3. Existing Product
• When researching Existing Products, I looked at a range of companies that have used sustainable materials to create a product, and
also companies which revolve around removing plastic from the ocean and saving the beaches & the oceans – for example, I used
Nike and Adidas as they both created a shoe made completely from recycled materials, and then I looked at Plastic bank and United
By Blue - Both of these companies focus on how much they can help the oceans, whilst also running a successful clothing brand.
• Looking at the Nike and Adidas shoes was helpful to me because they both had a lot of information about them talking about how
and why they were made, this included materials, I used this information in my own work, although this was the first bit of research I
did it turned out to be very helpful, and it helped me find out about other high tier brands that have done similar things.
• When researching the two other brands, this had a very big impact on my work because I was able to see the methods that they
used, and I quickly discovered that a good way of gaining popularity & engagement with customers is to include a tagline, for
example both of these companies used ‘for every product we will remove one pound of plastic from the ocean’ I used this in my
own work, this was a good way of beginning to look at websites as well.
• I then moved onto looking into the company websites, the Plastic Bank page had a lot of different pages, this showed me how a
professional website looks and what they need, this includes the amount of pages, the order of pages and even how the pages are
laid out. Being able to see how a high level website looks had a huge impact on what I was doing, this is because I was able to see
what they had included and how I could adapt it to my own work.
• After analyzing the site, I focused more on the clothing items that were sold on there, this showed me the specific details in each for
example which colours were used, and how they accompanied the websites colours – Plastic bank’s main line of clothing uses the
same colours as the website, this was helpful to me as I took the same approach to my work, and designed my website and t shirt
using the same colours. Seeing the Plastic Bank clothing also showed me that a minimalistic look Is most likely the smartest choice,
using this design is an easy was of showing your logo and also drawing attention to it.
4. Research
• After this initial research I had a look at planning out my brand, to do this I collected information from multiple websites
that I looked at initially, by doing this I was able to find out the type of logo which is used, the most common themes were
a circular logo and a bold text for the name of the company. This was helpful for my research because it showed me how I
can create a high level looking logo, I have previously struggled with creating logos as they usually look tacky, this is
because of the lack of research, being able to look at multiple examples was very helpful and massively impacted my work
as I could quickly create a good looking logo and see how it looked on my products, this was very helpful as I could see if it
needed altering at an early stage.
• After I created my initial logo, I used it on Photoshop to put on a range of products and see how it looked, this was helpful
to me and had an impact on the rest of the project – this is because after I did the Photoshop experiment I decided that
the logo was not right, and didn't’t look very good, so to tackle this I did even more research on logos, and decided to use
a pre made drawing that I found online, and I used dafont to look for the type face I wanted, and once I had both of these
things, I downloaded the font and copied the image into Photoshop, this was the final logo I would use.
5. Research
• After creating my logo & trying it on some products, I decided to figure out my website, and I wanted to
have a them for my brand, showing what it will include. I did a survey on the environment, I asked questions
such as ‘do you care about the environment? & ‘would you be more likely to purchase a product if it was
eco friendly?’ this gave me a strong idea on the type of audience I have to gauge for my project, and what I
will need to do in order to make more people interested in my brand, an example of this is using eco friendly
materials to create my product, this would be helpful because 75% of people who did my survey said they
would rather purchase something made from these materials.
• Doing this survey had a big impact when I made it, by creating this survey I was able to see exactly what
peoples preferences were, and how they would like their products to be sold to them – afterwards I did a
secondary audience survey, this included researching old questions people have asked an audience, this also
had an impact because it gave me further info on what to include in my clothing line as I already knew what
peoples preferences were, as well as what many people in different, larger groups were looking for, an
example of a secondary audience research question would be ‘what factors would you be looking for when
buying clothing?’
6. Planning
• Once I had created my logo and managed to find out the specific details required for my project, I decided to start having a look at creating my website, to do this I
researched other websites similar to my own, and I looked at the layouts of the page, this was helpful to me because it showed me which types of colours to use, how
many pages to have and most importantly what to include – I originally started by using squarespace, but quickly moved on to using wix instead.
• To plan how I wanted my website to look, I took a screenshot of these similar websites but included my own logo, and this helped me to see if I was happy with how it
looked on the website. When I was doing this it gave me the idea of creating multiple logos with different colours behind them on Photoshop, and then putting these
onto an image on Photoshop I ended up not liking how these images looked so I decided to stick with the original, classic logo.
• The first thing I did when planning out my website, was creating a quick mock up design on squarespace, this gave me the chance to find photos to use, and where to
write the information that I needed for my real site.
