rainyday dreams

first drafts of driftwear logo

Here is my first draft of my driftwear logo.

with the font I made. 

 Here is the second draft, which I straightened out a bit.

second draft with font

third draft

fourth draft

What do you think?

Like? Hate?
Think the lines are too curvy? lines too thin?

Let me know! I'd love your feedback. :)

dreamy days

monet's house via (here) via here

from here from here

from here from here

from here from here

sunday

sunday beauty

(source: here)

hair inspiration! (source: here)

logs

 I freakin' love succulents. (source: here)

Week Seven

Senior Focus Field Work Log Dates: March 14th-March 21st

Name: Isabella Whitney

Monday: 7 hours; printed out survey, photographed survey, posted survey on blog & flickr; indie business 2.0 two lessons, made my etsy a shop (www.driftwear.etsy.com), edited Etsy shop, researched bigcartel and other shop hosts, made and purchased font, video-chatted with mentor, prepared for pull-out day presentation,
Tuesday: 5 hours; check blog, wrote journal entry, researched brand videos, checked out wix.com to make my own site, made bigcartel store, 
Wednesday: 4 hour; researched best prices on organic t-shirts, ordered samples of guys and girls white organic t-shirts, researched prices on t-shirts from popular apparel companies, looked for photo shoot locations in alpine and englewood, talked to lower classmen about effortless girls for modeling, emailed models, talked to my aunt (who worked in design) about it, she thinks the boat has all positive references, easy to reproduce, simple, yet has nice lines, powerful from a distance, 
Thursday: 1 hour; blogged, received t-shirts, indie biz, made quickbooks 
Friday:  0 hours
Saturday:  1.5 hours; blog-hopped, wrote journal entry

Sunday: 1.5 hour; uploaded Photoshop and Illustrator, decide on hairstyles for models photoshoots

P.S. I am currently in new Orlenes and will be back soon to update some great architecture and inspiration.

guerilla, not gorilla

week #7 entry #2 03/14 - 03/21: personal journal

pretty hair. (source: here)

I have been so inspired lately I could faint from excitement.  I ordered some sample shirts to silkscreen for my brand video/site yesterday and they came in the mail already! They're American Apparel, organic cotton.  They're super soft.  I just want to lay in a pile of them.  So, yeah, that's really exciting for me.  I thought that I would be bringing samples of all my designs around during lunch, but I have pretty much decided on the favorites.  I will be printing a bear design, the day of the week, the drift logo, a suitcases one, and an owl.  I also just got Photoshop and Illustrator in the mail, which is superb. I should have some final designs posted soon.

Today I went to the International Center of Photography (image: here) gift shop (I know, I have to get to the actual museam part, I just didn't want to drop $12).  It was the coolest store ever; tons of postcards with awesome photography prints, sick cameras, cool shirts, and great books.  Okay, it's about 100x cooler than I made it sound, but yeah it was great.  I also had to pick up The Guerilla Art Kit (image: here) by Keri Smith.  (Ms. Smith also has a really cool blog.)  The book is this excellent spiral bound book full of wonderful ideas to lighten up people's days with art, in addition to wonderful illustrations.  If you don't know what guerilla art is, here is a Wikipedia definition for you:

Street art is any art developed in public spaces — that is, "in the streets" — though the term usually refers to unsanctioned art, as opposed to government sponsored initiatives. The term can include traditional graffiti artwork, stencil graffiti, sticker art, wheatpasting and street poster art, video projection, art intervention, guerrilla art, flash mobbing and street installations. Typically, the term street art or the more specific post-graffiti is used to distinguish contemporary public-space artwork from territorial graffiti, vandalism, and corporate art.

So basically guerilla art is awesome.  The book includes some ideas to draw eyes on parking meters (image: here) or leave an idea dispenser in public and gives tutorials.  This book is full of enchanting ideas and I recommend it. I think that guerilla art/advertising is an essential part to the beginning of my brand.  Drift is whimsical and non-traditional, like i think a lot of guerilla art is.  I don't want obnoxious, in-your-face advertising, I want subtle, make-people-happy, lighten-your-mood/day advertising, if possible.  Maybe I can even just have drift kids do fun guerilla art projects for fun, to brighten up the community and I can blog about it? Hm... :)

I have much to do.  Over this two week spring break (Yay! It's spring break!) I will be going to New Orleanes to work for Habitat for Humanity, but when I'm not doing that I'll be editing designs on the computer and such.  There is much to be done over break like ordering stickers, making paper boats (more to come on that soon!!!), and preparing designs for shirts to screen the day I get back from break.  But in the meantime, I'll leave you a quote from one of the first pages in The Guerilla Art Kit. (image: here)

zooey.... in a boat!!!

she is so cute I could eat her with a spoon! +drift! (source: here)

who will host my shop?

Week #7 entry #1 03/14-03/21: academic journal

This week I focused on this question: 

• How should I sell my products?

The most recent lessons in my Indie Business class have focused on where to have your shop.  Since I know that having my own brick-and-mortar shop is not an option right now, I focused on the lesson about online businesses.  There are many advantages to having a shop online that one of my teachers highlighted.
Online is great because:

• You are open all day, everyday.
• I can make crafts, while my shop is open.
• Much more reasonably priced than a real shop.
• You can work at hours that you are most productive.
• Can go on inspiration trips or leave the house when you don't feel inspired or productive.
• It's flexible, like I could be in college and work.
• I can create a connection to customers through the blog.

