Evaluation

Overall, I've really enjoyed this project. I love the concept of creating a whole new idea from scratch, building it up and promoting it. At the start of the project I was a bit worried my idea wasn't strong enough to carry through an entire promotional campaign, but the more I researched into it and realised how much I wanted the app to be a reality, I knew I could take the concept the whole way.

Looking back, I'm glad I received the feedback about changing the app's appearance as it didn't look realistic or professional originally. Now it looks as if its a real app and I'm really proud of it. I prefer the look of the app to some of the promotion. Creating the promotion was something I didn't enjoy as much as the app. Some areas e.g. the promotional magazine, social media and the website I enjoyed doing, but not the flyer or adshel. I think this is because Company don't use this form of promotion therefore it was difficult to gauge how they would approach this. Also, it was difficult to draw inspiration for some of the adverts from the magazine content. I used the magazine for inspiration rather than the brand extensions as it will be Company advertising the app.

My dissertation was another high/low point for me in terms of enjoyment of the project. On the one hand I really enjoyed talking about the app and explaining how it would work and all its promotion as I felt it was easy given that I knew all the ins and outs of it. However, the design and layout of the dissertation I wasn't pleased with, as I was advised not to design it like the magazine even though that's what I wanted to do. I've since used the dissertation layout in my portfolio and think it suits that type of content rather than my written piece.

Ultimately, I think the whole campaign went well, and I've developed my skills and myself further. I feel confident in undertaking promotional tasks, creating campaign and media plans and I've learnt a lot about the world of promotion and marketing. I really hope to one day see my app become a reality as I believe there is definitely a gap in the market for such a thing.

Company Editor Feedback

I contacted Company magazine to tell them about my idea and gather feedback and the editor of Company magazine replied with this response, which quite frankly is incredible that she would even look at my work let alone like it. It's a complete honor and makes me feel really proud of my work knowing that they have thought up an idea like this before.

Week 17

This is my final week.
The magazine ended up looking really good and professional; I got it perfect bound to look exactly like a magazine. These will be going on my stand along with the flyers, app visuals and business cards.  At the end of last week I began my portfolio which is being designed in the same way as my dissertation. Making it look creative is proving to be difficult given that I don't want to overcrowd my promotional pages and detract attention away from the content. I think by adding the promotion into vectors and playing around with layout and colour schemes will make it look more appealing.

Portfolio Feedback

After speaking to my tutor, he gave me some advice on how to make my portfolio better.

• To take a lot of influence from the High Street Edit magazine.
• Add text to some of the promotion boards to explain what some things are better.
• Make title pages more visual e.g. add silhouettes of devices
• Different colours for different pages.

I''ve taken this on board with the development of my portfolio to make it look better.

Business Cards

I want to create new business cards for my stand, but I'm torn between the idea of creating them so they link with the rest of project or doing them personally for me. After trying to find some inspiration ideas, I've settled on these designs as my favourite. I don't think I will be designing them to match the app but rather to suit me, however, I may take elements from my project e.g. the colour palette.

I really like the soft pastel brush stroke one (bottom) as it's really simple and pretty to look at. Plus this could use the colour scheme I've created. I also really like the scrabble one as it stands out and is a bit different. However, the design I think I'm going to go for is the text based one. Here I can have my name stand out and the rest of the text be applicable to me, e.g. 'fashion' 'styling' 'journalism' etc. As I don't yet have a title, this will be a quick way of showing all my skills off whilst also looking unique. I can also use my colour palette within this design.

Interactive Magazine Content

When the app is launched, the magazine will become fully interactive. This won't effect how it looks or its design, not will it matter if users don't have access to the app. Simply, app users will be able to scan the magazine and add items from the pages into their wishlists and inspiration feeds. This concept cleverly combines the app with the magazine linking the brand extensions. 

Portfolio

The last part of my final campaign is creating my portfolio and tying together all my work. This is to be presented in a creative manner and contain all the main parts of the campaign. Within my portfolio I am going to have

• Introduction (from the dissertation)
• 2X Research boards (these will include where the idea came from, facts from my research, why the app is relevant and needed, and information about the app, Company magazine and the customer.)
• 2X Development boards (these will include my original app and logo designs, the development of features and where the designs/layouts/assets came from)
• Assets page
• The app 
• All forms of promotion, even those on my final board and stand

I've considered laying out the portfolio in a similar fashion to the Company High Street Edit magazine, but I've decided against that as I want to maintain continuity within all my work so I am going to present it in the same style as my dissertation, i.e. like the image below with the relevant fonts and the borders. 

