Wedding Invitation Research

For this brief the client had helpfully already seen a few ideas which he liked which he sent to me. Some of the images he shown me were from this pinterest board, 

link: http://www.pinterest.com/ruchitandon/ideas/

But some of the main ones which he really liked were these images, he had said that he wanted something which was not your cliche wedding invitation. 

From seeing what we wanted I decided to compile my own pinterest board, which I then sent to him to see what he thought of what I was thinking of doing for the invite, some of the images which I saw which caught my eye were:

I thought the idea of having a wedding logo was a really good idea and could be applied across different items if he liked it.

Link: http://www.pinterest.com/RineshMistry/wedding-invitation/

Further ASOS Research

In addition to J'nae having looked at the fashion side of thing, we had decided to set up a shared pinterest board where we pinned anything which we thought was suitable for the brief. I had compiled a fair amount of images relating to the responsibilities I had within the brief. 

Here are some of the images which I thought stood out to me:

This image above was one which me and J'nae found very interesting as the overall concept was very similar to the one for ours for the app we were going to be designing. The actual design of the app was very good as well and was very influential as to what the latest fashion apps are looking like.

Considering that we had finally decided what we were going to be designing these images were very influential when it came to design decisions as we wanted to make sure that the design of app was current and would appeal to the target audience and was in relation to things like pop culture and current design.

Here is a link to the board on Pinterest:

http://www.pinterest.com/RineshMistry/asos/

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"