I thought it was about time that I dedicated a post to bicycle fashion, and what better day than on an “inspired” Wednesday? Since I’ve began this journey, I’ve often been asked the question, “why bicyclette?”. Coming up with a name is something that I find extremely difficult. It’s a very personal process, and it is really the beginning of the brand definition and identity process. You need something that is lasting and something that speaks to you. I’m not sure exactly where the name bicyclette came from or why I was so drawn to it, but it speaks to me. I remember traveling to the Netherlands when I was younger to visit family and explore my heritage, and finding so much inspiration in the gorgeous, effortlessly chic women on bicycles in every city.
I still get questions inquiring as to whether I’m selling bikes, which I find somewhat amusing. I know not everyone will agree with my choice, but to me, there’s a story behind it and a meaning that I believe evokes the spirit of the brand I am trying to create.
Awhile ago I came across Copenhagen Cycle Chic, which is a blog that is dedicated to street style incorporating bicycles. Voila! – perfect inspiration. Another, more recent discovery is Riding Pretty, whose blog name I love, and is “dedicated to all the girls in the world who want to ride pretty on a bicycle”. Sounds just about right to me!
Image Sources: Riding Pretty & Copenhagen Cycle Chic
I’ve been a little obsessed with brand graphics as of late, due to the fact that I’m taking on the task of branding bicyclette, and so I’m constantly looking for new sources of inspiration. I recently picked up the oh-so-beautiful coffee table book Fashion Brand Graphics, which shares some of the best examples of graphic design in the fashion world and is a great visual resource to see how certain labels and stores share their brand identity through various mediums, keeping it consistent but never boring.
I must say, the whole process of creating an entire brand book for bicyclette is indeed a daunting one, but nonetheless, I’m excited to begin. Here are a few brand graphics that are inspiring me. If you want to take a closer look, click on the photos and they’ll get bigger. A lot bigger…
Giraffe is a specialist tie brand developed on the concept of “Dont let people tie you up around the neck. Let’s tighten up our own necks nice and tight and stare into the distance from on high like a giraffe”. Interesting. I love the simple photos, fold-out product cards and quirky tag line.
Mezzanine is a small boutique that delivers fresh style that intermingles two elements of avant garde and basic. The collage-like layout of their print materials and the sketches mixed with photographs really appeal to me, as does the catalogue, which has each item printed on a separate card.
Selframe boasts military-look casual wear for women who want a feminine, delicate silhouette. The design of the materials is consolidated by graphics overflowing with a classic taste. Simple, consistent and clean, enough said.
L’Appartment was developed from 25 keywords including art, night, vintage and rock, and offers selective items for female fashionistas with the concept of “my grown-up closet.” The graphics allude to a Parisian atmosphere, with a certain elegance. The whole concept behind this store, and the eclectic graphic style is very much in line with where I see bicyclette.
Milk Fed‘s brand concept is California Cool and features simple clothing for girls without relying on fads. The branding materials are kept extremely clean and simple and the brand is not afraid to flaunt it’s girly roots.
I know I’m a sucker for good branding, and have often been swayed by the strength of good design and overall brand image. I’m curious how important this is to everyone, and if there are any brands (fashion or otherwise) that stand out as exceptionally good or bad?
As most of you probably know by now, as part of my fourth year capstone/thesis project at school, I’m building bicyclette‘s identity throughout this year, and attempting to use social networking to aid in this process. Crowdsourcing, if you will. Last semester was all about exploration: a series of t-shirt designs that explored where some of my inspiration came from (here) and a series of posters featuring a photo shoot I did in order to promote the brand and blog (here). The semester also involved researching and writing a literature review about retail conception and development using social media and constantly exploring my concept creatively, primarily on the blog. Now, this semester, it’s all about putting it all together and working towards one larger creative capstone project for the final exhibition. Here’s my proposal:
My aim this semester is to focus on creating a brand book for bicyclette, my retail concept, exploring and determining the visual standards for the company and developing the brand identity further. This will be done by crowdsourcing ideas through social media as well as using my exploration from the bicyclette blog to guide the direction of the brand. Components of the brand book will include, but are not limited to: logo design, wordmark and branded font, business documentation such as cards, letterheads and envelopes, advertising, presentation materials, shopping bags, hang tags, and the website. Another integral part of this will be the way in which the brand book is presented for the final exhibition, as I want to go about it in an alternative way, and create an environment and experience at the exhibit that is in line with the store image and overall feel of the brand. I would like to create a retail simulation, so that people are able to interact with the various elements of the brand book as they would in the physical store environment.
