skills were

supporting each other in completing these extra tasks.

developed through the creation of Instagram stories

Finding solutions to these problems alongside other

for social media. Using my previous photoshop

challenges such as acquiring a venue and working to

skills, I ensured on brand and engaging stories were

a tight budget all enabled me to find new strategies

created to promote the Class of 22 to a Gen Z viewer.

to create a productive and professional outcome.

I created stories with a mix of text and imagery to ensure they were engaging and showed off snippets

INVOICE

CONCLUSION Overall, I have enjoyed working in a team, despite some challenges and added responsibility, we were able to overcome these obstacles to successfully create a Launch Night our Class are proud of. Moving forward into my career in the industry, I feel the skills I have learnt throughout this module will be invaluable. Looking to secure a role in social media and creative marketing, the organisational, team work, management and communication skills I have learnt will be important for me in future. Having informed a well-rounded understanding of both business and creative marketing as well as entrepreneurship over this module has given me insight into industry and an understanding of the skills and qualities needed to be successful. 55

INTRODUCTION PART ONE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES For this module the brief we were given was to plan and organise a launch night for the Fashion Marketing and Communication class of 2022 students. We were asked to choose from 3 teams that we found we best fit, the teams included the following: Team 1. Creative Agency, Team 2. Marketing and Communication and Team 3. Promotion and PR. I found that I personally fit best into the Marketing and Communication department as I am both a visual communicator and marketer, I find I am someone who shares the same passion for visual and digital aspects of working as I do marketing and promotion therefore this team was the best fit for me. The goal of this department was to organise the launch night for the class of 22 Fashion Marketing and Communication students, this included finding a venue and setting a date and time for the event, creating, and sending out save the dates and invitations, and creating a press release. The other responsibility of this group was to create the digital Zine which is made to showcase the students and our work – specifically final major projects.

MY ROLES To ensure we worked well as a team and that all tasks were completed thoroughly, we decided to delegate specific roles within the team. My personal roles and key performance indicators were as follows: Graphic Designer, this role involved creating and raising awareness for the studio 204 class of 22 launch event. I planned on doing this through creating bold and dynamic save the dates and invitations that would be sent out to family and friends of students. Zine Manager. This role meant I was in charge of the design and layout of the digital zine. I was responsible for curating page designs for the zine which highlight and showcase the class of 22 students and their work. Creating the visual and creative elements for the zine whilst other team members create the written sections. Content Creator. As well as creating the digital zine I will also aid my team members with content creation for social media. Taking and editing profile photos for each student to have on their zine pages and social media posts, creating a cohesive design and aesthetic for all the work our department produce. I decided on these roles for myself as I consider myself a visually creative person, and enjoy using software such as Photoshop and InDesign, and thought that taking on these roles would be a good way of enhancing my skills and strengthening my abilities to prepare me for when I enter the industry. I would be challenging my communication skills both written and verbal through communicating with my peers what 58

I need to be sent over and included in the zine and also creating deadlines for all to follow.

The first task I completed was creating the save the date invitations, this began by working alongside my fellow team members to secure a venue and set a date for the event. We visited a number of prospective venues to scout one which we saw fit best for the type of event we were planning. After visiting and connecting with various venues we decided on The StoryHouse as our venue. Venues we looked at but did not use include Chester Zoo and Chester Racecourse as they were out of our price range. Once the venue had been decided on, I began creating the save the date invitations, which were sent out to family and friends of class of 22 who were invited. I created the save the dates on Photoshop and kept them within the branding and aesthetic of planet 204 by using the colour scheme and fonts that are featured in the branding package made by a fellow student. I was also in responsible for contacting the printers we were using to print the invites, this included emailing them to ask for quotes and also sending over the final file to be printed. My graphic design role involved both working on the zine and creating content to be passed on to the social media manager within my team, I was responsible for setting up the layout of the zine, this included all page designs and features. I was responsible for taking photographs 60

of each students and editing them into a Polaroid format, this meant ensuring all images had a cohesive look and were the correct size.

