Integrating the blind into society

We as a brand have thought about the blind and the non visually impaired and created something that appeals and works for both types of people.
Everything to do with our brand has to be well thought out, From the types of fabrics to the lighting in the store.
Everything is with the blind in mind, If you weren't to see anything you'd still get that FEEL experience that those with sight would also have.

Its a way on integrating the blind into society. Creating a store and brand that is for both types of people gives the blind a sense of equality. Its a store that is accessible for everyone and gives a different experience to everyone but one that people will remember.

Something that is important is that some of the employees should be visually impaired, this gives those who are sense of comfort and making it equal between both types of people. A lot of employees won't employ someone if they are visually impaired. And why? because they can't see where they're going or they don't represent the company, where everyone has to be stylish and on trend?

we hope to integrate the blind into society and show those companies that it doesn't matter if you're visually impaired, you can shop and work anywhere.

FEEL is a company which is all about equality, everyone is welcome and FEEL is for everyone.

Website Progress

As Creative Director, Its my job to create the website and make sure that it fits the FEEL brand that we as a group have created. After our group presentation, we decided that the colour of the website needs to be a grey/ charcoal grey as its easier on the eye. This is also an important factor for the text as white on black can be quite harsh on the eyes. I've gone for an off white which works perfectly with the grey background.  As we won't have professional photos of the garments to add to the website, Ive added an image of a living wall which will feature in our store. I think aesthetically the images works well the the website and will hopefully draw the customer in and want to visit the store.  The logo is still currently being developed after our presentation and will be added to the top of the website in due corse. 

Group Presentation Outcomes

- Colours of the website need to be a charcoal grey with an off white text colour - easier on the eye to those who are visually impaired.

- Designs work perfectly with the brand

- Sketch up - a good way to create a 3D image of the shop

- Logo Feel text should be made smaller so there is more focus on the braille

- Logo Braille colour needs to be finalised 

Website Design Mock Up

Before creating the real mock up for our website, I did a quick sketch of the basic out line for it. When creating this website, i need to make sure that it fits our brand perfectly - its simple, for easy use but also visually appealing for those without sight problems.

Floor Plan Development

After drawing the basic floor plan by hand, I then scanned it and traced over it on Illustrator. There is more to add to the floor plan and this is just how the rooms will be set out. We still need to think about the changing rooms which is the age section at the back, how the clothes are going to have and if there will be anything in the middle of the rooms. This is something that we will discuss during our next group meeting.

Sarah Baily Interview Part 2

Is there anything else that you really want to do and haven't done yet?

'I think i need to do more styles, I need to do backpacks and oh I'm going to do a mens collection as well. I think I'm going to do some really basic simple satchels and I'm going to use some black and brown leather and then mix it up with a wax cotton, you know like wax canvas, Like Barbour coats. Im going to try that na get a little photoshoot  together for that. Then i can approach mens magazines, I'll put up laptop covers and things like that in there too'

Its interesting how that when you were at uni though because when we get asked about what we want to do when we finish, its interesting how it changes

'yeah i think by the time you leave uni and you've worked at a couple of different places, it takes a bit of time to figure it out, some people just know don't they. Someone i know wanted to be a mid wife and she knew all her life she wanted to be a mid wife'

We always have to toile everything, do you have to toile it or do you just make it in the leather straight away to see if it works?

'I just make them in the leather. I usually just use some off cuts because its leather, theres always going to be a scar or scratch or something, a bit i can't really use so i just use those bits and make them up. But honestly most of the time they're just really simple designs so i know they're going to work'

You know the D rings and zips do you do them yourself?

'Yeah, theres loads of places, London Trimmings, I can just pick them up from or i can just order them online but once you've gone to all these places you realise that everyone in the leather business knows each other, its quite handy. When i went to get my zips from these people, they recommend me someone who could stitch the bags and then they knew a zip guy who you can buy them wholesale off. so people have helped me out along the way'

Obviously you need to make a profit so do you work it out if you were doing it in bulk or do you do it individually?

'individually, but i mean I've just bought a roll of zip and then figured out how much that bit of zip costs. Everyone uses the YYK zips because they're cheaper. I got a Comme De Garcons jacket which was so ridiculously expensive and all their zips were just cheap YYK zips.

