Today's achievements

Today I conducted research into my initial idea – Wellington’s and which Wellington’s are available at present on the market. I was looking for a Wellington with a creative gadget or addition that would make it useful and appealing to it’s target market. Below I have listed my achievements:

Achievements:

• I discovered three very ‘cool’ ideas that are on the market. One was a rainfall measuring Wellington boot which measures the scale of rain fall along the side – allowing the wearer to measure how deep the water is.
• I found other sites for further research: www.NewLook.co.uk/Wellies.
• I also discovered www.tent-shopibexcamping.co.uk and www.my1stwish.co.uk .
• A further creative invention which I came across was a self-heating Wellington boot. Named the Self-Heating Gum Boot it works by a small electrical circuit heating the base of the boot, using the same principle as an electric blanket.
• Another invention was the Torch Gum Boot – in which a small torch in the toe aids the wearer to their destination – i.e. their camping tent.
• There is also a self-flushing gum boot which uses a high pressure water jet and fountains of warm air.
• I needed to see whether my product had a space in industry. I therefore referred to Mintel Oxygen to look at different marketing reports.
• There were no specific reports for Wellington boots; however I looked initially down the path of garden supplies – what wellies were initially worn for.
• I discovered that garden supplies were on the decrease because of climate change and the somewhat appalling weather conditions. I therefore knew that this was not the correct area to target my product.
• However, I believed that festivals would be ideal. The teenage socioeconomic range E has a high amount of disposable income, because of the concept that they tend not to have as many bills to pay etc. Therefore I know people could potentially buy my product.
• Also, festivals are popular no matter what the weather is. In fact, the muddier and wetter - the better.
• Market research also taught my that high end brands suffered when other lower brands such as Newlook started promoting their shoe ranges because of the price difference.
• Impulse buying is still very high – and can be tapped into with clever promotion.
• Fashion footwear is treated as an accessory to an overall look – I could work with this when promoting my Wellingtons.
  
  Reflection:

I believe that I covered a lot of research today. I must ensure that I follow up these lines of enquiry and, after a meeting with my peers today, I have decided that it is a necessity to include something environmentally friendly as this is key and will help to sell my product. I will update this entry tomorrow evening.

Yesterday's achievements:

I have only had the opportunity to update my blog this morning as I have been so heavily inundated with work! Yesterday was, however, a very successful day for me with regards to decision making. Below I have listed my achievements and how then a section on my reflection.

Achievements:

• 
  Yesterday I decided the actual focus of my project. I decided to use client: Diesel.
  I then further decided that it would be Diesel wine from the Diesel farm that I am promoting at my PR event.
• I came to these conclusions after weighing up my research so far and looking for where there is a gap in the market to be filled.
• This decision provoked lots of innovative thought. Consequently I thought of ways of presenting my invite in an interesting way.
• I decided that either a personalised wine bottle, a message in a bottle, or a personalised cork as an incentive/token at the event would be brilliant, innovative ways to push this event in the right direction.
• I therefore ordered a personalised bottle of wine from Abstract Bottles.
• I chose the colour, image, label and packaging for this. It came up to just under £30. I therefore had to consider how much this would cost for 20 journalists – this would be £600 out of my budget, for the mere invite alone, this is quite a large sum.
• I also researched into existing invitations to press events and the like, consider other – cheaper options.
• Once I had considered my line of thought, I began to expand on it. I followed the whole nautical route and decided that I could host my event aboard a ship.
  With regards to location, I researched into top cities where my event could be held, but ultimately concluded that London would be the best option for me, being home to the key journalists I would be looking to invite.
• I discovered City Cruises – London’s Premier Riverboat operator. After research into this I discovered that it hosts corporate events such as I am looking to hold.
  I therefore printed off the menu – please find attached in the portfolio.
• I analysed specific dishes to see which would be the best for my event – in continuation with my theme.

Reflection and aims:

In reflection I feel that I made huge progress yesterday with regards to decision making. I did not, however, further my research into floor plans as intended.
However, now that I have a clear direction I will aim to develop my knowledge of creating these floor plans – in the shape of my cruise ship. I must therefore analyse different formats from these.
A key necessity from today will be that I must find out prices of hosting my event aboard this ship, and then costs for the food too. I should also consider publications that may publish my article, and find appropriate journalists from these newspapers/magazines who would publish an article.

