Progress Update: Almost There!

Enter Page                                                                       Page 2

Page 3 / Game                                                                                Page 4

After reviewing my newsletter I have decided the improvements I need to make are:

• The enter page. I feel it needs to be made more obvious were to click to enter the newsletter.
• Again minor improvements need to be made to the images, some of the photos are poor quality and let down the professionalism of my piece.
• The backwards and forewords arrows need to be positioned in the same place on all pages.

Page 2

For the second page of my newsletter I looked at the Topshop website to get inspiration for content.

The way Topshop typically lay out a feature is with a photograph of a model on the right, then text on the left with a big title and further text explaining what the feature is about. For the second page of my newsletter I am going to include a feature following the Topshop layout.

Another feature I found the Topshop website to often include were 'outfit idea' pages. These pages include images of Topshop clothes laid out in a college format, often with a theme (such as the above 'pageant princess'. Within the second page of my newsletter I am going to make a college out of Topshop products for users to browse and look at for outfit inspiration.

Progress Update: Halfway Point

I am halfway through my project and my newsletter is looking a little something like this:

I now have content for three pages, one more still needs to be completed. 

I am happy with the progress I am making on my newsletter, I currently feel that I am on schedule and that my project will be completed on time.

I wanted to get feedback for the pages I have completed so I asked a few of my classmates for their opinions. I have written up a few improvements to make from their comments below:

• The quality of some of the images (the heart & the arrows) are lacking. I will change these images to make sure that they are all high-quality. 
•  Links need to be made obvious that they are links. I will add roll-over features to my buttons & links to ensure that the user knows they are interactive.
• The homepage is a little boring. I am going to try and add some interactive features to the homepage, maybe a roll-over button or video to get the audience engaged and willing to explore further.
• The Topshop logo should in the same place be on every page. After looking at Topshop's style guide and noticing that they include their logo on every page in the same place I will ensure that my newsletter fits in with their house style and do the same.

Topshop Digital Wardobe

After researching fashion games I then went and created my own.
Below are screen shots of my finished 'Topshop Digital Wardrobe' Game.

I am very happy with my finished game, users can drag and drop clothes onto the mannequin to create outfits and styles. I used clothing images from the Topshop website, if users find an outfit they like they can then go and purchase it from the site. I feel that adding a mini game to my newsletter is a really good way of involving users and capturing their interest, it also is a good way to market and advertise the Topshop clothing brand.

Fashion Games

Within my newsletter I want to include a small game to get users involved and interested in the Tophop fashion brand. To inspire me I decided to do some research into fashion games to see what users enjoy playing, some popular games I have written about below.


Fall Fashions
http://www.agame.com/game/fall-fashions

The first game I came across was 'Fall Fashions'. This game was top on the agame website and had a 4.5 star rating from players. To work the game you use the arrow keys to scroll across various clothing items and then click when you find an item you like, the item then gets transferred onto the models. The parts of the game I enjoyed was the variation of items and the simplistic nature of the game. 

Selena Gomez Dress Up

http://www.agame.com/game/selena-gomez-dress-up

This game also had a 4.5 star rating on agame. Selena Gomez Dress Up is very similar to the game above. The user has to click on the clothing buttons on the left to change the clothes on the model. The only variations to the game being that they use 'Selena Gomez' (a celebrity) to influence users to play and they offer more options to change, such as her hair and makeup.


Dollz Mania
http://www.dollzmania.com

Dollz Mania is a game I remember playing when I was younger. Players click and drag clothing onto a ready made model to create their own outfits and styles. I much prefer the drag and drop style of game play rather than just clicking buttons, it gets the user more involved also feels much smoother to play. Dollz Mania offers a huge variety of clothing, hair styles, make-up and accessories to play around with, it also gives you the option to save and download your styles to a desktop.

Font & Colour Scheme

As my interactive newsletter is for Topshop I must ensure that I follow their brand identity (that I mentioned in this post here).

Images
All images will be sourced from the Topshop website.

Font for my newsletter:

Dolce Vita Regular

Dolce Vita Bold

Colour Scheme for my newsletter:

Sub Colour (#0099FF)                            Main Colour (#000000)

  

Main Colour (#EBEA8)                         Accent Colour for page 4 (#FF0707)

Wordcloud

Moodboard

Storyboard / Planning

Here is a basic plan I have drawn up of each page within my newsletter:

Page one:

Page two:

Page three:

Page four:

Elements I want to include:

• Click & Drag Game
• Image Slider 
• Image links to specific Topshop pages

Topshop Brand Identity

Topshop Website

Topshop Application

Topshop 'Style Note' Emails

As you can see from the above I have looked at various types of Topshop media to get a feel for the brand, I have also done some research into the brand image and guidelines, my findings are below:

Layout
The Topshop layout is very minimal, they don't overcomplicate the design which makes the site easy to navigate and use. All clothing items are under easy to read headings and displayed on a simple navigation bar. The brand focuses on images rather than text which I feel is effective, images catch the eye and attention of audiences and get them initially interested in the product. Topshop do use text but sparingly, only when necessary. 

