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.