GAP

I have been designing some t-shirt designs for the GAPxME competition Gap are current running. below is the full brief along with my entries and manifestos for the designs. 

The 'My Dressing Room' design was inspired by my earliest memories of going in to a gap store, coming home and dancing around my bedroom in my new jeans. This design's aesthetics and the choice of jean cut reflect those of the 60's era in which the first GAP was opened on Ocean Avenue, combining the two items first available in the store; Jeans and LP's. The design aims to communicate the sense of comfort people experience after finding a pair of jeans that truly fit their body, using the bedroom setting as a dressing room to reflect the similarities between the comfort of being in your bedroom and the comfort of a really good pair of jeans.

We're also asking you to define the rationale behind your design and write a manifesto to define your submission. Who are you speaking to? What does your design mean to you? How did you come up with your ideas?

Since 1969 Gap has people with stylish, comfortable and affordable fashion. To me, Gap is THE classic brand, and that's what this design aims to communicate. Through the use of a classic colour pallet made up of red, blue, green and yellow, the design aims to show the origins of the Gap brand; jeans, LPs and the palm trees of San Francisco, in a style which is appropriate for many generations of Gap customers.

The Timeless Wardrobe design was inspired by the history of GAP's fashion throughout the past 50 years, showing all the pieces together, in one wardrobe, reflecting on the quality and durability of GAP clothing. The design features illustrations of jeans and LPs, the first items to be sold in the 69' store, black turtlenecks which were featured in the 89' 'individuals of style' ad campaign, the popular khaki pants of the late 90's, shrunken jackets from the 2004 "How Do You Wear It?" campaign and pieces from today. The use of style trends throughout the past 50 years within the design allows the opportunity for many generations to resonate with the design, due to the nostalgic use of GAP's history.

To me, Gap means comfort. The kind of clothes you and your friends wear when you're having fun. Gap clothing has continued to roll with the times and the changes within fashion and society, the design uses a photo album style to communicate the idea of a young person today looking through photos from when their older relatives were young, wearing Gap clothing throughout the past 50 years, such as the popular Khaki pants of the late 90s and the jeans which first started the Gap we know today. The design is appropriate for a range of generations, utilising the imagery used on the exterior of the first Gap store on Ocean Avenue and fashion trends throughout various decades creates a sense of nostalgia, contrasted with the feature of current technology and social media to show the ways in which young people today share images of their clothing and good times.

The 'My Dressing Room' design was inspired by my earliest memories of going in to a gap store, coming home and dancing around my bedroom in my new jeans. This design's aesthetics and the choice of jean cut reflect those of the 60's era in which the first GAP was opened on Ocean Avenue, combining the two items first available in the store; Jeans and LP's. The design aims to communicate the sense of comfort people experience after finding a pair of jeans that truly fit their body, using the bedroom setting as a dressing room to reflect the similarities between the comfort of being in your bedroom and the comfort of a really good pair of jeans.

finished website

After receiving the final shots from the photographer i did i slight re design of the website to make it more clean, reducing the colour so the vibrancy of the tees could be shown.

When you first go on to the website www.theprawnshop.bigcartel.com you'll see one of the featured designs on the homepage, in bright vibrant colours before seeing the actual products. I chose to greet the customers with a welcome page so they can get a feel for the creativity of the t-shirts before actually seeing them.

After they click on the shop now button, the website and all of the different clothing The Prawn Shop has to offer can be seen together, or alternative by category e.g jumpers and tees.

The new images have had an impact on sales already, i believe the high quality resolution allows the designs to be captured in a lot more detail and makes them look like more quality products than how they were previously photographed; in my bedroom.
I'm really looking forward to the future of The Prawn Shop and seeing how far i can push the brand.

Employing a photographer for The Prawn Shop

Due to the growing sales and online attention my clothing brand The Prawn Shop is receiving i contacted a photographer i know and explained how i would like to have some more professional photos taken for my website and promotional material rather than the images i currently use where the clothing has been photographed on a wall in my bedroom. Not very professional but still attracting customers. 

Earlier this month i set up a meeting with the photographer, we discussed my ideas for the shoot such as the lighting, the props and how many models i would be using. I thought it would be appropriate to have one model per t-shirt/jumper the design; to promote the brands ethos of body acceptance, equality and diversity. There are 16 designs on the Prawn Shop website and so i created posters and hung them around the university asking for volunteers to model, many people replied and after sorting through the applicants i recruited 16 people to model. 

Opposite is the contact i provided for the photographer. 

Studio A in the photography department was booked out by the photographer for two studio sessions, the first taking place onTuesday the 28th and the second taking place on Monday the 4th of December. 

In preparation for the shoot i spent two days painting a backdrop, the backdrop is a light pink bed sheet which i painted imagery similar to the images on the clothing on to with red acrylic. 

