Brand Me

BRAND me

INTRODUCTION

For this part of the module, I have created a magazine-style brand book to research in-depth about my brand, Polluted Orange. Looking into my childhood and my journey through life, I have created a brand which is all about me. From strengths to weaknesses, colour and culture, my brand concept is built on my life experiences and unique skills. My brand has been influenced by youth culture, nostalgia and vintage fashion. My brand will be communicated digitally through visual storytelling and a photoshoot, reflecting my brand concept and values.

SUMMER RESEARCH

PART 1

F

ashion for bank robbers curates a virtual collection of the best headpieces and masks on the internet in a marriage of fashion and art. Fashion for bank robbers is very artistic and interesting to me however does not fit my brand and market level. I see fashion for bank robbers at a visionary market level and I fit at high street.

Although this brand is very unique, fascinating and extraordinary, it’s something I would personally like to visit in a museum, and not use as inspiration for my work.

Due to this year’s pandemic, I will find it interesting on what the brand develops into as face masks are becoming the latest fashion accessory, as some wearers will seek a more stylish, individualised product.

The ideology behind the account is very creative and free, there is a lot of artistic freedom experimented within the work and the ideas are very raw. By researching into this brand, I learnt a lot about branding and the narrative. I understand the vision of fashion for bank robbers and how it’s fantasy and escaping reality, and how the brand creates an identity through its

raw artistic freedom to experiment with their works of wearable art.

Looking into the Men’s Fall-Winter 2020 show: Heaven on Earth by Louis Vuitton, I am very intrigued and fascinated by the dreamlike everlasting narrative. Directed by Artistic Director Virgil Abloh, this collection delivers a fairy tale, tapping into an imaginative universe, with photographs taken by Tim Walker.

Louis Vuitton is a very prestigious luxury brand, who collaborate with different designers making the brand diverse. Different designers and artists contribute with distinct, yet exclusive points of view to contribute to the brand’s growth and evolution. Artists have given their interpretation to the brand by enhancing its creativity and storytelling, which have developed the brands DNA. Under the creative direction of Virgil Abloh, Louis Vuitton has maintained its brand identity as the art-based strategies employ different connections with the art world, communicating a portrait of sophistication and exclusivity for the luxury brand. Once again, this brand does not fit with my market level, however, I do find the campaign very interesting and I’m fascinated by the storytelling and creative direction.

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den Loweth is a designer, creative and one half of design duo Art School. A graduate from Ravensbourne University London, Loweth-alongside his partner Tom Barratthas gained widespread praise for their genderless fashion approach, representing queer community and real bodies through their Art School collections (showstudio, 2020).

I’m intrigued in Art Schools brand as it’s a very diverse, curious brand. Individuality and identity are articulated through the bright colours and silhouettes of the collections, reflecting the brand’s ethos, as Tom Barratt says, “We’re trying to say, ‘Live your fantasy.’ Everyone has something in their mind that is carrying them through the mundane reality of life, because it’s a fucking shithole at the moment and we just need to celebrate what is good, what is art, what is fun” (Stansfield, 2017).

Art School is a fashion brand which sits at the visionary market level, mainly because the concepts of the brand haven’t been done before. The brand represents inclusivity, diversity, individuality and identity which cross section a lot of different communities.

The brand was established in 2027, and since then many brands have identified the need for gender-neutral retail spaces in order to engage Gen Z shoppers (Vogue Business , 2020).

Charles Jeffreys work inspires me because I love how he transforms fashion into art. His work is unique and as it strives for organic inclusivity. This relates with my brand because of the brands integrity and passion for diversity.

The Fabricant is a digital fashion house with a clear focus on photo-real 3D fashion design and animation. They are making the next step in the fashion industry by introducing it to a new sector of virtual clothing. The team of young designers and visionaries offer digital fashion editorials, digital apparel and periodic collections. By using motion capture, 3D animation software and body scanning they form fashion designs that captivate audiences and are at the same time hyper-realistic (Visual Atelier, 2019).

Exploring the future of digital clothing, The Fabricant sit at a visionary market level. The brand produces photorealistic, digital-only clothing in their virtual fashion house, using augmented reality technology, bringing virtual fashion into the mainstream.

I enjoy the sustainable aspect of this brand. The Fabricant is sustainable, creative, innovative and visionary. The digital approach to this brand is unique and it’s aimed at the new consumer. In the near future, this type of work could also be used to restructure the time-consuming and waste-heavy sampling process, where expensive physical prototypes of clothes are made and scrapped. This new virtual innovation is growing and is the future of fashion.

