REVISITING NAUTICAL ROOTS
REDISCOVERING A TRADITIONAL PASTIME
REFINING THE CREATIVE PROCESS
Owners of The Fabric Dock in Front of the Original Store
Their main goal in opening The Fabric Dock was to provide designer fabrics at low prices while creating an unforgettable shopping experience for each of their customers. There was an entire wall of hundreds of fabric bolts arranged in rows of shelves, with each bolt unique and captivating.
Dots Fabric Collection Display
Designer labels including Michael Miller, Amy Butler, Moda and Robert Kaufman were just a few of the familiar fabric lines that filled the store.
Beach Cottage Chic Store Display
One, in particular, was a well-known designer named Amy Butler, a personal favorite of mine as well as that of the owners of The Fabric Dock. This birth of customer loyalty is beneficial to both the owners of The Fabric Dock and the new customer. For example, The Fabric Dock began placing its featured bolts of fabric of the day that will be on special sale on an old wooden chair at the front of the store.
This articulation summarizes my reasoning for making this one of the primary colors of the scheme for The Fabric Dock. It is also necessary for the signage and decor of the store to be inspiring, helping to create that "experience" for all customers who visit The Fabric Dock. Advertising has been one of the leading design imperatives, especially during this first year of business for The Fabric Dock.
Over this past year, I have created a variety of different promotional materials to spread awareness of the store and attract visitors and shoppers to The Fabric Dock. This way, each gift bag will look slightly different from the next, while still boasting The Fabric Dock's special touch. Overall, I think the owners of The Fabric Dock and I succeeded with the brand of the store, creating an inviting place for travelers from all over the world.
Cottage-Inspired Window Display
Pantone Color of the Year for 2010: Turquoise 15-5519
Most people respond positively to the color turquoise, so it should be incorporated into all aspects of this fabric store (Pantone 1). Being "universally flattering", appealing to both genders and easily translated into both interiors and fashion, The Fabric Dock and I had no trouble incorporating our version of turquoise into the t-shirts designed for the store, as well as throughout the store's display and decor. including the painted columns on the front porch of the new store location and the window frames of the original location (Pantone 1). As a result, we thoroughly enforced the use of this color with the owners, using it in everything from
What's also interesting about the Turquoise-like tones is that it can look "elegant and dressy" or "casual and fun," complementing Fabric Dock's mission to offer designer fabric at reasonable prices in a with casual elegance (Pantone 1) . When looking ahead to next year, I was surprised to learn that the color of the year for 2011 was Pantone Honeysuckle 18-2120 (Pantone 1).
Pantone Color of the Year for 2011: Honeysuckle 18-2120
This was especially useful to know when helping owners decide which colors of shirts to order. It's not hard to see why coral and water seem destined for each other and, in particular, destined for The Fabric Dock. The symbol for the overall brand was something that the client and I felt every other part of the design should focus on.
A useful aspect of choosing the anchor is that it is a traditional symbol that is easily accessible and recognizable, making customers relate to the store at first glance. To blend the image of sewing and the sea as much as possible, I decided to construct an anchor with the shaft made to look like a sewing.
Anchor Symbol
After coming up with the most important part of The Fabric Dock brand, the logo, I spent plenty of time brainstorming, researching and sketching ideas as part of the journey to discovering the final logo for a fabric store of its kind. I started by arranging the words in the store title in as many different layouts as possible, as well as trying out the letters in different capitals. This helped to immediately resonate with the creative, hand-crafted feel of the store, while being highly visible from any distance.
To contrast such thick block letters, I found a delicate typeface called Doris Day to incorporate the softness of the brand and model the fluid movement of a piece of thread or ribbon. Also, the sideways "the" contrasts with the rest of the logo, making it far from stagnant or typical.
Logo
Advertising of the new store began with a shelf card displayed in shelves around town, including at the local rest stop. So I decided to take that basic thought and apply it to a nautical, sewing-inspired design by placing the custom anchor for the shop quite large and in the center of the front of the t-shirt. The owners chose t-shirt colors that match the colors of the store, such as kiwi green, coral and aqua.