New Flyer

I've redesigned my original flyers as I wasn't best pleased with them. I've designed these based on a Company advert in one of their magazines. I really like how my adshel and magazine advert looks but I don't want everything to look the same so I've tried to make things look a bit different. These flyers are designed with Company in mind rather than how the app is designed to appeal to Company consumers. These will be handed out at events, given in goody bags and given in with Missguided orders.

Week 16

Laying out my magazine is taking a lot longer than I first thought, so I haven't managed to complete the whole thing yet. However, I don't feel stressed as I know it won't take me much longer; it is the gathering of images that is time consuming. I'm still trying to think up a new design for my flyer also that is different to the adshel and magazine advert. I also aim to plan out the content of my portfolio and begin the creation of it towards the middle of the week. I don't think the making of it should take too long as I have all the content it's simply a case of laying it all out.

One Item- Four Ways

Originally, this part of the magazine was going to be a photoshoot, the same style as the images I took for the app. However, I realised for the magazine it wouldn't look as good or professional if the images of the clothes were taken in this style. Therefore, instead I saved the images from the website. This way looks a lot better than if the clothing had been photographed myself. It worked for the app, as that gave a more realistic view of how it worked.

Promotional Magazine Pages

 

The following are some screen shots from some of the pages of the promotional magazine. Instead of using the classic Company layout, I've taken influence from the Company High Street Edit magazine so consumers can differentiate that the Stylist Edit app and promotional magazine are extensions of the Company brand. Plus this style is also the same theme as the app therefore it co-ordinates.  I'm keeping all the pages fairly simple, with all white backgrounds so everything is easier to read, plus looks more sophisticated to not alientate older audiences (this magazine is being sent out with all Missguided orders). I'm really pleased with how it's looking so far, I want the fashion pages to illustrate how the app works which I think it will once I've added the text.

Company High Street Edit

 

For my promotional magazine, I will be laying it out in the same style as Company's HIgh Street Edit to maintain continuity with their brand extensions as well as the design of the app. All the pages will be white and plain, however, they will be filled with images making them seem a lot more colourful. In addition, only a few pages will have a lot of text on them, the rest will be more visually stimulating!

VM & Display Show

On Tuesday I went to the VM & Display show in London that housed all things to do with display ranging from technology to stands. It was here that I found out about a camera system that takes an image of something (predominantly clothing) and takes the picture with different background options. It has been created to show clothing for mannequins so the background can be removed from the clothing. This technology would be perfect for my Stylist Edit app so that backgrounds can be removed immediately from around the clothing. It's just a shame the exhibition was after the dissertation. Their website is www.styleshoots.com.

Week 15

This week I will have my final board completely created and sent off to be printed, which is a daunting thought. I've spent the day sorting out the arrangement of the board and the contents that's going on it. Once that's done I can concentrate on creating the promotional magazine as I want that finished by the following Monday in order to get that printed. In addition, I also want to make changes to my flyers as I am not pleased with how they look. Both the flyers and the magazine will be going on my stand therefore I want them to look their best.

Board Arrangement

After showing Paz my initial board design (see above), he highlighted that A2 is a really large size and probably too big for my board. He made the point also that having all my app screens on the board may look overcrowded, plus if they were all in iPad frames it would look over saturated with hardware opposed to my software. He made the suggestion that instead I just have the main screens on the board with the middle screen in an iPad to highlight the app. I have taken this suggestion on board. In addition, he also pointed out that A2 would be too big for social media and it may look odd all crowded in one corner, here he said it would look neater and easier to read if everything was in lines, therefore I have changed my layout slightly. All my promotion now sits in lines and I have got rid of my adhsel as there wasn't enough room. I wasn't too keen on my adshel being on the board anyway.  I am pleased with the layout of my new board, I just need to go through and add titles and rasterize everything.

Week 14 Update

I have finished all the promotion needed for my final board which I am pleased about. There wasn't that much to do all in all, but everything is ready now to be placed. Some forms of promotion need to be added to a web page vector, however, these don't seem to be that easy to edit so I need my tutors help with that. Also, I want to ensure my layout design and the content for the board is correct before I get it ready for hand in on Thursday. This will be checked over with my tutor in the morning.