Missguided is a fast-fashion brand which was established in 2008 by Nitin Passi. In August 2020, Missguided launched a documentary “behind the scenes” on the fast-fashion brand to see what life is like for their female-dominated workforce in Manchester. I was very shocked

after watching the first episode due to the potty-mouthed language used by the narrator of the show. The “girl boss” culture veils the reality of fast fashion, and the company neglects to identify the knowledge of those actually making their clothes. I wasn’t the biggest fan of their brand however I follow them on Instagram, and I enjoy how they digitally communicate to their audiences.

After watching the documentary, I was very surprised at the “behind the scenes” which gave me a bad visualisation of the brand due to the unethical approach Missguided have.

On the other hand, as Missguided sit at a fast fashion market level which is a similar market to where my brand sits. I enjoy the way Missguided brand themselves digitally, and how their social media is on-brand. Maintaining a well-established social media platform is compulsory in 2020 as it’s important to engage the consumer and distribute brand messages in channels capable of reaching a larger audience whilst maintaining their brand values.

Fogure 1,2,3,4

SUMMER RESEARCH

T

he main properties of the colour purple which I connect with most are creativity and independ ence. I believe I am a very creative individual as I’ve always been interested in art, photography and fashion. Having a creative imagination is positive as it enabled me to have a sense of freedom, passion and self-expression. As purple comes in many shades, lilac is the shade which represents me the most.

Lilac often has strong connections to feminine qualities, such as caring, being emotional and nurturing. This femininity manifests in putting the needs of others before their own, helpfulness and avoiding confrontations. According to color psychology, the color lilac is frequently associated with qualities such as friendliness, open-minded, and extroversion (Colour Psychology, 2020). As I’m a caring, emotional individual, I believe that the characteristics of lilac suit me most.

Heather flowers have several meanings, and they’re worthy of being known. A heather flower is a sign of independence and confidence, as it grows in places that are quite hard for any other flower to grow. A heather flower represents me most because of its main characteristics of being independent and confident. As the heather flower grows in hilly areas, they are considered to be very

PART 2

strong. A heather flower is also a sign of admiration, which is defined as the act of adoring or loving. I would describe myself as a glass half full, and appreciate the smaller aspects of life, making me optimistic, practical, adaptable and extroverted.

Although I can be a confident, “glass half full” individual, different challenges and obstacles in my life sometimes make me question my abilities.

The term “when it rains it pours” fits with my personality because when something bad happens, it happens in multiple times within a short span of time. I would consider myself as unlucky due to this, however, I always come out of this a much stronger person, which is why I am the person I am today. I am definitely self-motivated and independent due to the obstacles I have overcome within the past few years, encouraging and motivating me to shape an image of my future self, helping me actively grow and identify myself.

In addition to this, in a fight-or-flight response, I would label myself as “flight”. Although I’m confident and optimistic, the majority of the time I would run away from a situation, I would prefer to avoid the situation rather than fight it. Although I tend to avoid some situations, I would still consider myself as a strong character.

G

rowing up I was always a creative as a child and that stuck with me as I grew older.

For Christmas every year I would always get easels, crayons, glitter pens and anything crafty.

I would always make birthday, Christmas day and Mother’s Day cards myself, gluing anything from glitter to feathers on to make it look special. As I grew into my teens, I would always be scouting for sweaters which I could crop, stud or throw bleach on. Or I’d be scouting for jeans which I could distress or crop into something more stylish.

Alongside creative, I’ve always been an ambitious and adventurous individual. Travelling the world is something I’ve always wanted to do since being young, I lived for the yearly family getaway, the sunshine, sea and sand are what makes me happy. From vacating on a family holiday to Turkey to spontaneous road trips in America, I’m happy with what I’ve done with my life so far.

In 2016, I bagged myself a job in a theme park an hour away from home, which meant I lived in shared accommodation, which lasted four years until I moved even further away for university. I’ve always been an independent person; however, living away from home has meant I’ve lived and worked independently since I was 19.

This has shaped me into the person I am today; I believe I’m a self-confident, independent individual with a good dose of freedom. Making new friends and discovering new places is something which I thrive on, I’ve made friends for life and unforgettable memories living away

from home, and I continue to do this for as long as it makes me happy. Once I graduate university, I plan to move to Australia for at least one year, to work, travel and make amazing memories.

