I’ve been working on the biyclette brand book for awhile, and recently have found myself lacking in inspiration. My daily blog roll is a constant source of new ideas and visuals, and it is through this that I came across Promise Tangeman, a graphic designer and photographer whose talent and vision is undeniable as evident through both her blog and website. I think one of the challenges I’m finding with the branding is coming up with a cohesive visual identity that can be applied in multiple situations, without being locked into something too corporate and repetitive. I want the essence of bicyclette to come through.
Promise’s style is evident in all of her work, and her use of colour, layering, textures and collage-like elements is impressive. I love the look and feel of it. She does a lot of work on weddings, and the personality really comes through there, as she is able to capture the essence of each individual couple, and create a brand for them.
Enjoy…
… And various branding concepts for Matilda Jane, a children’s clothing line. I love her use of colour, type and textures, and how she is able to create such a strong identity for the line. Inspirational, most definitely.
All images courtesy of Promise Tangeman
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?
First weekend of freedom, and I must say, it was well spent and much needed. Red wine and catch-up chats … Sleep ins and lazing at my own leisure … Drinks and impromptu dance parties with the ladies … Afternoon walks in the sun and good food … DIY planning and projects … Catching up on John from Cincinnati and Dragons Den.
Beautiful, yes.
Thought I’d share a few of the DIY projects I’ve completed recently. They’re simple, but this is just the beginning, I still have a long list of to-do’s in this department!
Sequin Decal on Batwing Top
Studded Bag
Lace Bib Necklace and Earrings
The jewelry isn’t quite done yet (the chain’s not attached), but I’m pretty happy with how it’s turning out so far. I’m taking orders for it, as I have lots of supplies left over! I think I’m going to start looking for vintage lace (wedding dresses, perhaps?) and repurposing it into jewelry. The possibilities are endless, and each piece would be completely unique, an aspect I love. I just wish I had more experience in knowledge in jewelry-making. Hmmm… possible extra-curricular activity?
DIY projects are definitely something I want to incorporate into bicyclette, though I’m still trying to figure out what the best way to do so would be. I would love to hear your thoughts on this … selling pieces DIY’d by us, under a bicyclette label? Offering DIY sessions to customers?
Also, if you want to share links to other projects that I might be able to pursue, or projects that you’ve completed, I’d love to see!
On that note, I leave you with this lovely bicyclette-esque illustration that I found, courtesy of illustrator Clare Owen’s blog. It’s love. Expect to see more on her soon.
First off, before we get down to Wednesday business (inspiration day!), I’d like to share my (partial) outfit of the day. For my first thesis creative, I designed a series of three inspiration focused t-shirts, shared here. After handing them in, I kind of forgot about them, until I got them back the other day. As you can imagine, I was excited to incorporate them into some outfits. So here you are, my first outing with the bicyclette tee, off to write an exam.
T-shirt: DIY / Snow Leopard Cardi: H&M / Rhinestone Necklaces: Random Collected
I know I’ve already done a brand spotlight on Wildfox Couture, but I had to do a follow-up when I saw their latest campaign for their Summer 2010 collection, this time as a source of inspiration.
It’s amazing. Like most other girls, I have a soft spot for Barbie, and with her 50th anniversary having passed this year, it seems like a perfect time to pay a little homage.
One of the things I always love about Wildfox is that they don’t take themselves too seriously, and this shoot is a perfect example. Notice how everything’s exaggerated a little and the characters are almost caricatures. I love the styling, and the modeling is executed so well. These girls have the broken doll look down to an art.
Images: http://ilovewildfox.com/
Also, check out their website here. They have a great little behind-the-scenes photo shoot video on their home page that makes me want to dress up and make my own video. Hmmm, extra-curricular project anyone?
Oh, the joys of being a girl!
Which Wildfox Barbie character is your favourite? Who do you relate most to?
Yes, thank god it’s Friday!
Another grueling week, and now only one more week of classes and just over two for assignments and exams. I’m at that stage where I’m finding it hard to concentrate because of how near the end appears to be. Must. Get. Through. It’s going to be a hectic couple o’ weeks, but the reward of holiday freedom is nudging me onwards. So excited to curl up and get lost in books, tackle my own personal to-do list, get crafty with some DIY projects and wander through my days aimlessly. A much needed break.
I’m taking the night off and spending it in bed with the 90210 gang (season 5 now), to rest my mind for the final round of projects. I deserve it. I just finished sorting through a bunch of old school work to toss out, both in print and on my computer, and came across this photoshoot/ad campaign that I did for a project last year. It was shot by the lovely and oh-so-talented Ruby, modeled by Monika, Jen and Courtney, and I did the styling, makeup and design work. I had recently completed my makeup course (yes, I’m a certified makeup instructor… betcha didn’t know that!), so it was a chance to play around with some dramatic looks.
I’m also working on my second version of the business plan, to be entered into another competition by next Friday, so that’s one more think to add to the chaos. If anyone has any good resources or hints for me, I would LOVE to hear about them. I’m looking for all the help I can get at this point!
Happy Friday!
As I’ve alluded to before, I recently did a photo shoot for my second creative thesis project, starring my lovely friend Jen. Here are the final results! You just have to imagine them poster size, on nice fancy paper….
So the idea behind them is that they would be put up as posters around the city as an alternative form of promotion for the blog and bicyclette as a store concept. You can rip off the little tabs at the bottom, which has the blog address on it, so people who are intrigued by the photos can take a look.
I’m curious to hear what everyone thinks of them? I really enjoyed coming up with the concept and putting it all together, and I would love to hear any feedback…
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?
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?
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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