Magazine Advert #2

I've made a new magazine advert as I wasn't completely happy with the previous one. Although I based it around a similar advert in Company magazine it didn't look that appealing or eye catching, so I much prefer this new one. It was inspired by the adshel adverts as I think they look sleek and sophisticated plus offer a snippet of information about the app without bombarding the consumer. Now it's been placed in a magazine template it looks more realistic. This is the advert I am going to use on my final board, plus it's also one that would be used in other magazines such as Elle and Company.

Mail-Out

There will be two different types of mail out promotions available. Firstly, there will be the standard newsletter that's sent out twice a week featuring new things on their website and in the magazine and secondly there will be a postcard email simply advertising one thing. The mail out I am going to use on my final board will be the postcard email as that is just focused on the promotion of the app. The postcard email here simply gives a quick overview of the app and leads consumers to the web article explaining more should they click on the postcard. It's been designed to be simple and not have too much information on it so that consumers spend time reading the email.

In addition, I have drawn out the Outlook webpage to present the mail outs in to make them look more professional, plus to easily distinguish what they are. 

Adshel

I've made two different adshel designs although they are not too dissimilar, the only difference being that one has a QR code on. I prefer the non- code design however, I wanted the QR code present so that consumers could access the app straight away. These adhsels will be placed in train stations in major cities to catch the attention of busy commuters and savvy fashionistas. I didn't want there to be too much information about the app on the adverts as that would detract attention from it as it looks too busy, plus I wanted to gauge consumer interest and get people wondering about the app. The advert without a QR code will be put along the escalators in London undergrounds as here consumers don't have time to scan a QR code but it still makes people aware of the app. 

Final Stand Layout Ideas

In order to lay out my final stand, I needed to try out some different designs. All promotion has to be put onto different sized paper templates then the templates added to the stand design. Above I have tried out some different layouts with different paper sizes, but it's quite difficult to experiment with different looks as my app is the main part of the stand and needs to go at the top quite largely. I'm going to lay out my board using the first design as I think this lays everything out neatly and in order of important and main promotion. I feel the other designs look a bit more messy in terms of the app being presented. I need to consult with my tutor also that the layout is fine and that everything on my board is needed, plus make sure I don't miss anything out, then I can go ahead and add my promotion to the final stand.

Hard copy promotion such as the promotional magazine and flyers will be printed out and put on the table with the final board therefore they aren't necessary on the final stand.

Week 13 & 14 Timelog

WEEK 13

I spent the first week of the Easter holidays taking a well earned rest and relaxing. I did, however, make a to-do list comprising of everything that is yet to be finished.

WEEK 14

This week I aim to complete my the final forms of promotion, initially those that need to be put on my final board. These are my mail-out newsletter and adshels. I am also tempted to go over my leaflets and magazine adverts, as I don't know if I am completely happy with them. The promotional magazine I am creating doesn't need to be completed until the 15th May, so for this week I am going to concentrate on finishing the other forms of promotion, but also continually planning out the magazine. All promotion needs to be done on Illustrator etc and I don't have that on my laptop, so when I am not at the library I can be carrying on with magazine content.

Week 12

My dissertation is finished and currently in the process of being printed and bound. I have chosen a 'perfect bind' binding technique as this looks the most realistic to a magazine, plus I didn't feel the other options suited my brand or layout. The other options included spiral bound binding and book binding, neither of which were appropriate to me.

Regarding the design layout of my dissertation, I am not 100% happy with it. Originally I wanted to present my dissertation in the style of Company magazine as this naturally suits the brand and my entire campaign. However, I was steered away from this idea as I have used the Company layout for previous projects as it is something I like and find really fun to use in terms of layouts. Instead I was advised to think of a more professional and sophisticated approach but take elements from Company i.e. the fonts and colours. Therefore I based my design around the H&M magazine found here.  I adapted the layout with use of colours and fonts used by Company but overall I am not as pleased with it as I would of been if I had laid it out like a magazine, however, I understand that this is what I have done for previous projects therefore I should do something different.

I am incredibly pleased with the writing side of my report and feel I have explained every detail of the app accordingly. I am also proud of my promotional content, although there is more to be produced I am pleased with what's gone in the dissertation.

This week I am going to take a break and relax after a few stressful weeks. Towards the end of the week I am going to begin planning what needs to go on the final board as well as what other promotion needs completing for the portfolio.

