Final Outcome!

This is my finished prototype and final outcome for this project. I am happy with the outcome of my In store guide, although there are things I would definitely improve, if I had more time.
I am also going to upload this pdf onto the website MagCloud, so I can have a physical copy of the in store guide sent to me. With this hard copy, I will be able to show how the mix and match section will work and can put it into practice, once I have sliced the pages in half to create this interactive feature.
MagCloud is an excellent service where you can order and print copies of you magazines and get them delivered at very reasonable prices. Unfortunately, as my deadline is so close I don't want to risk not receiving my magazine back in time for deadline, so I have ordered my magazine on express delivery, which cost me $47.88 in total. Fingers crossed it comes in time!

Unfortunately, you can't view my magazine digitally on my blog as the file size is too large and doesn't load up properly. However, I have received the hard copy of my magazine from MagCloud, so please view this copy to see the complete guide.

Title Page layouts

I have included these various title pages to show the experimentation and development process I have gone through to achieve my final front cover. Like any layouts, I have tried a variety of font sizes, text placements, image sizes, colour way. Overall, I think the pages that are most effective are the ones where the image is bigger and the text is smaller, so that the image isn't crowded with text.

Live Element: Industry Mentor

I have been trying to find someone with buying experience who would be willing to be my industry mentor, as part of the live element of this project. For weeks now I have been contacting buyers in the industry, but unfortunately with no success.
However, as luck would have it I have just been given a contact for a buyer who works on the Kate Moss collection at Topshop, and she has agreed to be my mentor!
Although Amy and I haven't been able to meet in person, as we are both tight on time, we have been in correspondence over email. Amy has agreed to give me any feedback and advice on my progress, so I have emailed her copies of my final outcome (my range plan and in store guide) so she can take a look and give me her opinion.
Here are the emails containing the feedback I have received.

Hello Beth,
I am so sorry for the delay.

So I have had a look over your Range Plan and it looks great, I have just a few comments below:

- Think about the weighting of the departments, the category mixes ie how many bottoms you have compared to tops and then compared to dresses
- Is this going to All of the stores or just one store or selected stores? If only 1 store then think about the volumes on each line, if it is going to more than 1 store think about if each store will receive the same package? or will they look slightly different?
- Always think about the margin overall, if some styles are making a much lower margin then you will not be able to place as much volume on them and this could then affect the look of the package.

Does this help?
Pls let me know if you need more feedback?

Ax


Hello Beth,
Hope the feedback so far was useful and relevant!?

I have looked over the in store guide too (don't know why I didn't include this on the initial email!?) - pls see my comments:

- again looks fab - professional, clear, concise. Well throughout and thorough - its good to give stores as much information as possible so they can get excited about new things and also interpret it how you have envisaged it too.
- could the outfit build pages be condensed slightly, maybe 2 on a page as that section feels quite lengthy and you do loose interest.
- again if this is going to more than 1 store and stores are receiving different packages that are more town specific maybe mark on which items are going/not going to the relevant stores?
- other information that is good to include is if/when they will be receiving new options/styles or if this is a one hit thing?

Hope that helps.
Let me know how you get on and if you need more help?

Ax


Amy has been a fantastic help to me and I have found her advice really useful and relevant. However, as I have received this feedback at such a late stage in my project, I will unfortunately not be able to act on all of her advice, as I have already had my magazine printed and delivered due to time constraints.
Although I am definitely going to take her advice on board and consider these issues in any future buying projects and later in my career.

Finished Illustration

Since Rachel has agreed to collaborate with me for this project, I have meet up with her several times to discuss and review the progress of the illustrations she is working on for me.
In my opinion, we have worked very well together, as throughout this process we have communicated well and she has taken my feedback on board as to the style I want to achieve, and anything that may of needed changing along the way. Rachel also helped me with my design selection and gave me her opinion of what she thought would work in the collection and which garments would work well as illustrations.
I am really impressed and pleased with the final illustrations, as she has done a much better job than I could of ever done, in less than two weeks as well! Rachel has really brought the clothes to life and effectively shown how the collection is intended to look together.
These are the final eight illustrations:

In store Guide: What to include?

I am familiar with these types of guides, as pretty much every retailer issues them for their sales team. I have seen a variety of guides, from boring print outs to more sophisticated magazine styles.
With Oasis, I definitely want to show off my range in the best light and therefore I am aiming to create a sophisticated and professional guide which has a feel of a magazine, but still maintains all the important information in a clear and concise way.
I wanted to get hold of an in store guide to see what I need to include. However they are very hard to get hold of, as it is their nature to contain exclusive information on products which are classified to customers at the time of issue.
So I have checked with Caroline to see what types of features I need to include within my in store guide:

• Trend Overview - collection name, collection description, inspirational images, colour palette,
• Key Looks - key garments, detailed close ups, fabric swatches, description, prices, style tips
• Floor Plan - where to display range in store layout
• Wall Plan - How to visually merchandise range, VM tips
• Window Display - How to style and display garments in window

Outfit Building

A key aspects of developing a range is to make sure the garments work together. I have designed my range so that all my garments are transitional and can be co-ordinated and styled together. I want to try and highlight the mix and match element of my range, and this can be done through outfit building.
However, I do not simply want to create an average style guide which tells the audience what they should wear together. I want to be able to communicate outfit building in an interactive way, so the audience (in my case, Oasis sales team) can experiment and decided for themselves what garments can be styled together.
I have shown some experiments in my sketchbook of how this can be achieved.