For the content creation role, I was in charge of creating the logo for our zine, as a team we decided on the name ‘TWNTY-2’ which is a continuation of the zine titled ‘TWNTY’ which was created by a student from the graduating class of 2020, with an added 2. This represents the class of 22 and also the second issue of the studio 204 zine. As well as creating the zine I also contacted the printing company that we wanted to use, this meant email back and forth to negotiate prices and find out the turnaround time for printing, also what was required in terms of measurements and file sizes. Being the zine manager was the responsibility that took up most of my time during this module, it is a huge task to create and edit the zine however I found it very rewarding, and it challenged me greatly. Not only did the zine manager role mean being a visual designer it also meant I got to develop my communication skills as I had to gather work form each student for their zine pages. I found the best way to do this was to set up a Facebook page where each student could post the work, they were most proud of and wished to be featured within the zine. Within my role as zine manager, I also researched how other university zines looked, and spent a lot of time at the beginning of the module looking at Pinterest to find layout inspiration. The zine follows the colours of all Agency 204 branding which are bright pink and monochrome. By creating pink and white backgrounds and keeping the photographs of students I found it made a bold and clear visual. “Teaming a single strong colour with black-and-white photography and monochrome text looks fantastic It’s super-simple to achieve and is a great way of bringing the whole design of the magazine together” (Fussell, 62

2020)

INITIAL KPI:

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR CHANGES Initial KPI 1. Save the dates and invites 2. Tik Tok Content 3. Digital Zine

As a team we discovered that a number of roles were not being completed to the best abilities

Adjusted KPI 1. Graphic Designer 2. Zine Manager 3. Content creator

therefore adjusted a few of the key performance indicators whilst working on the launch event. As a team we decided not to continue with the Tik Tok account as there was already an existing account set up by another team, therefore we felt it was unnecessary to create another account. Any content created would therefore be posted on the Studio 204 Alumni Instagram that was created by my team member Olivia Eggington. To replace my responsibility of the Tik Tok content I instead picked up the responsibility of reaching out to sponsors, I reached out to a number of local Cheshire businesses, including property developers, digital agencies, and small businesses. Unfortunately, we did not receive any replies however this was a great learning curve and preparation for working in industry and solving problems when you don’t get the result you wanted. A fellow student on the course had reached out to a friend who owns a small business and wanted to sponsor the event, I then took over contacting him and organising how we can

promote his business within our content. I created pages within the zine to promote his business (Looks Chester) in return for £150 sponsorship money.

As part of the group business plan, we also each created an invoice to display what we would charge if this project were to be completed in the real world. I chose to create different content packages for each of my roles as this seemed the most efficient way of keeping track of my progress. This included consultancy costs, a Freelance Graphic Design Package (Zine Editor) and a Freelance Content Creation (Invite Package). This task was extremely beneficial as it gave me the opportunity to work on something that I may have to complete when I enter the industry. It helped improve my numeracy skills, as well as my written communication and problem solving. Alongside all my assigned roles I also put myself in charge of conducting the minutes for our weekly group meetings, this involved keeping track of what was discussed each week and having a document containing all visuals created by the team. I also worked with my fellow team members to create weekly to-do lists to ensure we had a strong understanding of what was needed to be conducted every week. Keeping track of the meeting logs worked well as it allowed us to have a consistent plan of action and also be able to go back and find information from previous meeting that were held with the CEO. To conclude I believe I was able to complete all tasks allocated to me in a successful and effective way – through working alongside all my team members we were able to ensure we completed all 66

tasks. Being the sole visual editor of the zine has been a difficult and challenging task however I have found it very rewarding.

PART TWO Upon reflecting on the Contemporary Fashion Business module, I can confidently say that I have improved

REFLECTION

a number of different skills and have been tested within certain situations that I feel have made me a better communicator. As a department we were able to successfully plan and execute a launch night to promote and celebrate the Studio 204 Class of 22’s step into industry. My roles as Zine manager, Graphic Designer and Content Creator have enabled me to grow and develop a wide range of skills which I will explain within this essay. Throughout this module a number of my skills were developed, tested, and improved. To begin I will list my options of the positives and negatives of working in a team. The positives of working in a team include improving your listening skills and empathy. Through working with others, I have learnt to keep an open mind and take on board other team members ideas and feelings to ensure the team works well as a whole. Working with others enables you to develop in skills that are not utilised when working alone. For example, communication and collaboration skills would not be tested when not working alongside others. Learning from others. Teamwork allows you to develop new skills by leaning them from your peers, learning through first-hand experience and collaboration. It also allows you to gain leadership skills when teaching a team member skills, you already hold. As well as being a great way to improve skills positively, there are also a number of more negative aspects to working within a team, these were discovered and resolved within my time as part of the marketing and communications department. If certain team members do not complete the tasks, they were set it can result 67 in frustration and an unfair workload for others, this can lead to conflict.

