After our last meeting, we all agreed to think of a concept so that for the next time we gathered together, we would be able to talk about them all and then pick one or combine them so that we have one finalised and refined concept. Since I was struggling with any specific ideas that I could potentially draw up, I began brainstorming again, something which I have being doing a lot for this module, but it seems to really be helping me. I also went back over the brief and highlighted words that stood out to me, then re-highlighted them again, the ones that were even more important. The two that I noted were 'shopping habits' and 'shopper of the future'.
I started researching with shopping habits, and I was really interested in what I found. From studies from 2015 and now continuing with 2016, researchers have found that retail is continuing to be reshaped. Most people shop online, because it is hassle free, no one bothers you and you can simply get your items delivered to your front door with very little or in some cases, no charge. People are beginning to use their smart phones to purchase goods, and there are so many online discounts that are available to people. I also found out that people are becoming thriftier, so are shopping based upon price and not quality. However interestingly enough, once I started to research the 'shopper of the future', I found out that physical stores are still ever present. The John Lewis brief is very clear in wanting to make known the physical presence of their stores, however from my research I have gathered that shopping in person is still and always will be popular. This is because shopping is also considered a social outing, where people meet up and eat afterwards. Because I do this as well, I don't think John Lewis has to worry too much about their online buyers, especially because the new 'Click and Collect' option, where you can buy online but pick up your item in stores, also brings new customers to their shop.
After looking into all of this, I really wanted to think of a way I could create some sort of 'narrative' for this whole consumerism process. Storytelling was one aspect John Lewis brought up in their brief, and I think it could possibly be overlooked by many, so I thought I would love to have a go at trying to incorporate it into this display.
When we had our meeting, we all talked about 3D paper layering and having lights behind them so that they created silhouettes, and looked really vivid and eye catching. I wanted to expand my concept on this, but perhaps had LED lights behind so that there is some neon elements to the display. From all my other mood boards I loved the idea of playing with lighting and having bright lights, so I am trying to incorporate this into my concept. I also think that rotating these layered paper pieces, would make for some great animation, which again, I think would want to invite people into the store.
I started with tested out depth and how I would present these ideas as I struggled with envisioning them in my head in the first place. These are just some quick drawings I made to try and understand shadows and depth, before I went into photoshop and added colour. They may not look like much, but they helped me visualise the aspects of light to dark and where to put the 'silhouettes' within the designs.
At this stage, I also decided on my narrative. To keep it simple, as this is only supposed to be some rough ideas for the next meeting, I chose four stages for online consumerism, which I could portray through four different layered illustrations. 1) The browsing/purchasing stage, 2) The delivery stage, 3) Opening the package and 4) Enjoying the items. There could of course be more steps, but for now I just wanted something minimalistic in case my other group members do not like my idea.
I then went into Photoshop and tried to illustrate my ideas digitally and with colour. This was really hard to do, because in my previous experience of working with paper, the outcome is very different to the initial designs so I tried my best to make them parallel. I also had to try and incorporate the neon lights in there as well which was hard to do two dimensionally, so hopefully I will be able to explain my designs, more in depth than these illustrations. However I am happy with the concept and the somewhat outcome, as I think you can understand the story as well as see what my ideas are. I think this process was much more difficult because our group members are SO diverse in terms of style and skill, so we are all a bit nervous to show our ideas and work. However I am extremely open minded to the other members of my group and I am not opposed to going completely out of my comfort zone and experimenting with something that is the entire opposite of what I came up with, I actually think that would be much more of a learning curve for me!
I then found this display, which I really liked because it involves the 'digital surrealism' that we had all talked about previously, and I them put some of my designs in place, to see if they would fit the scene. I really like how this looks, and of course it would look much more different with actual paper and not a 2D .jpeg file, however it gave me some idea of the opportunities we have, and the lengths we can actually go to. I also think it would be really unique and interesting if perhaps viewers could look directly into the holes in the wall, so that they actually have to interact with the display, because I think that would definitely be worth something to get off the couch for.
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