So, as part of this, and since I need them to take with me to the trade shows in Vegas (yay!), I’ve starting working on some business card designs. I thought I would share them with you, see if anyone has any feedback for me, etc. These are all fairly rough, as is most of my work at this stage in the design process, but it gives you an idea of where I’m going with it.
I was going for something that successfully communicates the bicyclette brand, and is a little more eclectic and less corporate. Right now, it’s looking like the last design is what I’m going to work with, but I would love to hear your thoughts. These are all designed as one-sided, but I think when I actually get them printed, I’ll do double-sided, as I think they’re more professional and less cluttered.
One more quick thing I just have to share, especially seeing as it is Interior Monday, is this AMAZING vintage Arthur Umanoff Swivel Chair that I came across in The Sunday Times Market’s Etsy shop today. If the price tag wasn’t quite so high (especially with the shipping to Canada), it would be mine in a snap, and eventually bicyclette‘s. Le sigh. I definitely have to keep my eyes out for vintage floral print furniture such as this, so much personality.
I would like to share some good news:
SECOND PLACE IN THE ENTERPRIZE REGIONAL BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION!!!
This is also my excuse for why I haven’t been particularly active on here recently. Preparing. Practicing. Panicking. You know the drill. But apparently it paid off, and here I am.
It was a great experience. I presented bicyclette twice, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, for two different panels of three judges, all industry professionals and successful business people. Ten minute presentation and five minute question and answer period. Lots of nerves involved. Stood out in a sea of black suits in my ivory tux jacket.
I thought that since I couldn’t share the presentation itself I would at least share the slides that I put together for it. Visuals are always an important aspect of any project for me, and so I put a strong emphasis on these, knowing that I wanted them to successfully represent the bicyclette brand and communicate my ideas.
So this gives you more of a sense of the business side of things. Obviously these highlight only a very small portion of my 30 page business plan. If you’re curious about anything, feel free to ask!
For those of you who are inquiring as to the prize for this… unfortunately there is none… yet. Getting through this round enables me to go on to the national competition level in Vancouver in a few weeks. Whether I actually make it there or not is another question, as I still don’t know the details, including whether or not flight and accommodation are covered.
I’m on a bit of an emotional roller coaster right now, having put so much time and effort into working on this and then the shock of securing second place followed by today’s feelings of being over tired, over worked and overwhelmed. You know when all of a sudden you seem to lose control of the composure that you’ve been so successful in keeping? That’s me.
With that being said, it’s time for me to curl up and allow my mind to wander…
xoxo.
the little bicyclette that could.
For this edition of Interior Monday, I’ve chosen to spotlight another inspirational boutique that does interior architecture and design extremely well.
One of my friends, Kaitlin from My Vintage Secret, told me about a store in Paris, Merci, that she learned about through a trend presentation that she recently attended. After searching the internet for awhile for more information, I finally found a few articles and blog posts highlighting the shop and raving about its’ unique quality. Simply put, Merci is a charity concept store, with all of the proceeds, minus the costs and salaries, going to children in Madagascar, one of the poorest countries on the planet.
The fairly large, 16 000 sq foot store is split up into three stories offering a multitude of books, clothing, flowers, furniture, and also a café and an elegant canteen. Talk about covering a lot of territory. Merci offers specially designed pieces for the store by Stella McCartney, YSL, and Paul Smith, to name a few, and because the designers have given up their profit margins, the items are 30-40% cheaper. The clothing offerings have been described as “Bobo” (Bourgeois Bohemian), a new term for me, and one that I’m not sure I like the sounds of. I understand the application, but the word “clown” keeps popping into my head first. C’est la vie. Merci also boasts a vintage stand, which has been likened to a 70s photo shoot and is completed with a selection of pieces donated by various actors, models, and singers.
The top level of the loft offers a wide range of furniture, some affordable, some more decadent and in limited editions, along with a multitude of home accessories. “This is a personal mix of rare pieces and daily objects, which illustrates my life philosophy” says owner Marie-France.
Next door is Café Bouquiniste (the Reading Café), which is a New York City inspired space merging a coffee shop and second-hand bookshop.
