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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Week 10

This week my aim is to completely finish my dissertation writing, begin the layout of my dissertation and have most, if not all of my promotion completed. By next Monday I would ideally like everything ready to be sent off to print.

I am feeling confident that my dissertation will be written and completed as I'm making good progress with that and enjoy writing it. My layout should also be quite easy as I know what I'm doing and its simply a case of doing it on Illustrator. It's just my promotion that is causing me concern as I cannot complete my advertisments until amendments are made to my app; however I need Paz's help with this which isn't until the middle of the week so I can't complete my app until then. Until then I am going to continue laying out the advertisements so it is simply a case of inserting my app visual into the space.

Week 9 Update

Although I was very productive in the week creating all my app visuals and beginning the social media promotion, since my Interim Crit I've slowed the pace on my visuals. I have tried to make the amendments to my app based on the feedback given to me however I haven't been as successful as I would of liked, therefore I have booked a tutorial with Paz to gain help with this. As my app still needs changes to it I cannot complete the adverts as they need images of the app visuals so advert production has ground to a halt. Instead I have laid out more Facebook and Twitter pages, laid out the editor's letter page, laid out the Company magazine website and begun production of creating the Stylist Edit website.

I have, however, been really productive in terms of writing my dissertation. Before this weekend I had only written the introduction and made a detailed plan of the content. As of tonight I have written over 5,000 words completing the product and place P, starting the promotion P and beginning the people and persuasion P. I am hoping by the middle of next week to have all the p's completed as well as the market segmentation and conclusion so it is simply little bits left to change and write. I am so pleased with my progress and have found writing the dissertation fairly easy as it is my product I am talking about.

Week 9

This week will be concentrating on creating the visual promotion intended for my dissertation as well as starting and getting half way with the main body of my dissertation. I spent all of Monday in the library trying to create my app, however I barely progressed because I didn't have a proper design which frustrated me. Therefore I designed the app out on paper and today completed the design. I am really pleased with how it looks and just hope it suffices within the interim crit. Paz has also found the exact font used within Company magazine that I'm using for the app, however, it costs $35 and I can't find a free download anywhere else, so I'm unsure what to do here.

I am hoping to complete social media and magazine adverts by my interim crit and focus the rest of the week finishing all other promotion, whilst at night writing the body of text. I want everything finished (promotion, dissertation and dissertation layout) done by the 30th March so that it can be sent off to be printed on 31st March leaving me with two weeks before the hand in.

Week 8 Update

I've spent all weekend in the library starting to produce my visuals. I had a really productive day on Friday creating the logo and different variations of it as well as creating an assets page for both Company magazine and my own app. I am really pleased with my logo designs as they definitely stay true to the brand and their current icons and logos. I am still undecided which to take forward so all my promotion so will have to have two versions with the different logos. I am leaning more towards the logo design with the clothing on, but I want to get some more feedback here.

It took a lot longer to edit my images than I first expected. I removed all the dirty grey backgrounds on Saturday, only to find I hadn't cleaned them up as well as I thought because the computer screens in the library were dirty themselves. Hence I spent more time on Sunday cleaning them up completely on a clearer screen. This thus meant I haven't got round to creating the app visuals which is annoying as it's put me behind schedule. Instead I have laid out the Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages out ready for me to simply place in my adverts once I have created the app visuals.

Monday will be spent creating the app so I can concentrate on creating the adverts and following promotion.

Dissertation Layout- Final Decision

After speaking with Paz today I've made my final decision on the layout of my dissertation. Admittedly, it shouldn't of taken me as long as it has to decide upon this as ultimately there are more important things to be getting on with. Paz agreed that I should take on elements of Company magazine to show I have an understanding of my brand, however he doesn't feel it's good for me to totally copy it as I've done this before and should try something different. 

Therefore, I've decided I'm going to integrate the H&M magazine layout with elements of Company's artwork that have become synonymous with the brand e.g. the fonts, use of brush strokes, colours. I'm going to create an assets page of Company's branding for the purpose of my promotion so I have a reference of their style, which will also be a good guideline when I begin producing the creative format for my dissertation.

Week 8

Following on from last week's shoot I am going to begin making the visuals of my app as well as the social media promotion pages. I am also going to create the logo as well as build up an 'assets' page of different logo designs, colour schemes and fonts to show the variation of design. I'm hoping that these will be easy to make and ultimately shouldn't take too long as I've created things like this before, so I'm looking forward to the creative part!

