Cott & Flyer Dominic Rugman
| OUGD301
Brief 1 | Fashion Brand of the Future Collab | N/A
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The brief entitled ‘Fashion Brand of the Future’ is an ex-competition brief looking for the concept and delivery of a new, luxury male fashion brand. The brief asks for a response emphasizing on British heritage and advancements made in textile manufacturing during the industrial revolution. As the brief was predominantly open to interpretation, a brand name and concept were to be created based solely on research and relevance to brief outlines.
The background of the brand name is drawn from two completely different elements within the world of textiles, its manufacture and application; Hugh Cott was an English camouflage expert during World War II, the use of his surname name stemming from the ideology that fashion has become a means of social camouflage.
Flyer refers to the Flyer and Bobbin system, created in 1738 and used for drawing wool to a more even thickness it was patented by Lewis Paul and John Wyatt but received little financial benefit at the time. Today, most modern wheels employ the Flyer-and-Bobbin system, not dissimilar to the product patented over 2 centuries ago.
The brief outlines the audience as well paid, middle aged males working in a professional environment. The user will have little interest in fashion as a concept, but will want to look crisp and clean-cut, with budget not being a significant issue in choice of purchase. The user also needs to be able to rely on the brand for it’s consistent quality and timelessness.
Cott & Flyer Dominic Rugman
| OUGD301
Brief 1 | Fashion Brand of the Future Collab | N/A
2|4
The overall aesthetic of the printed collateral is very stripped back, capitalising on the use of raw stock choices allowing the logo and brand mark to sit at the forefront of the design. This is a result of the brand delivering a clean cut image, reflective of the garments and brand philosophy.
Repeat pattern is often present in high-end fashion labels, almost to the point of exhaustion, something I wanted to make sure I kept in mind when applying it to the printed collateral. The only decorative element is found in the strips of royal blue speckled with a very passive pattern running across the top of the letterhead, business cards and swing tags.
There is a functional concept behind the placement of the strips, allowing the pattern (where present) to run continuously across the printed matter, without a change in density or height when they are found together. This reinforces the idea of continuity within the band without withdrawing from the clean-cut and functional overall aesthetic.
Cott & Flyer Dominic Rugman
| OUGD301
Brief 1 | Fashion Brand of the Future Collab | N/A
3|4
The swing tag, otherwise known as a hang tag is the most interactive piece of the printed collateral. Apart from serving its functional purpose, it has concealed back story to the brand; where it originates and how it came about starting up as the luxury fashion brand it is today.
The perforated booklet-esque rip-off allows the user to interact and feel slightly more in tune with the brand. Although predominantly for newer customers, the swing tag does includes a separate spare button relevant to the garment it’s supplied with, which will always be functional to the user regardless of brand affiliation or loyalty.
As the user tears the perforated tag it naturally unfolds, and they are greeted with a few small paragraphs about the exploration of two friends who come across an abandoned collection of textile manufacturing equipment. Amongst which they find a small piece of paper folded down to a quarter of its size with a manifesto written inside. As the user unfolds the tag further (to four times it’s original size), the manifesto is written in an oblique serif connoting an old handwriting style, signed Cott & Flyer.
The manefesto is a series of four statements left by Cott and Flyer defining their role within the fashion industry and their beliefs as to what the fashion industry has become. Thus allowing the current brand principles to to be discovered by the user in a similar light to the short story that preceeds the fold-out.
Cott & Flyer Dominic Rugman
| OUGD301
Brief 1 | Fashion Brand of the Future Collab | N/A
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The physical shop presence would be very high end, found amongst names such as Alafred Dunhill, Burberry and Sunspel. The brief states that the brand will continue to develop an accessories range and eventually move on to delivering female womens wear. Mocking up shop fronts as shown above starts to demonstrate how the brand sits comfortably within a retail environment, particularly a luxurious one.
The web presence of Cott & Flyer would resonate the clean, luxurious feel of the brand using a very simple layout, utilising white space on the page in order for the products to speak for themselves. Much like other high end brands, Cott & Flyer would offer an online store simply for convenience and functionality. Many of the customers would lead very busy day-to-day lives, allowing them to shop effortlessly receiving the same quality experience.
Included for contextual reference, Esquire is the kind of magazine that would host advertisements for Cott & Flyer. The mock up (right) is a very simple experimental layout that could be used once tweaked to printing standard, but it starts to show the brand in context, applying the logo and website reference to male model shoots.