After talking about Sophie's bag she made at uni

'Basically my friend Joe did later cutting onto leather, you see that monogram there, he could engrave that onto leather but then it smells like burning skin'

What would you recommend is the best leather to use on bags? 

'the thing is i really like this leather and I've tried out a few but its never been quite right. Its not been the right thickness so I've always gone back to this and i think its over priced, its from Alma leather, they've got a big place in the west end and then they've got one in white chapel so they are nenouned for being expensive but because i really like this leather and keep using it, i keep going back to it. So i do reckon thats pretty high price because I've got other hides for cheaper. unless i can find something else that matches it i'll go for it but at the moment i'll stay with it cause its slightly waxy, its just like the perfect thickness as well.

And this is other stuff, this isn't doubled, just enough for a strap, i've just done one side and did it myself. All the small bits i can just put on myself' 

Do all your friends get them as presents?

'They used to but not any more. My friend Diana, we call her dirt bag. I've just got this patient leather bag and gold letters which I've really crudely cut out with my hands and it just says dirt bag and its really cool in big writing. Then all i have to do is glue it on and get them to get it stitched. So i might off that on the website as something you can have on the bag. If you wanted a little joke or message or word or anything then you can just order it. Or even just big initials on it. So the workshop i use they've got all the embossing machines so i can do that, i just haven't got around to putting it on my website yet but i will do eventually'

Do you have a specific name for each bag?

'Erm, well when i did the AW collection i did name them all after people that had bought the bags. So Melody Morton was one of the bags because she ordered a gold and leopard print bag off me and it was her idea to put those together so i named it after her. Ive named them for the last collection still probably do the same for the next' 

Are there any compromises you've had to make?

'I'd say the only difficult thing is wanting to do lots more designs but then having to slow down because the more different designs i make, the more leathers i buy, i can't afford to buy so much. I have to keep it to a certain amount of colour. you see this hairy one, i bought it in a bright pink, bright blue and bright orange for summer but i need to use up every last piece of it'

You could make coin purses and stuff?

'yeah i still do coin purses and oyster wallets. Its just restricting because its not like fabric you can buy that by meter, you've got to buy the whole hide which is really expensive and then you've got so much wastage from scars on leather. So I've realised now that I'm adding on 20% wastage, when i buy a hide i know that 20% of its going to be waste. Its an odd shape for one so you can always fit the pattern on, I have kept them so i can use them for bits. In fact its not even 20% its 30% waste. You but it by square foot so if they say thats £2.50 per square foot, i have to think thats £5 because I've got to add 20% tax on top of that and 30% wastage so it doubles in price. You've just got to be clever about using the off cuts. its good to have little bits a lower price points because its something to buy then, like a little key ring'

You know the PR girl does she work full time or is she part time?

'no she's part time, she set up her own company and I'm just on her books now as one of her clients, so i think she has other clients as well. She came round my house and saw my stuff, she looked at my stamp that says handmade in east London and she was like oh you know handmade is one word.

Thats another thing thats difficult, being on your own, you have no one to pick up on things like that or no one to bounce ideas off. It dos your head in sometimes being on your own. Im really glad to have her, even if she's just on the phone'

What do you think the grand plan is, to keep expanding the business?

'To have my own offices and people working for me and a shop obviously. A flagship store in London and then try and get them over into America and Australia, because they're quite bright colours some of them. When i was with another website, do you know boutica, they're like an online boutique. They basically host the website and all these designers sell their stuff on there. they take a cut of the sales but i used to sell loads to Australia, so theres a couple of websites I'm on like that.

Because they take a cut, I'm trying to push the sales onto my website, get that going and then get a sort of recognition and hopefully people will remember and come back for more' 

Do you enjoy it?

'yeah, yeah i do and actually thats why I'm doing it because I'm not actually making much money really and even if i do make money, I'm spending it again on PR or collections or photoshoots. The money just comes in and goes out but i do really enjoy it thats why when i think back to uni as well, you're kind of considering everything and doing it properly and in real life you're like shit just do it. Make mistakes as you go along. 

Thanks for meeting us

'Thats okay, i really need to check out that leather place whats it called?'

GH Leathers

'i have a friend who's all ethical and I'm always like i get my leather from Itlay but I'm never going to outsource to China, i want to keep it in the UK. I want to be in contact with the people making my stuff, see them everyday, chat to them about designs. I couldn't imagine sending stuff out there and then getting it back like what is this. Everything is handmade, i cut every piece of leather, every things controlled as i go along, that will definitely stay like that and then the ethical thing on top.

