Tara Francis-Smith Reflective Journal Creative Networks
Creative Networks Commentary + Journalism Styling + Fashion Image Art Direction/ Graphics + Advertising Events +PR Trend Forecasting Retail Theatre
Module 1 . Visual Awareness What I leanrt? Better Understanding of influential factors and relationships that drive the fashion environment The importance of visual communication Improved skill level using IT resources How to harvard reference and site my work
Module 1 . Briefs Group presentation. The Now . The Then . The Other Grade. Mid 2.1 Strengths. Interesting information, visual presentation good Need to work on my communication skills when presenting. Try to avoid reading off cue cards Report. Reflective Journal. Portfolio Grade. High 2.1 Strengths. Quality of writing and visual awareness strong Reflective journal. Nice use of materials, very visual, seemed unfinished.
Reading Weeks
Found the book really insightful, advertising chapters really interested me. We get to see the world through the eyes of others. Loved the chapters about ketchup, hair dye and Nassim Taleb’s investment strategies. He brings out fascinating perspectives in every story. I also enjoyed reading the story of ‘the art of failure’ which shows an interesting examination into why some people choke and others panic. The depth of writing kept me intrigued and interested in each story. He has a critically analytical style of writing that made me look at certain situations differently, a new way of understanding problems and solving them.
Marketing fashion was one of the other books we were told to read over our study weeks. I Found that it is a really interesting guide to the fundamental principles of marketing and branding. It explains important concepts in fashion and illustrates how we can apply this within the retail industry. I really like how the book is structured, it allows us to understand the whole marketing process from consumer profiling to exciting marketing and branding campaigns. It is an extremely useful resource in helping me improve my knowledge around this area of industry.
New York Mood Boards
Our brief for New York was to create two moodboards, one on Street style and culture and the other on brands and visual merchandising. I wanted to create a scrap book effect as I kept all my tickets and receipts from New York and would usually have put them in my sketchbook. I was blown away by the window displays and the layouts of all the shops, they seem to take much more care in the way the products are displayed. I visited loads of museums and have documented my favourite exhibitions in my boards.
Reading Week Interview Task Interview 1 What brands do you relate to the most? Asos/ Vans/ Missguided Is there something about these brands that inspire you? Asos Website has so many lookbooks, put outfits together combining trends of the season. Interviews with models/celebrities that you can relate to Great way to express yourself through Asos Marketplace Vans Respected brand in youth Cool ideas/ comfortable + practical but still a desired shoe. Keep up with times/ new versions that keep me excited/ new versions of original shoes - fresh + exciting
Missguided Take key trends from season + make them affordable Adverts on tv always catch my attention Facebook page/ lookbook/ real people upload pictures of themselves Is it mainly the visuals of the brand or the heritage that interests you? Vans Im buying into the brand, their design + logo is unique to the brand. Love the logo visually What is it about the brand that keeps you interested/ loyal? Asos When introduced to Asos Marketplace I noticed all the special one off vintage pieces. Great for boutiquesup and coming designers, can find new styles, sell + swap clothing Like minded people that share the same fashion style
Vans Collaborations keep me interested, work with great designers supreme, young rappers wear the brand targetting younger people How did you hear about the brand? Missguided A friend at work, then started visiting the site and buying clothes Dresses for cheap that look expensive Asos Word of mouth, Friends Has social media affected your relationship with the brand? Missguided Offers, money off/ next day free delivery Drives me to buy things, same with Asos
Will you associate with this brand for a long period of time? Asos Definitely, the amount of brands they sell means there will always be something to suit my taste, even if I grow out of a style. Vans Could change in the future, my needs in a shoe will begin to change with age Missguided As i earn more money I will always opt for quality, durability so won’t always associate with this site. Does your loyalty to the brand change your spending power? Vans It is a well known brand, I would be willing to pay higher Missguided Very similar to other brands- Topshop which is basically a more expensive, better version so would just buy from there instead
