Download - American Apparel Process Book
American ApparelAndrew Baena / Ivor Sangala / Janet Lau / Sean Harwick / Ty Husband
R
selfmadeProcess Book
This process book is the documentation of a 4 week intervention for the company American Apparel. This book contains the research, precedents, framework, prototypes, and results of the intervention.
We are exploring the domain of brand experience, with emphasis on service design, interaction design and interface design.
The Purpose.
The Team.
The Domain.
erican ApparelAmApparelAmerican Acan ApparelAmeri
American ApparelAmerican Appparel
American ApparelAmeerican Apparel
American ApparelAmerican Apparel
American AppparelAAmerican Apparel
AThe Client.Our client, American Apparel, is an LA based clothing manufacturer and retailer that offers quality basics to young urbanites. The company’s value-centric brand strategies are reflected in it’s ethic business practices and disputable advertisements. The brand’s outspoken identity attracts attention and controversy, creating an ideal opportunity for a design intervention.
Andrew BaenaTy HusbandJanet Law
Ivor SangalaSean Warwick
05101725
Process Framework07 Client selection08 Examining trends09 SWOT Analysis
11 Business strategy12 Brand toolkit13 Establishing demographic14 Looking to Frog15 Looking to RG/A16 Establishing opening
18 Eliminate cognitive overhead 19 Sketching21 Wireframing23 Refine microinteractions24 Fill the innovation gap
Finding Opportunity
Form Development
Form Refinement
The Project.
Self Made is a micronetwork for young urbanites to refine their fashion identity through a transparent dialogue with American Apparel.
Place holder
26 Prototyping31 Advertisement campaign32 Touchpoints34 Journey framework
05 Process Framework
08 Examining Trends
MASSCLUSIVITYDemographic: HipstersTrend that demonstrates unique characteristics implies a strong sense of self (quantified self)
GUILT FREE PURCHASEDemographic: Activists, socially consciousTrend is pressure and desire to have guilt free status when consumingExamples: Tesla, Prius, Nudies, Toms, hemp products
POP UP RETAILDemographic: Socially aware, hipstersTrend is those desiring the offbeat seasonal retail Examples: Red Bull Nike
EcosystemTranparency
UbiquitousMeaning to Utilitarian
CP+B
THE TEAM
FROG
Value CentricSocially Minded
COMPANY VALUESCONNECT
CONTEXT
CHOOSE
CLIENT
OPENING
COMPARE
CONSIDER
BRAND EXPERIENCE
GENERATE POTENTIALS
SHORTLISTED CLIENTS
CONSTRAINTS
Service Design
Interaction DesignBrand Development
Shared valuesMultiple touchpointsIntriguing brand identity
NCIX
LAND ROVER
BRAND AFFORDANCES
BUSINESS AFFORDANCES
MODO
AMERICAN APPARELBANG - ON!LAST F.M.
Local company (optional)Already established
SWOT ANALYSIS
FIND OPPORTUNITY
Strengths Weaknesses
Opportunities Threats
Are they clients that we can be passionate about?Is there an opportunity to drive culture?
Brand PositionBrand PromiseBrand MessageBrand Values
Product/ServiceTarget AudienceLocation
Market PositionOpeness toinnovation
COLLECTTRENDS
CLIENT SELECTIONFRAMEWORK
CONNECT - CONTEXT - COMPARE - CONSIDER - CHOOSE
Current trends, future trends
OBSERVATIONSInsights derived from the examination of actions
PRECEDENTS Examining what companies are doing well and doing poorly
SWOT ANALYSIS
10Finding Opportunity
is a structured planning method used to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats involved in a project or in a business venture.
11 Business strategy
12 Brand Toolkit.Business Strategy.
13 establish demographic 14 look to frog
Digital Agency: Frogis a creative organization designed to help client partners drive innovation in an increasingly complex market. They imagine, design, and engineer solutions that create meaning and value for the new connected world. Through Frog’s values, they inspired our iterative project process to create an innovative design.
15 look to rg/a 16 estbalish opening
is a full-service digital advertising agency that delivers innovative communications, consulting, and commerce solutions for the world’s leading brands. What we were inspired by was their #ShowYourColor Beats campaign which lead us to alsocreate a campaign to promote our design intervention for American Apparel.
Beats wanted the 2012 launch of their new coloured headphones to make a big impact and bring people together. R/GA knew that the target audience had one thing in common: their cherished individuality.
Starting with a launch in the midst of the London Games in 2012, R/GA kickstarted a culture around sound and self-expression that took the world by storm. The result was an additional 1.7 million fans joining the Beats Army, including a 76% growth in Instagram followers and a 57% increase in YouTube subscribers.
As a result of the campaign, Beats by Dr Dre accounted for 80% of all premium headphone sales in the US during the holiday season in 2012, plus 50% of all headphone sales during the same period. Reaching 180 countries, the #showyourcolor campaign was an astronomical success — making Beats by Dr Dre the #1 audio brand and creating just the big impact they wanted.
WHAT INSPIRED US:1 Create a movement around self expression2 Give everybody a way to join in3 Reward participants4 Take a photo5 Type a word that describes you6 Show your personality
R/GA 16 Establish Opening.
Eliminate Cognitive
Overhead.Form development17
Canadian Intervention
As we began developing our form, we constantly considered the cognitive overhead required for each idea. If the perceived value of an interaction is less then the cognitive overhead to complete that interaction, then our prodoct would be undesireable.
SKETCHING
1st Iteration
2ndIteration
3rd Iteration
LTE 9:41 AM
x
22 Wireframing
LTE 9:41 AM
1
2
3
x
1 2 3
LTE 9:41 AM
1
2
3
x
1 2 3
LTE 9:41 AM
2
SELFMADE
By American Apparel
LTE 9:41 AM
SELFMADE
By American Apparel
LTE 9:41 AM LTE 9:41 AM
12 3
LTE 9:41 AM
WIREFRAMING
This was our initial core experience that we wanted to create through a mobile application. We intended to make Self made a platform for hopeful trendsetters to earn social status by expressing their originality. It guides potential customers into a relationship with the brand to create a larger market and increased sales.
23 refine microinteract.24 fill innovation gap
Fill Innovation GapFill Innovation GapFill Innovation Gap
Online retail platforms operate on the assumption that the consumer knows which item they are looking for. A more
realistic situation is that the consumer only knows the context and style they are looking to purchase for. We strove to meet that need by designing an online retail
experience for consumers who don’t know exactly what they are shopping for. In this approach we transferred
of browsing a physical retail location into a digital platform and allowed for consumers to discover
new styles and fashions.
PROTOTYPINGForm refinement25
Canadian Intervention
27 Prototyping 28 Prototyping
29 Prototyping 30 Prototyping
31 Advertisement Campaign32 Advertisement campaign
We are taking over American Apparel’s change rooms. When you enter the change room there are three walls. One of the walls will be adorned with samples taken from the Self Made platform. This will give people who are in the change room a sense of curiosity since each picture is branded to represent the platform. The mirror of the change room will have an electrostatic sticker that overlays the entire mirror transforming it to look like an AA ad. On the final wall, a simple advertisement stating “Tell us who you are, tell us what you love, get inspired, become Self Made” will further drive guests to look up the platform and try it out. The whole objective of this campaign is to simply drive visitors of the store to try out the platform.
These are samples taken from Self Made platform that will be adorned on American Apparel’s changeroom walls.
33 Touchpoints. Journey Framework