The final print

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The final prints of the look books are finally here! I decided to order 15 incase I wanted to give them out to potential employers in the future and so I can keep some myself. I am so happy with the final result the quality of the images has printed really well on the satin paper. I am so pleased with the how the front and back cover look in the new gloss coated paper; I think it looks really sleek and has no creases down the spine.

Getting the sample made

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After taking the PDF document of my layout to the printers I was told that the size of the document was too big to print on their printers, however they agreed to make it smaller and print off a sample for me. I wasn’t planning on getting a sample printed however I am glad I did because there was a few problems that needed changing.

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I love the new size of the look book, it felt right when I held it in my hands and was the perfect size to hand out in store and for customers to fit in their handbags. However, the front cover had been printed of in silk paper and when folded had made awful white crease lines across the spine. After carrying the same around in my bag for a few days the front and back cover had worn really badly. This is something that I could not have as it made the whole booklet look tatty and cheap. I discussed alternative paper to use for the front and back cover, they were then able to print the front and back cover in a matte paper with a gloss finish on top so it would know wear or show crease marks down the spine.

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The second problem was that the spreads did not match up the way I set them up on InDesign. This was because images could not printed on the other side of the front and back cover. To solve this problem I had to add an extra page, which would be blank on one side at the back of the look book. I also had to get rid of the image that was opposite the introductory paragraph, this was a hard decision to make because I really love how those two first pages looked together. However, it was more important that the spread were lined up the way I set them up, otherwise the whole concept of the collections wouldn’t make sense

--> After making these changes and have numerous discussions with staff at the printers I sent the final layout to print. I am so glad that I went into the printers to get this look book printed rather than sending it off online or just emailing it to them, because if I hadn’t I wouldn’t of been aware of these problems and been able to get a sample printed.

Creating the layout

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In this post I will discuss my layout for the look book.

After looking at competitor Agent Provocateur, I decided I wanted my layout to look sleek and have a discreet element to it. The Agent Provocateur perfume bottles inspired this idea, I felt its understated exterior looked sleek, sexy and made a bold statement.   -->

I liked the way that the brand name and logo across the front of the bottle spoke for its self. This is something that I felt could be pulled off with the Victoria’s Secret brand name and logo. Even though the look book is advertising beauty, Victoria’s Secret is still a lingerie brand so I feel that it works to make the front cover more discreet. It was important the cover looked sleek because Victoria’s Secret is a luxury brand, so I wanted this to be communicated through the appearance of the look book. Victoria’s Secret beauty competitors are other high-end brands such as Agent Provocateur, Benefit Cosmetics and Bobbi Brown so it was important to have an expensive looking cover. 

 

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The first problem I came across when making this layout was that the images would not fit fully across the page because the page shape is square and the images were taken portrait and are rectangular. To solve this problem I made the background of all the pages dark and light pink, to reflect the Victoria’s Secret signature stripes. I feel this really works for the look book and fits in with the brand image. If I were to re-do this I would of asked the photographer to have a wider crop when photographing the shot so I could have cropped the image into a square shape in post-production.

I started off with a brief paragraph about the collection to introduce readers. I ended this with a question, “What’s your style?” to encourage readers to carry on looking and find the style that will suit them, I feel this also makes it more personal and relatable for the reader. I started off with the three core themes, very sexy, dream angels and VS pro because they are the main ones that would be sold all year round. The limited edition collections begin with winter because the press release gets released in October and therefore by the time the collection will hit stores in December.

I kept the layout more a less the same style throughout to remain consistent because I feel an important element to an advertising campaign is consistency. The writing on each page gives a brief description of the products and phrased it in ways it relates to the theme. For instance, on The Immortals page it reads, “Its no myth our bronzing powder will give you a natural-looking sun-kissed glow worthy of any goddess”. To get the Victoria’s Secret voice I used similar words, phrases and language as they had previously done when advertising their products. Using words such as provocative, fuse, smolder and seduce. Throughout the look book I chose text that would reflect the theme but was still clear to read. For this colours of the text I picked out colours from the images on those pages. I did this so the text and images with flow and sit well together on the page.

I placed an image that I had created by merging two separate images together and changing the colour to a sepia tone across the back page. These images are from back stage at a Victoria’s Secret fashion show. I did this because it adds to the beauty element and relates to the VS pro page in which there is a similar image.

