Author: Sophie Hannah Bernard

After I was really down about not getting onto the second round of the SET Challenge, I was driven to continue to work on my start up. I met with Alex from the digital learning lab and he recommended I look into Xcode if I wanted to code it myself. I also met with the head of the Digital Learning lab who said I was going in the right direction, but recommended I follow a few steps such as understanding why the user would download the app, etc. He said yes it would be good to work with the Creative Computing School, but it would make more sense to work with a student instead of investing my time trying to learn how to code and do everything. Although, I should learn some of it in order to communicate to my collaborators.

Luckily, the day after I found out I didn’t get onto the second round of the SET Challenge, I was approached by a member of the Facebook Group High Fashion Talk, and he was interested in my mobile application. He had just recently completed his first streetwear mobile application, and was interested in venturing onto the next, more challenging one. He had just gone through the same experience I was afraid of, so he knew the steps to go along and how to do them properly which has been very helpful thus far and hopefully in the future we can be Co-founders!

As my project of YOUNIFORM is a mobile application and start up business potentially that can lead to further opportunities such as a start up visa, I decided to apply for the SET challenge. Doing my research and outcome last term was the biggest help to do this application thus far. I can win up to 4,000 GBP which is very exciting and will aid towards making a MVP- Minimal Viable Prototype. Although I was given positive feedback, I did not win the competition. This competition did teach me how to verbalize my start up vision, and what it takes to apply for these competitions for the future. I will be applying for the MAYOR’s competition with a prize winning of up to 20,000 GBP, as well as the seed funding competition in May. All of this is just good practice for how to pitch my concept for future investors. It also is challenging me through how to structure my business model canvas for the future, who my consumer is in depth and the marketing that is so vital for the business.

I decided to host a digital focus group pertaining my mobile application through its functionality and design presented to potential users. I asked them about what features they would use, what kind of fashion they were drawn to, etc. To make it a fair focus group I reached out and created a post on the Facebook group High Fashion Talk, as those interested in archival and elevated streetwear would be my new target consumer based on the transition and maturity level. I had 4 individuals, 2 of which were women to partake. The results I got were interesting and were close to my educated assumptions.

The most interesting results are as follows. One girl said she is trying to buy more designer and sustainable items that are most expensive less often and tried to cut off fast fashion brands. Many mentioned luxury brands such as Rick Owens, Prada, Vetements, ACW and Kapital Country. They shopped off resale apps such as Grailed, Facebook, depop, eBay, Vestiaire, Heroine, etc. Many were drawn to @averyginsberg’s outfits (an influencer who I drew my color palette from) which reassured my choices as well as my direction into mature archival clothing rather than fast fashion streetwear like supreme.

They kept up with news once in a while, watched Youtube, and craved to chat one to one with each other. They felt groups were important to host discussion, and wanted to find a place to find fashion parties (to make the hunt easier). They created wishlists of items they were after. They wanted a way to find deals for luxury archive clothing as well as new pieces. They found inspiration on instagram accounts, pinterest, etc. They would love to create looks digitally before purchasing an item. They looked at the archive of their style through their instagram personal profile. They believe in stereotypes when it comes to elevated streetwear and fashion.

Overall in regards to the app, all said they would download it. Some features would not be used as much as others, but all were interesting to potential users for their aid in cultivating their style and education in fashion while creating community.

To see all outcomes, please request to be a part of the focus group: https://www.focusgroupit.com/groups/bc91ac37/questions/40195

What brands do you shop for? 
What brands do you wish you could buy? 
How do you purchase items? (in store/ online) (on websites / apps)?What music artists do you tend to listen to?

Are you inspired by ‘fit’ pictures? 
Please choose 3 you are drawn to, and explain why or why not!

Is community important to you in regards to fashion to find like minded individuals?

Do you enjoy using facebook groups to be a part of discussion?

What other Facebook fashion groups are you a part of?

Do you wish they were all in one place so you could find them easier?

Do you connect your Instagram account or spotify account to other apps?

Do you believe streetwear and luxury fashion are converging?

Do you shop archival fashion?

How do you use Instagram in relation to fashion and luxury streetwear?

Do you watch Youtube Videos related to fashion and luxury streetwear? 

Would you use a platform that personalizes what fashion youtube you would watch? Would this excite you?