• I also spent a few lessons planning out my photography of my products, I decided that I wanted to use the photography studio to get a professional look of my products
to go on the site, I decided that I would use the black backdrop as the t-shirt was white. I also planned to do some outdoor photography, I did this before I actually had
my physical t shirt, this is because it was a good way of planning different areas of taking photos and how they need to be taken. When taking these images I stayed near
to college, as it was a good ay of finding out out whether there was good areas for photos nearby, I ended up using these images in my final website too.
• When I was planning my indoor photography, I also had the idea to take photographs outside, to start planning this I used gogle maps to find multiple locations near to
college. I wanted to do a trial photoshoot to see how I would take these photos so I knew how they would look, to do this I bought two plain white t shirts and
photographed two people around college, this was helpful to my project as it meant that I was able to see how the photos would look and if I needed to change
anything. I used these images for Photoshop to create a mock up design of how a real t shirt would look, I even ended up using these in my final website in my look book
section.
• When planning the creation of my t shirts, I knew that I wanted to use a white shirt, so with this in mind I made sure that y logo was suitable for this. I made a few
mockup designs on Photoshop to get it how I wanted it to look. When planning, I only had the one logo and that was it for the whole t shirt, but when making it in real
life – I decided to add an additional image of my blue circular logo quite big on the back, I think this was a smart plan as it gave the t shirt more of a realistic look.
7. Time management
• I think I was able to manage my time quite well throughout my project, I made sure to leave myself enough time every day to complete the current task to a
standard I was happy with, for example at the start of the project when looking at existing products I made sure to include enough information on every product I
used and also had the necessary points that would help me to look back on in the future when doing the main part of my project. As I included this planned
information early, it gave me a little bit of extra time to do additional research on these products and see if there's anything else I could add, this is the only reason
I was able to include a list of materials for my products such as what they are made from – I think this is actually quite a key part of my project so I'm happy I took
the time at the beginning to include this essential information.
• After this I created my survey, I think also getting this completed at an early stage was more than helpful towards my project, this gave me the knowledge of what
people wanted to see throughout and how I could specifically change my project to appeal to my audiences preferences, this gave me the insight of what people
look for when buying clothes, such as how they re made, and what they are made from.
• I am also pleased with the fact that I created a logo that I disliked first, this meant that I was able to change it and adapt to it at a nice early stage so it looked how I
wanted it to look, without doing this I would have struggled later on when making my design, as it would have been harder to make mock up designs and really just
make it perfect in the way that I want it.
• I did a few Photoshop experiments quite early which meant that when I was using Photoshop at a later stage I was able to integrate these into my real work,
instead of having to spend an extra few hours learning how to do these. This had a big impact on the Photoshop side of my project. Although I did not use one of
the experiments that I did, I think that it also could have saved me some time - I like to think that I still would have attempted to do this in my final project, which
would have meant that I wasted time that could have been spent on something else.
• If I was to have even more time to create my work, I think I would have used that time to create some promotion for my project, this could have been a poster,
promotional video showing my products or even just a short trailer explaining the brand and why I have made it.
• For my next project I would like to do some further, more detailed planning, this would mean creating a production schedule, by doing this I would know exactly
what I have to do each lesson and how long I had to spend on it, this is helpful because there are times I struggle to know what to prioritize but if I had a list of
everything that I needed to do I would be able to sit and think what needs doing before other things in order to maximize my project.
8. Technical Qualities (website)
To create my website, I used WIX.com and used the ADI feature, this meant that I could include the specific sections that I wanted. I
initially used a template on Squarespace but it looked messy and like it was all over the place and I was not satisfied with how it
looked, after this I used a template on Wix, but this also didn't’t look right, so I decided to create one from scratch, and this was the
best one out of the lot.
To get the perfect look for my site, I compared it to other similar websites, this gave showed me how many pages were required and
where to add in additional features such as buttons which led to other pages.
The first thing that you see on my website is of course the homepage, right at the top of the page you can see the name of my
company, followed by an image of a whale swimming in plastic infested waters – this gives the viewer an early insight on the website
and what it will include, as of technical qualities, the first page does not include any, it is simply a short definition of the website, but
at the very bottom of the page I have included a few images of beaches, then right at the top I have included photos of my t shirts
being modelled.
On the about website of my page, there are a few more technical qualities, as soon as you visit the page, you are visited by a
slideshow showing the professional looking images that I took in the studio, accompanied by a short paragraph speaking about the
beachcomber brand.