After giving myself far too much to complete last week I've made a less intense to-do list this week and am aiming to complete the research areas I've given myself over the next two days so I can then concentrate more on the writing elements. I'll also feel a lot more confident about everything once some visuals have been produced.

I also intend to begin the planning and finalising of my campaign and media plans so I can begin to create them visually on Illustrator. In addition, completing these will also help with the writing of some elements of the 6 P's within the dissertation. I would also like to have a final design idea for my dissertation by the end of the week so I know what I'm doing so I don't stress out when it comes to putting everything together!

Week 7 Update

I've received the feedback for my introduction and made the changes. I've been told to re-write parts of the introduction in regards to repeating myself when I write the main body of text. The only other amendment was to make the introduction shorter for when it is posted next to my final boards, however I am going to focus on that following the completion of all of my dissertation.

Today I had my photo shoot taking images of clothing and outfits. It went well and so far the images look great. I'm going to spend some time next week editing and perfecting them on Photoshop.

Earlier in the week I listed a lot of things I wanted to get completed by the end of this week. I definitely think I set myself too much to do and am currently feeling very overwhelmed and stressed. I don't think I will have more of my dissertation written which is disappointing, however I have written the SMART objectives and have some parts of the market segmentation previously done. Instead, this weekend I'm going to focus on researching designs for my dissertation presentation, researching into visuals and gathering anymore relevant research I will need for my written piece.

Week 7

I'm still waiting for feedback on my dissertation introduction before I can begin looking into writing the other areas of the report. I don't want to start writing the abstract, market segmentation etc, until I know my introduction is perfect and on the correct lines of what is required of me. My aim for this week, however, is still to have the smart objectives, market segmentation, abstract, methodology and lit review written. In class, we received a talk about what is needed in the lit review, although at the moment I don't feel that confident about it. As my app is a new service, there aren't many articles about it so its difficult to find pieces of text that are more beneficial than others.

I have booked my interm crit for the 20th March, whereby I will be showing my tutors my work up until now and getting feedback on my artwork I've created. As of yet I haven't created any art work as I'm waiting to complete my photoshoot to get my visuals. However, this week I am going to draw up a list of the things I want completed in order to show at the interim crit. Although I don't have any visuals as of yet I don't feel too stressed out as I have a fair idea of what I'm producing and am confident I can produce it by the 20th to a high standard. 

This week I am going to be focusing on researching app layouts and icon designs so I can begin designing the interface prior to creating it after my photoshoot on Friday. 

Week 6 Update

Having just finished writing my dissertation introduction I feel more relaxed about writing the rest of the report. I've sent my intro off to be looked at by my tutor to ensure I'm on the right lines and I'm not repeating myself too much. By the end of next week I hopefully aim to have a first draft of the abstract, methodology, smart objectives and market segmentation so I can begin to concentrate after that on the main body of text.

This week I have also finished playing around with competitor apps to get a feel for how mine will work. The best apps by far were Stylebook and Stylish Girl, although I am pleased that none of them actually generate outfits for the consumer, hence there definitely is a gap in the market for my app even just in terms of algorithm technology.

I'm currently looking into logos and icons to help me start designing my own icon and the overall design of the app. Following my shoot at the end of next week I want to put my visuals of the app together.

Week 6

This week in class we were given details of what needs to be in our dissertations and what needs to be in our introductions given that our first introduction draft is in for Thursday. This week I am focusing on writing the introduction out and beginning the planning of the rest of my report. Although it was overwhelming all the information we were given in regards to our writing piece, it seems fairly easy to produce as it's simply writing about our own project hence I will know the information inside and out.

I have also booked Dave and the studio for my photoshoot and organised what I need and how the shoot will look. This is taking place 7th March as this was his earliest availability. Ideally I would of liked to carry out the shoot sooner, but I'm not in too much hurry for these visuals yet.

This week I also plan to play around a lot more with the personal styling apps I've found and look into the Company Weekly Edit app in more depth.

After finishing creating my customer profiles, I feel a lot more comfortable understanding the consumers of my app plus I know what areas of promotion work best for which customer, which will not only help creating the promotion but also the writing of the dissertation.