To what extent are streetwear brands reliant on advertising and promotion through social media?
For the dissertation, my research methods consisted of a case study of the brand Rolex to held define the term ‘brand’. A face-to-face and online survey was held to gather an understanding of the relation between streetwear and social media. Many books, online journals, articles and websites will also be read to gather greater information for each of the topics discussed within this dissertation. I chose to use these research methods, as it was a good mix of first hand and second hand research which I felt was appropriate to my dissertation subjects.
As the main topics of my dissertation are branding, streetwear, social media and the theory of ‘Othering’, which the research gathered, I decided to brand my own streetwear company ‘FOURE’.
For this design brief, I managed to complete the branding guidelines, a branding guidelines publication, a manufactured sample t-shirt, a photoshoot targeted at social media and luxury packaging.
I am pleased with the outcome of all my practical elements within this brief and I feel like the brand is now ready to progress. This will now link into the ‘design practice’ module, as the Spring/Summer collection will be designed, developed and produced as a brief.
If I was to have more time or re-do any part of my practical, I would change some elements of the brand guidelines book. Although I am really happy with the design of the book, some problems occurred when binding. The first was that the ‘Instagram mockup’ page did not bind properly. Therefore it will make the book look slightly unprofessional. The second problem was that was that I could not find a black metal spiral bind, so I had the choice of black plastic or silver metal. I ended up choosing the black plastic as this is the colour I wanted to fit with the box, however I would of preferred it to be black metal.
As a whole, I am really happy with my dissertation, practical and my synthesis, as I believe that they work all have extremely strong links. I am very pleased I chose my dissertation topic, as my research and conclusion will majorly influence my design work in the future.