Topshop have done a good job ensuring that their image is the same across all platforms, you can tell that the website, application and email all belong to the same brand.

I really like the simplistic Topshop layout and I feel that the brand does comes across as stylish and classy, which is what they aim to be.

Colour
Topshop uses a very monochrome colour pallet, as you can see from above the primary colours used are white, grey and black. They tend to stick to plain white backgrounds and incorporate a pop of bright colour within the typography or photography, this season the 'highlight' colour seems to be a turquoise blue. I feel this colour scheme is very appropriate for Topshop as it suits their simplistic yet edgy brand image.

Typography
Topshop have one main font type that they use, a sans serif font called Dolce Vita. The typography is very simplistic and easy to read which fits in with Topshop's whole brand image. 

Sound
No music or sound effects are present on any Topshop platforms. However I feel this is a good design decision as I don't think sound would be appropriate for the type of site they are, music is not necessary. Not including music does not take away from the Topshop brand or user experience.

!! Within my newsletter I must ensure that I stick to Topshop's brand guidelines.

What is Topshop?

Topshop is a British multinational fashion retailer of clothing, shoes, make-up and accessories. 

"We started out life way back in 1964. Since those humble beginnings in the basement of a department store we’ve grown up and now have over 300 stores in the UK alone! We ship to more than 100 countries and our eclectic British style is known all over the world. Our Oxford Circus flagship is a mecca for cool girls, whether they’re holidaying in London or living in the capital, and we’ve spread the love across the pond with flagships in Chicago and New York!" 

Competitor Research - Lakeland

• Lakeland.com

Lakeland have designed an interactive magazine/newsletter available to download on phones and iPads.

Font
Lakeland just stick to one simple font for their newsletter, occasionally using another to highlight a word (such as 'SMASH'). This makes the newsletter look professional and consistent. You can clearly see Lakeland's house style and branding.

Colours
The colours included in the lakeland newsletter vary each issue. For example, this 'christmas' edition features all Christmas colours to fit the theme. One colour that is included however is a mustard yellow that Lakeland use for their logo, this colour is included all throughout the newsletter, I feel that using this colour throughout works very well and ties all the pages together.

Features

• Interactive roll-over images & buttons
• Animation
• 15 pages of recipes & products
• Sound & sound effects

Competitor Research - Company

• Company.co.uk

Company are a fashion magazine who have recently decided to turn their physical mags electronic. 

Font

Company use a range of fonts within their electronic magazine, I can see five different fonts just on their homepage. Although this is eye-catching and interesting I feel that the company doesn't have a consistent house style as they don't stick to one font.

Colours

The website uses black and white for their logo, navigation bar and side bar headings. The only colour they include is within their article pictures and social network links. I feel this makes the important links stand out and it draws the audiences eye to the important features.

Features

• Search Bar
• Links to social networking sites
• Image slider featuring the magazines articles
• Slide show featuring more of the magazines articles
• Navigation bar linking other pages
• 'You're loving' .. links to popular magazine articles
• 'Just In' ... links to recent magazine articles

Target Audience

Using the Arts Council TA document I have identified my target audience as:

Fun, Fashion & Friends

some engagement

Their leisure

• Fun, fashion and friends make time for socialising with their friends and partners at pubs and bars, over a meal or by meeting for the occasional coffee. Social networking sites are also used as a way of sharing information and keeping in touch with friends.
• They would describe themselves as creative, stylish and optimistic. They admit to treating themselves when out shopping, with a proportion stating they really enjoy shopping for clothes. Other interests include cooking, specifically trying new recipes and foreign cuisine.
• They pay attention to their fitness and tend to exercise two to three times a week by swimming, cycling and aerobics, but acknowledge there is more they could do to look after their health.

Engaging with Fun, fashion and friends

• Arts opportunities positioned as ‘contemporary’, ‘trendy’, ‘fun’ and as an opportunity to spend time with friends and family are likely to be attractive to this group. Keen followers of media and celebrity news, they might also respond to endorsements from high-profile media campaigns and celebrities.
• As this group are online everyday using the internet as a source of information and keeping in touch with their friends via social networking sites an online campaign could be an effective way to interact with this group. A Facebook page or Twitter feed could be a way of keeping this group updated with arts events on an ongoing basis.

Their media
Most important media for this group:

• Magazines. This group buys magazines to keep up with celebrity news and read about clothes, fashion and food. They are more likely to read Boots’ Health & Beauty, Heat, OK!, Now, Reveal, Closer, Hello, Sainsbury’s Fresh Ideas and Waitrose Food Illustrated.
• Internet. When Fun, fashion and friends need information the first place they look is the internet. This group uses the internet every day or most days and online activities include email, price comparison websites, online shopping and looking up cinema/theatre/concert listings. This group also visits social networking sites to interact with friends. Their most visited sites include Google, Facebook, YouTube, BBC and eBay. 

I feel my interactive newsletter is well suited to this target audience, the main reason being that they have an interest and passion for fashion. Another reason being that the internet and magazines are the most important media to fun, fashion and friends, as my interactive piece combines both these media forms I feel my online newsletter will be very engaging and appealing to the group.