These were all great reasons why the online marketplace best suits me.  But inside the online marketplace are so many options! Etsy is great because it is low prices and has great networking.  People can find your site without advertising.  However, you are limited with their shop layout.  Paypay allows you to have a free "Buy Now" button, but doesn't have networking possibilities. E-mail is another option, but I want to create a shop so that people can see all my products in one location.  I don't think I will use Artfire because it seems to have more of a craft focus.  I don't like the silkfair layout as much as Etsy. And other stores like Dawanda, Pink Doodle, and Lov.li charge a higher commission than Etsy.

Bigcartel run shops:

(source: here)

(source: here)

I think BigCartel could be another potential way to sell my products.  It seems like it is between that and  Etsy.  Bigcartel allows you to list up for 5 products for free.  I imagine I'll probably have around that many products, however, one designs for male and female may count as two products.  It also allows you to customize your page more so than Etsy, which can give your shop a more professional look.  Check out Franz Tormer's site.  It looks great.  Plus, there are tons of clothing people on the site, more so than Etsy.  On the other hand, Etsy is easy to use and I have experience with it. Etsy charges a 3% commission and a 20 cent listing fee, which isn't very much.  I'll really have to think it through.

I am also seriously considering doing a craft fair or two after the FOCUS program is over. I think it will be nice to be able to interact with people and set up my own table. It will allow me networking opportunities with other people who like to do what I do too.

design! design! design!

week #6 entry #2 03/07-03/14: academic journal

This week I focused on this question: 

• What designs are most attractive to my audience? 

After sketching some designs last Sunday, I shared them with my FOCUS group on Monday.  I was nervous and did not plan on showing them anything, but they begged to see them, so I couldn't resist.  They took to my designs so well and liked them very much.  I asked everyone to put a check next to his or her favorite designs.  I also asked people in the senior lounge and around the cafeteria for their input as well.  The favorite ones seem to be the owls, bears, the boat, and luggage.  Some people really like the days of the week one too. I think I will do at least one bear one, one owl one, a boat, and some luggage.  I also began to survey which neck-cut people prefer when wearing a white t-shirt with a black design. I plan to do a more formal survey this week.

Today I made my own font.  I think this is an important part of branding that I can use with my sticker, etsy, and blog.  It looks kind of childish, but I like it.  Once i straighten it out, it will be good.

just amazing - claire*elise

 (source: here)

My mentor and I talked about picking models.  His advice was to pick role models and trendsetters.  I was torn if I should pick models from all the grades or to stick with the older students.  I thought that if I picked models from all grades I would be able to network easier and to get more people excited.  However, I don;t know if having younger models would prevent older kids from buying. I think I will try to stick with older models.

This week I will be working on transferring designs to the computer, doing as survey on neck-lines, ordering stickers for promotion, making a banner for etsy & the blog, making a logo for inside the shirts, e-mailing models, creating an icon for etsy and flickr, and thinking through a brand video.  There is much to be done!

survey

fill out your answer  and age in a comment!

stormday inspiration

this exhibit was so inspiring i could die.

designs & drift dreams

week #6 entry #1 03/07 - 03/14: personal journal

(source: here)

This week I designed a bunch of shirts, all of which were well-liked by the people I showed them too.  It feels so good when someone is excited about your work.  Here are a bunch.  Like any of them?

Does the quality stick of your photos when you upload them to blogger? I finally figured out how to make blogger images not so terrible quality.  Every time I uploaded my own picture from my camera, the quality was shot on blogger.  The trick is to add them to another site like flickr or photobucket then copy them to the blog.  The quality turns out so much better! Tomorrow I am going to talk to my mentor about purchasing bulk shirts so I should have some by spring break.  Also, today I am going out to Michael's to get screens for silk-screening. Hooray! 

 Indie Business 2.0, the class I'm taking to help guide me through my process, is now in full swing.  I have had a week of online classes.  They have ranged from topics like which products to sell, picking a name, and trend-setting.  Although I have completed some of the topics before the lessons, it is helpful to know that I've been creating the brand in the right way.  Additionally, the class offers new perspectives on all the topics.  It's really nice to have a craft community to bond with too.  They have this thing called "Club Indie" where I can chat with fellow students and direct people to my blog.  Everyone is really sweet and super excited about the class.  I can't wait to update my Etsy so people can see what I'm working on.

  

I also have made some strides on the branding part of my business.  The Handmade Marketplace put an emphasis on this aspect of my shop and it's so important.  This week I made a driftwear e-mail, website, flickr, and etsy account.  Today I updated the driftwear flickr. Check it out. :)  I also picked out some models this week.  I sat around with a yearbook picking whom I thought would best emulate the brand.  I came up with a pretty long list of kids.  It was a lot of fun.

 I also thought of an awesome idea for the backdrop for my fashion show. On Project Runway and during most fashion shows there is a backdrop with the name of the brand, behind which the models come out from.  It typically is very simple and has the name of the brand on it.  I was thinking that for my presentation I would create a vertical garden (images: here & here).   So I would create a large (bigger than a door) frame from old wood and fill it with lush green plants. I could spell out driftwear (or drift) with flowers or rope or a different colored plant.  I saw this in the window displays at J.Crew yesterday.  They spelled our "Spring.." in flowers in beautiful cursive.  It was so pretty.  The only problem with my plan is expenses.  It seems like it might be pretty pricey... but it's so beautiful! Any ideas to get around the cost?