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