OUGD603: Zleta Branding - The Brief / First Meeting

After agreeing to collaborate via Instagram, we met up for a coffee to discuss what she wants to get out of re-doing her branding, as well as her ambitions for the brand. Zaleta, final year student and fashion designer goes by the name 'ZA', representing her initials and is working on her graduate collection for a debut at the Bo Carter Fashion Show, which is taking place April 25th 2018 at The Printworks (Leeds City College campus).

Zaleta's main intention is to showcase the brand as evolved and together, encompassing a holistic identity which is easily transferable across future marketing. As budget is a concern for her, yet she does understand Photoshop and Illustrator, Zaleta would prefer if any adjustments were possible to be made by her, meaning a set of Brand Guidelines would be preferable to maintain consistency.

<THE BRIEF>

All Deliverables: 

• x2 A5 Postcard Design - Double Sided (1 for Bo Carter & 1 for Leeds Int Fest, approx 300 of each to be printed)

• CV & Business Card (Logo Done) (Stitching around CV/Business Cards)

• Instagram Size branding

• Promotion for the end of year show

• Clothing label - large label (heavy cotton) (She uses S/M/L sizing)

• Packaging - boxes, dust bag, tissue, care labels, thank you for your order cards etc

Meeting notes:

Only online distribution >> not bulk pieces >> all about the craft >> Slow and personal process >> transparent and small business model

• Printing A5 Flyers for the fashion shows at 11am Friday April 20th - potentially print on a organic/recycled stock to reference her Brand mission

• Business cards definitely to be on recycled stock with non-toxic inks

• To reference high fashion branding and gender neutrality, Zaleta wants to keep to the colour pallet Black / White or Off White with potential hints of colour-changing process running throughout (Oranges). 

• All of Zaleta's materials are organic and 100% Vegan. Any additional accessories or footwear in the future will be sustainable and consistently Vegan.

• Every design decision os personal and everything is crafted by hand

• Jen to create evolved colour palette & brand guidelines for consistency 

• Zaleta to potentially number each item to showcase how there is no mass production, other than t-shirts, she is considering making max 100 of any piece (other than basic t-shirts), or potentially making bispoque pieces to order.

• All Vegan, All Genderless. Uses Bamboo Silk which is a plant based synthetic

• She will possibly offer repairs on pieces or a 'life time' guarantee, similar to Dr Martens.

• We discussed distribution and she is planning to sell online, via her own platform and via web-platforms such as Fashion East, which supports new designers. She is also looking into getting a designer-bursary from the government being an international graduate, to help her do a presentation at London Fashion Week in September. She wants to avoid places like Dover Street Market, as at the moment the capital to fund a second collection to pitch (with aprox 100 units per piece) is just not possible, both financially and with only her on production.

• Tshirts will start around £140 (similar to Acne) and go up being priceless. Some of her bispoque hand created pieces (similar to the image below, will retail for approx £5000 ono)

OUGD603: Unentitled - LIVE - Book & Bake Sale 01

After a second meeting with Lucy, a fundraiser has been organised for the 19th April to help raise money for the exhibition (and hopefully pay me!). The event is called 'Books & Bakes', where they will be selling second hand books and cakes for 50p. I need to be careful with the colour pallets here and potentially avoid using the pastel green, as 'Bakes' could have different connotations within the student audience- especially when advertised with the colour green.. (we don't want any disappointment).

Deliverables

-A4 Posters for around campus (toilets/corridors/classrooms etc), as well as local book stores/ charity shops 

- Digital Screen design for LBSU & different campuses

- Social Media content - Instagram & Facebook promotion

- Flyers (?) - A total budget is not yet confirmed, so printing flyers (especially double sided) may be an opportunity cost and a waste of time

Turn Around

Lucy asked for this 'ASAP' so I needed to make sure I have enough time to balance this with other deadlines on the go at the moment (e.g.: YCN). To be realistic, I negotiated a deadline of 4th April, so they still have over 2 weeks to promote the event and I can prioritise more immediate work.
____________________________________________________________________________

To stick with the Brand Guidelines, I am keeping to the Roobert Std Family, using ultra-bold  for the headings of Books & Bakes, just off-justifying the alignment.

Strong, simple and statement, can be reduced in scale or blown up to be imposing

Introducing flirty eyelashes enhancing a playful tone of voice - also, apparently a lot of books at the sale are chick flicks/discarded romance novels so may suggest that to the audience

Trying to get the letterforms to work as abstract pages in a book turning - not as successful, quite illegible

 How to join the words together?

Amperstand is much more traditional and legible, however, Roobert Std does not have an ampersand in it's type range. I have been experimenting with the & from Garamond, despite being a serif it has a beautifully fluid curl to its stem and a diffrinciation in weights, making it act as functional ornament. The + is much more contemporary and related to maths lingo- however by introducing too many symbols I could over-confuse the identity. I will seek feedback to solve this problem.

Poster Experiments

Inspiration. The combination of white on pastel tones works well and allows the black typeface to be used and heighten impact - the mixture of type directions and clean grid system allows lots of information to be put in a small surface area. Interactivity is also introduced to the above poster designs by having the STIK Pavillion Exhibition type on an additional white print-out, attached to (presumably) thicker coloured stock. Whilst this is an idea we could run with for unentitled, 1) I don't want to just copy and 2) with the weather in Leeds, the top layer could easily be blown off or ruined if situated in an outdoor environment. This would work for indoor posters, but would also increase cost of production, as colour-specific stocks will need to be sourced and printed on, as well as a top white layer in Kodatrace/90gsm (ish) Stock. Considering any left over budget will be for my fee's, I naturally want to keep production costs as low as possible.