Receiving the brief.

I was set product development brief FM2023 one week ago tomorrow.
I have been attempting to think of a product unique/quirky enough to be successfully promoted.
My initial idea during class discussion was to promote a very useful Wellington boot.
The welly would be specifically designed for festivals, consequently it would have different compartments and gadgets to save the festival-goer from carrying unnecessary things around in his/her hand – when all they want to do is dance to the music!

According to the brief I must:
Choose an existing fashion related company and launch a new product or revamp an existing product that has gone off the boil. Once I have chosen my product/company, I then have to research that particular area of the market and justify why there is sufficient gap to be filled by this new product/re-launch.

This will involve extensive research and target customer examination. I must then decide on the best method of promoting my new product/company and produce the necessary promotional material.

This timeblog will help me to manage my time accordingly, to keep the project on line.

A week has gone already. The project commenced on: 23rd September 09.
Tomorrow I must stringently begin conjuring up a product to promote and a relevant brand.

This will therefore be my main focus of the day.
I will update this blog tomorrow evening to demonstrate what I have achieved and how I could improve my methodologies.

Continued research into floor plans and general decision making:

Today I aim to further my research into floor plans and also think of an interesting way I can present this to my peers in a few weeks time.

I must analyse different formats, keys and use of colour to establish which is the most effective. To do so I must make sure that I am 100% certain on my brand and location.

Once I have done so I must start sourcing catering resources and research the cost of prices for the day.

I must search online and around businesses for invitations, not necessarily to press events as this must be very difficult, but general invites to look for interesting phrasing used in the invite, the weight of paper use, the folding and the general layout.

By the end of today I aim to have at least set up a document for my ‘top 20 key journalists important to your brand’. This should be an A4 document set up on Microsoft word – later mounted onto appropriate mount board.

Likewise I should at least construct a file on Microsoft word, on A4 paper for my Event Budget.

My main task of today will be to make clear decisions about the direction I aim to go with this project; therefore I MUST have decided which brand I am going to follow with my promotion.

I will analyse my sketchbook at this stage and see if there is anything which I feel must be included. I am still missing links between sections which I will attempt to rectify by the end of today.

I will update the blog later this evening which an entry about my achievements for today, and then I will reflect on my progress.

Reflection on achievements.

Below I have listed my achievements of today, and have also reflected on how I could have improved, or noted any obstacles I had to overcome.

Today's achievements:

• Today I went into Preston town to collect business cards. I was initially very apprehensive knowing that hairdressers are usually closed on a Monday I thought this would be a major limitation, as this is a profession most renowned for holding ‘business’ or ‘salon’ cards.
• I managed to pick up a range of business cards and cards with similar properties from companies such as: Regis, The Mall, Dr&Herbs, Samaritans, Scouts and Rymans.
• I found that charities used business-type cards a lot, however there’s was for a different reason, I called it a ‘pocket friend’, something victims, for example of domestic abuse, could carry around with them.
• Banks were keen holders of business cards for individual staff members to show intimacy with new clients. Alliance Leicester, Halifax and Lloyds provided cards for me.
• I later paid a visit to Granthams and saw a whole stand of mock business cards, alluring potential customers to try different formats and coatings, for example laminated, UV, gloss.
• There were also different weights of paper, different qualities and slightly different sizes.
• I found the standard size to be: 85x55 mm. The rounded corners and abnormally shaped cards added character, whilst still adhering to the main necessities of a business card.
• I also analysed example business cards and found some to be potentially useable, yet others had unnecessary additions, for example the signature strip.
• After including these business cards in my sketch book, and annotating them with regards to size, style, colour, format, imagery and information provided I them moved on to look at the floor plan.
• After researching basic examples of floor plans on Google Images, I used the search engine to generate a useful site for me. I discovered Floorplanner.
• I viewed a demo of a completed floor plan, both in 2D and 3D, which gave me great motivation to create something so professional in appearance myself.
• I also had a trial run of creating my own, just acquainting myself with the software.