Asos Harder to notice price change. So variables- cater brand/ expensive + cheaper brands
a many for own brands
Asos Marketplace The price doesn’t matter as much to me, spent £60 on a dress as I knew it was a one off vintage buy that I wouldn’t be able to find for a cheaper price
Interview 2 What brands do you relate to the most? Virgin/ M&S/ House of Fraser Is there something about these brands that inspire you? Virgin Let me have anything I want, provide me with everything I need in one service What they do for existing customersthey reward customer loyalty M&S Food Hall- meal deal Quality for good prices M&S is a relaxed shopping experience/ nice atmosphere House of Fraser Its expensive, more of a luxury retailer for me, somewhere I go when I want an all round shopping experience or to buy myself something nice. Nice brands/ huge selection/ a bit of everything
What is it about the brand that keeps you interested/ loyal? Virgin Keep me updated, make improvements, strive to keep improving their services Mobile phone- existing customers don’t have to pay the higher prices M&S New foods, change clothes regularly Go in most days because I know I’m going to get what I want How did you hear about the brand? Advertising M&S- Like the voice, gets me excited about their food Adds more luxury to my meals Virgin- Always on their website, not a great site- slow Use Virgin mobile and the site is really good for this, I can see exactly how much money I owe and when/ avoids confusion
Seminar 18/02/13 Check everyday In depth reading once a week Word of the day
22/02/2013- Defining a Brand
‘A brand is a promise delivered’ ‘ Products are made in the factory, but brands are created in the mind’ - Walter Landor
The brand essence is the spirit, heart and soul of the brand, it communicates to us what the brand stands for . . . . . .
It is unique Emotional Experiential Constant Authentic Meaningful
Street Art influences on Fashion Brands Eric Haze
Nike
Ben Ewy ‘High fashion has always been inspired by street style in one way or another, but recently street art and style seems to be an even bigger influence’
Fragrance Controversial fragrances 25/02/2013
26/02/2013 Image Analysis Reading List
Semiotics The Sign/ The signifier/ The signified Key Ideas taken from lecture .Seeing is passive .Looking is active .Images don’t have inherent meaning, the viewer gives them meaning .Meanings are developed from our own personal + cultural backgrounds .An image never changes but the meanings are renegotiated with each viewer
Marshall Mcluhan Really interesting theorist who argues ‘the medium is the message’ http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ImaH51F4HBw
IT session \ Library Induction 27/02/2013
Go on to Now Current Students-Library One Search BUSINESS SOURCE COMPLETE MINTEL KEY NOTE GMID BRAD
NEXIS UK HOOVERS COMPANY PROFILES DRAPERS
Images Creative Club Vogue archive WGSN
Really insightful day, feel much more confident when trying to find research for a report or create some solid references. Didn’t know about the features of library one search before this session.
InDesign Work with Angie
Completeing my report from module 1 on Adobe InDesign has really improved my skills and I am now beginning to work more confidently with layout, composition and utilising the different tools. I feel confident with photoshop and InDesign but not Illustrator so this will be my next area to focus on.
PAT 1/03/13 In todays PAT I wrote a list of all the publications I need to be reading and checking a few times a week. Writing this down along with the time I need to spend doing it has helped me organise my time management. I feel it will be an easier target for me to complete having it written down with the exact times and also will help in developing my contextual knowledge and visual communicatin skills. I am going to buy these books that were mentioned in the session as they will help improve my skills in the areas of this module. Really helpful tutorial.
Really enjoyed the last Malcolm Gladwell book I read ‘What the dog saw’ so this book will be great for me
Seminar 1/03/13
Don’t be lazy with images/ don’t produce generic profiles
Daily brand diaries
CONSUMER SEGMENTS
Ideas for my future consumer profiles . Pictures in fridge . Pictures inside bag . Record interviews on video . A day in the life of ...