First, it was imperative that I create layouts for the large sign that will be placed on the front of the building. While they were able to reuse the sign above the door, they also requested that another sign be placed on the wooden harbor pilings just outside the store. I decided to apply the same logic to these measuring tapes by creating a round sticker for the blank front that includes the logo and store look so that customers will remember their experience at The Fabric Dock every time they pull out the measuring tape to take measurements for project.
It also shares some of the same design elements of the other pieces to create unity and automatic recognition throughout the collection.
Original Store Sign
New Store Sign
Rack Card
Although a subtle promotional product, the t-shirt I designed for The Fabric Dock has proven to be just as effective a tool as the media ads in letting customers around town know about the store. First, to make the t-shirt the most economical, the owners and I felt we could have a successful shirt with information only on the front and only in white ink. Therefore, I had to make the design as versatile as possible, while still coming up with something creative and attractive that all customers would be happy to buy and wear.
I immediately thought of the "Life is Good" company that makes an entire collection of outdoor-style t-shirts complete with scenes depicting the phrase "Life is Good." illustrate. Instead of the crossbar, I placed the words "Life is good sewing" in the shape of the crossbar, but on a slight upward diagonal.
T-Shirt Design
While the move to a new location was overwhelming but exciting for the new owners, the quick move created a challenge to display the store's information in a totally new environment. The sign from the previous business there was eight feet square, so redesigning our rectangular logo in a square space required some careful consideration. I created a circular design that still perfectly matched the old sign that is now on the front of the building, with the same colors, wire border and signature anchor symbol.
However, I changed the font to black, instead of coral and aqua, to achieve maximum legibility from the street. Seeing my designs executed from start to finish has helped me know how to deal with the production side of graphic design as well as working with a client's advertising.
Old Location Store Front
Owners can fold these fat quarters into squares, and the belly band lets people know they were pre-cut at The Fabric Dock without covering up the pattern on the fabric. Fabric Dock's owners plan to create inviting store displays that are constantly changing and setups that are innovative and eye-catching, to keep customers coming back for the latest products and displays. These fat quarter cupcakes are small souvenir-like items that the owners thought would be an inexpensive but memorable item for travelers to purchase to remember their trip to The Fabric Dock.
In the future, The Fabric Dock may want to have a gift bag that is completely decorated with their nautical sewing theme. I suggested that The Fabric Dock use several different types, rather than just going with one design. Another product similar to the greasy side of souvenir cupcakes is a miniature tape measure that The Fabric Dock now offers.
I wanted to make sure The Fabric Dock owners kept organized records of the stretch cut to better help them cut fabric and check customers out efficiently at the register.
New Location Store Front
Fabric Roll Hangtag
Additionally, The Fabric Dock has started selling pre-cut fabric pieces that are cut by the owners from fabric from the store, which saves a lot of cutting time for quilters or those creating appliqués or pocket tees to have the small pieces of different fabric they need. For each fat quarter, which is half of a half yard but cut into a more usable large rectangle rather than a long, narrow piece, I created a 1" wide strip of paper called a belly band which around the middle of the piece of fabric I made a belly band that is a little wider that goes around the shirts after they are rolled up and placed in a bucket or other display container.
Fat Quarter Bellyband
T-Shirt Bellyband
Fat Quarter Cupcake Bellyband
Gift Bag Labels
It seems that the majority of business cards today are very plain, most likely one-sided and presented horizontally. Therefore, if you rotate this business card vertically, it will automatically stand out from the many other business cards that customers of other companies like.
Business Card Front and Back
Notecard
This striped trim evokes a nautical-themed feel, as stripes are seen time and time again on nautical-inspired clothing and home decor, and the trim is a design element reminiscent of a piece of printed fabric or ribbon. This card has the same striped border and includes marked circles with different dollar amounts that owners initiate when a customer purchases a certain amount. This gift certificate is slightly larger than a check to differentiate it from the usual paper sizes and fits nicely in the size of a standard business envelope.
However, I will consider making it the size of a check to make it easier to fit in a wallet.
Gift Certificate
Anchor Awards Card Front and Back
Fabric Sales Book Sheet