Time management can be difficult to organise

clearly and directly both face-to-face and over

when working alongside a number of different

message I was able to gather all the imagery

people. This is where organisation skills can be

needed for the zine.

tested to ensure all meetings work around the availability of each team member.

My communication skills were also improved by

conducting

weekly

presentations

and

When working in a team you have to consider

meeting with my team and the CEO, Tracey

others’ opinions and ideas – you cannot rely on

Hall. Each week we discussed our progress

yourself only. This is where communication and

and created weekly to do lists which not only

delegation are key.

improved our communication as a team but also allowed us to improve our organisation

My communication skills have developed significantly

within

this

module.

Due

and time management skills.

me being a member of the Marketing and

communications department, communication

digital literacy skills whilst emailing local

was key to the success of our team.

businesses to enquire about sponsorships

developed my written communication and

for our event. I had to remain professional Both my verbal and written communication skills

and concise within the emails to ensure that

were tested during the process of this module,

businesses understood what we as a department

for example whilst gathering imagery for the

were asking for. This exercise allowed me to

Zine I had to communicate with the Class of 22

develop my communication within business

students to either take the photographs myself,

skills which will be useful when I enter industry,

or have students send them directly to me.

as I want to enter the styling and social media

This tested my communication skills greatly as

industry – strong communication skills are key

I discovered that the deadlines given had to be

to being successful within this area.

continuously extended as the images were not 68

being sent in on time. Through communicating

Another key skill that was enhanced greatly

designs and work that was outputted had the

throughout the journey of planning, organising,

correct look.

and executing the launch night was my creativity. As lead graphic designer it was my responsibility

Collaboration was a key part of this project, I

to come up with the concepts for both the

worked alongside my fellow team members to

save the dates and invitations. This tested my

fulfil all of our kpi’s and make sure all set tasks

digital imagery skills, using features on adobe

were completed to the best of our abilities.

photoshop I had not used prior to the creation

However, we discovered that certain tasks were

of the invites. This is a key skill I will need within

not being accomplished, this is when we came

industry as social media content creation relies

together as a team to re-evaluate the roles that

heavily on using adobe software.

team members had been given. This resulted in decision making skills being used and developed

Being Zine Manager enabled me to develop

as it was our responsibility to delegate roles.

my visual skills and also strongly develop my organisation and time management skills.

I believe as a team we worked well to complete

Through being responsible for the creation of

tasks and ensure all kpi’s were met, however

the zine I had to become a problem solver when

found that certain team members had to oversee

students did not send in the work required on

more tasks than was initially planned, as due to

time. I overcame this by using different imagery

personal circumstances some team members

as planned however with the right editing made

could not fulfil their tasks as much as they had

it all look cohesive.

hoped. This resulted in team meetings to re allocate responsibilities and communicating with

My attention to detail was a skill that was

one another to ensure all team members felt

incredibly useful throughout this process, from

happy and comfortable with the roles they were

the invitations, to email sponsors and editing

given.

imagery I was responsible for ensuring all

CONCLUSION To conclude, I have found the Contemporary Fashion Business module very beneficial. It has allowed me to gain valuable insight into what working within a team in a professional situation entails, and what skills are needed in order to do this effectively. I have managed to enhance and develop a number of skills which will benefit me greatly during my step into industry once graduating. The skills I have developed will be utilised when I enter a professional environment and work alongside others in a day-to-day manner. 72

INTRODUCTIONPART ONE For one of my last modules we have been given the task of formulating and developing a business plan which evidences entrepreneurial skills and imagination. To begin this process, the class was split into three separate groups where our skills matched each other’s best and would be most beneficial to our future careers. The group which I was given was Marketing and Communication. The Marketing and Communication department are responsible for the creation of the zine and the launch night. I was happy with my group choice as it was the group which best suited my skill set and would benefit my learning. I knew I would be able to build my communication, teamwork and marketing skills. For this module we were given the brief of arranging, promoting and designing the class of 2022’s end of year launch night exhibition to the industry, press, family and peers. The end goal for all three teams was to host a class of 2022 launch night exhibition. In this team, we aim to promote the class of 2022 to industry via the launch night and social media. The process of this included finding a venue, sponsors for the event, save the dates and invitations and a press release. We strive to exhibit a fresh perspective on the work that Studio 204 creatives have to offer, as they venture into the industry and become the changemakers of the future. Providing a professional and long lasting legacy for all Studio 204 community.