CONCEPTUAL MAPS STICK AND PASTE TAKE PHOTOS DIGITAL AND PHYSICAL
Don’t just target my age range, having older people too will improve my understanding of the market
Logos 5/03/13
Successful logos convey the essence of a brand, it is their signature and voice. Logos change over time, apple and nike are prime examples of this. Their logo is what allows consumers to associate with the brand. It has to be distinctive, visible, applicable and timeless.
Found the lecture interesting today, all about the development of logos and the visual communication between the logo and consumer.
Ordered Logo Art and Designing Brand Indentity, enjoy the creative side of the course having previously completed an Art Foundation course. Loved studying graphics and illustration and did similar things in this, want to experiment with logo design and practice my skills on illustrator.
5/03/13
The logo stands for everything nike stands for. it symbolises speed, movement, athleticism.
Playing around on Illustrator using image trace and pen tool. Found the intricute edges more challenging but the smooth tool evened out the sharper edges and made the illustration flow better.
James Norris Illustration
Today James Norris came in with various inspired props that represented the essence of certain brands. I had Dolce and Gabbana so the colour scheme was black, white, gold and red and the props and composition were very sensual, luxury and sophisticated, very representative of the brand. I brought a few materials along with me to the seminar including lace, gold threads and card, and created a fluid collage of the Dolce and Gabbana inspired props. I really enjoyed the freedom of creativity and trying to create something that portrays what the brand stands for through the use of illustration. If I had have had more time I definitelty would have refiend the drawings and shown the intricute detail on the fabris through the use of collage.
12/03/13
Notes on ‘The Gaze’
Found the lecture on ‘The Gaze’ with Angi really useful today, it is something that we see all the time in advertising, more consitently in the frangrance industry. The idea of male and female desire and understanding how this drives consumption. After the lecture I did some further research into John Berger and his ‘ways of seeing’. He argues that female advertising campaigns permeate women, exploiting their sexuality in order to make men purchase the products they are trying to sell. A common idea being that women are depicted in a different way to men because ‘the ideal spectator is always assumed to be male and the image of the women is designed to flatter him’.
Fashion Commentary
Balenciaga 2013
Really interesting lecture with Lucy about fashion commentary. It is important to know my colours and fabrics when commenting on garments in a show. Describe/ reference. Recontextualise colour. Collect phrases.
Arsenic
Arylide Yellow
Capri
Brass
Catalina Blue
African Violet
Alizarin Crimson
Azzedine Alaïa 2013 I really enjoy reading different fashion commentary as it helps me to improve my own writing style, further developing my language and voice. I am always looking for words I haven’t heard before as having an extensive vocabulary improves the professionalism and credibility of your work and I find it makes it more enjoyable to read. Reading Tim Blanks’ fashion commentary on style.com is something I find really useful, as well as work by Cathy Horyn, Sarah Mower and Lisa Armstrong, all of whom write in an engaging and sophisticated manor.
Everything is in full motion chez Monsieur Alaïa, he’s busier than he has ever been but the entire team are progressing at a balanced fast pace just like the gentle dip and flow of the gliding hem on any of his knitted skirts. Sarah Hay i-D Paris Editor
Cameo pink
Celadon green
Bulgarian rose
Pictures of Azzedine Alaïa’s latest collection don’t adequately capture the threedimensional quality of the knitting. Polka dots on a baby-doll dress, shown with matched leggings, are actually raised, like embroidery, and a series of vertically striped dresses are in fact ribbons of lacework backed by a shimmery knit. Cathy Horyn New York Times
In todays seminar we were looking at what makes a designer, a designer. Analysing key attributes of a fashion house gives you material to write when looking at any new collections they have designed. Does it fit in with the designers history? What are the fabrics like? Casting, music, set design? Is there any hints of inspriation taken from artists or film? We loooked at Givenchy, Balenciaga, Haider Ackermann and Gareth Pugh. I found it really useful as I feel more confident when comentating on a designers new collection. I am starting to analyse fabrics, colours and areas of inspiration more accurately and have noticed I find this area of the industry really interesting.