In Reflection:

I feel that today has been as extremely successful day for me with regards to making progress. I have considered options for business cards that I never considered before – for example different shapes and the UV coating which really inspired me to be creative with my design.
I am delighted to have discovered floor planner software and will spend tomorrow getting to grips with the programme. I must also begin research into event invitations.
I am very happy to have all the work assembled in my portfolio and to have it sectioned off making it easily digestible and understandable.

Research into Business Cards.

I will begin today by going on a mission for business cards. Annoyingly it is Monday and therefore most hairdressers will be closed and this is usually where most business cards can be found!

I will also go to Grantham’s and staples to see if I can find any price lists to get these printed professionally. Once I have acquired enough business cards I will present these in my portfolio ready to be annotated.

When annotation I will look out for the format of the business card, paying particular attention to the placement on the logo and also for the use of graphics.

I will study which details are necessary to be included and those which are only occasionally included.

I will then complete a mock up of a business card on Photoshop, and will experiment with Photoshop to see if there are any templates I can use.

I will try to think of something more innovative than the standard business card, whilst still complying with the style and dimensions.

I will research into the best weight and texture of paper to use for the business card by visiting Granthams and acquiring samples of their paper.

Once I have completed this research I will research into floor plans, I will first use the internet as a research tool.

I will analyse these with regards to interesting ways of presenting floor plans, whilst also hoping they will inspire me to create my own.

I will update the blog later with my achievements and reflection.

Reflection on achievements.

I have worked religiously today to ensure that I am on target, ready to move on from the point of brand research for tomorrow. The work has paid off, as I have just finished the research into my final brand. Below I have listed exactly what I have achieved.

Today's achievements:

• All work has been presented in my portfolio by taking screen prints, cutting, pasting and annotating either relevant information or generally points which have inspired me in some ways.
• I have contacted relevant persons at the two finals brands: Diesel and howies.
  Research into Diesel taught me that the brand has a wide variety of stock and product lines which are open to promotion.
• Diesel also has retailers in Manchester which I could contact for primary research if permitted.
• I successfully researched into certain ‘newsworthy’ elements of both brands and presented my findings.
• I further looked into the history of Diesel and howies, picking out any key points which could be used as hooks in a press release.
• Similarly I discovered that howies is an extremely broad brand.
• I contacted addresses provided on the site, and also signed up for a newsletter and ordered a catalogue – all of these would ensure I was fully aware of the brand’s movements and progress at the time of completing this project.
• I went shopping today and brought an A3 ring binder folder to present my portfolio work in.
• I also brought plastic wallets and page numbers to present my work professionally.
• One thing I would like to develop from my work last year is the ability to make it flow.
  This project will flow freely with the addition of black card in between different sectors, with links saying what I intend to do next.
  
  In Reflection:

In reflection I feel that today was very successful, my work is presented in a neat and professional format, and all of the information that I hoped I would gain has been researched at this stage.
I must now prepare for tomorrow and moving the project forward drastically. I should research both invitations and business cards for inspiration to create my own.

Continuing Research into the Remaining Brands.

Today I must continue research into the two remaining brands: Diesel and Howies.
Diesel is a brand that I have previous knowledge of, having clothing and accessories on sale that are aimed specifically at my demographic.

I do, however, have very little knowledge of Howies as a brand. I must therefore ensure that I am completely knowledgeable of this brand and it’s ethos before I decide to eliminate it/use it.
I will take print screens off of both sites and later highlight the information and annotate it in my portfolio.

I must contact Diesel and Howies through any means possible and keep my forms of primary research (e.g. email) as evidence.

I will check to see whether I have received any information in the post from brands: Alessi, Swatch and Puma that I previously contacted.

Another task I have set myself for today is to think of the best means of presenting my project.
I will visit stores in town to think of the most effective way of demonstrating my progress.
I must then arrange any work completed so far into this portfolio.

I will visit different shops in town to collect company business cards. I should then analyse these with regards to typography and format.

If I complete this, I must then begin research into the event invitation if possible finding examples of this online and analysing these.

I will update my blog at the end of today stating my achievements and reflection on how I could improve my work ethic.

Today's achievements

It has passed midnight - technically it looks like I am a day late with this blog entry, but I am very please with my efforts today. I have worked very hard and feel that my research is really beginning to develop into independent thought, and consequently ideas are beginning to flow.
Below I will list what I have achieved, in comparison to what I hoped I would.