There are five of us in the Marketing and Communications department, as a team we divided the roles fairly, ensuring that each member had a role which best suited their skill set which they could excel within. As a team, our roles consisted of finances, event styling, minutes, creating save the dates and the zine, press release, social media and collating industry contacts. As a team one of the first things we needed to do was to find a venue. We knew we wanted it to be in or around Chester as this would be easier for people to get to. We discussed dates, times, cost, capacity, and all other general requirements that needed to be met. We emailed and viewed a few different venues which suited our criteria. As Chester is quite a small city the possible venue locations were fairly limited therefore we had to be more open minded when finding our venue. After we had discussed as a department which venue we think would be best suited for our exhibition we finally decided on The Storyhouse. We agreed that this was a great space and would be able to represent our brand well.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITES I took the role of event stylist as I feel I have quite an eye for detail and believe I can create and execute the details of our vision. I was in charge of developing a cohesive look and style for our exhibition event to create a social and creative space. It was important to ensure all details come together and make final adjustments on the day of the exhibition. Although my role couldn’t fully be presented till the final exhibition night, it took a lot of thought and consideration up until the event. The starting stage for me was visiting the venue we had secured to get some ideas for possible styling. I started by creating a moodboard to gather ideas and inspiration as to what will work best for our exhibition and to suit our needs of showcasing creative work.

I also needed to think of a color theme, I didn’t want the decor to take away from our work at the exhibition so wanted to keep it quite subtle. As a department, all our work including our save the dates and visuals have had a color palette of pink and orange so I wanted to incorporate this into the styling. As the Storyhouse has a few different venue rooms on different floors I thought it was important to have a sign in the foyer presenting our event and directing people in the right way. These posters are shown here. I had the idea of hiring large light up numbers of ‘204’, when I spoke to the rest of my department they all agreed this was a great idea. Not only would this market our brand 204 it would provide a great photo opportunity which could be posted on various social media platforms. I contacted various different companies who provided these services and I am continuing the process of price comparisons to get the best value for our department. As well as light up numbers I wanted to have a balloon arch in the venue which incorporated our brand colours of orange and pink. Another role of mine was co researcher. I was involved in researching what other universities with similar courses have been doing to market their course and hold their events. I researched various Universities with creative courses such as Manchester Metropolitan and Bournemouth University to see how they have previously held events such as graduate shows and summer exhibitions. As we had never previously held an event like this it was important to see what other Universities with similar courses were doing to market their courses.

INVOICE As part of this we also needed to create an invoice to show the amount we would be paid for each of our products or services. This invoice would be sent to the buyer indicating the payment terms and agreed-upon prices. It was good to experience creating an invoice as it isn’t something I have ever had to do before and will be a beneficial skill to have in the future. It was quite challenging to figure out the costs as I have never done this type of thing before and I’m not that well educated with how much event stylists and venue assistants earn. However, I did some research to find out the typical amount these job roles get paid and then matched that to how many hours I have completed in this job role when completing my KPI’s.

REFLECTION In reflection, the contemporary fashion business module has given me the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the business side of fashion and has broadened my understanding of the skills needed to work in this area of the industry. I was able to build on current skills such as communication skills, time management by working towards deadlines and problem solving. All of these skills are beneficial and can be taken with me in my future job role. As well as this, having the opportunity to work in a group has given me the chance to develop my teamwork skills which will be very beneficial to me in the future, working in this industry. Looking back I am positive that this was the best fitting team for me to work within. As a team we have all successfully communicated effectively throughout the entire process and managed any problems we faced together. As well as progressing as a team to ensure results we have also progressed very well individually. I enjoyed being able to work in a team as it is something we haven’t previously done much during the past three years in University. Working in a team has enabled me to increase my confidence in the way that I work and helped me to improve on my time management in order to meet deadlines. I have now realised the importance of teamwork when working in this industry and how beneficial bouncing ideas off each other is.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, this module has helped me to reshape and advance my skill set. I have been able to work in a way which I have not previously done much of before and also looked at things in new ways which I hadn’t before. I have been able to develop my communication and collaborative skills as well as develop a greater understanding in research. I enjoyed working in a team with my department and believe it has helped us to achieve the best possible outcome for our final exhibition night.