CHRIS CUNNINGHAM
We also looked at imagery around fragrance adverts and what they signify. I always find looking at Chris Cunnignham’s work really interesting as he has a specific style that embodies a strong form of sexual ambiguity, quite dark and violent and technologically aware. His style of work is very strange and at times sinister, but always conveys an underlying message that keeps his audience gripped.
Technology Clinical Dehumanising/ Humanising? Futuristic
Complex
15/03/13 Lucy Norris, Si Beales
Important pointers to remember when tweeting about the runway . Initial tweet . First look is most important . Tweet pictures . Tweet 2 or 3 times . Comment on colour, fabrication, material, texture . Key strong pieces . Cultural references . Does it pay homage to the roots of the house? . Set design, location, models
My tweets
Simons accentuates the desired Dior look with a sophisticated monochrome colour palette and classic womanly silhouettes Editorial ‘bin bag’ hats, psychedelic prints and embellishments? Gray has executed a collection not for the faint-hearted! Sheer metallic fabrics and glitter embossed skirts scream decadence in this spellbinding scene Ostentatious overcoats and sensuous silks form the basis of this beautifully hedonistic collection by Jacobs
Loved the tweeting seminar today on Louise Gray, Marc Jacobs and Christian Dior’s collections. Found it challenging having to write on the spot and very quickly but it allowed me to experience what it is like writing under pressure and to a strict time limit. I have been practicing commentating on runways and I am starting to feel more confident thinking on my feet and recognising specific fabrics and models etc. After reading over my tweets I feel I could improve on my terminology of fabric, include more references possibly to previous collections, confidently recognise models in the show and try to avoid using empty adjectives.
Angi Flethcher 19/03/13 Initial thoughts and observations of Tom Ford’s first men’s fragrance ad. The image I will be analysing in my fragrance analysis essay
Red nails- Adam and Eve reference. Temptaion
Male gaze, what does this suggest?
Sexual, erotic, sublime, orgasmic
Roland BarthesSemiotics Clawing him
Wet, shiny body
Male clothed, female naked
Bedconnotations
Fragrance indented in between legs- male dominance, fragrance is dominating her
Can only see her body, objectifying to woman
Is this the female ideal?
Harsh contrasting lighting
Angle of bottle?
John Berger ‘Ways of Seeing’
Provocative
This fragrance will get you this perfect woman
Strong geometric lines on bottlerepresentative of male torso
Tom Ford Campaigns . Provocative . Euphoric connotations . Suggestive
Colin McDowell 19/03/13
‘Look out, not in. Fashion doesn’t stand alone’
Had guest lecturer Colin Mcdowell in todays seminar, a truly inspirational talk that filled me with even more excitement for my future career in fashion. I love how passionately he talks about what he does, and it is interesting hearing his take on the industry having been involved with both sides of it. He worked as a dress designer and has now written over 20 books including his latest book ‘ The anatomy of Fashion’, which I intend to purchase.
‘Something Old Something New’ ‘Bottling the Memory’
Watching these documentaries about the fragrance industry has really allowed me to gain great insight into the perfume world. Creating our own fragrances is a really exciting project and i’m finding out so much about an industry I previously didn’t look into in great depth. It was especially interesting looking at how different perfumery’s create, market and promote their fragrance. Guerlain is ‘frenchness in liquid form’ and sales rely heavily on consumer loyalty to the brand.
Mothers pass their love for this fragrance house onto their daughters, targetting consumers while they are young in hope of keeping them for life. Fragrance brands are constantly having to compete so introducing new fragrances is vital if they want to keep up with their competition. Tommy Hilfiger wanted to target a younger consumer, 18-27 so implemented music into their fragrance ‘Loud’. The bottle was inspired by guitars and amps and embodied aspects of a record.
