SUMMATIVE PROJECT #2 | REBRANDING

The final section of our fragrance summative project was to individually create a promotional plan, outlining how we would promote our brand Elise in the twelve months following the brand launch.

As this was an individual task we were encouraged to really take hold of our brands created with our groups, and demonstrate our own individual thoughts, feelings and ideas as to which direction we would like our brand to take.

One of our main criticisms given after our brand launch was that our aesthetics, in particular our logo did not correlate with our brand values. Taking this into consideration, I decided to redesign our logo, and rethink our visuals for Elise.

ORIGINAL

Double Page Advertisement

To redesign our logo and promotional material I got in contact with graphic designer Lauren Coelho.

When speaking with her I explained the exact direction I wanted to take:

1. A far more minimalistic and slightly clinical approach to highlight
2. To still incorporate a woman into the visuals to fit with our brand name and values, however make this figure anonymous and neutral, in contrast to our previous advertisement of a white blonde female
3. Use the same colour palette of dusky pinks, black, grey, white and nudes
4. Create a feminine aesthetic but without it being too 'sickly sweet'

This was the result.

REDESIGNED

Overall I was thoroughly pleased with the final designs and felt that they reflected our brand far better than before.

Thanks again to Lauren Coelho for helping me out! Check out Coelho Designs here: https://www.instagram.com/coelho.designs/

- A 

FRED PERRY SUMMER PROJECT | DOT TO DOT FESTIVAL

As first year FCP students, this year we have been asked to pick between two summer projects; one focused upon Dance4 and the other Fred Perry. I found it tough to choose between both, as I have interest in both subjects of each briefs. However, after much consideration I chose the Fred Perry brief, as I have an overriding interest into the brief surrounding Fred Perry.

To help us with this summer brief, a group of FCP students were chosen to help 'Fred Perry Subculture' at Dot to Dot Festival, a platform that launched in 2005 to work with true icons of British music and to introduce some of the very best new artists from the UK.

This festival is held this Sunday in Nottingham, however it is held in a series of three locations over three days, and has been home to artists such as Catfish and The Bottlemen, The 1975 and The Drums (to name a few!) in the past few years. I was luckily enough to be one of the team, and I couldn't have been more excited!

Fred Perry as a brand is one have admired for years, the way they intertwine sport, music and style into the look, feel and core values as a brand. Especially their uniqueness, in the fact that they were the first clothing line to cross over sportswear into streetwear.

Our main role this Sunday is to create a visual record of photographs over the day that document music and style tribes, whilst capturing the emotion and atmosphere of the event.

Here are a few photos I took across the day, enjoy!

Crosa Rosa

SWMMRS

Barns Courtney

It was so great getting to listen to some fresh and upcoming artists, a few favourites of mine being Day Wave and The Sherlocks. Definitely check them out!

Thank you again to the Fed Perry team for such an amazing opportunity, it was such a great day. It definitely got me thinking about future aspirations in terms of working in events and music.

Thank you for reading,

- A

SUMMATIVE PROJECT #2 | THE BRAND LAUNCH

The past few weeks have been extremely busy preparing for our brand launch presentation.

 

Our final presentation for this academic year demonstrated how we had developed our 'Big Idea', initial launch platforms, advertisement and video for our fragrance brief.

As a group, we decided to go forward with our idea of a fragrance range focused upon pregnancy, targeting women aged 25-34 specifically.

We named this brand Elise Fragrance. You may ask why we chose this specific name, and this is because we knew that our name had to instantly embody our values as a brand. This is why we have chosen a woman's name, as we believe that it personifies our company, instilling confidence and trust within our consumers.

This brand, Elise, strives to provide the modern woman with a safe beauty range to use both during and after her pregnancy. Each product is formulated without phthalates and VOC's, chemicals which can be extremely harmful to both mother and child.

Elise Fragrance has classic visuals, however our approach to consumer choice could be considered 'edgy', niche or unique, as we value the woman as an individual, rather than just simply a 'pregnant woman', like other products currently on the market.

We have chosen our brand to sit on the 'masstige' market level. This is because after conducting various research, it is shown that women are willing to spend a vast amount of money during their pregnancy, with one in twenty new mums spending over £3,000 pounds on baby essentials in the first year.

After refining the concept it was time to shoot both the print advertisement and the video.