REFLECTION OF ROLES Upon the beginning of my journey within this module, I was placed into the second group category of the Studio Agency 204. This group sec was given the briefing of launch night location, sponsor reach out, finance handling, end of year Zine creation and interview conduction. I found these tasks that were introduced to us, which we would be responsible for exciting. Purely based on a new and rather large challenge that many industry members and students would view. Within our group, we were a party of 5. Myself, Millie Wright, Liberty Chamberlin, Olivia Eggington and Olivia Buckley. This was our group for this module, each role and the responsibilities they entailed were divided between us. For myself, I was originally given the tasks of venue finder, co-sponsor finder, and co-zine writer. These were my original roles given to me upon group discussion, however throughout the weeks and review, I was then placed under co-sponsor finder, zine write up team, and researcher into previous University marking tactics. Upon the progression of this essay, I will follow the step by step progress made towards this group and individually divided tasks. Outline of responsibilities & Sponsors. When it came to my personal responsibilities, I found it to be quite a large challenge, straying away from the set briefing and module work done for the full three years of this course, but rather independently going out and having this affectively industry briefing. At the beginning, when I had my original tasks set, I found conversing with our set idea of venue StoryHouse very difficult. As someone who is not necessarily one who is naturally pushy for answers, I found relying on the other party from the venue rapidly emailing me back and fully getting the ball rolling extremely challenging. I was put into contact with Mark Higgins, who is head of events and private events at the StroyHouse. He was the one I was primarily conversing with. However, I did find the slow replies hard to get certain answers and plans to be set in return to our weekly recaps with my fellow agency members and tutor. Upon the third week, I traded this venue finder role with Olivia Buckley, who is more suited to this role meaning I took up the exchange of co-sponsor finder. Leading me to my settled and agreed roles for the rest of this module. Now, as the agency member in charge of co-sponsor outreach, I began reaching out to local businesses in the Cheshire area, simply as if they were to be invited to our launch night, it would be easier to attend and view their mention at our night. Additionally, we were briefed to steer away from those businesses that are hospitality based. Simply as it might clash with that of the StoryHouse being a venue of hospitality itself. However, I reached out to the likes of Doll Beauty, Mane Chester, Toni & Guy, Cheshire Magazine, the Chester Racecourse, The Cheshire Times Magazine, Saks hair salon, LOOKS Chester, etc. My co-Sponsor finder Millie Wright additionally reached out to a few other businesses and handled the emails and conversation with many including that of LOOKS Chester.

DISCUSSION OF RESEARCH. Upon the early beginnings of the research task, I had been set, I was challenged to observe and identify what other Universities have done to market their course, how they have their outreach tactics for new coming students, as well as research into zine layout and ideas for packaging. I along with a few of my other agency members putting together and contributed a Pinterest board for brainstorming ideas of zine production. This proved to be extremely helpful, in terms of visualizing what we roughly wanted for our own zine. As a group, we really liked the prospect of branding a new colour to identify Studio 204, In turn, I explored into zine/magazine layout and productions such as Dazed, I.D Magazine, Elaine Constantine’s work, Ready Player One, and Ordinary Magazine. These brands focussed a lot on condensed layout, line designs, pink plastic packaging and primary imagery of those topics addressed. As a team, we wanted our zine to be a condensed book of our students work, introduction to each person’s FMP, who we are as a people. We also wanted a profile picture of each addressed student. This was additionally a book for our sponsor’s exposure, and Alumini introduction. Fully focussing on showing the progression from student to industry members/Alumini. Our branding was strongly identified in our mentors, industry members, and course branding. I found that branding our course was much harder than that of the previous branding of our past modules, or even branding myself as an industry enterer. However, the team of Studio 204 was one of skill and motivation to keep to branding and briefing fulfilment. One aspect that truly stuck to me throughout this experience was how working in a team was challenging at times and required a lot of patience. Where working people you might not necessarily have first thought would work, however the one thing that truly shone out to me was how skills can still come together to producer the final outcome despite any personality differences. As I come to the close of my first part of this essay, focussing on the responsibilities and roles in which I was given, explaining the progression of beginning to end of which roles I was originally put in charge of, how they went and the adapting to a change in the roles along the way. In conclusion, I find identifying my strengths and weaknesses as both a team member as well as a person to be extremely helpful. One thing which I will expand on, was how I am more so behind the scenes prone, rather than a forefront member, simply as this is not my natural personality type nor within my ideal comfort zone. But rather identifying this weakness and rather playing into my strengths as both a person and a brand/industry enterer.

