Ted Baker India

For this task, I was asked to select a brief and create a final product. Ted Bakers brief was the most intriguing hence the reason I chose to work on that brief.

Initially, I was confused as I was uncertain where to begin. Therefore I conducted some research. I looked at Ted Baker’s history and gathered information on their roots in Glasgow, the location of their headquarters and store locations. For my product, I decided to create a promotional poster. Posters are one form of mass media advertisement. Posters are displayed on many buildings, subways, magazines and are a modern form of print advertising.

At this point, I was still disordered therefore I decided to brainstorm ideas. I wrote down my questions and problems and opted for a solution. Brainstorming helped lay out my thoughts and ideas and helped me consolidate my thoughts and inspiration. After brainstorming, my opinions became more apparent, and I started to project a clearer image of where I want my project to go. I then began to create a mind map and a mood board which helped me order my thoughts and visuals. I looked into Ted Bakers fashion to observe their signature design elements. I realised Ted’s love for abstract flowers in the women’s range and patterns for both the males and females. For that reason, I began to research artists that partook these similarities.

I found a couple of artists including William Morris, Laurie Justus and Ruth Harris. To understand their work completely, I decided to draw a part of their designs and use similar mediums to recreate their overall visuals. I then decided to visit a park to take original images of flowers. Later I recreated these images by drawing and painting them in the style of my artists. I now had some original work to develop further onto Adobe Photoshop.

I had done a lot of research. However, I still wasn’t sure on which country I should focus on therefore I decided to study all countries. After conducting this research, I realised India stood out the most. Therefore I began to explore India’s culture, festivals and what people in Indian enjoy. After conducting my research, I realised the love Indian culture has for bright colours, their love for Bollywood films and their global recognition for spicy food.

I analysed posters designs, and realised majority partake the same foundation of one focal image and minimum typography. I looked into Ted bakers posters and realised they were bright and colourful which reminded me of Pop art and some were unusual which mimicked Surrealism. I looked into designer David Carson for design inspiration for my poster I realised from his work that he worked in a diverse way to other designers. He used typography as his primary element in poster designs and played around with layout and size. His work inspired me to take a diverse approach to creating posters and be more open minded.

Looking into Ted Baker’s poster designs and general advertisements I realised they don’t seem to take themselves seriously. They include a substantial amount of British humour and puns to sell and advertise themselves. This idea is interesting and unique as not many high-end fashion companies have this approach to selling fashion. Other company’s like Chanel and Dior advertise displaying beauty and glamour over humour. On the other hand, Ted Baker stands out as they are more open minded when it comes to advertising and aren’t afraid to experiment.

I also wondered if Indians would understand British humour for it to have an effect on them and make my poster efficient. I watched an election video of Barack Obama on his speech in India. In this video he references a famous dialogue from a Bollywood film then ends the sentence with ‘you know the rest’. This dialogue gets the crowd laughing and also made the video go viral. For that reason, I was inspired to feature a Bollywood dialogue in my development work. I then decided to look into Bollywood movie’s famous dialogues and translated them into English and attempt to create a pun.

I started to sketch visual brain dumping ideas. I began by drawing all possibilities and existing Ted Baker phrases, products and pattern. Then I decided to look at Ted’s opportunities in design I briefly looked at their recurring choice of font. The puns and phrases they have used in their advertising and also their selection of images. After gathering these ideas, I began to understand Ted’s advertising and processed to look into typography and British humour.

After doing so, I began to develop onto Adobe Photoshop. In Photoshop I developed my visuals and text to a greater level. I then uploaded my work onto forum to receive a general insight into how I should improve my designs.

To make my poster interactive and social, I insert a barcode, which people could scan and download Ted Baker India’s app. I also featured links to social media sites for the public to interact with the company. I presented my outcome on magazines, Ted Baker’s website and digital advertisements and on Ted Baker’s shop window to give an idea of how my product will look in action. I then created a presentation on After Effects of a summary of my design process, purpose and outcome. I found this task tricky as I have just started using After Effects and was unsure what to include and exclude. I could develop my presentation further when I become familiar with this software.

Overall I found this task both challenging and knowledgeable. After working on a brief, I have begun to realise how difficult idea generating is and how to overcome creative blocks. I have also acknowledged the time and effort that goes into creating a design piece. I am satisfied with my outcome, though there is still room for improvement I am proud of what I have created.

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