They are trying to speak to a younger audience and have chosen the The Ting Tings to be their brand ambassadors. It was really interesting seeing how they launched the fragrance and how they have been promoting it in stores, it has made me start thinking about how I would potentially create a launch event for our fragrance, and how marketing is just as important as the smell itself. After visiting the CB I Hate perfume shop in New York, it was really insightful actually watching the process
of the perfume being made in the documentary and listening to how passionate Christopher Brosius is about scent. He looks past conventional smells and finds beauty in what is real. He makes you think about what perfume is all about and the remarkable connection between scent and memory.
Concept Fragrance Research
‘BLOOD CONCEPT is a private celebration of the vivid and fascinating liquid that flows in our veins. Because blood is actually the river of life.’
We have been doing some research into niche fragrances that rely heavily on concept rather than marketing and finance and how these differ from mainstream fragrances. Niche perfumery places a lot of emphasis on the story behind ‘the juice’, the perfume is seen as an art form keeping creativity a high priority. Blood Concept is a unique Italian brand that was created to innovate the fragrance world, they have a collection of four fragrances O, A, B + AB, all of which contain a mysterious and subtle note of metallic blood. Previously to our visit to I Hate Perfume, I wasn’t aware that there were so many niche concept fragrances and I am finding it really interesting researching further into this area of the market.
Teamworking 22/03/13
Todays seminar was all about teamworking, somethng that is a massive part of the course. We are currently working in groups for our fragrance concept brief so today we focussed on our strengths and weaknesses within a team. OBJECTIVE Create and market an innovative + exciting fragrance PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY 20% Research TEAM RESPONSIBILITY Allocating tasks Mood boards After assessing my personal skills I feel that I can contribute visual awareness and effectiveness in composition to our presentation.
I feel that my weaknesses in group work could potentially be my need to make all the visuals consistent and flowing, I will need to make sure I don’t inject my own opinion too much over others. Being in a team means sharing responsibility and assessing everyones ideas to come up with the best possible outcome. I am also a perfectionist which is something I have been trying to tone down a bit! Writing my strengths and weaknesses will definitely help me during this team brief as I know what I need to focuss on and watch out for.
Initial Ideas. Fragrance Brand Concept
Solid Perfume A range of 3 A smell for a feeling Home. Comfort. Warmth. Security Packaging resembles a book. All about a story Childhood is intrinsically linked with scent A scent that creates a feeling for a hug Niche. Concept fragrance 3 Solid sticks- 1 Story Minimalistic. Stripped down to the scent. All about the feeling it creates. The place it takes you to 18-25 female UK Wooden theme? Homely Afforable Niche. Target consumer is younger? Possible Brand name SENT
Food Futurologist 11/04/03 Morgaine Gaye
Morgaine Gaye came in today to lecture us on the remarkable relationship between scent and food. I found it extremely interesting learning about scent in greater depth, looking at why we like certain smells and how this effects what we eat. I hadn’t heard of the fragrance Molecule 1 before Morgaine’s lecture and found the whole concept of it fascinating. It is a completely unique scent to each individual and interacts with you personally. Choosing our favourite colour wheel was also interesting as the description behind it turned out to be exactly me.
We were grouped in our seminars with people who were in the same colour categories as ourselves and were set a brief to recreate a product that doesn’t appeal to our generation. Using scent and taste as the main components we revolutionised a bottle of Whiskey, making it more female friendly and fun for a younger audience. I found today as a whole really insightful especially as we are creating our own brand and need to think about these areas when marketing and promoting.
‘ Emotionally ambivalent but with an extroverted mood tendency. High scores on flexibility, contentment with life + satisfaction. Like fruity smells + bright colours’
Lucy Norris 12/04/03 The Consumer
We are starting to really develop our brand now and look further into our consumer. Todays lecture has been really useful. We have a plan for what we need to do in order to explore our consumer in depth. I feel more confident identifying our core target audiene and assessing the changes that could potentiially occur over time. We have covered quite a bit on perceptual maps and my group have decided this is something important for our presentation. Knowing where we sit in the market is vital when assessing our consumer.