I was looking at your website and it looks so professional

'Really? honestly if you look at my photos, my photos are awful. This is the thing, this is why I've got someone it, Ive just shoved the pictures on there. so some are cut out and some are bigger than others. From a photographers point of view, when i get things photographed at this place she just looks at my website and is just like Sarah, that is really out of focus and I'm like is it. Now she's made me really conscious and yeah she's really particular and she's going to sort out my images and then everything will be the same size.

Its just another thing to do. have to do that and then we've got tax return and then I've got to do a new collection, so loads of stuff to do and then keep on top of orders'

You know you're doing a new season, how far in advance do you have to do it?

'Right, i should have done it already. this is the thing i need to start being on time because obviously with press, magazines and stuff, i need to more forward. 

Because I'm not selling massive wholesale items, its not that big of a deal. But i spoke to the PR girl and said I'm going to do this SS collection and don't make it a big deal out of it being SS15 and maybe use it next year as well. For wholesale so they can see it and buy it next year in the shops so i think we can do it like that. I really should have done it last summer, so I'm going to try and spread this new collection over 2 summers. I can use stuff I've already got and mix it up. Maybe add a few bits next summer but a least the bulk of it and the photoshoot i can still use otherwise I'm going to spend a few grand on photoshoots'

Do you use professional Photographers?

'yeah, the last photoshoot i did, i hired a studio, a model, a photographer, a stylist and a make up artist. It cost me a fortune. Im glad i did it because the pictures came out really well'

I read on your website as well, weren't you stocked in Jager?

'yeah, they found me actually. Not this christmas but the one before. so i've got a core collection i run constantly. so they had my first collection, so that was really exciting'

Sarah Baily Interview Part 1

As part of our trip to London we got the chance to interview a lovely lady who has started up a business and got got to ask her lots of questions. Due to the meeting being around an hour long, I've had to split the questions and answers into 2 posts. I didn't want to get rid of loads of it because its all really useful information for this project as well as the future.

'Do you do pattern cutting for bags?'

Yeah, I've just started but I'm trying to specialise in bags though

'Oh my god maybe you could help me, I can't pattern cut at all'

Do you make the bags yourself? 

'I kind of just do it, they are quite simple shapes, you know the ones on my website, really simple because i didn't study fashion'

I read that you started with graphic design?

'Yeah and then i didn't even do that and then i did interior design. A girl who has an interior boutique, she's called Abigail Hern, I don't know if you've heard of her but i worked for her and made cushions and it kind of evolved from there. So yeah i advent actually studied fashion, i just make it up as i go along. 

And the bigger shopper bags, i got one, took it apart and took it from there and just unpick stuff. I want to keep it simple anyway with my designs but i don't want to bring in some other new stuff, like backpacks and things like that, i might need you help. 

The guys that make them for me, because when i use a thick leather i get them stitched over in east London so they need patterns and they get a bit impatient with me and they just do the patterns for me but they keep them because they use them all the time - i just give them the leather and they cut them'

So you started with interior and i read you made cushions and they were leather?

'In between working for Abigail Hern, i worked for another company. They make really high end leather sofas and they have a huge store on Finchley road, I worked there and had to know everything about leather. I had to know different types of cow, which country the cow came from, the different grades of leather and if its coated in something or if its a hide. I learnt a lot about leather from them.

Then when i was still doing the cushions for Abigail, even though i left working for her, i carried on making the cushions for her and still do get orders from her now and because they're awkward shaped  i used the off cuts to make some little purses, gave one to my sister and some to my friends and then they started putting in orders. 

And then it just evolved, Its taken me a long time because i started from scratch and i don't know anything about the fashion industry or where to go or really anything about it. Ive just made my way along and found one guy to make some bags and he wasn't quite good enough and then i found someone else and tried out different people and now I've sorted it. I make a few bits, i get some stuff made at this little workshop where i can use the machines and equipment. I don't have to have it all myself, i can just go in there and hire the machines and get others to make bits and bobs'

How long have you been doing bags for?

'I'd say about 2 years, maybe a bit longer but its been quite a slow process. It wasn't like i set to do it, it evolved'

Do you enjoy it more than making cushions?

