Responsive - Royal Dine Research

This brief was one which I had taken on short notice as my friend needed some work done for a client. It was a branding project for a restaurant in Leicester which was undergoing refurbishment. With it being such a straight forward brief I started to look examples of branding for existing restaurants of similar style. I was given very vague information on how the client wanted it so I figured this would be the best way to get started on it.

I created a pinterest board to collect these images:

A few of the images which really caught my eye were:

I thought that this looked very suitable for what the client sounded like he wanted as he said something simple but classy, and he wanted a new logo designed along with a new menu, and I thought that something on the lines of this would fit in with what he sounded like he was after.

This next image got my attention also as he said that he wanted a crown to part of the logo.

I thought that the simplicity of this logo could work well with a different typeface.

I tried to find branding for the type of food they was going to be serving at the restaurant, in this case indian food, but I did not find many examples of branding in line with the style he wanted it in.

With the client wanting the work done ASAP I did not have a lot of time to extensively research but I think that I had collected a fair amount of images which gave me ideas and inspiration. 

Secret 7 - Lorde Research

With this being a fairly short brief I looked into a few of the things which I thought needed to be considered when designing an album sleeve. 

I looked at music video for the song, things related to the artist via a personal blog that she had setup, basic information on the artist and in this case certain topics she speaks about in the actual song.

The Artist 

Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor (born 7 November 1996), known by her stage name Lorde , is a New Zealand singer-songwriter. Born in Takapuna and raised in Devonport, Auckland, she performed in various singing and drama classes as a child, and at the age of thirteen signed with Universal. Yelich-O'Connor adopted her stage name due to her fascination with "royals and aristocracy", but felt the name Lord was too masculine so added an 'e' to make it more feminine.

Her musical debut was an EP, entitled The Love Club, which was released in November 2012, and her first single, "Royals", debuted at number one on the New Zealand Top 40, and also reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2013, making her the first New Zealand solo artist to have a number one song in the United States. Her debut album, Pure Heroine, was released in September 2013, receiving critical acclaim and commercial success worldwide.

Her work has earned her numerous awards and accolades. In October 2013, she jointly won the 2013 Silver Scroll award for "Royals," which celebrates outstanding songwriting achievements in original New Zealand pop music. For the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, Lorde received four nominations, in which she won Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance for "Royals.

The Music Video

I was looking at the video  mainly for inspiration on what and how to design the cover, and I ended up using it get colour schemes to use.

As you can see the video has a very moody tone to it, mainly due to the neutral colours used, blues, greens and greys.

Previous Artwork

I also had a quick look at previous album art for Lorde, but did not get a lot of results as she has only 1 studio album and 1 EP, therefore I also looked at remixes.

General Aesthetics

I also collected a few images from Lorde's personal tumblr blog which I added to a pinterest board.

http://www.pinterest.com/RineshMistry/secret-7/

Responsive Collaborative - Research into existing Apps

After the session with Fred me and J'nae had made an action plan and the first stage was to look into the primary research we had collected and existing apps which ASOS had and any competitors they have.

I started with the apps which ASOS had, we split up the 4 apps they had, I took the 'Whos going out app and ASOS Marketplace, whilst J'nae did the 'ASOS App' itself and 'ASOS Fashion Finder'.

ASOS Who's Going Out?

Pros:

• Introduces you and how to use the app
• matches music taste with events 
• shows where your mates are going
• information on events and venues
• things to know abouts each event (tips)
• line up information
• finds music taste depending on music in library on phone - very personal approach
• connects to social networks such as Facebook

Cons:

• needs to run using social networking/cannot run as a standalone app
• did not work very well first time round
• does not support IOS7 keyboard - not up to date with mobile operating systems
• did not end up working at all! - NEEDS SORTING OUT
• did not get info from social networks either
• No App for Ipad

Going out (Competitor)

Pros:

• shows events straight away
• location based events
• link to buy tickets
• simple but ergonomic approach to app
• links to website for event and managers via email
• brief information on event
• supports IOS7 features