What restaurant would she eat at? Think about core audience What magazines would she read? Think about illustrations for consumer profile boards
Karen Gilbert came in today to give us a lecture on perfumery and creating and marketing a fragrance brand. I found it really relevant to the stages we are at in our own projects and it definitely helped me understand the fragrance industry better. Although it is not part of the brief to actually create the fragrance, it is really interesting finding out how they are made. I am emmersing myself more and more into our brief and learning about top, middle and base notes in fragrances and how these create an overall smell.
Karen really emphasized how important scent is, it can make us think, feel or react without us even knowing why. I really enjoyed how she showed us the journey through the market, dating right back to the 1920’s. The periods in which certain perfumes were created have a lot of influence on the marketing and advertising of them, for example Charlie in the 70s. Women were wearing trousers which was something that didn’t happen in the 70’s, it is seen as quite revolutionary.
Karen touched upon the whole idea of a niche fragrance which was really helpful as this applies to the group fragrance we are creating. The niche market spend time and money on ‘the juice’ not the advertising or campaigns, they have a smaller reach and care about the creation of the perfume. This is something we will be bearing in mind when we develop our brand SENT.
We went on to actually create a scent for our brand using the essential oils Karen had bought with her. Our concept is all about warmth, security and home comforts so using the results we got from our survey and focus groups, we needed strong woody and vanilla notes complemented by a musky undertone. We found the whole experience really enjoyable and it also helped us refine our concept as we were starting to smell all the elements we had been talking about. Although we are going to have three fragrances and they are solid, producing this liquid scent has acted as a great tool for our development.
Our fragrance brand SENT has been created through the concept of creating a smell for a feeling, something that doesn’t necessarily have a smell. We wanted to create a personal fragrance, not a product to attract someone else. The balms all react differently with your personal scent so it is unique to the consumer.
This is our fragrance moodboard which basically shows our concept. We are going to use this in the presntation to explain our thought processes behind SENT as a brand. The colour palette is very neutral and warm, images show candles, seasons, vanilla and intimacy.
Presentation Work
In the presentation I will be talking about the gaps in the market and why we have chosen to do a solid niche fragrance.
Personal fragrance for yourself rather than to please or attract others.
18-25 Uk market, there isn’t an affordable niche fragrance in the UK at the moment. Niche is very out of reach. It is predominantly Frech and more popular in the USA.
Gorilla perfumes-Lush sold out of their solid fragrances in the first 2 weeks of trade. Miller Harris had to discontinue theirs. Here is our gap. Lush isn’t seen as a proper perfume brand.
Important to keep the prestige of a niche fragrance, need consumers to still see the quality in the concept even though it is affordable
Virginia Bonfiglio 3/05/2013 Skype Session
Todays skype lecture with Virginia Bonfiglio was great fun, she has a naturally charismatic energy about her and what she does. She had some really insightful comments about the fragrance industry and in particular the niche market. This was really relevant to our project as we are creating a niche concept fragrance, the importance of the packaging and advertising is still there but the consumer is the overpowering mediator to the success of the fragrance. This session has definitely confirmed our concept for us as she mentioned niche brands are taking the lead in the market, a new approach is being developed and brands are building communities with their consumers.
Virginia also touched upon a really interesting German fragrance, Anvers. It is a male fragrance which is streamline, minimalist and modern. Anvers was built completely online, the creators built communities through digital platforms and now the fragrance is even being appreciated by female consumers. Our fragrane SENT consists of three different balms that you can use individually or layer together. Virginia spoke about layering and mixing and how it was a big trend in the 70’s but there is big areas of growth for a mix of fragrances sold as one. Consumers have been known to only use the one they prefer the most out of the set however we feel our concept is deeply embedded in the fragrances so consumers will enjoy experimenting with the different scents and the emotions they evoke.
