I was advised in my tutorials to get in touch with Emma as she has a lot of specialist knowledge and experience in the areas I have been exploring. Having worked with subscription boxes before she enlightened me on how they work, that each box has a theme, often seasonal, and that the call out process is similar to that of a magazine. I was reminded that however I choose to move forward with my project that the components of my final outcome must be part of a narrative, perhaps held together by a prompt word or theme. We spoke about the importance of sustainability and community building in new enterprises such as my subscription box idea. I am aware that my promotion would take place solely online and the benefit of having a physical outcome would be having followers taking photos and generating content for me, further enforcing the sense of a community. Emma reminded me that modern customers like to feel a part of the process and to always reach out and ask for their opinions. Embarking on my FMP I will be sure to start social media pages early on to build up this engagement and conduct market research, which could help me build audience profiles.

We discussed the importance of play in my concepts and this drilled home to me how how this element of fun and adventure is a constant motif in my work and how much I value the idea that my final outcome will be tactile and experiential.

Emma drew my attention to Merchant and Mills, a company pioneering making sewing stylish and current again. Their slogan, ‘clothes not fashion’ is very poignant as it targets an audience who reject the fashion industry and the exploitation and waste that comes along with it.  Whilst also capturing the attention of people want to wear clothes that will withstand the test of time, without the pressure of trends. They put a lot of effort into making their pattern packages feel luxurious and expensive further leading me to think I could learn alot from this brand.

Fig 1. merchant and mills website, Nov 2020.

Another way this brand aligns with my interests is in their deconstruction of the product and emphasis on the process. The image above shows the things available to buy on their website, a series of objects that when put together will create and experience with a rewarding final outcome.