Today’s achievements:

• Today I successfully completed research into two brands: Swatch and Puma.
  This research included contacting both the PR and press departments of the brands, asking for extra information.
• I subscribed to the Puma newsletter which will give me more information about Puma’s brand development.
• I discovered that the product ranges in both brands were a lot broader than I expected – both covering not only apparel but also jewellery, handbags and footwear.
• I felt that particularly Puma concentrated on a large target audience covering men women and children, at what seemed to be a vast age span.
• Swatch had a graphic art section, which included designers promoted through the brand – this is something that Swatch are really trying to push at the moment, and therefore any promotion I may decide to create must follow this sort of theme.
• Both brands covered a broad range with regards to the cities their stores were found in, and also the areas covered on their internet site.
• Swatch had downloadable wallpapers on their site. I considered this a brilliant piece of advertising, particularly where portable laptops are concerned.
• Swatch and Puma both had viewable media calendars on their sites, these taught me which events were considered significant by media professionals, for example not only special events such as Christmas and Easter - but also media events – press conferences, results, meetings.
• I requested magazines from Swatch and Puma – I believed I would find these more tangible forms of research.
• I looked thoroughly into the Puma history – including the puma vision, retail statement, company backgrounder, timeline, brand strategy, corporate mission, corporate values and S.A.F.E concept.
• I presented both research categories in my portfolio, annotated and highlighted – ready to draw conclusions from.

In Reflection:

I believe that today I successfully completed in depth research into the brands: Swatch and Puma. Although I intended to cover remaining brands: Diesel and Howies, I feel that today’s research has been particularly beneficial and therefore do not see myself as being behind in the project.I will however aim to have finished all research into brands by tomorrow evening, so that on Monday I can more forward with research and actual production of all necessary constituents in the project. Tomorrow I will complete the research above using the same methods I used today. If I complete this I will begin research into product shots and business cards, collecting these from Preston town during the day if I have enough time, or desire a break from the portfolio!

Continuing Research Into The Remaining Brands.

Today I must aim to further my research into the brands I have to choose from. Having completed Alessi research yesterday I have put a cross next to that one, and now will focus my attention on the four remaining brands which are: Swatch, Puma, Diesel and Howies.

I must visit the website of each of these brands taking screen prints of anything I feel will be relevant. This can be articles on the sites used to promote the brand; most certainly press releases would be brilliant if they were made available.

I will pay attention to the use of colour by the brand – I must later choose one of these brands to create my own press pack for, it would look very unprofessional if the press pack and invitation had a theme and colour scheme of its own, rather than adhering to the ideologies of the brand.

I must look through products promoted on the site, and see if any of these inspire me at all. I will then think about if/how a product could be developed and later promoted.

I will constantly think about the press event location, and see if anything on the site inspires me with regards to place and props.

I must use contact forms on the sites and email addresses provided and conduct primary research, writing to each of the brands and asking for newsletters/brochures/magazines, anything which will give me an idea about brand typography and format/layout.

Once I have completed the above, I should print out all necessary items and prepare them for inclusion in my portfolio. This should involve highlighting necessary text, and annotating printouts.

I will update my progress later on this evening.

Reflection on achievements.

It is coming to the end of what has been a very long day!

Below I will list what I have achieved, in comparison to what I endeavoured to achieve. I will then reflect on my progress assessing how I may go about thing differently depending on any obstacles that arose over the course of the day.

Today’s achievements:

• Today I successfully completed in depth research into the brand Alessi.
• This research included secondary research via the Alessi website into areas of the brand such as: Environment, typology, colour and designer.
• I discovered a lot more about a brand that I was initially clueless about. For example Alessi products span across areas of your household, including: dining room, kitchen, office, bathroom, bar and living room.
• I also completed two attempts to try to contact Alessi. One for general information, and another for an Alessi catalogue I believed both would be useful in inspiring me to conjure up a product, whilst also providing me with further knowledge of the brand.
• Alessi’s promotional channel was particularly relevant. It included solutions for corporate gifts, incentives, promotions and meetings which I believed would be ideal for some in-house styling for a potential press event – if I were to carry on looking further into the Alessi brand.
• The Alessi brand logo and colour scheme have become prominent in my mind and I would be ready to utilize these in promotion if and when necessary.
• I discovered that Alessi has a trio character, in the respect that it is “three collections, one identity”. This in itself is a company USP.
• There is an Alessi museum which students can visit and also Alessi ‘Wonder Shops’, one being located in Manchester, therefore this is something I should look into.
• Today I also analysed four Alessi press releases, familiarising myself with the Alessi style which I soon realised was concise, accessible and above all – knowledgeable of the product. With regards to format, Alessi produced their press releases in a very similar style to a journalist’s news story, and therefore may be deemed a ‘friend of the press’, by making it very simple for the to use the information provided.
• My contacts, Alex and Ed, at WideWorld online magazine provided me with press releases which I analysed with regards to diction, imagery, placement, typeface and format.
• I analysed all of the above findings and prepared them for my portfolio.