Merci is a retail store that is truly inspirational in that they have succeeded in creating a hard-to-find, truly unique shopping experience. The merchandise is eclectic and well-curated, they fully embrace and succeed with their high/low pricing strategy, they’ve found the perfect combination of vintage, bespoke and brand, and they’ve created an exciting environment.
This gives me one more item to add to my list of reasons why I need to visit Paris, and a store to look up to as I continue to piece together bicyclette. I knew there was a reason I chose a french name for the store!
I’m curious what everyone thinks of this concept and it’s extremely eclectic orientation?
(All images and information from: http://www.remodelista.com/posts/shoppers-diary-merci-paris, http://blog.emap.com/wgsn/merci-paris/ & http://dazeddigital.com/view/default.aspx?Category=19&ArticleID=4240&PageNum=1)
It’s easy to tell when I’ve had a busy week by whether or not I’ve been blogging. This week has been one such week, here’s what I’ve been up to:
Styling, directing and shooting photos for my next creative project. Here’s a peek at a snapshot (not the whole photo, don’t want to give it away!).
Dressing up and taking self-portraits with the pieces that I’ve borrowed, then deciding I might want to keep them/purchase them after all. Always a dangerous thing.
Becoming a member and visiting the Toronto Fashion Incubator, which I think is going to be an invaluable resource as I continue finessing my business plan.
I’ve also decided I need a little more structure in my life. Or at least my blogging does. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for spontaneity, but certain things call for a little bit more routine, and I think that we will all benefit from this being applied to my blog.
So here’s how it’s going to work: I’m going to have certain days set aside for covering specific topics, and that will remain consistent from week to week. Not only will it allow me to plan out my posts with better efficiency (avoiding the “hmm… what to blog about today…” conundrum), but it will also cover topics that I need to explore further in order to put my business plan together. Makes sense, no?
The tentative plan is this:
My question is, what do YOU want from my blog? What posts have you enjoyed most and what would you like to see more of?
This is one of those days where blogging is a substitute for regular human interaction. It’s not healthy, but trust me, it’s probably better you don’t have to be subjected to a live conversation with me right now. I dashed out to the printer earlier to get my business plan printed and bound (done! yay!), and it was extremely embarrassing trying to explain to the guy there what I wanted done. This, folks, is what way too many hours in front of the computer focused on one specific subject will do to you! We’re talking stumbling over words, extremely slow thought processing and overall dazed confusion. Not pretty.
I then had to take a photo of myself to submit along with my business plan for this competition. I ended up taking a really boring one, but when I was trying to find one on my desktop, I stumbled across this one from an impromptu photo shoot that a friend and I did last year. Hilarious. The glasses are supposed to make me look smart. Ha!
In order to keep my sanity during these long days stuck in front of my laptop, I allow myself to take Google Reader breaks every now and then. In other words, I peruse through my favourite blogs and subject myself to a little eye candy.
Today, courtesy of the Trend Land blog, I stumbled across these images from the H&M Home Collection launch, designed by the H&M design team and UXUS.
The approach was to create a “gallery” of fun fashion home products which customers are encouraged to touch and explore.
H&M Home is a gallery/showroom using highly emotional product presentations, which verge on art, to encourage customers to engage with the brand.
The first installation, “Home Reflections” imagines the world through a looking glass, and explores our ever-changing relationship between identity and style. A combination of mirrors and suspended furniture creates an exhibition that reflects our eclectic taste of today.
I quite enjoy this and its’ abstract quality. Almost has an Alice in Wonderland topsy-turviness to it. I have a feeling the photos don’t do it justice, but it still gives you a sense of the environment. The spotlighting and shadows intermixing with the mirrors creates an interesting moody quality, which is nicely juxtaposed by the bright colours of the products, the intricate furniture detailing and the array of textures. It does make me want to explore.
What do you think… is this an effective way to merge art and design with home fashion products? Too abstract?
Forgive me readers, for I have sinned. It’s been five days since my last blog post.
I don’t believe in making excuses, but allow me to quickly explain:
These past couple weeks for me have been crazy, between work, school, and everything in between. Mid terms and thesis creative project due last week, website storyboards due this week. As much as I’ve entered into this haze of sleep deprivation, constant computer attachment and work overload, it’s actually been good in terms of exploring my store concept in various ways and starting to put together some visual materials.