FINAL DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD ADVERTISEMENT

As a team, we felt that the shoot did not go as great as we would have hoped. However, we decided to stick it out and use the images taken for our final advertisement and video.

BEHIND THE SCENES

The feedback we received in response to our presentation I felt was valid, correct and greatly useful for the next stage of our brief.

If you would like to have a further look into the visual aspect of our brand Elise, check out our Instagram page here: https://www.instagram.com/elisefragrance/



I hope you have enjoyed reading about Elise Fragrance, gaining a further insight to the life of an FCP student!

- A

VISUALISING DATA

Presentation day is fast approaching, and it's almost time to reveal the fragrance brand we have been working on launching for weeks.

 

With this in mind, this Thursday we were issued with a lecture and a seminar focusing on visualising data, one of my favourite lectures and seminars to date!

 

When visualising this consumer data, Tim (our course leader and lecturer) suggested the following process:

 

1. Find inspiration

2. Test variables/components

3. Trial flexibility/multiples

4. Apply meaning/message

5. Consider make/manufacture

6. Create rough sketch/mockup

 

To put this process into practice we were asked to firstly focus on the consumer, and considering a brand, think of hypothetical archetypes of consumers who would buy into this particular brand.

 

CONSUMER PROFILE EXAMPLE - THE MALE ALLSAINTS CUSTOMER

 

1. 'The guy who gets dragged in by his girlfriend'

2. 'The guy who only buys branded goods'

3. 'The guy who appreciates All Saints design and innovation within their clothing'

 

After identifying these consumer archetypes, it's then time to put this process into practice. Keeping on theme, find inspiration and display these consumer archetypes in a unique and original take.

For example, when considering Gilette you may represent these consumer's as cacti or for Boden you may represent archetypes as individual flower seed packets.

 

Another task we were given, was to think in a similar way to this, but to think of how best brands themselves would be represented in abstract portraits.

 

Here are my examples of how these designers would be best presented as:

 

1. Paper

2. Fabric

3. Bouquet

 

BRAND PROFILE EXAMPLE - VIVIENNE WESTWOOD, ISSEY MIYAKE AND KATE SPADE

 

Vivienne Westwood -

 

1. As Paper - Torn and scrunched up, then reassembled into a Union Jack using stitching

2. As Fabric - Red velvet

3. As a Bouquet - Red roses (with thorns still attached)

 

Issey Miyake -

 

1. As Paper - Paper folded into Pleats

2. As Fabric - White polyester

3. As a Bouquet - White orchids

 

Kate Spade -

 

1. As Paper - Fuchsia pink card

2. As Fabric - Cotton in a novelty print

3. As a Bouquet - Fuchsia pink peonies

 

I thoroughly enjoyed using these ideas and putting them into place to create unique consumer profiles for our final brand presentation. And I can't wait to apply this process again to another project!

 

I hope you've enjoyed reading this post and gaining an insight into the life and work of a first year FCP student!

- A

SUMMATIVE PROJECT #2 | CREATIVE REFERENCES AND ANALYSIS

When analysing any advertisement, you must consider these three points as issued by our lecturer Tim:

 

1. CONCEPT - muse/inspiration, colour/tone, dress, personality, culture, sign/codes

2. CONSUMER/COMPETITION - brand context, price point/market, themes/narratives

3. BOTTLE/PACKAGING - inspiration, colour/tone, peer influence, sector influence

 

The example used to 'unpack' and analyse in the lecture was Galliano's first fragrance campaign.

An advertisement which hosted a vast amount of creative and historical references, such as the socialite and style icon Marchesa Casati, and the symbolic meaning of death through the use of lilies.

 

 

In this case, I have decided to analyse the CONCEPT element of the advertisement for the fragrance 'Gucci' by the designer (no surprise here..) Gucci.

 

THE CONCEPT?

 

 

The image created here by Gucci is clearly inspired by decade of the 70's.

 

The decade in which Gucci sprung to success and became a 'global giant' was the 1970's. This was after Jackie Onassis was photographed carrying the classic hobo bag, an iconic Gucci product.
Is it a coincidence that Gucci just happened to choose to base their campaign for their signature scent upon this particular era? I think not.

 

 
The satin/silky texture of the rich toned dress with a plunging neckline, complete with the Jerry Hall inspired side-swept blonde waved locks, screams 70's glamour.

