Interview with Lynn To

Having the client available for a last minute sit down interview session is handy as it will provide me with the answers to most of the questions I was pondering on the week before. As Lynn is my friend and understands that this my major project and is helping me make it my own. She is giving me most of the design leadership. This interview helped me gain some visual direction in which to start designing in.

 

Can you give me some words that you thin describe the brand and its garments?

 Feminine 

 Romantic

 Vintage

 Travel

 International

 Quirky

 Ornate

Timeless romance with a dash of modern grunge. Day to night, casual to corporate depending on the collection.


What do you know of your audience? Who is the LTO woman?

The main LTO woman is likely aged between 20 - 40. Shes part of a higher socio-economic demographic. Price points start at $200. She appreciates quality and the prestige. She respects her appearance but still wants to stand out from the crowd.


Who would you say your competitors were and why?

Aus. designers such as Karla Spetic and Dion Lee. They have a similar market and share a few design qualities as LTO. However LTO is set differently as it is more of a vintage and quirky personality. 

 

Do you have any ideas for what kind of promotional material you would want?

My website is currently in the process of being made, the outlines of it anyway. I think the things that are are completely necessary at this time would be the logo as it goes on the swing tags, garment labels and the look books.

(below is a snippet of some of Lynns sketches and a garment that she has made before.)

Lto

The 3 keys!

The mini topic of research I am pondering this week is the importance of branding and what differentiates a good branding project from a bad one. 

While just browsing the internet, sorting my way though Marketing mumbo jumbo, I found a website/blog with a simple list of things that should be taken into consideration when undertaking a project such as mine. The site is called http://www.brandxpress.net/2011/11/dos-and-dont-in-branding-a-startup/ and these are some of the things I picked up and how I related it to my own project;


DEFINE YOURSELF AND YOUR PRODUCT

Before you go out to your customers be specific and honest regarding your purpose. What are you going to provide? Clearly define your product/service in detail. Think what are the benefits for the potential customer, what’s the need that you cover.

LTO provides both higher end garments as well as every now and again creating diffusion lines for a younger audience. I must show a definite difference between the two.


KNOW YOUR CUSTOMERS

… and know them better then anyone else. Know their needs, their habits, their way of life. Every decision you make from the style of your homepage to locations of your ads will depend on who you are targeting. This is not simple task, but it must be done. Start by describing for yourself the person who would be most likely to need your service or product.

I need to have a sit down Q&A session with Lynn in order to define her audience(s) as specifically as possible. What would appeal to them and what are their habits? If LTO was a person, what kind of person would she be?

 

POSITION YOURSELF AND YOUR BUSINESS

Who are your competitors. How are you satisfying your customers better/different that your competitors

Overview the direct competitors in the Australian Fashion market. How is LTO different? This would be some good questions to go into the Q&A.

 

...Branding?

I have definitely spent most of this week imagining and mentally planning all the things that could be done and that should be done as a part of my project. However, when it came to actually putting something down on paper or physically putting these thoughts and inspirations into action, I wasn't quite sure where to begin. I felt a bit out of my depth; like being thrown in the deep end without actually knowing which way I need to swim. Getting carried away with thoughts of what could be is one of my problems. I spend a lot of time thinking before putting anything into action, yet this time it is slightly different. Im not really sure where I should begin with this project. Perhaps it is because I have never tackled such a project as a whole.

I feel a solution to this problem is actually gathering some research and doing some case studies. I enjoy hearing opinions from people that differ from my own, as well as picking up things and learning from other peoples successes and mistakes. I will try to do a bit of research into parts of branding to help me out and give me a fresh take on things when I feel a bit out of my depth.

 

Major Project; a quick synopsis!

My major project mostly deals with branding and photography. I will be working with a friend of mine Lynn To who is starting up her own fashion label, LTO. I am interested in the different thoughts and decisions that may come about and need to be considered when creating a new identity in the fashion market. What also interests me is how the design leadership changes throughout the process as a whole; the decisions that are made by the designer and the decisions that are made by the client.

The reason I chose to pursue this path for my major project is that my aim after uni is to work in the fashion industry and feel that this would be a great addition to my portfolio that can show a variety of my skills and how they come together in one solid, client based project.