Creating The App Icon

In terms of my app icon, it's very simple. I didn't want it to be too busy as it's only going to be seen fairly small, and if it looked too full it may put consumers off. Instead I looked at Company's old Weekly Edit App logo (before they merged the app with the magazine download), which was simple a background colour and the words 'Company Weekly Edit' on.

I am using the same font found on the Weekly Edit app and their High Street Edit magazine so all the brand extensions link together nicely. As of yet, I can't find the exact font used, so in the mean time I've been told to make it myself. I've done this by using the font Helvetica Neue (the closet me and Paz could find to the real text) and extruded it (as seen in the first image). I also tried manually creating a drop shadow by copying the text and placing it behind, but this meant the shadow didn't join up with the text, so the extruded version looks much better and a lot more like the original font. From here I experimented with different colours from the palette I had selected and tried out dip-dyes, which can be seen in the next post. 

I also decided to experiment with some other elements of the icon design. I thought it might look good to have some clothes on the icon similar to the Stylebook icon. I simply drew out clothing shapes and coloured them with shades from the palette so everything is kept ordered then arranged them onto the background. These can be viewed on the next post also. 

Colour Palette

The following colours are those I have taken from both Company magazine and their High Street Edit magazine. The High Street Edit tends to have a fairly monochrome palette with the odd hints of some pinks, blues and purples, mainly however, they tend to fill the pages with clothing and images that it detracts the attention from a plain white page. 

The magazine uses lots of pastel colours within the pages and on the front cover. I think this helps them stand apart from other publications as most others use bright colours to stand out on the newstand. For Company's target demographic, the pastels work really well. They also use a lot of dip-dye and ombres within their colour scheme and backgrounds. They always give the impression of spring/summer and are used more withi the magazine at this time.

The colours I have thus selected for my app are above. These colours will be seen on different pages on the apps, little features and doodles, as well as within the promotion. I've kept the majority of colours from the magazine to retain continuity and also because they're not too bright and garish for consumers to deal with. I think the main colour in the app will probably white as it's easier for the clothing to sit on, however, the main page and other features can experiment with the colour scheme.

Fonts

The following fonts are ones taken from the magazine. I wanted to keep all fonts the same as the ones used by the brand to maintain continuity, plus it's a key part of the assets that the consumers recognise. The most obvious of the Company fonts is Brainflower and Levi Brush as these are used for their headings. The fonts like Courier New and Avenir Light are used for texts within the magazine. Although Brainflower was the obvious font to use within the app, I want to use the fonts more associated with their Weekly Edit app and their High Street Edit magazine. 

Therefore, these are the fonts that will be used within the app. The title font is yet to be found (in the meantime I will be making it via extruding the fonts).  I will be using this text for the headings and home page. The other main text will be the 'KG The Fighter', again until I find the exact font used, I will be using this one as it's the closet match. This will be used for subheadings and within doodle features. For the main font and general text it will be these Sans Serif easy to read typefaces that aren't distracting. These are also found within the Weekly Edit App and High Street Edit magazine.

Photoshoot Idea

When considering the promotional aspects of my final campaign, I've been considering doing another photoshoot for my magazine adverts. I've realised that most magazine advertorials/editorials feature quite a lot of images usually of models portraying what the content is about. Therefore, I am thinking of doing a shoot where it looks like models are using the app. This would also be content that could go on adverts/ social media content and press packs. What I have in mind is something similar to the following below. I have already made arrangements to start booking the in house photographer and studio.

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.

Dressipi

Dressipi is an online service that offers something similar to the Stylist Edit. Their service is centered to their website online, although they do have an iPhone app that works out what size you are in every different shop, as shops can be generous or small with their sizing. 

On their website they sum up what their brand and service is about. 'Dressipi is a free fashion advice and recommendation service. We give you the know-how to dress your shape and update your style – and a quick and easy way to find the best clothes and brands for you. We create an accurate profile for you, called aFashion Fingerprint®, based on your own body shape, style and preferences. All of our fashion and style advice is unique to you and based on your Fashion Fingerprint®.Our top styling team identify the most inspiring and flattering types of clothes for you. They give you a free personal Style Guide, that includes a list of your wardrobe Must Haves and the styles you should avoid.And then every day, our technology searches all brands online, from high street to high end, looking for Recommendations that best match your Fashion Fingerprint® , to present your own daily edit of the season’s best pieces.'