'Yeah, no i still make cushions they're on my website. When i get an order i make it and post it out so its fine to do both of them, i obviously like interiors because i worked in interiors for so long. The cushions are made from some of the same leather as the bags, they're metallic, shiny and bright so they all kinda of tie in. I left the interior behind and just focusing on the bags'

When you started university did you ever consider doing fashion?

'no, because i was at UCA and half the uni was fashion. I never really considered it because i wasn't really interested. Well i liked it, i just wasn't interested in studying it. And then i did a course at UCL and did interior design there. Then i still didn't really study fashion but a lot of my friends did and a lot of them work in it so I've figured it out as I've gone along'

I've seen on your website about press, Did they approach you or did you approach them?

'A lot of whats on my website was by luck but I've just employed someone to do PR for me so she's just brilliant, so i've got new press. I was in you magazine, the one that comes with the daily mail. Its good because she's really pushing me, its helping me to be more organised'

Is it just you and one other person or do you have other people?

'Its just me at the moment, but before christmas i had a girl studying fashion in london and she's been working for me for a few days a week to help me and she's going to come back for a few days soon. Another friend of mine, who's not working at the moment, I'm going to employ her for a couple days a week because i need to organised a photoshoot and collections'

Have you had celebrities wear your bags?

'No i haven't but i do need to send some stuff out to people'

Ferne Cotton? I love her

'I would do but then she's got her own range, it would be luck if i could get her to wear it'

Or bloggers?

'No I've sent bags to bloggers as gifts, I've sent bags to journalists and gifted them with a bag or asked them to choose one. Ive just sent a press loan to Fabulous magazine, the one that goes with the Sun. So hopefully they'll be shot now and be in next months issue. I've just sent them 3 bags, they put them in their photoshoot and then send them back to me. So id don't always have to give them away'

My friends cousin is a fashion blogger and that works really well

'Yeah and they would get it as a gift

Yeah and all she has to do is post a photo

'Its a good job isn't it'

When you started up the business, did you finance it or did you have to have financial banking?

'Ive managed to scrape through without getting a loan so far but i think i probably will need to because I'm still not really making much money. Each time i expand the business its one step back on the money front but i have to do it to make the business better. 

In the beginning i was doing interior which was just me selling my interior design services so all the money i made in that went to making the bags. The thing is with the bags is that its a lot of money up front, you've got to buy all the leathers, then you've got to get them made, photoshoots done and you've got to get the website done, so you've got all this stuff to do before you sell anything'

Do you make a lot at a time then or do you make them for people?

'It depends i've got a collection which i sell all the time and make a bit of stock. If i know its going to be christmas or if its going into the sale or in a magazine i'll have loads made up ready'

How many do you get made up?

'It depends, if its going into a magazine I'd probably get 10 - 20 made up and for general stock, i try to have a few of each and when they get low, i try to get more in. I've built up a pretty good relationship with the guy who makes them so if i do need one and its not in stock, he's pretty good at doing that but its a bit of running around for me because i have to keep going to pick them up. At the moment before i can afford to have massive stock, thats the only way for me to do it really'

You know your website, did you do that yourself?

'Its actually a big cartel website, you get the standard ones but i did have a girl help me set it up and she put the carousel of pictures on and did some more of the complicated bits and now its easy i just upload everything myself and you just pay 20 dollars a month which is about £12. 

We made a few sales off the website and then at christmas time theres loads of christmas fairs, in London theres so many things like that going on all over the place. I did loads of christmas fairs and pop up shops, I had a little portable card reader you could take with you so i used that'

How do you organise a pop up shop, how do you go about it?

'I did one here actually (islington) and that was through a friend of a friend who knew the guy that owned the building so he managed to get into contact with him and say look theres this empty building can we use it and he was really kinda and let us use it. It looks better if theres something going on in there instead of being just an empty space. It was a bit of a shell though, there was nothing in it, it was quite hard work to get it set up. And another one, she's actually one of the mums from my daughters school, she has a littler gallery space near where i live so me and some of the other mums who make stuff got together and did a little pop up shop near where i live and that was the best one'

So its all contacts?

'Yeah, theres not a lot going on round where we live, its quite a quiet residential area, that worked really well because everyone was really excited about it an everyone knew everyone who was involved in it. Where as here theres so much going on, so many nice shops to compete with on upper street it didn't really work as well as a quiet little residential street which is weird but thats how it worked'

Do you do your business full time or do you still do interiors?

