Just a quick update on the FMP, which admittedly is coming along slowly at the moment due to the lovely weather - & lack of motivation. I seem to be stuck in a rut due to knowing what I want the outcome of the project to be, I just can't bring myself to get there right now.
My last tutorial of the term was on Thursday, & whilst it did prompt me to consider ideas and things that need to be done soon-ish, nothing has quite materialised yet. There seem to be so many other aspects of the project as well as the final outcome, ie. producing a poster, completing a professional interview, a reflection log etc. it's all become a bit daunting. But after a day or two of reflection and list-making I think i'm about ready to get back in to the project.
My aims for the next couple of days include completing sketches for the new concession design, producing some mock-ups of possible poster designs & exploring new forms of technology that could be incorporated in to the brand. This should keep me busy!
Tuesday, 27 March 2012
Monday, 12 March 2012
Mr. Porter
Whilst attempting to fully enter the development stage of my FMP, I have decided to get more organised. Whilst I know what I want to achieve & i've been thoroughly organised throughout the first stage of the project - the research - I guess I took my eye off the ball & didn't put much consideration in to the development phase & how i'm going to get to where I want to go!
Today has been put aside to make some sort of plan. A timeline has been requested from a tutor, & whilst it has induced major panic, I admit it's a logical idea & is starting to really help me. Now whilst the timeline is still in it's early stages, ie. only taking me up to the end of the week (because I got excited & distracted as per usual) already the panic has died down a little & I am much more focused.
Today has still involved research, even though the key aim is to develop my ideas. The point of focus today is the new concept for the website. One final output of my project I want to achieve is redesigned web content - to differentiate the brand from others on offer at John Lewis. There is one key menswear etailer that is a personal favourite of mine, & one that I look at regularly even though I can't purchase anything! That website is Mr Porter, which at only one year old has become phenomenally successful & changed the way in which men can shop for fashion.
Below are some screen shots of the website;
The website contains a great deal of additional content alongside the products on offer, such as a weekly magazine, essential products, style advice, classic style icons etc. I believe this content gives such a lot of added value & provides the consumer with a feeling of a real shopping experience - something that can be very hard to achieve as an online retailer. Mr Porter offers an extensive amount of help & guidance to the consumer, without being patronising or condesending. The layout is simple yet still evokes a feeling a luxe - I really love the design background being black text on white, yet additional content reflects an old-school gentleman's club vibe.
I would certainly like to take aspects from the Mr Porter site & somehow implement them in the redesigned area of the John Lewis website. I particularly like the way the brand has attempted to provide a multi-channel experience to the consumer - through the site, print and an Iphone app - even though it has no physical store presence. I believe that the customer I am targeting would appreciate this added value to a brand.
Today has been put aside to make some sort of plan. A timeline has been requested from a tutor, & whilst it has induced major panic, I admit it's a logical idea & is starting to really help me. Now whilst the timeline is still in it's early stages, ie. only taking me up to the end of the week (because I got excited & distracted as per usual) already the panic has died down a little & I am much more focused.
Today has still involved research, even though the key aim is to develop my ideas. The point of focus today is the new concept for the website. One final output of my project I want to achieve is redesigned web content - to differentiate the brand from others on offer at John Lewis. There is one key menswear etailer that is a personal favourite of mine, & one that I look at regularly even though I can't purchase anything! That website is Mr Porter, which at only one year old has become phenomenally successful & changed the way in which men can shop for fashion.
Below are some screen shots of the website;
The website contains a great deal of additional content alongside the products on offer, such as a weekly magazine, essential products, style advice, classic style icons etc. I believe this content gives such a lot of added value & provides the consumer with a feeling of a real shopping experience - something that can be very hard to achieve as an online retailer. Mr Porter offers an extensive amount of help & guidance to the consumer, without being patronising or condesending. The layout is simple yet still evokes a feeling a luxe - I really love the design background being black text on white, yet additional content reflects an old-school gentleman's club vibe.
I would certainly like to take aspects from the Mr Porter site & somehow implement them in the redesigned area of the John Lewis website. I particularly like the way the brand has attempted to provide a multi-channel experience to the consumer - through the site, print and an Iphone app - even though it has no physical store presence. I believe that the customer I am targeting would appreciate this added value to a brand.
Tuesday, 6 March 2012
Trip to London
In order to conduct some primary research myself & a coursemate decided to take a daytrip to London. The main reason for my trip was to visit the recently revamped formalwear section of the House of Fraser Menswear department in Oxford Street.
I'd read about the revamp in Drapers & seen pictures - it looked incredible! The theme was an old-school 'gentleman's club' and I was interested in seeing how they had achieved this. The department has had rave reviews in industry articles, and House of Fraser have decided to roll the concept out to more stores, with Glasgow already completed. I was interested to see whether the shopping environment could create such an experience and added value that the customer enjoyed visiting the store and wanted to purchase there.
There was a lot of information to take in, more than I can put on here, so I took my tutor's advice & decided to do a Drapers style shop report. This will mark out of 10 certain aspects of the department such as product mix and visual merchandising, and take an indepth look at what works and what doesn't. The shop report is coming together nicely (ie. it's almost done, seems to be taking far longer than expected - as everything FMP related seems to do) Below are just a few images from the department - I particularly loved the lushious deep brown leather armchairs, mahogany furniture and mirror plated chest of drawers...
Everything from the wallpaper to the lighting emitted a feeling of old fashioned luxury, and the products were well displayed and easy to navigate. This kind of department layout is definitely something I could take inspiration from - I want to redesign a concession area in John Lewis and this kind of thing, to me, is super exciting!
I'd read about the revamp in Drapers & seen pictures - it looked incredible! The theme was an old-school 'gentleman's club' and I was interested in seeing how they had achieved this. The department has had rave reviews in industry articles, and House of Fraser have decided to roll the concept out to more stores, with Glasgow already completed. I was interested to see whether the shopping environment could create such an experience and added value that the customer enjoyed visiting the store and wanted to purchase there.
There was a lot of information to take in, more than I can put on here, so I took my tutor's advice & decided to do a Drapers style shop report. This will mark out of 10 certain aspects of the department such as product mix and visual merchandising, and take an indepth look at what works and what doesn't. The shop report is coming together nicely (ie. it's almost done, seems to be taking far longer than expected - as everything FMP related seems to do) Below are just a few images from the department - I particularly loved the lushious deep brown leather armchairs, mahogany furniture and mirror plated chest of drawers...
Everything from the wallpaper to the lighting emitted a feeling of old fashioned luxury, and the products were well displayed and easy to navigate. This kind of department layout is definitely something I could take inspiration from - I want to redesign a concession area in John Lewis and this kind of thing, to me, is super exciting!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)