 

 

The short film produced to accompany this fragrance features the song 'Heart of Glass' by the iconic band Blondie. Blondie's front woman, Debbie Harry, went on to gain style icon status for her wardrobe filled with vintage and thrift store steals.

 

The video certainly pays homage to Studio 54. The music, the carefree dance spirit of the three models featured, and the theatrical use of lighting, in particular, the use of the spotlight.

 

Similarly to the fragrance advertisement the video is produced also in a warm orange tinted hue. The colour orange was of great popularity in the 1970's. A tribute to 'simpler times' when clothing was visually digestible, as produced in vegetable-based dyes which subsequently led to clothes being composed of far muted colours, a contrast to the knock out chemical pigments used in clothing of the 60's.

 

Watch the short film that accompanies the campaign here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEgWVvjvglk

 I would have continued to analyse all three points of this advertisement and the concept aspect in further depth, however it would have made an extremely long post!

Hope you have enjoyed reading this post, gaining a further insight to the FCP course!

- A

ADVERTISEMENTS HAVE NEVER BEEN SO FUNNY

Today's seminar was one of my favourite yet.

 

The first task consisted of us looking into generating further potential ideas for our fragrance and pushing our current ideas even further.

 

The second task was so fun, and we found ourselves often laughing out loud, however the task held a deeper meaning. As groups we were asked to look at several fragrance ads, and use Snapchat to caption these images.

 

 

The role of this task was to have fun, whilst gaining an understanding of how poor and shallow many fragrance advertisement narratives truly are. And it sure worked!

 

Apologies for the poor quality of these images!

 

Thankyou for reading,

 

- A



FRAGRANCE WORKSHOP WITH KAREN GILBERT

Just yesterday we received our first lecture and workshop as FCP students from a guest lecturer, Karen Gilbert, an expert in the art of perfumery.

 

The hour lecture was jam packed with insightful and useful content about fragrance itself and the industry, which will be crucial, during the process of creating our own fragrance for this summative task.

 

The workshop followed immediately after.

 

 

During the first half an hour we were introduced to creating our own fragrance. We learnt about the different layers to fragrances (the heart notes, the accessory, the fixative and the harmoniser) and how to combine these layers in order to make a pleasant smelling fragrance.

 

We then began creating!

 

 

After experimenting several times, we formed our final fragrance.

 

The key ingredients included:

 

1. Natural Homme

2. Muguet

3. Narcotic

 

 

As we are still deciding upon our final idea within my group, we decided to experiment with this final fragrance, rather than create a perfume fitting with just one of our three ideas.

 

Overall I found the day fun and enjoyable, whilst being informative and extremely helpful with the rest of our brief over the next few months.

 

Hope you have enjoyed reading this post.

Check out Karen Gilbert here: http://www.karengilbert.co.uk/

 

- A

CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT

Just this past week it was announced that Caitlyn Jenner is launching a shade of lipstick with MAC, the cosmetics brand at the forefront of unexpected yet inspiring collaborations.

 

There are many reasons as to why collaborations between brands and celebrities are so popular, such as the increasing need to differentiate and to provide new and exciting content for social media.

 

However endorsements also have the potential to be a bad pairing and can therefore be detrimental to a brand's image.

 

Using Pinterest I've collected a number of examples of notable celebrity endorsements, and a number of endorsements that (in my opinion) really should be forgotten!

 

Here are two illustrations of endorsements within the fragrance sector of which I hold a contrasting opinion on/about.

 

CLEMENCE POESY FOR CHLOE

 

 

The perfect Parisian image. Poesy is the perfect casting for this graceful and delicate image.

 

GISELE BUNDCHEN FOR CHANEL

 

 

This advertisement and short film that was provided as an accompaniment proved to be popular. However (controversially) I am not a fan. I can understand why Chanel chose Bundchen as the woman to represent the iconic No5 fragrance, seeing as she was recently graced with being announced by Forbes as the highest paid model. To me this collaboration just doesn't sit quite right. I feel that Gisele (although beautiful!) does not fit with the usual 'classical beauty' that Chanel would usually choose, such as Audrey Tatou. Perhaps this was an intentional move by Chanel to shift into a new direction?

 

More posts surrounding my current fragrance project coming soon!