When I was around fourteen years old, I got my laptop and introduced myself to Tumblr. Tum-blr is an online blog where you build your blog, follow other blogs and reblog and like posts. As soon as I created an account I was hooked, I lived for the grunge fashion and polaroid aesthetic. I loved the cool edits on pictures of teenagers living their life. I chose to focus my work influ-enced around youth culture because the whole idea inspired me, and I found it the photos in-teresting to look at. I think this digital space partly shaped the person who I am today because I’d scroll endlessly looking at pictures of people travelling the world taking fascinating photos which fuelled my ambition.

I’ve chosen to focus my brand on youth culture because of the man-ifestation it holds around style, fashion, freedom and music.

The internet is frequently used to express new aspects of the self and to build a virtual perso-na, which I constructed in my teenage years. I was heavily inspired by Tumblr and fashion blog-ging.

I loved opening up my laptop and scrolling for hours, building my blog and collecting inspi-ration from bedroom décor to fashion. Tumblr is a micro blog platform which creates interac-tion and community, enhancing the aesthetic quality and visual experience. From my experi-ence with Tumblr, this is where my digital skills began developing. From editing blog theme codes to planning outfits for my next blog post, Tumblr styled me into the digital communica-tor I am today.

Figure 5

U

URBAN OUTFI

rban Outfitters is a lifestyle retailer dedicated to inspiring customers through a unique combination of product, creativity and cultural understanding. Urban Outfitters brand values entail on building a strong emotional bond with the consumer. By doing this the brand ensures the consumers feel connected by and a part of the brand by offering diversity and featuring distinctive industrial design. Delivering an offbeat youthful aesthetic, Urban Outfitters entice their target audience through dreamy room décor and wanderlust-inducing scenes, presenting their products in a fun, playful manner. Urban Outfitters website reflects its desires and captures the Millennial audience through vintage-inspired clothing and nostalgic casual aesthetics. The brand has curated the most aspirational narrative of their audience’s life through visual storytelling. By using previous fashion trends, the brand influences its hipster theme through their products delivering to the consumer who is indifferent to being appointed a hipster. The brand has a clear identity, however, is full of contrasting styles.

Urban Outfitters targets the Millennial consumer and have maintained a robust social following as they capture the consumers through building a strong brand community, user-generated content and maintaining an

online blog. From culture, music, DIY sections, Urban Outfitters understands the consumer by making loyal followings by defining their niche and communicating through digital storytelling and its lifestyle publication.

The personalisation of the blog creates a rapport with the consumer, which increases the chances of them revisiting the blog.

Urban Outfitters fits with my brand because my brand is aimed to free-spirited youths with wild hearts, which fits in perfectly as the brand drives excitement and adventure. My brand is influenced on 1990’s youth culture, which connects with the concept of Urban Outfitters, as the brand reaches out to different users interests and lifestyles.

ITTERS

HIGH STREET OR

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LUXURY?

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BRAND INFL

ounded In 1853, Levi Strauss opened a wholesale dry goods business in San Francisco that became known as Levi Strauss & Co. Seeing a need for work pants that could hold up under rougher conditions, he and Jacob Davis, a tailor, created the first jean (Levi Strauss , 2020). Yet for all its ubiquity, the brand has dangled itself over the cutting edge of society for most of its existence. Levi’s has taken the lead from youth culture since 1960, when it realised teenagers had stopped calling its denim trousers ‘overalls’ and started calling them ‘jeans’. It promptly printed the term on all of its advertising (Deighton, 2018).

Levi’s is a well-established store on the high street, which diversifies their products to entice new consumers in different markets, catering to a variety of consumers. Levi’s often collaborate with brands and designers, such as Virgil Abloh and Snoopy.

Collaborating with different brands and designers allows Levi’s to enhance their brand appeal generating greater reach, targeting consumers of different generations.

Levi’s most loyal demographic remains consumers are aged 50 and onwards.

However, in 2014, Levi’s launched a new ‘Live in Levi’s’ global campaign, which was aimed to ‘reinvigorate’ the brand, capture

a millennial audience and activate the digital community of Levi’s. The energy, storytelling and iconic jeanswear at the centre of the effort will reinforce what long-time Levi’s loyalists love about the brand and serve to attract new fans around the world (Vizard, 2014). Whilst remaining iconic to Levi’s, the campaign was about sharing memories and experiences from people all over the world whilst showcasing the denim they love. In multiple parts of the video, it shows that some of the people wear their jeans until they rip, then they cut them into shorts, whilst another person explains how he hands them down to his children.

Levi’s associate with my brand because my brand focuses on vintage clothing and sustainability.

The brand encourages upcycling and customising their product or handing them down, which reflects the vintage aspect of my brand. Secondly, the ‘Live in Levi’s’ campaign is playful, engaging and ranges from first dates to road trips. The video thrives on adventure, travel and pleasure seeking, which relates to my brand and reflects the ‘live in the moment’ approach.