On the day of the shoot more props were collected; a large plant taken from the photography studio and a flat chair type cushion for the backdrop to be laid upon for the models to be sat on and a dark red bean bag. 

Both shoots went really well, it was interesting to see how important very aspect of the shoot is, such as the lighting; using red gels over the lights to give a pink hue, making sure the props are positioned the same in each shot and having continuity within each models individual shoot; we ensured this by looking back at the images and trying to have each model do similar poses. 

The models all came with different clothing for me to style; to ensure i was projecting the right look alongside the clothing i designed. 

I am currently waiting on receiving back the shots from the photographer, he is going to select the best shots from each models shoot; ensuring that there are at least 5 images per design as specified within the brief. 

I'm really excited to see the finished shots, the website is going really going to push the brand i believe and make it in to a more professional clothing brand rather than just a small business one. 

After i get the shots back i am going to make look-books which i will then send out to magazines and clothing labels which i like in the hope that i perhaps get a response or even a work opportunities. 

Manifesto

From my exploration in to my own personal aims as a designer over summer, I want to take this year as an opportunity to really see how far I could go in terms of combining graphic design and fashion. 

To improve I’d like to discover how to get my brand out there more, I feel as if I’m relying on social media for sales and customers, and although there’s nothing wrong with this and they’ve got my brand known to the point where I walk around Leeds and I see people wearing my t-shirts, I want to see if there’s another way, a more professional and more collaborative way of showcasing my brand.

SUMMER

During my time away from university over summer, i developed my own clothing brand The Prawn Shop. 

Last years PPP module got me thinking about what career i would ideally like to go in to, during a presentation i presented to the course i expressed my interest in clothing and clothing design and it being something i would like to look more in to. 

With almost 3 months to my self i decided to turn my designs in to t-shirts and so www.theprawnshop.bigcartel.com was born. 

I sought out samples from various t-shirt printing manufacturers i found online, after 4 disappointing iron on type printing methods, i found Martin (or at least that's what he told me to call him) a seller on ebay.
I developed a working relationship with martin, who's based in London, over summer, discussing the printers he used, which colours would work best on which fabrics and over a few weeks, brought out my first two t-shirts on the 20th of June.
I posted the two designs on social media (twitter, instagram and facebook), my first tweet about the shop, which included images of the two tees currently available and a link to the shop has been viewed over 66,000 times in the 112 days The Prawn Shop has been live.

In the first day of sales i sold 33 t-shirts in 7 hours. From this came a following to the brands instagram account which now has over two thousand followers, along with this i developed loyal customers, some of whom have bought every t-shirt available on the website.

I'd tried to set up a brand similar to this last year however i got few sales, the problem i've identified with past ventures is the lack of focus within the designs. I researched my intended target audience of 16-25 year olds and developed a series of t-shirts with designs focusing on issues that matter to me and evidently issues that matter to other people.

The designs available on the prawn shop focus around sexism, misogyny, body confidence, sexuality and equality.

the first two Prawn Shop designs.

As the bands following increased there was what i felt to be a demand for more designs available, so with the rest of my summer i developed 9 new designs in a range of options including coloured t-shirts, jumpers, sweatshirts and more recently (using the printing facilities at university) prints!

By creating my own clothing brand in just over 2 months, i've sold over 400 products.
This summer has informed my career direction for the future, i know that fashion is something that i would love to pursue, in a way that combines social issues and design all in one, and from the way things are going, i don't see any reason why i can't achieve this.

Below are more examples of the designs available at the prawn shop, along with customer photos, including customers from the U.K, Berlin, Australia, Greece, USA, Spain, Poland and Germany. 

Girls Club Zine

The summer of 2016 i submitted a piece for a small publication called 'Girls Club' a zine celebrating and publishing art and designs by female creatives across the country. 

Yesterday i received an email saying how my design is going to be included in the 4th issue, available April 4th.

I'm really pleased about having some exposure of my work, I've also worked in collaboration with a journalist student in Manchester to create a zine focused around young emerging designers and artists. 

During this summer when i have time away from college i'm going to create and sell a zine of my own. 

Not only could this have the possibility of gaining exposure to my work but it will also act as a demonstration of my work at this current time, which i feel will be beneficial to the growth of my designs; being able to reflect on previous skills and approaches. 

Reflective Evalution

PPP has really engaged me throughout the course, it's provided me with time dedicated to thinking about what i want out of my life, acting as a point to gain inspiration and motivation. 

If i could change how i went about engaging with ppp it would be to take a risk, and use my time to find out about new methods and new designers who i enjoy so that i'm able to develop my work, but having said that i feel like ppp has made me confident with my current style, and has now engaged me and informed me to step it up and essentially create exciting work that is progressing from my current style, not changing. 

That's something I've learnt, that trying new methods of producing work is not creating a whole new style, rather it's developing your current style in to one which is evidently mine, but with an innovative, advanced touch to it.