Presentation Feedback
Areas of strength Solid is an interesting opportunity Strong visuals A good understanding of market but need more research SENT- great idea No prompt cards 18-25 niche- good gap in the market Personal surveys
Areas to improve More in depth research into the market Need to state how many people we surveyed Slow down and relax
We have gone through all our areas of strength and weakness and will definitely bear these in mind when doing our next presentation. I feel we need to look further into the market and really grasp the opportunity of our gap
Nikki Rowntree Drop In
A couple of weeks ago Nikki Rowntree came in to give us a lecture about public relations. This was really useful to me as this is the area of the industry I want to go into. She gave us an insight into what an average day is like for her and some key points about the industry. Politeness, consideration, imagination and enthusiasm are key attributes needed for a career in this field, which are all things I feel are big parts of my personality. Being London based helps and I have been researching into different PR agencies and most of them are all located in London. I contacted Charlie Makowska at the NMA gorup about an internship they are offering. She got back to me and asked for my CV and I am waiting to hear back.
Today Nikki was around for our fragrance groups to have drop in sessions and explain our concepts to her. It was a really great session, she loved our whole idea and felt that the concept of creating a smell for a feeling, essentially hug, was lovely. She also gave us some great inspiration and ideas for the story we want printed on the packaging. A possible idea could be to create an event on facebook and get everyone to write a few sentences about their experiences of a hug, and feelings of warmth and comfort. She really liked our idea of having a stripped back photoshoot, very natural portraying an innocent beauty. She suggested we maybe do a location shoot as well as the studio, so we can show our model in a completely natural environment and light as this is in keeping with our brand essence. There will be a lot of homely elements in our shoot, blankets, oversized jumpers and fairy lights.
Product Design Collaborations
Today we collaborated with the product design students to help create a bottle design for our fragrance. We are creating a solid fragrance and already have some initial thoughts as to what we want the bottle and packaging to look like. We wanted to use wood for the outer casing on all three of the fragrances and a metal cylinder around the actual balm. Much like a lip balm, the base will twist and the fragrance will appear. Today was really useful as we decided on measurements, what materials will benefit us in terms of cost and how the overall product will look. Rather than using three different woods we are going to use three different varnishes to reduce our production costs. Our target market is 18-25 year olds and we are creating an affordable niche fragrance so it is important we dont loose money on expensive packaging materials.
After assessing the product design sketches we refined them ourselves and created a large print out of the exact dimensions and design of the bottle. We have decided to print a few of these out and have them presented on physical moodboards in the presentation to show our product development. I feel confident in this area of our brand as we have analysed it in depth.
We are aiming to now take our development further and complete the final packaging and bottle on CAD. Really pleased with how our presentation is coming along, I feel most members of the group are contributing an equal amount and we are all really happy with our concept.
I have also been practicing on prezi, the tool we will be using to present our fragrance concept. After watchinmg various tutorials and having a few practices I feel confident in getting all our slides onto prezi and creating a visually engaging presentation.
PAT Tutorial 8/05/13
Todays tutorial was useful in terms of making improvements to my CV and applying for internships over summer. My CV at the moment is quite boring, definitely not visual enough as I didn’t previously think about doing it on photoshop. I really enjoy creating moodboards and visuals so It will be fun playing around with colour and design to make my CV stand out. Need to change how I have my qualifications layed out and rather than listing my GCSE’s I need to just state how many I have. After talking with Matt I realise I have much more work experience than I thought which is something vital to put on my CV. It might also be a good idea for me to create a business card, start creating a brand for myself. It shows professionalism and will set me apart from others in such a competitive industry.
We also spoke about the possible areas of industry we can go into after finishing our degree which was useful as I wasn’t aware of all of them before. At the moment I want to go into PR and events but I also want to explore all avenues and like the idea of visual merchandising and styling. As I enjoy the more creative side to the course I think creative direction is also something that applies to me.