Established in the late 90s, Motel was created after the brand founders set out on a road trip of freedom, discovery and fun across the west coast of America. Inspired by the indie vintage shops and various thrift stores dotted along the Californian coastline, the Motel designers set about bringing these looks to the British consumer and carved a unique niche in the marketplace (Motel Rocks , 2020).

LUENCES Motel Rocks identifies with my brand as the brand was inspired by discovery, freedom and vintage fashion. Motel Rocks target Generation Z with their rebellious concepts and showcases the brand’s wild personality. My brand also fits with this brand because of the powerful personality the brand holds, celebrating freedom and discovery, stimulating meaningful perceptions about the attitudes that my brand stands for.

Motel Rocks also link in with other influences of my brand, which was Kate Bellm.

Kate Bellm, who is a London born photographer who splits her time between Berlin and the remote village of Deia in the Tramuntana mountains where she works from a self-built studio between the ocean and forest. Kate’s pure and atmospheric photography seduces you into an otherworldly psychedelic paradise - with off-beat colorful landscapes, crazy cacti, hot hazy vistas, flickering palms and colossal rock forms. Her wildly beautiful nudes build intoxicating narratives that radiate a romantic and bohemian alchemy (Hatje Cantz, 2020). Kate Bellm was my main influ-

YOUTH

CULTURE

COLOUR

The colour palettes I’ve chosen to represent my brand are hues of lilac, pink and orange.

The shade of lilac is almost a vintage dusky shade. The lilac will represent the independence of the brand, as it is aimed at Generation Z and Millennials. The orange is a polluted shade, as it reflects the vintage timeless theme my brand is expressing. The orange represents the excitement and adventure of the brand, as it’s an active colour therefore it represents living in the moment. The orange also represents social and optimism, reflecting the ambitious lifestyle of the brand’s values.

LOGO

POLLUTED ORANGE E valuating my brand's image, my brand consists of rebellious attributes, including an expressed identity, which outlines my brand's tone of voice and visual identity. My brand captures the younger demographic, Generation Z, by attracting the consumers through the vintage colour palette, offbeat, wild brand concepts. Capturing the consumers who are wild-hearted and free-spirited, my brands narrative focuses on living in the moment and expressing inclusivity.

My brand focuses on vintage themes, which is communicated through the main colour of my brand “Polluted Orange”. This colour represents the brand as a whole and reflects a lot of mes-sages through it. Vintage fashion is not just about the age of the product, it’s also about the style of it. Vintage fashion may not be the most sustainable garments; however, the reuse of the item’s enhances its life span. Vintage fashion can be seen as a structure of stability against a swiftly changing environment.

Eco-fashion and sustainable fashion ideals have appeared tar-geting the younger demographic to scope the growing trend of vintage fashion. Vintage fairs upcycling has contributed to this shift, as nostalgia plays an important role within vintage fash-ion consumption, as vintage garments can symbolise past eras and stories. The nostalgic vin-tage theme of my brand links with the youth culture influences, as vintage trends have emerged from

90’s youth culture. As vintage items are one of a kind and original, this reflects the brand messages of my brand of being unique and celebrating originality.

Moving on from this, I’d like to present my brand narrative through digital storytelling, show-casing my digital skills through croquis and a photoshoot. My strengths lie within digital story-telling as my creativity flows as soon as I open my laptop. The photoshoot will campaign my brand, building a strong theme and narrative which connects with the consumer with my brands vision.

Figure 6

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, after thoroughly dissecting my personality and building my brand, I have developed my story into a strong narrative. The narrative articulates transporting consumers of my brand on a journey of my life, which has been reflected in visuals and digital storytelling. The main influences for my personal branding have come from nostalgia and adventure. Through dusky pastel colours, I will translate my brand in a high street market level, dipping into vintage themes and channelling a playful, youth-inspired aesthetic. Aiming to target Generation Z, I will showcase my digital skills and continue to develop my ideas to voice my brand. My brand is driven by adventure and ambition and living in the moment. I like to live my life to the full, as living in the moment can create a mindful state. Mindful people are happier, more empathetic, and more secure. Therefore, my brand will encourage self-confidence, independence and freedom.

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IMAGE REFERENCES Figure 1, 2, 3, 4: https://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/article/art-school-coronavirus-interview Figure 5: https://www.istockphoto.com/photos/tie-dye Figure 6: https://www.instagram.com/p/CHpQz2xlgEs/ Other images are my own or visuals I created in Photoshop.