In Reflection:

I feel today was very productive with regards to research into press releases, however not so productive in the respect that I did not get as far with the research into brands as I had anticipated.
Although the research into press releases taught me a lot, and certainly gave me knowledge needed to prepare my own, I am not content with the amount of research into brands that I achieved, therefore I will make this my sole focus of tomorrow.
I feel that I spend a lot of time on making my sketchbook neat and presentable, therefore I am suggesting that I should initially collate all of the information then analyse it and write it up at a later date, so that I am making steady progress in the field of decision making.

Commencing Research

Aims:
Today I aim to conduct in depth research into the following brands:

• Alessi
• Swatch
• Puma
• Diesel
• Howies

I will use the secondary research visiting the websites of each of the above.
In turn I will collate all of my information, read through it highlighting necessary parts and then presenting is as part of the ‘research’ section of my portfolio.
I will look into these brands in the above order, starting with Alessi and concluding with Howies.

Besides looking into the above, I will also utilize my time today to contact the press. Through some work experience I made contacts with Ed Chipperfield and Alex Hannaford. Ed has written and edited for magazines and websites for 12 years. Alex has worked as a journalist and editor for 14 years.

I will ensure that I make the most out of having these extremely precious contacts. I will start by emailing Ed and asking him if he has any examples of press packs that he can show me. If I receive the information required today, I will read through this and annotate if for my portfolio.

I will pay particular attention to the use of font types, styles and colours, size, placement, the use of imagery, the specific use of language with regards to different semantic fields, the use and proportion of the brand logo.

I will update the blog later on this evening to see if I have completed what I intended too, and will also draw conclusions on what I have learnt.

Receiving the brief.

Today I received the project brief. My first thoughts were that this was going to be a huge challenge. The reasons being are that the Assessment Requirements are very demanding, and the length of time allowed to be spent on the project is very restricted.

I will start my first blog entry by analysing the brief. The aims of the project are mainly focussed around developing and enhancing skills already achieved through my first year of study and are as follows:

• To develop research skills
• To develop targeted writing.
• To enhance visual presentation and production techniques.
• To develop and encourage creative and innovative thought processes.

The brief describes the necessity of PR as a free piece of promotion – journalists always require stories to fill gaps, in return PR are granted column inches which really benefit their clients. The more coverage, the more custom!

Over the next few weeks I must create a one day event for my brand. This event should successfully enable journalists of national, consumer, regional press and online titles to write about your brand – educating them whilst ensuring they are enthused!

I must think carefully about a suitable location for my brand, and provide a press pack for the journalist(s) to take with them from the event. With regards to location, Manchester and London seem the most obvious of cities to promote from, due to their central location, however it all depends on cliental and product style.

The brief sets a strict budget of £5,000 which should be adhered to. This must include all aspects of the event including locations, invitations, press gift and catering. Prices should be well research.

Within the project I must include:

• Event invitation
• Press pack including release, product shots and business cards.
• Floor plan for your chosen location outlining where your products will be on show and any
• props you will be using to display products in the location.
• Event budget
• Press invitation list – Top 20 key journalists important to your brand.

The brands of which I have to option to choose between are:

• Alessi
• Swatch
• Puma
• Diesel
• Howies

Tomorrow I must conduct secondary research into each of the above brands in depth in order to see which one I would like to follow. I must take into great consideration all of my findings in order to see if one brand in particular has great potential for expansion. I must look into primary and secondary customers and the products on other by the brands themselves.