Fashionista Baby!

This year I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to work on two fashion projects for two students' Final Major Project (FMP). Both projects were very different and I chose to take part in both of them as I liked the concept behind them.

Personally I feel it's important to take on projects which are 'outside university' as I find they help me to relax and not think about grade behind what I'm producing- completely focusing on the project. I also think that choosing projects from an area which you have little knowledge of helps to develop as a designer and self-educate.

The first project I collaborated with was 'Down-time in Birmingham', a lifestyle store where everything in it is on sale- from the sofa you’re sitting on to the coffee you’re drinking on that sofa, it’s all for sale! I thought this was a really interesting concept, something different and a fresh idea.

For initial ideas I began to think about signs and symbols related to 'travel' and 'destination' such as compasses and location icons. As well as this I also looked at the idea of the store being local and so researched iconic imagery of Birmingham such as the Bullring's Bull. The store's strapline was also 'A destination for conversation' and so thought bubbles and speech was considered too.

After feedback, adjustments and developments the store's brand identity was finally created...

The second project I worked on was 'Cara'. A new plastic surgery app which helped advise and support those considering, or who had already, had surgery. This was a completely alien area I knew nothing about but soon learnt a lot!

Cara is aimed at women and pastel colours were asked to be used within the branding. The brief also stated that the app design was to be very clean- sans serif fonts, thin, rigid lines etc. As for the brands tone of voice it wanted to be serious yet friendly.

In the end, this was the brand identity we came up with...

One suggestion I made was to make the advertisements more interactive so created this mock up (below) of how it could be placed to engage the audience. These mirror advertisements could be in women's toilets or even shop windows...

All in all I enjoyed working on these projects and am so happy that both Heather (Down-time in Birmingham) and Mihaila (Cara) were happy with the result! I wish them both good luck with their future careers and maybe we will be working together again in the future. You never know...