PART 2 REFLECTION OF ROLE. Upon much consideration, this second part of the essay will revolve primarily around the reflection of my roles, how I felt and managed with them, the break down of my responsibilities, the research side, and my interaction with the sponsors. In differ to the previous essay, I intend to focus on the step-by-step process in which these outcomes occurred, but most importantly how each decision had though behind it, the reflection upon each choice. Firstly, I mention the reflection of the role, in which I probably found this the most challenging. Purely upon the basis of working in a team with people extremely different as well as the actual tasks, specifically the task of venue searching. This required much persistence and conversation with someone who for many weeks had no strong communication no matter how much persistence I had, which was already out of my comfort zone. However, this was also a positive, where I identified a weak point and worked on it in other ways, where I then moved onto persistence within my role of sponsor finder. I had to reach out to sponsors where acknowledging rejection was going to be a common occurrence. I did find I was far happier within this role, it was primarily sending emails, followed up emails etc. I also found great enjoyment out of the research part, researching into zine’s layout, the construction of the text layout, and lastly the introduction from student to alumini. Pinterest was a huge part of this, it proved to be extremely helpful to visualise the possibilities of end production. As someone who finds thing hard to visualise if not prominent in front of my face, so in turn I found Pinterest to be a key play here. As previously mentioned, my responsibilities were that of co-sponsor outreach, zine write up, and researcher. Upon reflection, I must mention how I found my second time round responsibilities far more designed towards my strong points and personal preferences. My experience with particularly the zine write up to be my far more preferred responsibility, where these months of organising and preparation individually visually came together, I found a lot of self-reward within this. Our thought process behind the zine was to have our interview of each student, and in turn along with their work visually demonstrate each student strongest FMP image, leading not our introduction of industry mentors/alumini, progressing to our sponsors who had contributed enough funds to be featured. As a group, we settled upon various exposure progressions for our sponsors based upon how much they invested into our launch night, we all concluded that anywhere of a contribution of £100-£200 was a feature on our sponsor wall, however anything above this was an invite to our event, as well as a mention in our zine. This was solely based on the idea of bringing in many sponsors, while encouraging a higher investment rate for most sponsors. From this, we managed to lock down I first sponsor which was indeed Joe from LOOKS Chester, who is a friend from one of our classmates and additionally a vintage retail shop owner. Where he resells high name labels/vintage reworked brands such as Levi’s Supreme, et. This was particularly a great sponsor name to have under our belt from the very start, purely since Joe has many contacts within the Cheshire area, which meant exposure for both parties. Additionally, one of the other main people our team had in our eyesight for sponsorship was Doll Beauty, again this was based on our target of locking down sponsors that already had exposure that would follow them to our venue. Doll Beauty have worked with the likes of many Love Island influencers, reality show individuals, and one of our very own alumini Jenifer Hodgsen. Luckily for us, as we soon realised whilst hunting down these sponsors was that Cheshire had to offer many people which had extremely useful contacts. This was something we were very fortunate to have at our fingertips, and in turn made the job of sponsor outreach far easier than it possibly might have been. 89

In conclusion to my reflection of my responsibilities, the key take aways I found was how small the industry truly is. And where the concept of who you know really comes into play when organising these types of events. Making the whole concept of industry mingling and making those connections vital for success and exposure. As demonstrated already in this module where it is heavily based. 90