'Not really, some friends of ours have bars and i sometimes help them out with a few bits and nick my other half has got a building contracting business, he had a restaurant to do up from scratch and i did the interiors for that project, so if I'm low on cash i have to do that'

Did you say you have children?

'Yeah one little girl'

Do you find running a business with a daughter hard?

'no it is hard because childcare in the beginning childcare was really expensive but not she's at school full time so the childcare costs have cut down but at the moment its good. But if i had another one it would be tricky, thats why i haven't had another one but its difficult like she's coming round with me to all the leather merchants and everything, they all know her so they ask for her all the time'

Do you get all your leather locally?

'Yeah'

And are they ethical/buy products?

'They're all full hides straight from Italy, i know you can get certain farming'

At uni we're encouraged to go for a certain company because they're which buy products so they've been killed for meat anyway

'Oh i see, I need to check. I get smaller ones that are sheep, i don't know if they are but i don't know i haven't asked about those ones. But i can imagine they're just killed for their skins'

Our technician Gill is really into leather and she encourages us to use GH Leathers

'Thats a good point tho, i should look into that more, even if its a bit more expensive its a good selling point. The thing is the leather merchants, they change their stock so often and because their buying it from other tanneries, they usually buy it from tanneries in Italy which has minimum order so i can't go directly to the tanneries because i can't do a minimum order. so i have to buy it from them, so if i buy 10 skins its going to cost me. Sometimes it costs me £250 for a skin,

Id like to look at that place whats it called?'

GH Leathers

'And where are they based?'

Local to us but i can't remember but they are good though and quite reasonable - Is that one of your bags? (wearing it and show it to us)

' yeah, that hide there is really soft and quite thick as well so its really good for bags. They are massive cow hides and i pay about £250 for that but its massive. Im actually just doing a collaboration with a mum from school, she designs patterns. She does liberty style patterns, that sort of thing so she's going to do the lining. They'll be some really nice stuff for summer'

Do you have your own studio or do you just work from home?

'I do have a bit of  a studio and the only reason i manage to afford a studio is because Nick my other half has a building company and he has an office space, so I've got a section of that. Thats his office for his business, I've been using that for the moment. I was working from home but its better to get out the house but i need a bigger studio and we are actually looking for somewhere at the moment but its just so expensive'

So are you Islington based?

'No our studio is about 10 minutes away from here, we are North London based. And most of the leather i buy and where i get them stitched is in East London so I'm always between the two.

Chelsea Flower Show 2014 - The Minds Eye

To get an idea of the types of things that are used on a sensory level, I had a look at the garden that won 'Best Fresh Garden', 'Peoples Choice' and 'Gold Medal' at the Chelsea Flower Show 2014.

The Minds Eye was designed for the RNIB. A sensory garden for the blind, partially blind and sighted. Designed and made by Ben Nicholson and Piet Mondrian.

The 'minds eye' is the human ability to create images or scenes without the need for sight - seeing things with your mind. 

- Inspired by the islamic paradise garden.

- A walled garden with an inward looking composition, providing unification and a rich oasis away from the chaos of the outer world. 

- Water is used as a way finder that links and emphasises the architectural elements.

- Water provides a pleasing sound and moisturises and cools the garden microclimate.

- Bird song is introduced to provide animation

- The abstract outer walls and windows are finished with render using a selection of textures. The sombre grey tones contrast strikingly with the coloured glass and acrylic shards which become increasingly fragmented towards the eastern entrance. 

- The glass shards capture light and act as markers and sign posts.

- The glass cube is partially covered with water which refracts light and provides a stimulating sensory experience. 

- The aim was to provide a 'sensual canvas' encouraging the visitor to engage in an intimate experience of touch, sound, taste and aroma. 