This design can be recreated to the ratio of the digital screens, or even animated, to maintain consistency between the fundraiser and Unentitled.

Monochromatic posters - not so sure on appropriate colour ways. Feedback needed.

Experimenting with 3D type - did not work as planned

Final Poster. Utilising the pastel colour pallet and clear grid system, available for single side print out on almost any stock.

Test Prints

To check what the print quality of the A4 posters will be, i did some test prints to weigh up costs vs quality, as well as hopefully inform the future posters/flyers to promote the Unentitled exhibition. By doing this now, it will save time closer to the deadline.

<test print images>

Instagram Row

To fit in with the Instagram theme for Unentitled, I have created a series of posts and posting structure to tie in with the original theme. By using the social analysis app we can see that the feed has the most interaction around 1-2pm, which statistically isn't the time most users are online - one can wonder if this is the student's main viewing time for Instagram > survey/primary research to find out.  We can use this knowledge to schedule post times and stories to have the most engagement > we also need to grow the Facebook reach.

Introduce the #booksnbakes or #book&bake hashtag, alongside others such as #lbsu #leeds #unentitled #leedsbeckett etc to grow the pages.

Facebook Headers

To give a holistic identity for Books & Bake, I created some cover headers in the same style as the 'Exhibition of Words' main cover images but same colour palette as the posters, making it all link into the same identity system.

(Experimentation)

OUGD603: DIY Publications & Zine Culture

In order to understand the progression of editorial design and the communication of images, looking into alternative methods of production & alternative magazines is a must.
Zines and making your own publications became big in the 1980's, starting with punks, creatives and collectives often as a way to showcase or protest. Above all, they were really just an easy way to self-publish any work, often just on cheap stock and staple bound or folded to save on costs. The nature of a zine is quite 'cheap and cheerful'- a tangible graphic artefact you can make as creative as you like. Mushpit is a great examples of this, where CSM students decided to create a photocopier publication showcasing their work, and in Mushpit's case a defined point of view.

London reporter IanVisits* said that zines "marked a certain sub-culture which still needed to promote and communicate", which actually makes a lot of sense as that was their purpose for creating the zine. Their funds were low so utilised this means of production to democratise their messages. Movements such as Riot Grrrl's produced zines which became hugely popular, which in turn helped promote their feminist message. Feminism, gender and identity have often been the main topic of 'popular' zines over the past 20th/21st century, with each zine's point of view often setting the tone of the publication. 

(*https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2016/08/09/from-punk-to-modern-day-the-zine-movement/)

Zines in 2017 have moved somewhat away from it's original routes, often being more of a production piece than a sign of protest. Kanye West has created a Clabassas Zine (see other blog post), which may suggest the commercialism of zine culture. Fashion houses such as COS create zine style in store magazines and look books, which has become an increasingly popular tool of communication in the fashion industry.

i.D Magazine released a list of key zines to know, it was interesting to explore them online yet I would love to experience their tactility and production methods as an additional form of primary research. Below are a few which I find interesting and relevant to 2017 (as appropriate to the research investigation).

 

Polyester Zine

Polyester zine targets current issues in popular culture, including music, politics and fashion. Their writers contribute critical articles on current fashion trends and 'gurl talk', fashion photography and still life are combined to create an immersive experience for the viewer, always placing the subject in the focus. Their visual communication and typography are postmodern and diverse, incorporating elements of romantic nostalgia but staying pretty true to pop-culture and underground trends.

Polyester interestingly reference history, and relate the subjective natures of art and design to fact. Their point of view is liberating and all-embracing, never the less informative and (in a way) educational.

Zines can also allow graphic designers and artists to be more experimental with their communication, meaning covers and layout is often more avant grade than that of commercial publications. This is part of the charm of zines, especially with DIY Customisation allowing a personalised experience. When Liv, the Former Editor of Rough Trade magazine came in to discuss editorial with us, she spoke openly about the design process and how artwork/content was resolved. The intentions of the magazine (still only cheaply and creatively produced) was to bring a Rough Trade store, to the viewer, meaning they had full creative freedom with the aestetic, so went as mad as they wanted. Liv discussed how they created a structure, so each month it was easy to input content to save time, which I will do for my own work.

OUGD603: Branding & Identity - Creative Advertising Team (RYAN & CHARLOTTE)

The New York trip gave me the opportunity to meet some amazing people from other courses, one in particular being Creative Advertising. Ryan Morgan & Charlotte Bailey are pairing up as a creative team, a requirement of most advertising internships, however have no real portfolio or identity to show, both individually and together as a team.

After the trip we decided to meet up so I could get to grips with who they are and what it is they are actually needing, deliverables wise. 

Meeting Notes 01

- They are a duo specialising in Art Direction & Copyrighting
- They want to be working for the big dog London agencies - McCan, Grey etc (planning on relocating)
- Ryan can do everything Charlotte can't, and vise-versa
- Have loootttssssss of personality and separate interests which all influence (and often improve) their work

Ryan - More interested in pop culture - fashion, music, photography
Charlotte - More 'mumsy' - interested in Food, Knitting, Travel & Travel blogs, makeup & skincare.

For this, they require:

-  A joint name & logo
- Brand identity guidelines
- Website
- Social Media intro graphics
- Solid tone of voice who says who they are as professionals, incorporating their own personalities
- Portfolio's & CV's