Ideas for final outcome

Up until now I have been struggling to come up with a concept for the final outcome of this project. The reason being because, if I was trying to recreate the buying process exactly my final outcome would be the actual physical garments for the collection.
However, I had ruled this out from the start due to time, man-power, skills and money, therefore I have been slightly lost on what I should do for my outcome. The range plan I have created contributes towards my final outcome, however I needed to find a way of visually communicating my range plan in a more exciting and creative format.
After discussing possible outcomes with Caroline today, I have decided to create some presentation boards that would be used by a buyer to visually communicate the range to colleges, and sales team when doing store visits.
I have also decided to create an 'in store guide' for the sales team, which will explain everything about the range, from the inspiration behind the designs through to how to style and visually merchandise the range together. Now I need to think of how I can bring my originality and creativity to this type of industry document.

Name for my collection

Each collection/ story/ trend that a retailer brings out is normally given a name to describe the chosen theme. The name is an important way of communicating the style, look and spirit of a collection, and now is the time to give my collection a name. Here is a list of possible names:

• Rural Chic
• Rural Roots
• Country Born
• Country Roots
• Rural Revival
• Country Spirit
• Rural Spirit
• Country Chic
• The Great Outdoors
• Country Heritage
• Back to Roots
• Back to Nature

Although I am conscious that some of the names might sound abit cheesy, I really want to get across my inspiration that is all about the country way of life. I have chosen to go with 'Country Born' as the name for my collection, as this sums up my inspiration and design philosophy.

My Final Range Plan

These are my final range plans for Outerwear, Tops and Bottoms for autumn/winter 2011 Country Born collection for Oasis. I have tired to include a balanced range, with as many transitional pieces as possible. I also wanted to have a balance of smart and casual pieces and basic core items and pricier statement fashion pieces such as the Leather Aviator Gilet and Leather laser cut detail skirt.

My Designs using Illustrator

Since completing my design development and design selection, I have been working on translating my hand drawn designs into digital designs, using the computer program Adobe Illustrator.
This will give my designs a sharp, professional look and is a technical skill which is used in industry.
Using Illustrator is a technical skill which can take years to master, however I have only ever had one experience using this software before.
From my experience, I do enjoy using Illustrator and learning new skills, however it is very time consuming!
My seventeen different designs each took me 1 hour to 2 hours to complete, so I bascially spent a week of my time on this, which I was not expecting and has put me behind in my schedule.
However, I do think it has been worth the effort as it will give my overall presentation a sharp, professional quality.

Fashion Illustrator

I have decided that I am going to need to collaborate with an illustrator in order to bring the collection to life and show how the garments can be worn and styled together. Seeing as I am not going to be producing the finish garments, this is an alternative to seeing how the clothes will look in real life, kind of like a photo shoot but illustrative and not photographic.
I don't think my strength is in fashion illustration, therefore I decided to advertise the help of an expert by sending an email to the Illustration course at uni to see if anyone was interested in collaborating with me.
I was quite surprised by the number of replies I received, however it meant that I could choose an illustrator whose style really suited the look I wanted to achieve.
The illustrator I am now working with is called Rachel Elsome and she is in the second year of Illustration at AUCB. She sent me the link to take a look at some of her work on her website and I really like her style, plus she seems very open to taking on new ideas and understands the style of illustration I want to achieve.
Here is the link to her website, plus some of the images of her work which show her style of illustration.
http://illustrateharveylane.wordpress.com/

Range Plans - What to include

The purpose of a range plan is to compile a commercially acceptable collection of garments within financial and design parameters, prior to production.
These are a number of criteria that need to be included in a range plan in order for the buyer to get a clear view of the planned collection.

• Number of garments to be included in the range
• Proportion of different types of garments to be included (tops to bottoms, fashion to classic styles)
• Specific garment styles to be included
• Fabrics and colourways added for each garment
• Cost price for each garment
• Selling price for each garment
• Order quantities per style
• Sizes to be ordered
• Manufacturer used

Here is an example of a range plan which has been used in industry. However, there is no set way of presenting a range plan, but I prefer ones that are more visual with garment images and fabric swatches.

Balanced Range

In order to create a successful range of garments that sells well and meets the consumers needs, there is a number of requirements buyers have to take into account in order to create a balanced range.
Here is a list of the criteria a buyer needs to consider:

• Have a balance of entry/ mid/ exit level price points
• Variety of sizes/ colour combinations/ colour ways
• Balanced ratio of tops to bottoms (2:1)
• Season appropriate items
• Range of fabric types (jersey, wovens, core fabrics)
• Include updated Best Sellers
• Include statement pieces/ risk items
• Garments have to be age appropriate
• Make sure the range co-ordinates together (outfiitting)
• Balance of new fashions vs. core continuity
• Range of silhouettes/styles (offer choice)
• Needs to reflect brand and consumer profile
• Use a balance of supplies
• Buy the right quantity of stock of each product
• Consider previous sales (best sellers and worst sellers)
• Hit the target margin across the collection

I will also try to consider as many of these criteria as possible when developing my collection and building the range plan.