Week 11 Update

On Thursday I proof read and completely finished the entirety of my dissertation writing, and this morning I completed all aspects of promotional content being featured within the dissertation print. I am feeling confident of my personal deadline as alls I need to do is simply draw up the layout for my design and add in the text and images. I know I will have enough time to keep checking through my work and my design to ensure it is perfect and up to a high standard before going off to print and after it has been printed, also leaving myself time to make amendments should there be mistakes.

Customer Profile Boards

These are my final customer profile boards that link up with the layout of my dissertation. They visually represent each customer, plus I have tried to colour code them to keep in with the design inspiration. I have included all the main information I used in the planning of my customer profiles here within the picture versions.

Company Website

As well as creating the Stylist Edit app's own website, I also created advertising content for the Company magazine website. Firstly, I added a tab across the top bar that now features 'Stylist Edit' redirecting consumers to the Stylist Edit website should they click on it. In the first two months of promotion there will be adverts and links on the homepage that either send consumers to the Stylist Edit website or to the article on the Company website promoting and explaining the app. I drew the website out myself retaining features from the website and using my Instagram feed I had created for social media.

Stylist Edit Website

The following images are of the completed Stylist Edit website. The website will be a separate website from the original Company website and will feature a series of tabs that offer different functions, mainly those of that the app provides.

The website tabs are thus:

• Home
• Style File
• Wardrobe
• Outfit Library
• Inspiration
• Wishlist 
• Chat

The Home tab explains the app in detail from how it works to how to get the best from it. The Style File is the user's profile where they can edit it and upload their profile picture. The Wardrobe and Outfit Library is synced with the app and has the same information on both, however consumers cannot upload to their wardrobes nor can they have outfit suggestions generated as that takes away the exclusivity of the app. The Inspiration tab acts as a Tumblr/Pinterest page whereby users can use freely just as they can on the app. In addition, the Wishlist tab can also be uploaded to. The Chat tab provides how to videos, a live messenger service and styling Q&A videos that are created once a month.

The website is laid out in a similar fashion to Company magazine but also a cross with fashion shop's layouts. The Company website is too busy and full for the information Stylist Edit website is providing and websites such as Topshop are more simple and easier to navigate. The website retains the same colour scheme and fonts of the app to retain continuity.

Magazine Adverts/Content

Magazine content is a big form of promotion regarding the advertising of the app. Here I have created the editor's letter page which currently has adverts on it promoting their Weekly Edit app, also within the editor's letter I have talked about the app. This page will go in the January issue of Company magazine so readers are aware of the app when they first start reading the magazine. I have also created an advert for the magazine based around their current Weekly Edit app advert that briefly explains the apps features. Moreover, an article page has been created that explains to readers the ins and outs of the app written in a Company style as well as persuading the consumers to go and download the app. All content has been drawn out.

Week 11

This week I aim to complete the dissertation writing, complete the aspects of my promotion for the dissertation and begin the layout. The new deadline is to get it all completed by the end of the weekend giving me four days to print and make sure it is perfect before hand in. Ideally I would of liked to of been in this position last week but in all honestly my time management got way-laid slightly given that it was my birthday. Up until then I feel pleased with my weekly progression and time management skills.

I am on track with the completion of my writing with very little left to do, in addition, I also have little promotional  content for the dissertation yet to complete, so the only area that will take up a lot of my time will be the layout of the writing, however I feel comfortable that I know what I am doing for this.

Week 10 update

My aim of finishing the writing side of my dissertation as well as the promotion and layout did not come to fruition. Instead I still have a lot more to complete therefore it seems unlikely I will be sending if off to print early next week. However, after researching into the ways my dissertation can be printed i.e. on Bob's books and blurb, I want to get my copy printed in a different manner that doesn't necessarily require 10 days to be printed and returned to me. Thus I feel a lot less stressed about the situation and know I can spend a lot more time and consideration over layout and finishing promotional aspects instead of rushing it to achieve a deadline.

Social Media Promotion

I had a lot of fun creating the social media promotion of the Stylist Edit app, although it was difficult to think of different adverts for each different platform. The Facebook page will be the main source of promotion as they have the most outreach visually via this method. In addition, they have the most followers on Facebook hence a bigger reach to different audiences. I drew out all aspects of the Facebook and Twitter Page but simply used a pre made vector for the Instagram feed and added my images into them. I took inspiration for all the posts and captions from Company's current feeds to maintain their style of writing and keeping continuity.