REFLECTION OF RESEARCH AND FINDINGS. As mentioned previously, I focused on research of visualising the zine, how other brands are presenting their forms of work in books/magazines, various marketing techniques currently being adapted by brands and other Universities that are like us at Studio 204. My findings presented that magazine such as I.D, Dazed, ART Magazine, where are We Now Magazine, etc. My findings were that after investigating more into ID Magazine, that i-D built its reputation on being a consistent source of inspiration in fashion culture. It began as a fanzine dedicated to the street style of punk-era London in 1980, and quickly earned its position at the vanguard of fashion and style, abiding by the premise of originate – don’t imitate. i-D has come a long way since its pre-digital, cut-and-paste days and has developed into a glossy magazine that documents fashion and contemporary culture, and has broken ground defining it too. Constantly reinventing itself, as with our website, i-D continues to encourage creativity, which is why after more than 30 years, its editorial content still manages to surprise and inspire. And in turn reflecting this consistency of reinvention within their monthly released printed work. I.D featuring people in fashion, music, art, clubs, film and every other creative field, and has prided itself on being the first to scout talents such as Wolfgang Tillmans, Nick Knight, Dylan Jones, Juergen Teller, Caryn Franklin and Craig McDean, who all started their careers here. Madonna, Kanye West, Raf Simons, Grace Coddington, Karl Lagerfeld, Kate Moss, Carine Roitfeld, Naomi Campbell, Selena Gomez, Victoria Beckham, and Tom Ford have all appeared on the cover of i-D magazine. This was something we really wanted to push, the zine being a beacon of both student introduction, industry input and our new marketed course to come end of year commencing, (Harry Styles Dazed Winter 2021). Additionally, another main inspiration behind the zine production was that of Dazed Magazine. Firsly, a bried introduction to what Dazed magazine is/represents in today’s culture. In 1991, Jefferson Hack and Rankin launched Dazed & Confused as an alternative style and culture magazine. The title became a lightning rod for cultural provocation and the magazine became a movement, growing into the agenda-setting publishing powerhouse Dazed Media. Today, Dazed magazine continues to champion radical fashion and youth culture, defining the times with a vanguard of next generation writers, stylists and image makers. Daze’s online platform dazeddigital. com, where pop culture meets the underground, reaches an ever-growing and loyal community of global tastemakers. Dazed is the most influential independent fashion and culture title in the world. Based in London this is a bi-monthly British style magazine. It covers music, fashion, film, art, and literature. Dazed is published by Dazed Media, an independent media group known for producing stories across its print, digital and video brands. The company’s portfolio includes titles AnOther, Dazed Beauty and NOWNESS. The company’s newest division, Dazed Studio, creates brand campaigns across the luxury and lifestyle sectors.

Now, for us as an agency, we have always prioritized our zine and course to be as exposed as possible, where the name is known outside of Cheshire, by this we have incorporated names such as Jennifer Hodgson, Tony Green, Christopher Shannon, etc. By adapting these names an interviewing each of these mentors, we found each of these Alumini members had incredibly forward-thinking tips, and contacts which took notice of what we were doing within this briefing. As for the zine itself, it was a progressive book, where there was an introduction of course members, the work each produced/their FMP statement, our course leader, Alumini interviews and features etc. Taking our reader step by step on a journey of the course and what it has to offer. By this hoping everything we admired in the researched magazine before such of those like I.D and Dazed and all the others, accomplished key take ways we intended to incorporate, this giving us Twnty-2 zine magazine.

GROUP CONCLUSION As a group we have all found the Contemporary Fashion Business module extremely beneficial as we found each individual team member was able to develop new skills and improve on the skills they already had. The module provided us with new challenges that enabled us to grow as individuals and prepare ourselves to enter the industry. The skills we have improved such as communication, collaboration and teamwork will be utilised when we complete our degree and step into the industry as professionals.

REFERENCES: OLIVIA EGGINGTON: Stanimirovic, U. (2021). Why Video Is Content of the Future for Marketers. BRID TV. https://www.brid.tv/why-video-is-content-of-the-future-for-marketers/ OLIVIA BUCKLEY: List, T. (2021). Instagram Stories Stats. Retrieved from True List: https://truelist. co/blog/instagram-stories-stats/#:~:text=Over%20500%20million%20Instagrammers%20use,and%20 %24721%20for%20IG%20stories. Storyhouse. (2022). Storyhouse About. Retrieved from Storyhouse: https://www.storyhouse.com/about MILLIE WRIGHT: Fussell, G. (2020, June 15). 10 Tips for Designing High-Impact Magazines. Design & Illustration Envato Tuts+. https://design.tutsplus.com/articles/10-tips-for-designing-high-impact-magazines--cms-25956

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