This is the second draft my layout, after showing my tutor it was suggested that I changed the Grecian Goddess theme to The Immortals. This is a much more effective title without straying to far from the original theme. I also changed the colours of the limited edition colours to pink. This was because they are limited edition products so I had to make them look different to the other products that are sold all year round.

Initial Layout Ideas

In this post I will discuss my initial ideas for my layout. 

I am unsure about how I want my layout to look so to get some inspiration and insight as to how a Victoria’s Secret publication is laid out I have looked at there 2013 swim and lingerie catalogues. (shown on left)

I like the way that the images take up the majority of the page because I feel it makes a bold statement and draws the viewer in. This is something that I will do on my layout because as well as people looking at the products; I want the images to predominately be the focus. I also like the simplicity of these layouts; I feel that is not to crowded, which allows the viewer to focus on the product and in turn makes a bolder statement. This is something that I will do on my layout as I believe that simplicity is effective and let the images speak for themselves. Personally I feel that layouts that are very busy are hard to look at and distract you from the product or image that display. For my look book I plan to have one image per page as well as one or two of the products. I love the text used across the pages for instance, on the blue page with Candice Swanepoel, it say in bold writing, “Always Very Sexy”. This is simple, effective and clearly states what collection it is. This is something I will aim to do for each of the collections across the layout for my look, along with a sentence that will sum up are make a statement about the collection.
 
Whilst I want the layout to show resemblance to a Victoria’s Secret catalogue I do not want it to mirror one. I want to put my own personal touch on the layout; I realize that it also needs to be different as it is selling beauty products and not lingerie or swimwear. Below I have looked at a various beauty editorials from Glamour, Cosmopolitan and Elle magazine, as these are magazines that my target market would read.

Here I have taken into account the position and size of the image on the page, the position of text and headlines where products are placed on the page. I have noticed that if the models are slightly turned to the side in the images, they are always facing what would be the inside of the page. This is something I will make sure I do when placing my images because it ensures that the images flow well together on the page. When looking at the text, I have noticed it is always set of to the side and where it can, avoids going over the face. I think that this is important to consider when creating my layout. I plan to include more text than there is on the Victoria’s Secret catalogue because when selling beauty products it needs more to explain the colour, texture and purpose of the product, where as lingerie and swimwear can sell itself. However I feel that the text is something that needs to accompany the image and not take center stage, so I plan to place it to the side of the image.  I have also looked at the size and position of the products. In these editorials products are featured on the side and are substantially smaller than the featured image. I plan to have my products slightly bigger and more centered than this because the purpose is to sell them. I have decided not to have makeup swatches on my layout because I think it will overcrowd the page and will be unnecessary.

 
Overall, I think that the research and analyses of these two different types of layouts have been effective in helping me to make decisions and have a clearer idea for the layout. The main purpose of my look book will be to advertise and sell the products, However, recently monthly magazine’s produced by stores such as Topshop and River Island have began to get more popular and prominent on the high street. From this I have decided to make my look book reflect these magazines by ensuring that the images and looks are as big a part of the look book as the actual products are.

 






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Meeting with the printers

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I decided to visit a printers over Easter, which is local to where I live to get a quote and an overall idea of what they can do. At the moment I don’t have a clear idea of how I want my layout to look but I know I want to be square and a similar size to this booklet (shown below)

 and have a gloss front and back cover with silk or satin inside pages.  The booklet show below is just one I received when I was training as an associate for Victoria’s Secret but I like the shape and the size as it was small enough to go into your hand bag but big enough to have large, good quality images on and make it more special than just another store handout. I felt gloss would look luxurious and sleek for the front and back cover. Whist the silk and satin paper felt nice and didn’t have too much shine on it that you couldn’t see the paper. 

After discussing sizes I was told they were only able to standard sizes such as A4 and A5 etc. I felt that A5 would be too small and I was adamant on have a square shape. We came to the agreement that the book could be printed in A4 size but the height and width would be A4 so it would be square. We also discussed different ways of binding. I was shown a magnetic bind, which was a hard spine that I could have in graphite or black. (Example shown below) 
 

--> I liked this because it felt quite sturdy. I don’t want my look book to feel like something disposable, even though it is for advertising purposes I want it to also be something that a customer would keep to look through. Almost like the Victoria’s Secret catalogues that are sent round in the US. 