- Mist is used to animate the visitors experience.

http://www.ldcgardens.co.uk/gdn-chelsea-2014.php

Colour Blindness

After doing some research, I found two images which should help us with the sorts of colours we could use for our brand and how they will be seen by those who are colour blind

Normal Vision

 Tritanopia

Normal Vision

 Deuteranopia

Normal Vision

 Deuteranopia 

 Protanopia

 Tritanopia

Eye Conditions

- Age-relared macular deganeration (AMD)

- Albinism

- Alstrom syndrome

- Aniridia 

- Anti-VEGF treatment for wet AMD

- Best's disease

- Birdshot uveitis

- Cataracts

- Cataracts - laser treatment following cataract surgery

- Charles Bonnet syndrome

- Coat's disease

- Coloboma

- Congenital cataracts

- Corneal dystrophies (including keratoconus)

- Corneal transplantation

- Diabetes related eye conditions

- Dry eye

- Dystonia 

- Fuchs' dystrophy

- Giant cell or temporal arteritis

- Glaucoma

- Keratoconus

- Laurence-moon-bardet-biedl syndrome

- Light sensitivity 

- Macular hole

- Marfan syndrome

- Micro and anophthalmia

- Monocular vision

- Myopia and high degree myopia

- Neurofibromatosis

- Nystagmus

- Optic neuritis 

- Posterior lens capsule opacification

- Posterior vitreous detachment 

- Punctate inner choroidopathy

- Retinal detachment

- Rentinal vessel occlusion 

- Retinitis pigmentosa

- Retinoblastoma

- Rentinopathy of prematurity

- Sarcoidosis

- Squint in childhood

- Stargardt disease

- Stickler syndrome

- Stroke related eye conditions

- Thyroid eye disease

- Toxoplasmosis

- Uveitis

Statistics

- Almost 2 MILLION people in the UK live with sight loss.

- Around 1 in 30 people

- Of these people, around 360,000 people are registered with their local authority blind or partially sighted.

- It is predicted by 2020 the number of people with sign loss will rise to over 2,250,000

- By 2050 the number of people with sight loss in the UK will double to nearly 4 MILLION

https://help.rnib.org.uk/help/newly-diagnosed-registration/registering-sight-loss/statistics

RNIB - Eye Shields and Sunglasses

Since colour is very important for everything to do with our brand, I had a look to see if there was anything about colour on the RNIB shop website and I found the different types of eye shields they sell and what makes them different to the next. I feel this could help us a little with what colours we could use.

Yellow Tint

designed for central vision loss including AMD due to the high percentage of light transmission - To block out UV and blue light, Can be worn in and outdoors. 

Orange Tint

Very high contrast and suitable for people with RP or Diabetic Retinopathy.

Amber Tint

These offer high contrast in strong sun light and suitable for all eye conditions - Block out UV and blue light, Outdoors only.

Green Tint

Similar to amber but these can be worn in and outdoors. They offer high contrast for all eye conditions and where other tin colours 'feel too bright'. 

Grey Tint 

These only block UV light but are suitable for people where the changes to appearance of colours in the rest of the range of tints is not tolerated bye eye condition - can be worn in and outdoors.

Colours of Products Sold

When looking at the products sold, I kept a note of they colours the things came in.

- Black

- Silver

- Gold

- Dark Blue

- Grey 

- Red 

- White 

- Cream

http://shop.rnib.org.uk/home-and-leisure/eyeshields-and-sunglasses/icat/eyeshieldsandsunglasses

Royal National Institute of Blind people - Shop Research

To gain so more understanding of what there is out there to help those who are visually impaired. I took a look at the RNIB website and had a look to see if they sold anything. Turns out they do and this is what I found...

Products

Clocks and Watches

- Radio controlled clocks and watches

- Talking Watches 

- Talking Clocks 

- Tactile Watches

- Easy To See Watches

- Easy To See Clocks

- Vibrating Clocks and Watches

- Replacement Batteries

Home and Leisure 

- Lighting

- Magnifiers

- Video Magnifiers 

- Eye shields and sunglasses 

- Telephones and Mobiles

- Audio and Television

- Cooking and Hobbies

- Labelling - Labelling for food and clothes - Washable laundry labels

- Personal Care

- Games and Balls

- Managing money

- Writing and Stationary 

- Computers

- Talking Cook Wear 

Canes and Mobility

- Symbol Canes

- Guide Canes 

- Long Canes 

- Cane Tips and Accessories

- Children's Canes

- Walking Stick Ferrules

- Out and About Accessories

- Adaptive Aids

- GPS and Mobility

- White Canes For Children

Reading and Learning

- Audio Books

- Puzzel Books

- DAISY Audio Books

- Children's Toys and Games

- Education

- Sports Balls

- Children's Canes

Braille 

- Braille Stationary 

- Braille Displays and Not Takers

- Learning Braille

- Braille Writing Frames and Styles

- Braille Labelling 

- Braille Paper and Binders

- Perkins Braillers and Paper

- Postal

Shop Floor Plan Development So Far

During our group meeting we all together created a simple, really rough sketch of what the shop floor plan could look like. And from that i developed it further, to look like this. This is just a simple drawing to shop an update from the previous drawing. I am yet to trace over it on illustrator and show it a little more visually. Once all the research has been done into colours, I will be able to work out what colours work best. 