 

- A

SUMMATIVE PROJECT #2 | INITIAL FRAGRANCE RESEARCH

As university students we are now into our second term, and with a new term comes a new summative brief.

 

This summative brief will last the duration of the rest of this year, and is focused upon the creation of our own unique fragrance in teams.

 

 The brief is split into a total of four parts:

 

1. Context and Insight Presentation

2. Insight Comparison and Analysis Report

3. Brand Development and Launch

4. Extended Promotion Plan Report

 

 

As an introduction to our initial research of fragrance promotion, Tim (one of our lecturers) categorised four different reoccurring narratives found within fragrance advertising.

 

These are:

 

1. Sensuality and Indulgence

2. Trust and Honesty

3. Humour and Kitsch

4. Tradition and Heritage

 

When looking into each category in further depth, we were not only asked to 'unpack' each individual story, but also consider and identify visual contrast with competing advertisements.

 

Here are two advertisements I have begun to analyse, both under the narrative of 'Sensuality and Indulgence'.

 

NARRATIVE AND VISUAL CONTRAST -

 

Versace | Bright Crystal

 

 

Marc Jacobs | Decadence

  

 

Similarities -

MODEL - predictable casting (both high profile current supermodels), heavy dark eye makeup and nude lip

POSE - both females lying within a luxurious interior, both models gazing seductively into the lens of the camera, both holding the perfume bottles themselves

 

 OTHER ELEMENTS - perfume bottles and brand logo present within both advertisements, both images hold an element of playfulness with an edge of sophistication

 

Differences -

 

MODEL - blonde v brunette casting, angelic v 'sex kitten'

POSE - clutching the bottle in her hands as if it is a precious object v holding the bottle as an object to lure in her 'lover'

 
OTHER ELEMENTS - light v dark, angelic v raw/dirty, crisp v slight distortion, whole v partial, luxe v luxe with a grungy edge

I have not covered all the visual contrast points that I have analysed here, but hopefully from this it is clear that these advertisements both have distinct similarities and differences.

I shall be documenting the process of this fragrance project through a series of blog posts. So stay tuned for more posts coming very soon!

- A

'DESIGN IN A NUTSHELL'

One of the many tasks were given as part of our reading week, was to watch the six short episodes of the series 'Design in A Nutshell'.

 

Each individual episode was focused upon a different aspect of design throughout history.

 

1. Gothic Revival 

2. Arts and Crafts

3. Bauhaus

4. Modernism

5. American Industrial Design

6. Postmodernism

 

The episode that I found most interesting was episode six: 'Postmodernism'.

 

Postmodernism is a late 20th century movement. Postmodernists believe that the previous design movement, Modernism, was a failure. Postmodernists hold that we need as many references as possible to make our own subjective conclusion, rather than simply one. There is a emphasis upon creative expression, rather than just designing for a functional purpose.

However many criticise Postmodernism for:

1. The unnecessary need for decoration and ornamentation.
2. The tendency to recycle the past to make something new.
3. Inappropriate and pointless ideas, with little to no functionality.

Here are some examples of Postmodernism today:

ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY

Often tongue in cheek, covering a range of styles in art from throughout history.

1. CINDY SHERMAN

'Untitled Film Still #30'

'Untitled Film Still #40'

2. BANKSY

'Mobile Lovers'

'Slave Labour'

3. JEFF KOONS

'Balloon Dogs'

'Puppy'

ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN

1. PORTLAND BUILDING (By Michael Groves - 1982)

2. PROUST CHAIR (By Alessandro Mendini - 1978)

3. PIAZZA D'ITALIA (By Charles Moore - 1978)

ICONS

1. LADY GAGA

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the six episodes of 'Design in A Nutshell'. It's surprisingly how much you can learn in just two minutes!

Watch 'Design in A Nutshell' here:
http://www.open.edu/openlearn/science-maths-technology/engineering-and-technology/design-and-innovation/design/design-nutshell

Thankyou for reading!

- A

SUMMATIVE PROJECT #1 | SKETCHBOOK

Alongside our final report, it was also advised that we produce a sketchbook to document and outline further our ideas and research.

 

The sketchbook I have produced is extremely simple, only displaying images I have found through secondary research, and my own brief annotations. However I thought I should share it on here none the less.

 



- A