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.