Cons:

• no search feature
• only shows local events
• does not give information based on 

ASOS Marketplace

Pros:

• Shows brief introduction to app for new users
• sign up or sign in at start screen
• links to social networking for easy sign up
• links to paypal if you wanted to create a clothing line 

Cons:

• does not go straight to clothes
• signing up is time consuming
• does not give you option of simply browsing
• took a while to get to the actual clothes
• app is only for creating listing of clothes not for buying

I also had a look at some of the reviews of the apps which people had left on the app store for the apps:

ASOS Who's Going Out:

• one review stating it works well dated August 7 2013
• another review stating similar problems I had that it did not work if you didnt have facebook and simply did not show anything.

ASOS Marketplace:

• Many reviews on how the app is great for selling, 
• does not enable users to message buyers
• many error messages and bugs
• comments on ease of use from mobile devices when uploading photos
• lacking buying feature

All of the apps have different features which work well, but I think that ASOS would benefit from having a Marketplace app which people could buy off, and the whos going out app has a really good concept behind it but simply does not work and needs to be updated.

Collaborative Primary Research

After having decided on what brief me and J'nae were going to do, and after the session we had on it we decided to start researching into the brief. We figured that before we started any design based research we needed to know what the people who shop on ASOS actually wanted, as we thought that this was a key point in making sure whatever we created was relevant to the target audience.

We had decided to go into town on a saturday and collect some primary research, we had made some cards to give out which had a QR Code to the blog where they could give us any feedback on some ideas which we had came up with and also if they did not have time to speak to us at the time.

We were mainly asking questions which were initially being asked of us through the brief, we figured that this would be an interesting way to see what people who actually shop on ASOS want.

We also rang up and contacted people we knew who would be interested in this. 

After the saturday we realised that we needed to ask people who knew about fashion and had a decent idea of trends. We did get some interesting feedback.

We then went to collect some more on a wednesday in and around university campuses in Leeds. We did get a few good bits of feedback but realised that the reason why there was not a lot of people was because most students do not have anything scheduled on wednesdays, and the weather was not the best which probably contributed to the lack of people around. But we still had a decent amount of feedback to go off for the next Session we were to have on this brief.

Some of the questions we were asking were:

'What would you like to see from a New ASOS App?'

'What do you think are the next things in terms of fashion trends after street style?'

Some of the answers we got:

"Age 21: Current trends, Key Styles, 5 Ways to wear a ket item in your wardrobe, wide leg pants, type in a certain product that you like and to find a selection of places to buy it, I prefer digitally based things, dress codes for events, personalized, more clarity to the app.

Age 29: Upcoming designers, ones to watch out for, trend predictions, cool accessories, stylist or personal stylist, what not to wear or style warnings, fashion scope polls.

Age 23: I like print and web media, easy to navigate and to view your personal account. Recommended links and events, holidays, festivals, not massively interested in body shape chosen clothes. Mix and match outfit choices, scan in clothes - fit outfits with things you already have in your wardrobe.

Age 20: Customer goes on app and website, sign up, questionnaire on what you like and then Asos can gather the clothes / styles for you, summer and spring trends, pick images, Asos can see what you like and offer clothing you would like on your account, A tailer made / personal shopping experience.

Age 20: Liked the idea of events and outfits combined to work with a night out.

Age 24-26: Lifestyle, knitwear, country style and chords

Age 27: interesting idea

Age 22: Elaborate style tips, trend based categories, linking fashion with events like a date, lunch with family, night out with friends, interactive, styles you like, body and shape directed shows clothes that will not show what your conscious about.

Age 20: Celebrities have worn, whats on the  catwalk and asos’s equivalent

Age 20: Personalised to what you like, camo patterns, subtle colours.

Age 20: Latest trends, mood boards / look books on styles and outfits, PVC, organised what you wear, body shapes, hour glass ect. Clothes accessories, In my opinion street style will be around forever, don’t read any magazines.

