Who Cares

So after talking with my capstone advisor and my capstone class, I've decided to not worry too much about Sara's suggestions. She has a great point and that would be where the money is if I wanted to launch the store (which would be nearly impossible in today's economy). But I'm a designer, not a marketer. So I'm going to stick with my age group and come up with a new name and concept for my store. I want this project to be something I enjoy. It will still showcase my talents regardless of who it targets or if there is something incredibly unique about it. And in the world today, it's going to be impossible to make a store completely unique. There are so many out there that cover all the basis. So I'm just going to do what I do best...design. I don't want to get to much further behind.

Critique with Sara

So I just had a critique with Sara, my graphic design professor, and she touched on some very good points. I've been hung up on this name issue for a couple weeks now, but the real concern is not with the name as it is with the concept and identity of the store. What makes this store different from any other store. Sara encouraged me to look into the stores that inspire me and dig to find what about them is lacking that my store can make up for. With that going for me I can defend my store and say that it is different and unique from say Free People and Anthropology.

She also suggested targeting an overlooked audience. Often women that are in their 40s and 50s struggle with shopping for clothes. They either look too grandma and don't fit right (oversized), or they look too young and fit too tight. I agree with Sara that this is an issue that can be addressed, but I don't know how comfortable I am with changing my target audience to something I don't relate too. It makes me incredibly nervous and makes me feel like my capstone will not be what I want it to be. I wanted to go with the more fun and free design and I'm scared to get into the older age group because it will make my design look more sophisticated and reserved. Then again, it would be a change from all my portfolio pieces from my summer internship, showing that I have flexibility.

So it looks like I have a challenge ahead of me. Do I target an audience that needs a clothing store just for them and addresses all their needs? Or do I stick with the audience I have and search for what the million other stores targeting that audience lack? We as designers solve problems and I know I could be hugely commended for doing either. And sometimes we as designers have to do things we don't want to do. So is that this situation for me? It is my capstone and I do have free reign to do what I want. But I want it to be a portfolio piece that really speaks to who I am as a designer.

Freewrite

So I've been redirecting my attention lately to other things I need to do besides my capstone: classwork, job searching, portfolio stuff, freelance work...life in general. Things haven't been the easiest so I've just been keeping busy and brushing this under the rug. To get the ball rolling, I'm planning on speaking with my professor for ideas. I'm also going to just write...words that reflect the idea behind my project:


Free, passion, unconstrained, liberated, impression, mark, sophisticated, fresh, easy, intriguing, layers, remarkable, creative, inspire, strong, independent, choice, expression, daisies, high class, chocolate, obsession, fashion, curves, individuality, maturity, determination, dedication, drive, energy, vitality

avidity
1) Ardent desire or craving; eagerness.
2) Keen interest or enthusiasm: followed the tournament with avidity.

affinity
1) liking or inclination toward something


I'm liking the last two words with definitions. Avidity is not used as a name of a clothing store. And Affinity is only used as the name of a store that sells bikes in NY. It's just a matter of coming up with a concept that fits them if they work. I'm not sure they necessarily fit my idea of the strong, independent woman. What do you think? I like the ideas of independence and vitality. In fact I really like the words vitality and enliven. So if anyone has any brilliant store name ideas that reflect a strong independent woman comment PLEASE!!!

Anti Mark

So today in capstone we had a guest that reviewed our work and gave us suggestions. It was nice to have someone there to help out on the design end of things, but she completely ripped my project a new one. I mean I'm sure that wasn't her intention or anything but she informed of this:

Mark. by Avon

Yea...they sell clothes too. Damn Avon! Stealing my thunder. They even have the same color palette as I do. So I guess it's back to the drawing board. I'm still drawing on the same inspiration, but need to come up with a new word to represent my store. I don't know!!!!! It's just a little frustrating!! So if anyone gets a brilliant idea for a store name so I can actually get this project underway, please let me know...oh and make sure it doesn't exist first.

Tags and Labels

So I found some resources today for clothing tags and jewelry tags. I'm starting to notice that all the manufacturers for jewelry and clothing tags are oversees!!! hahaha...Gonna have to figure something out.

https://sterlingtape.securesites.com/printed.html ---> for tags sewn into clothes

http://www.kassoy.com/ec/1/section.asp?idDept=429

http://www.dexiangsourcing.com/1/3/Demo_einfo.asp ---> kind of sketch. not sure about the company. haha!

Then I looked into some patterns and clothes for my store. I think I really need to establish this now.

Patterns:

http://www.kwiksew.com/catalog/cat_detail.cfm?

pid=3415&Cat=Misses&Level=Dresses&QL=MissDress

http://www.kwiksew.com/catalog/cat_detail.cfm?pid=3603&C

at=Misses&

Level=Tops&QL=MissTopBlouse

http://www.kwiksew.com/catalog/cat_detail.cfm?pid=3727&Cat=Misses&Level=Skirts,_Tops&QL=MissSkirtTops

http://www.kwiksew.com/catalog/cat_detail.cfm?pid=3744&Cat=Misses&Level=Skirts,_Tops&QL=MissSkirtTops

http://www.kwiksew.com/catalog/cat_

detail.cfm?pid=3242&Cat=Misses&Level=Skirts,_Tops&QL=MissSkirtTops

http://www.butterick.com/item/B5409.htm?tab=list/whats_n

ew&page=all

http://www.butterick.com/item/B5243.htm?tab=list/dresses&page=all

http://www.butterick.com/item/B5206.htm?tab=list/dresses&page=all

And how about I just make this my store: http://www.freepeople.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/category.content/categoryID/3af89045-70d2-4425-960c-b42f6309778a/trunkCategoryID/3af89045-70d2-4425-960c-b42f6309778a/

Here's pics from it! I love it!

Kick in the butt

So I feel like it's taken me forever to get off my butt and get something done with this project. Like, I should be halfway done with it right?! Of course I'm not really even started I feel like. But I've found some energy lately that has kicked me in the butt to get stuff done. I'm actually caught up in my classes now thanks to this energy and have some spare time! Me have spare time?! What?! I'm excited to have the weekend off from work and feel like I'll get a lot accomplished. Just trying to keep myself busy right now.

So here's my logo that I started working on...it's still a work in progress of course.

I've made a few changes to it since the class critique, but not a lot. I think I'm going to explore other font options too. I can't just settle for the first one I picked (although I love it!).

ReMARKable

As a senior Graphic Design major at Marietta College, our final project is our senior capstone project. We all get to choose our own subject in an area that we enjoy and just jump head first into a ginormous project.

For my project, it was hard to decide what I wanted to do because there were so many areas I'm interested in. First, I wanted to explore more of a music promotion idea, but after my internship in Colorado this summer with Gigbot and Dayjob, Inc, I decided that I should do something a little different to boost my portfolio. So the next thing I know most about is...well...retail. I've been working in retail for 4 years now and am a Part-time Manager at Charlotte Russe. Working in retail, there are a lot of things that come up that aggravate you, especially when corporate decides to change the logo and it looks awful! So I'm making my own boutique...Mark!

Mark will be a boutique designed to encourage women to make there own mark on fashion. Everyone strives to be remarkable, especially women. So this store will give them the opportunity to look remarkable and make a statement!

Come with me on my journey in developing my boutique, and see where it ends up.