Do you follow news articles from platforms such as Highsnobiety, Hypebeast, Vogue, etc? What news do you use?

Would you live chat with other individuals in a group setting to host discussions about luxury streetwear and fashion?

Do you attend fashion events? Are they hard to find?

Do you wish there were more?

Do you sell clothing? 

Where do you sell it? 

Do you wish you could manage a selling post across various marketplaces?

Do you ever create wishlists of what you are looking to purchase in regards to fashion?

Do you utilize websites that show you the best places to purchase that item for a lower price such as shopstyle, etc? If not what else do you use?

Where do you gain inspiration for your looks? What social media do you use for it if you do? 

Do you follow specific accounts? If so, please write them.

Do you put outfits together before you wear them? Do you plan your looks?

Do you wish there was a way to do this digitally?

Do you ever look at the way you used to dress?

Do you wish there was a place where you could see how your style has changed?

Would this interest you?

Do you believe individuals are stereotyped by what they wear?

Do you shop archival fashion? Do you shop high fashion brand new? Do you shop luxury streetwear? Do you believe people are a certain way because they purchase clothing from these departments?

What do you think of the original walkthrough (before rebranding) of this application? 

Would you use it? 

Do you think there are too many features?

What feature would you use?

What would you not use?

Would you download it?

When beginning my rebranding deck, I wanted to go back and ask myself..what actually goes into a branding deck? I grew up watching my mother doing it as an art director, but what content actually makes up a deck? So I broke it down through researching brand identity as well as UX branding. I looked at big brand’s style guides to make sure I was ticking off all of the checklists as well.

What goes inside?: A mission statement, buyer persona, color palette, Editorial Style guide, typography, Our Holistic Vision, Approach, Key values, Goal of rebranding, buyer persona, Symbol / emblem / letter mark / logotype / combination mark, Descriptor keywords, brand keywords, brand plus keywords, slogans, brand interactive elements, brand ambassadors, etc.

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When it comes to UI style guides, typography scheme, responsive layouts, color palette, buttons visualizations, spacing and positioning for design low res wireframes are important to include.

While working on my app during my BA, I created an instagram just to be scanned for a poster but never posted anything on there. It was originally under @youniformapp but I decided to change it to @youniform.global for a worldwide effect. My friend Maisey posted her photos and tagged the app, which I will be doing now on while I document this culture through photography. It can be content for the app as well as promotion! I collaborated with my friend Lauren on the emblem (process coming soon!).

In my Presentation / PDF Final Outcome, I decided to share some of my favorite books I had read during the break when I focused on secondary textual analysis / research. I enjoyed This is not a T-shirt the most as I visited the Hundreds office during my trip and went to their holiday party in Los Angeles. It was the most inspiring and I’d love to email Bobby Hundreds when I am home and continue this process to hopefully interview him as he reminded me of my love for street style as a multicultural melting pot of rebellion.

I also decided to insert my primary research of ethnography, taking photos of the streetwear culture of Los Angeles on Fairfax and Melrose (popular streets for famous shops). I challenged myself by shooting on a film camera – something I hadn’t done since I was 18. I want to continue this journey of photography. Heres some other photos I took when interviewing potential users who shop archive and elevated streetwear.

I was inspired by my moodboard, while creating the digital media content the app could potentially use. This would be for promotional banners and flyers, so I tried to follow and try graphic design the best I could by reimagining it in YOUNIFORM style. Note my inspiration from the Comme Des Garcon Poster as well as this other CDG Design Report. The banner below is for Facebook, Flyer to possibly be posted physically or used for any press articles.

After creating a font by changing the R in GLYPHS using the original DRUK Font, I decided to play around with how the word YOUNIFORM could be presented.

I was inspired by the recent change in many fashion houses to a minimal Logo, and I wanted to follow in their footsteps.

I met with the two UX Designers I am collaborating with, Fei and Jason and we went over functionality of the application. We realized create and inso could be two separate things. Also the overview sections were pointless due to the toggle thing at the top part for switching between options. We decided to move INSPO to the bottom as well as profile to get rid of the hamburger menu at the top which was pointless. GROUPS after doing my focus group was un-necessary as these could be within the chat feature.

We also wanted to find a better way to toggle between the archive of the user, so we decided to put a timeline feature the user could toggle between. We also decided create should be within here so the user could create looks through their profile as it made more sense for the personalization of the application.