At the bottom of this page I have stated that all of the products on my website are sourced ethically and made from eco friendly
materials, and under this there is a button you can click on which takes you to a page showing all of the materials used in my
clothing, and you can click on every single one and find out some additional information.
9. Technical Quality (photos)
Here are both of my photo styles, the top image was taken as a test photoshoot, I went out and got the two
white t shirts that can be seen in the image, and used them as an experiment for photography, this was very
helpful to me because it showed me early on how to use Photoshop to put my own logo on an image, I slightly
distorted the logo as well so it gave it more of a realistic look. I took these photos on my phone so the quality is
not the best, but that also means it fits in with the rest of the photos I have used on my website
As these were taken outside the lighting was obviously completely natural, it was sunny this day as well which
meant that the photos would come out looking good.
The bottom image was taken in the college photography studio, I used a black background because the t shirt
was white, but this time I used the t shirt with the logo already on, this was the look I wanted the whole time –
I used this in my website to showcase my products, this time I took the photos with a professional camera and
a tripod.
For the studio photos, I used the lights in there to give it a normal look, I think these photos are good and go
with the website quite well because they look like what you would expect to see on a normal clothes website.
10. Aesthetic Qualities (website)
• (I will compare my website to plastic bank)
• When creating my website, I mainly looked at colours, shapes and products that other similar brands sold.
• I designed my homepage to fit in with the aesthetic of my brand, instantly seeing a whale swimming in plastic infested
water will make people want to read on it the website. I made sure that all throughout my website I had a solid colour
scheme, this also contrasted with the white on the website, so it was pleasing to look at. I think that compared to the
plastic bank website, it is relatively similar, this is because the first thing you see is a photo showing their main
achievement.
• I think that the pages are relatively similar, but plastic bank has focused more on their photography from their clean up
sites, this is part of the project that I struggled with because I did not have any similar imagery, to tackle this I included
pictures of beaches and coastal areas, I decided to this because it fit in with the theme of my brand and it shows the
places that we are trying to keep in tact.
• The clothing on their website was quite similar to mine, they have their original few t shirts and a few other products such
as jackets and bottles on their page.
11. Audience appeal
• In the early stages of creating my project, I came up with a name fast, and from this I made a survey on fast fashion, this
helped me to decide that I wanted to create my clothing line around the environment.
• My whole project - I tried as hard as I could to link my website and clothing brand together throughout the creation, this
meant that I had to use the same colour scheme, the same themes and a lot of the time similar wording. My website
is made with the same colours that are shown on my t shirt design, I think that this helps to give it a ore professional look,
and I would even say it seems more organized this way.
• My website - I am happy with how my website ended up looking, I think that it is easy to use and aesthetically pleasing,
the constant colour scheme means that the user will not get confused when looking at it, I think there is plenty of
information on the brand and even more information on how the clothes are made.
• My t shirt - I am also very happy with how the t shirt design came out in the end, I think going for a minimalistic look
seemed to work for the brand. By doing this I was able to appeal to more of an audience, as the t shirt didn’t look as if it
was meant for only one gender.
• Photos - I was pleased with the way my photos looked, I think that going outside to take some early in the project was
very helpful and had a big impact with everything else I worked on, it gave me a good opportunity to work with photos
and what looked good for my website, and they also helped me learn some Photoshop and Lightroom skills.
12. Peer Feedback
• What was your opinion on the website?
• An easy accessible and easy to navigate website. Clear branding, strong use of images and a compellingly told
brand story.
• What improvements could have been made on my website?
• Additional information on the back story and how the brand came to life would be a good support.
• What is your opinion on the t shirt design?
• Simple, clear brand a strong ethical product.
• If you could change something about the design of the shirt to make it look
better, what would you change?
• Would like to see what else could be in the range. Other colours, other products.
• Was there any information about the brand you would have liked to know that
was not included? If so, what is it?
• A very strong brand and clearly described. Would like to see more about how they support ethical practices in
production and sourcing.
13. Peer Feedback
• What was your opinion on the website?
• The website is very clear and well designed with inspiring imagery.
• What improvements could have been made on my website?
• A clearer way to go straight to the shop or view the designs might be good.
• What is your opinion on the t shirt design?
• It's very cool and pared back. I really like the icon on the back.
• If you could change something about the design of the shirt to make it
look better, what would you change?
• Maybe a fit for women? Otherwise nothing.
• Was there any information about the brand you would have liked
to know that was not included? If so, what is it?
• I'd like to know more about the people behind the brand and your motivation and inspiration.