For my creative project, I decided to compile and explore my sources of inspiration, and create a mini-series of printed t-shirts representing that. Et voila! The idea was to try to make them look vintage and reflect the aesthetic of the store environment.
Unfortunately in my mad rush to get out the door the morning they were due, my photographs weren’t very good.
For the first one, I did a series on words representing my store concept and the inspiration behind it. Basically a collage of ideas and concepts. No photo, sorry.
The second was more abstract, playing on the idea of a floor plan. The photo didn’t turn out, but here’s the graphic.
And the last (my personal favourite) was based on my collection of inspirational images. I can’t wait to start wearing this, I’m really happy with how it turned out and the colours that emerged.
And there you have it! Nothing that will launch me into a t-shirt designing career (at least not yet), but a good means of exploring and communicating some of the ways and images I use for inspiration.
The website I’m currently working on is for bicyclette, and meant to act as a supporting platform for this blog. I’ll have some key pieces of information on there that will give people a sense of my store concept without having to flip through posts. These are just rough storyboards, but they give you a sense of the overall look and feel.
And there you have it, a little peak at what I’ve been up to recently and proof that I’ve been busy!
ps. Happy Halloween! I’m about to go put the finishing touches on my costume, which I’m extremely excited about. I’ll post photos of tomorrow. What’s everyone dressing up as?
Interior design, decoration and layout is a huge part of a retail store, and in my mind, one of the most important. It’s somewhat permanent (or at least aspects of it are) and therefore requires a certain level of commitment from the beginning. It should communicate a feeling and tell a story, complementing the merchandise and overall brand identity without competing and creating an environment. In my mind, on the most basic level, I place most stores into one of two categories based on their interiors: streamlined and modern, or vintage and organic. I’ve been drawn to both on different occasions, but envision bicyclette in the latter category. I want it to have a vintage-inspired, treasure hunt-inducing quality. I love whitewashed walls, wooden floors, wallpaper and colourful accents. Clean and pretty and somewhat mismatched.
I found these photos of a London home, and have fallen in interior love, imagining them transformed into bicyclette with utter perfection.
Images: Light Locations
One of the things I want to do is take pieces of vintage furniture, such as tables, chairs, dressers, chests, mirrors, etc., and refurnish them. It’s amazing how easily a new coat of paint and a little TLC can breathe new life into a piece. Vintage pieces, both clothing and furniture, appeal to me because of their nostalgic value and ability to tell a story, which is one the things that I want to capture within the bicyclette environment. These pieces would be used as visual display and merchandising props, but also be for sale. This would add to the eclectic look and feel of the store, and ensure that the merchandising is ever-changing, as pieces are sold and new pieces are added.
Images: Decor8 Blog
I’m a sucker for whimsical, fairytale-esque design and pretty details. It’s the little things in life.
As I mentioned in my very first post, one of the reasons why this blog came into being was as part of my final year thesis/independent study. Beyond just using this year to research and construct a store concept and business plan, I’m looking into how I can use social networking and create an online community to spark dialogue, share ideas, and find out what potential future customers want from my store.
Aside from academic research, I’ll be exploring this idea creatively, focusing on different facets of the process and different mediums. Which is why I’ve decided to share my first project, which was a creative proposal for my idea.
What I wanted to do was illustrate the idea of creating a dialogue about the store concept and generating thoughts, ideas and questions. So I built a 3D model to demonstrate, complete with Barbie paper doll clothes, ribbons, clothes pins and cartoons. Don’t laugh.
It essentially turned out as a web, which is what I was going for. Kind of a play on words, web… internet… get it? And though it had a handcrafted look, it suited my idea perfectly, because this is about the process, not the finished product. The pieces of clothing represent the fact that I’m essentially building the concept for a clothing store, and each piece stands for an individual within my network. The pieces are connected with various colours of ribbon, representing different connections that occur. On some of the connections there are little icons representing dialogue, thoughts, and ideas, which it is my goal to inspire and moniter.
It’s proving to be be somewhat difficult to direct people here and get them talking, which I know will take time, but is essential to my idea. I would love to hear what everyone has to say, and how I can get them interested and involved.
I’m also using Twitter and Facebook as tools, so if anyone has any secrets about using them for promotion and whatnot, that would be great as well. That’s going to be one of my areas of research, but unfortunately I haven’t had the time to delve into that yet, due to the craziness that is my life at the moment.
‘Til tomorrow!
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