Group Meeting Outcomes

We held a group meeting and discussed what we wanted in the brand and what we will have in the store etc. This is what we came up with and will continue to be developed.

- The brand will begin with 6 outfits and a few accessories 

- Each item will be in at least 5 different textures 

- We will begin with womenswear and later venture into menswear

- The few accessories will literally be a bag and a hat or piece of jewellery

- Logo needs to be created- Brand name: Feel,  Slogan: Surface Perception - this will include the word feel in braille.

- The store will be very subtle and almost gallery like

- Floor plan needs to be developed and created - I personally have begun work on it.

- The store will have 2 different outfits per room

- Interior layout - Think about lights, walls, whats inside, look into flowers, wall of zips, wall of pom poms

- Changing rooms for the store need to be thought about thoroughly - Lindsey's working on this.

- Website needs to be created - begin with something basic

- We are to have a scent in the entrance hall/ entrance to the store - this will be a signature sent

- Swing tags - Braille to be raised 

- The store will be mid range/ high street

- Launch night - Everyone will be made to take their shoes off and will be blind folded to get the full effect of all the textures used in the store.

- eventually to have candles in the signature made scent - quite similar to Joe Malone

The Jumper

The jumper is a knitted garment that covers the torso and arms. Either a pull over style or a cardigan style. Cardigans are defined by the fact that they open at the front and pull overs don't. In other countries such as the USA call the jumper a 'sweater'. 

Jumpers are worn by all ages and sexes, often worn over a t shirt and sometimes against the skin. Jumpers were traditionally made from wool, but can now be made of cotton or synthetic fibres. Jumpers are maintained by washing or dry cleaning, the use of a line roller or pill razor.

Shop Report - & Other Stories

As part of our trip to London, we had to do a shop report. As a group we decided to go into a shop that none of us have ever been in before and that happened to be & Other Stories. I attempted to take some photos sneakily but I ended up spending most of my time walking around this amazing shop that all of us left feeling amazed. 

The outside of the store was very simple but cool like the inside. Each side of the big glass doors were a portrait light box style sign with the simple logo and road name which I personally thought looked very chic and sold the company well as the inside sits well with the way the logo looks. However there was a huge sign which lit up like the smaller sign but looked slightly tacky. The logo was spaced out between about 8 smaller light boxes and wasn't that clear. As it is a shop, a big sign is quite important to 1) to show the shop is actually there and 2) to encourage customers to visit the store. I think the bigger sign let the store down a bit but you don't actually notice it when you're just walking past the store, You actually see the smaller sign first so in a way it does still work. But for me personally I thought the bigger sign was a little bit of a let down - this however didn't change my opinion of the beautiful shop.  There wasn't any clothing as such in the windows which i actually think works quite well as you could see straight into the store and see whats going on before you enter. But it doesn't spoil whats inside which i think they've done very well. 

When you first walk into the store what you see straight away is what you get the whole way through the store. Everything links to what you first see which I don't think many shops can manage to do that. The use of the wooden cabinet drawers that you would see in someones house or office give a really chic cool classy look to the store. 

My first impression of & Other Stories was that it was very clean, everything was perfectly place and completely different to any other shop with a similar price range. The choice of clothing that they put into the store seems to be very cleverly pick out so that each area of the shop goes together which really makes the store look put together. I loved how carefully placed all the jewellery, accessories and make up was. It gave an almost gallery style look to these areas. It was almost like you didn't want to touch it because it looked so beautiful the way it was. Again very different from any other shops was or presenting jewellery, accessories and make up. One part of the store which weirdly made me happy was how nice looking the sale signs were. Typically they are red with bold white writing across them but in & Other Stories, They were a light baby pink which i thought was a nice touch. They fitted in perfectly with the rest of the store and told you there was a sale but it wasn't in your face or messy. The sales were a little bit dis organised like all sale racks are but did still look nice. 