Lecture Beyond an aesthetic. Respecting meaning
Pussy Riot
In todays lecture we touched upon female Russian Punk band and style icons Pussy Riot. Their statement punk style and beliefs about government and women’s rights have gained them massive amounts of media and press coverage, even when put on trial they have gained a huge amount of followers and supporters. Lingerie company Blush released a video of a model walking around Moscow in her underwear wearing one of Pussy Riot’s trademark balaclavas and holding a sign reading ‘Free Pussy Riot’. It is interesting how brands are using the stigma around the feminist band to generate awareness and popularity among their own labels even if they don’t neccesarily stand for the same political values.
David Bowie 10/05/13
In todays seminar we took inspiration from David Bowie’s song writing technique, cutting up words and rearranging them in in a non sensical way. I found this exercise really interesting as I didn’t previously know this was a technique Bowie used. I can see how the creative elements of cutting up words and phrases could potentially stimulate new exciting ideas that might not be discovered with a strict routine of pen to paper.
Coming up with 42 words to describe the essence of our fragrance brand really forced us to explicitly analyse all the elements of our concept. We tried to make the words as engaging as possible but found that a lot were just alterations of eachother still with the same meaning. It was a useful exercise as we were able to come up with some inventive phrases that reflected our brand essence and also have some fun playing around with words.
David Bowie ‘Cracked Actor’
Preliminary Location Shoot
Practise hair and makeup, in keeping with our natural theme
These are a few of the original images from our preliminary location shoot. We briefed our model Ruth on the concept of the fragrance and what she needed to portray in the shoot. We wanted it quite playful and childlike embodying elements of natural innocence. I am really happy with how the images turned out and it was really useful doing the shoot just before our time in the studio as it allowed Ruth to warm up and get comfortable with the concept. I feel like she really grasped the meaning behind our fragrance, avoiding any shots with sexual connotations. SENT is a personal fragrance not to attract others, it is important that our advertising emphasizes this.
Studio Shoot 20/05/13
Prior to our shoot we created a moodboard for the overall concept we wanted to communicate through the images. I feel that the styling shoots in the studio are one of my favourite things to do, I like how professional we have to be, I feel like it is helping me prepare for industry. I am gaining more confidence in directing the shoots and generally trying to get our ideas across to the photographer. In between each look I was giving Ruth the exact scene she would be in, whether it was at a festival during sunrise, or at home in front of a warm fire. We felt this really helped her get into character and was essential as the photographer had some different ideas to us.
I feel that we successfully avoided the sexual nature you see in most ad campaigns today. It was important for Ruth not be gazing at the camera as consumers may derive sexual connotations from this and our fragrance relys on the concept of being personal to each and every individual. If we were to do the shoot again I feel more props could have enhanced some of the images but I also love the raw beauty in the simplicity of these shots.
Taking the best images from the preliminary shoot we created some possible magazine adverts. Originally we weren’t going to have the three wooden scents on the advert but we feel it works nicely with the logo and adds an element of intrigue. Having them sepia toned works with our concept however I personally feel the colour needs to be changed slightly on them as it feels a bit too harsh.
This is our final double page magazine spread. I am really pleased with how it looks, the simplicity of having the polaroid on one side and the logo centred alone on the other, creates a minimalistic visual composition. I feel if I saw this in a magazine I would want to look up SENT and find out more about the brand. We have managed to keep to the homely feel by writing our brand essence ‘destination nostalgia’ as if it has been done in pencil. I feel the design would definitely appeal to our target consumer and the shot from the studio is further communicating the warm, soft and secure elements of our concept.
Presentation 23/05/13
We had our presentation today and I am really happy with how it turned out, I definitely feel that my confidence in speaking in front of an audience is improving. Since my first presentation on The Now, The Then and The Other at the beginning of the year, I have tried to relax more when presenting, as this makes the whole presentation much more engaging. Previosuly I had comments about reading too much off cue cards however in the presentation today I didn’t even feel like I needed them. As a group I think we could have all slowed down a bit but this is something that will improve the more we present.