I felt positive after going to the printers because everything felt like it was coming together. I decided to go to a printing store that would be able to print my look book rather than sending it off to a company online because it felt more personal. I wanted to meet the people who were printing my book and discuss options and show them my images and plans to ensure that they understood my vision for the book and so they were able to give me there expertise and suggestions on what would make it look best. I looked on online printers such as blurb, but I felt it was to impersonal, I didn’t like the limitations on options and therefore felt that I didn’t have enough control over the outcome. 

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After discussing the printing options with my tutor I was advised not go with the magnetic bind, as it is not right for the type of booklet I am creating and does not fit the Victoria’s Secret brand. After looking around and getting look books and supplements from other beauty brands such as Benefit, Bobbi Brown and Bare minerals. I agree with this and have decided to go with a saddle stitch bind.

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Media Kit

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Another part of the project outcome is the media pack; this is a PDF document, which will be on memory stick presented inside a Victoria’s Secret box. The media kit consists of a press release that details an event that will be held at the Victoria’s Secret store in New Bond Street, to celebrate the launch of the 2014 beauty collection. The media pack also consists of the mood boards I created for each of the themes, this is to give the media an understanding of the themes and their inspiration and to give them an exclusive look of what is to come. The purpose of the media pack is to be sent round to the media to give them an insight into the collection before it is released, so they can then write about it, and create hype around the collection to the public before it is released. 

This originally started off as a staff-training package, which would educate staff on the collection and how to sell and apply it to customers. However, it has evolved into the media kit after I found a site called www.vspressroom.com This site is part of Victoria’s Secret but is exclusively for media purposes and details all Victoria’s Secret new launches for all of their product lines. As well as exclusive behind the scenes videos and images from photo shoots and press events and press releases. For each launch and press event they feature on the site they have a media kit, which can be downloaded and opened in a PDF. The media kits for press events includes a press release that details the what the collection is and what it consists of and a brief paragraph about what supermodels were at the event for the launch, when and where it was. The media kit also features images from the event. An example of the media kit shown below.

 

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I feel that the website and media kit’s are highly effective in promoting, advertising and creating a buzz around new collections as well as keeping the media informed. The PDF format of the media kit is quick and easy to open and look at, especially for busy PR’s, journalists etc. and is a much better alternative than having endless papers. Which is why I have made the decision to create a media kit in a similar style. My aim for the media kit is to create hype about the collection so journalists will write about the anticipated launch and the event that will be taking place. This is why I have written a press release detailing information about the event that will take place, rather than one that already has and have provided mood boards of each collection rather than images from the event.

I have written the press release in a similar style to the ones written on the site, for instance I started of with what supermodels will be there. This is because the supermodels are a big part of the brand and are key when advertising and showcasing any products. I have also written a brief detail about the collection and what it includes, but the purpose of the press release was to get individuals to come the event to explore the collection. I have chosen to present this media pack on a memory stick inside a Victoria’s Secret box because I wanted it to look like a present which PR’s ad journalists will not be able to resist opening. I think that by doing this it will build up an element of suspense and raise questions as to what it will be, therefore it will be unavoidable for those to receive it to open.

Below shows my media pack before I have put it into a PDF form. 

Advertising boards

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As part of the outcome for this project I have decided to create three advertising boards that would be displayed in store. From my time working at Victoria’s Secret I know that large advertising boards showcasing the newest collections where frequently featured throughout the store. This is something that was very effective in selling new collections and grabbing the attention of customers. They also looked great around the store, as the supermodels are such a big part of the Victoria’s Secret it contributed to the interior of the store portraying the brand image. Images of these advertisements in Victoria’s Secret stores are shown below. 

 

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I chose to only do three advertising boards for the core themes, which are, Very Sexy, VS Pro and Dream Angels. I decided to do these themes because they are collections that would be sold all year rather than the limited edition collections, which are sold by season. The advertising boards are featured below. All these images have been printed off on A1 gloss paper.

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I decided to have the brand logo across each of the boards in pink, black or white depending what would stand out better. I can’t give a particular reason as to why I did this; it just felt right to put it across the top. To begin I was only going to have the logo on the image. However I felt that as this was for advertising purposes I needed to put the title of the theme as well as phrase to entice customers to explore and buy the collections. I chose the font in accordance the to theme. I felt for Dream Angels I could have something slightly more feminine a girly, whilst I wanted the Very Sexy theme font to be bold to reflect the theme and the image. I chose a similar bold and clear font for VS Pro as it is advertising professional and essential products.