During one of the seminar lessons the teachers came up with this fun idea of using snapchat to put funny captions over perfume ads and basically make fun of them. Because of how much analysing we have to do on the ads it really shows how ridiculous the adverts are and how they are trying to sell us the perfume. I thought I'd share a few of the ones my group and I came up with.

 Photo credit: Myself

Alexa Chung for M&S

Rodarte X & Other Stories 

River Island and Sibling

One of the best things about being on this course is the fact that we have lecturers who have actually had experience working in the industry - including Michelle Hoines, who occasionally takes some of the lectures and works with us during the seminars.


Throughout the course there was mention of the brand that Michelle, and her friend Liz Wilkinson, had founded, however it was only during the lecture she took the other day did she actually go in depth about the brand and how she started it and I'm so surprised yet amazed at how she did it.

*Not my picture*

The key to starting a successful and long-lasting brand is being able to find a gap in the market and producing something that people actually will use and Michelle did just that! She realised that there wasn't anything fun out in the market and was getting a bit bored with the range of options in the stores. Fast - fashion was also starting to become a thing in the fashion industry and so she decided to mix that idea with something in the beauty industry. Another thing she noticed was that it was so hard to create a look that has been seen on the catwalk or was a trend because magazines wouldn't list the full products used or would list items that weren't even used. So that's how she came up with the idea of Front Cover!

review and try on by a customer

Front Cover is basically a kit that comes out twice a year that features the trends that have been seen on the catwalk. It contains everything you need to create the look as well as step - by - step directions to help you achieve the perfect. Because she had to create the kits before the trend comes out it meant that a lot of trend forecasting had to be done. This is something that we're being taught on the course as it's essential to know how to do it so it was great to hear how she managed to do it. There was also a lot of consumer research that had to be done and again that's something that we're constantly being told to do because it's no use creating a product that no one wants.


Michelle talked about the importance about packaging, too. She said that Boots did a mock up store that consumers would go to and shop in and pick up the things that they would buy. When the results came in people were saying that they couldn't help but either go back to the stand that Front cover was on or pick up the products because it looked like the eyes on the box were following them round. I'm going to make sure that my packaging is something that consumers notice and are attracted to so that they don't just walk past it.

This lecture was so interesting and helpful and was good to get reassurance that the lecturers actually do know what they're talking about (not that I ever doubted them). I'm extremely lucky to have a lecturer who has done so incredibly well and will definitely be going to her when I need help with my brand. I'll be posting more on the lectures that I have for this project so keep a look out for them if you find them interesting!

Photo credit: Samantha Dobbin, Media Server, Google

The Perfume Series | ONE

For the next project I have to do at University I have to create a fragrance brand, which can be anything from perfume, to body lotion - anything that's part of the fragrance market. Creating a perfume would be the most obvious choice though, and the option that we're being taught about the most.

In a lecture last week we were taught about narratives within perfume and advertising. The list we were given isn't what they're actually called in the industry, it's just what Tim, our fcp lecturer, came up with.

He gave us four narratives; Sensuality & Indulgence, Trust & Honesty, Humour & Kitsch and Tradition & Heritage. It's only when you start deconstructing an advert do you actually notice these narratives and how as a consumer we don't really take notice of them. The examples Tim gave us were quite old adverts so I thought I would share some more recent examples of adverts that have these narratives in them.

Sensuality & Indulgence

Trust & Honesty 

Humour & Kitsch 

Tradition & Heritage 

DAVID ADJAYE 

'Dirty House' - Shoreditch

DARCY JONES

Darcy Jones' house

Oh Chanel, you're beautiful in food form too

Black and White Macaroons are so classy

Black and white cakes are beautiful

Such a great way to jazz up plain popcorn

Nothing screams sophistication like black and white pasta

This was our final image. We literally just cut up all the materials we had and hung them from string and off a hanger. For the final image we wanted to create the illusion that we had created a massive prop and that it covered the whole wall. Many people picked up on that when we presented it so that was like an achievement for us. It's amazing what you can produce and how you can manipulate pictures by just changing the angle that you use. 

I really enjoyed this project and can't wait to move onto the next one. 

Trend analysis - women's trainers 

For those of you who don't know, I study Fashion Communication and Promotion at Nottingham Trent University. This was my first and favourite choice of the uni's I'd looked at. Whenever I say the course I'm doing to people who aren't familiar with it the usual response is, 'oh that sounds interesting, what is it?' or 'what made you choose that?'. It's not a well known course, or one that's as obvious as fashion design or management, but it's as equally rewarding and interesting.

The first thing that drew me to the course was the amount of travelling that you do when on the course. For me, travelling is a huge part of my life in general and so I knew that the course I wanted to do had to include it. In the first year you go to New York, second it's Berlin and third year it's Tokyo - which is a big one. I knew from looking at these places that this was the course for me. Other courses I had looked at didn't involve this much travelling and whilst you can of course do a degree without the amount of travelling and get the same results, I just felt that personally I wouldn't get as much out of the course without the travelling side.

The second thing that drew me in was how creative the course is. If you're looking at joining the course then one thing I will tell you is that it is so so creative. More creative than I originally thought. However, this is good because I would say I am a creative person and have often felt like I've had to limit myself in college so it's great to be able to have this amount of freedom. You do many mini projects throughout the year and also quite big ones. The one project I'm looking forward to doing is the perfume one, where you design and make your own perfume. A lot of the projects you do are with other people which is something I was a bit skeptical about because I like to work independently and do things my way. However, I know that this is something that I need to work on because I'm going to have to work with people in the industry.

The lecturers here all have some sort of background in the fashion industry which makes me feel like I'm going to learn a lot more in the course. It's good to know that I'm being taught by people who have actually experienced what they talk about rather than have just been taught it. The teachers are also quite friendly, which makes you feel more relaxed in the classes and they don't look down on you for not knowing something or being quite reserved- they are constantly encouraging you to break out of your comfort zone and will work at your pace if you need them too.

I'm so excited to carry on with the year and seeing what else the course has to offer. I will be posting the work I do on my blog so stay tuned for that and everything else that is to come!