 It was a very comfortable store to walk around as it wasn't packed full of people but it was busy and everyone was very calm which made me feel calm and happy to be there. The trends around the store were very knitwear based along with unique simple work wear stye pieces which are still very fashion forward. There were a lot of black and blues, they seemed to be the key colours of their clothing for AW. 

SWOT

Strengths - The store was clean, contemporary, different, perfectly placed and originals. Everything in the store was different to anything you can get in all the other stores similar out there. The shop has a wide range of products, make up, beauty products, accessories, clothing, shoes, underwear and Jewellery.  Its a new store to the UK which i think gives the store an advantage as its new and exciting. 

Weaknesses - I don't think the shop has a huge amount of weaknesses but there are a few. Firstly there is only one store in the UK and its in London which means its not getting the same amount of customers as a shop such as Topshop. Although it is new store so branching out maybe something they will do in the future. The other weakness is the website, In my opinion it doesn't reflect how good the store looks in person. The website is very basic and not contemporary and chic at all. The website definitely needs development.

Opportunities - As this store develops its customers and gets more and more sales. I think working with magazines will become something quite big for them as they are very unique.

Threats - One of the biggest threats to them is that even though they have amazing products, some of the prices are quite high for an hughstreet store and there is shops that sell similar things for a lot cheaper - especially on the jewellery and accessories front. Zara and Urban Outfitters have similar pieces for cheaper. 

There was a very wide range of people shopping in the store. From a younger audience such as myself to older ladies. Everything in the store would suit many different ages and I think thats one of the best things about the store and what makes it unique.

Tutorial 1

This tutorial was the first of many and we shared our idea. Lets just say it was a success and put a lot more confidence into ourselves and the idea.

Things to research/ look at

- How many registered  blind and how many registered visually impaired.

- Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) - have a look at brochures and if they sell anything (Great Portland Street, London)

- Smell of yarn

- Braille on clothing label and swing tag

- Chelsea flower show - garden made especially for the blind, how was it marketed online

- The store could be a gallery style shop which works as both a gallery and a shop

Name Ideas

After settling for the idea of creating a brand that has the visually impaired in mind, we began to think about what the name of our brand might be. 

To come up with ideas, I began a mind map of words that related to other words. In this instance I started with the word 'senses' which is what our brand is based on. I then had a look in a thesaurus for  similar words and from that branched out. 

After a lot of deliberation, we settled for Feel. Mainly due to sound of the word but as we want our logo to include braille, we needed to make sure it looked good in braille as well as being a good brand name. 

Since the name doesn't say a huge amount about the brand we wanted to have a slogan to go underneath the logo. Surface Perception was what we ended up with. We all felt that it rounded off the brand and made it more put together. Also it sounded good so that was a plus.

Market Research

To gain some understanding of what Visually Imapaired really means we decided to contact the charity Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) to see if we can get into contact with some young people with loss or even get the chance to meet some.

AS we will be creating a shop for our brand, it is important that we know what the best colours are for those who perhaps can only partially see or are colour blind. We want to make sure all the colours used in the shop and garments are visually appealing to those who can slightly see but with difficultly. At the same time is is important that the garments are also visually appealing to those that are not visually impaired.

This research is to be done by our marketing director 

First Initial Idea

As a group we all came together and threw a few ideas on the table and after a long discussion we went with the idea of creating a range of clothing for visually impaired/disabled people (if we were to go forward with this the choice of words to describe these people would be changed) as our first initial idea. We wanted to go down the visually impaired route for our target market more so than disabled people. The reason for creating this brand is because there isn't a rang of clothing out there that has had visually impaired people in mind for all of their clothing.

What is our idea?

Our idea is to create a brand/range of clothing that has the Visually impaired in mind. The clothing that would be sold would be completely based around texture and the surface of the fabric. Many of us out there will wear something thats itchy just because it looks nice and is stylish but we want all of our garments to be kind against the skin and comfortable. Reason being is that if someone is visually impaired the last thing they would want to wear is an itchy jumper that irritates the skin. 

The fabric that will be used will be taken into consideration of how it feels in the hands and against the skin. Even though the brand has come from the idea of creating a collection for visually impaired people, we still want it to be appealing to "normal" people. Everything comes down to the senses and how a lot of people these days buy things for looks and not for the quality and feel of the fabric. we want to bring it back to what buying clothes used to be about.
Target Market: 16 - 25 years old