The service requires a user to sign up before you can use it, so I tried it out. It also requires a lot of information about your body e.g. weight, height, to calculate what clothing is best for your body shape. This feature is very good, as it really does act like a stylist in the sense of knowing what's correct for your body. However, it takes ages to trawl through every single clothing brand to determine whether you like them or not before the site can start giving you personal recommendations. This is incredibly time consuming and in all honesty I gave up after a while. After using the service for a long time, it's obvious it will build up an idea of what you as a consumer likes and doesn't like, it doesn't seem like a very instant service. What is good about it though is that it suggests outfits based on trends and body shapes, it works out what colours work best on you given your hair, eye and skin colouring and provides helpful advice. 

All in all, it is a good service and I was worried it may detract consumers away from my own Stylist Edit, however upon researching it, it's different to what I'm offering, plus my app has the advantage it's mobile so can be taken anywhere. I do like the concept of having a 'fashion fingerprint' and think they should definitely consider taking this service into an app so users can always have it when they're shopping. What I have taken from Dressipi is to make sure my own app isn't too time consuming or makes consumers wait around for things.

Social Media Marketing

I got some books from the library about social media marketing in order to help me with my promotion text in my dissertation. The following is some of the key information I sourced from the books.

The Social Media Marketing Book- Dan Zarrella

• Retweets are the most powerful mechanisms for marketers on Twitter
• Between 11am and 6pm is the most popular time for retweeting
• Retweets with links get retweeted more
• Becoming a 'trending topic' will generate more buzz and awareness
• Applications on Facebook are proving popular to attract audiences, whether its an app game or something to enhance the promotional message. It may be something to consider creating an app to promote the service, Rimmel have done this before when they launched a new lipgloss.
• 'Currently, Facebook is the dominant social networking site and it has the most features useful to the social media marketer. It began in universities, so Facebook boasts a commanding percentage of college students as members. Recently, however, it's fastest growing segment has been users older than 35, and recent data suggests that the 35-54 age group has become bigger than the 18-24 age group. For these older users, Facebook presents a middle ground between the stuffiness of Linkedin and the adolescent playground of Myspace, and is a fun but easily navigable place where they can reconnect with old friends.'

Social Media Marketing A Strategic Approach- Melissa Barker, Donald Barker, Nicholas Bormann & Krista Neher

• YouTube reports that their user base is broad in age range, 18-55, evenly divided between males and females and spanning all geographies.
• People over 65 are adopting Facebook quicker than any other accounts
• 48% of people over 55 have Facebook accounts
• Facebook is more popular with younger people but has significant penetration in all age groups. According to Morpace research, 84% of those 18-34 have Facebook pages compared to 61% of those 35-54 and 48% of people over 55.
• Brands that are successful on social media are 'participatory'. They interact with the community, answer questions and thank those who respond.
• Having a personality is key on social media. Sharing personality helps build common ground and trust. A bureaucratic or forced tone is not a very appealing call to interact. Instead building a feeling of trust and common interest makes it more likely that people will find the social media campaign to be engaging and worth participating in.
• Video is a very popular medium because it can create a stronger connection with consumers. For many people, video stimuli are more appealing than dry text or listening to a podcast. Also the more senses that are involved in gathering information, the more engaging the process becomes.
• Marketing with social networks has several advantages for firms, allowing them to find talent, build brand awareness, find new customers and help conduct brand intelligence and market research.
• Social networks allow a brand to engage its target audience in ongoing conversation, which can both draw in new business and increase customer loyalty.
• Twitter users retweet content they enjoy or can vouch for so it is a signal of approval when a retweet occurs.
• Social media measurement is the determination of the volume of the content and the sentiment toward a brand or topic on the social web. The volume of content is a 'quantitative measurement', while judging sentiment is a 'qualitative measurement'. The number of posts, comments, tweets, retweets, likes, and follows are instances of quantitative metrics, while mentions, comments, conversations and feedback about a brand are examples of qualitative metrics.