Age 20: Combine all apps together to make it more user friendly

Age 21: Likes next day delivery, suggestion e.g. similar outfits, events, personal approach, body tyoe, sweet deal, celebrity styles, more simple items, river island, blazers

Age 23: Accessories, lacking male accessories, relates to fashion blogs, people, uploading looks, location based, gym gear, fitness, flourscent colours

Age 19: Creating an outfits for you, genre’s of clothing for certain types of people

Age 21: Offers, endorsements with insentives, folk / country wear.

Age 22: Combining, blog, user friendly"

Design for Print & Web Research

I started this brief fairly late, but had a good idea of what I wanted to produce for it. So I knew where and what to research. I started with looking into things which I was planning to create through this brief. I had compiled all of my images onto a pinterest board. 

Design For Print and Web Board

Considering that this was the final brief of the module I decided to use some of the processes I did not get a chance to use in the previous ones, or use things that I simply had not done before.

This next image interested me as I have always wanted to use holographic card and have always been intrigued with how you can see so many colours in different light.

After having seen this I wanted to try and get hold of some card which was similar or foil maybe.

Considering that I had included to brand the cafe as part of the gallery I also had a look into branding for cafes, which is when this next image really caught my attention.

I liked how they had broken down what fonts they had used in the branding the different variations of logos and colour schemes, along with any patterns that they had used.

I also looked into corporate branding as I came across images as such which gave me a few ideas of how I could go about doing it.

I also saw a few images of banners which gave me ideas on what I could have as inspiration, my trip down to london to the galleries tied in with this very well, which I have documented on my Design practice blog.

I was also thinking of some things like bags if the exhibition had a shop?

I searched for galleries and info and wayfinding and found some interesting approaches to how it had been done.

Now that I knew what I was going to be producing I started to look at booklets and things I was going to be producing like posters and corporate branding.

Study Task 5 - Triangulation

This task was to use the triangulation of text method of academic writing. I ended up writing more that I expected so I chose to continue this piece on into my essay.

In the 19^th century advertising and promotions of products did not need as much branding as is used now. This is mainly down to the fact that during that time the only things being advertised and promoted were new things which had been invented, one of many authors have commented on this, N Klein best explains this point, (2000)

‘The first mass-marketing campaigns, starting in the second half of the nineteenth, had more to do with advertising than with branding as we understand it today. Faced with a range of recently invented products – the radio, phonograph, car, light bulb and so on – advertisers had more pressing tasks than creating a brand identity for any given corporation; first they had to change the way people lived their lives. Ads had to inform consumers about the existence of some new invention, then convince them that their lives would be better if they used, for example, cars instead of wagons, telephones instead of mail and electric light instead of oil lamps. Many of these new products bore brand names – some of which are still around today – but these were almost incidental. These products were themselves news; that was almost advertisement enough.’

It was the products which in fact sold themselves and the newness of the idea which was what people were buying, mainly due to the fact that the products there were selling actually would have made your life easier not how now in the present time when it is in fact the brand which you are buying into. Klein has commented on this as well, (2000)

‘The search for the true meaning of brands – or the “brand essence” as it is often called – gradually took the agencies away from the individual products and their attributes and toward a psychological/anthropological examination of what brands mean to the culture and to the people’s lives. This was seen to be of crucial importance, since corporations may manufacture products, but what consumers buy are brands.’

One of the main reasons as to why now advertising and marketing is such a lucrative business and plays such a large portion of selling anything these days is because of this, and how in trying to brand your product is not only about the product but is more about what benefits you would get from buying into it. It was this crucial moment when companies and large brands had started to think about what Klein was describing as ‘brand essence’. Berger in Ways of Seeing supports this as he states that (1972)

‘It is important here not to confuse publicity with the pleasure or benefits to be enjoyed from the things it advertises.’

This is also further supported by Olins in On Brand as he states (2003)

‘Branding has moved so far beyond its commercial origins that its impact is virtually immeasurable in social and cultural terms. It has spread into education, sport, fashion, travel, art, theatre, literature, the region, the nation and virtually anywhere else you can think of.’