When we think about inspiration, what influences us most are ordinary people who have done extraordinary things. We appreciate when someone has the ability and willingness to be selfless, creative, innovative, or just dares to be different. Being ordinary and creating extra ordinary stuff.
It’s one of fashion’s great mysteries. Where do designers find their inspiration? The birth of a trend has long been a source of debate. Inspiration can literally come from anywhere, be it family, music, streets, a crack in the sidewalk etc . There are no restraints as to what someone can draw from to turn a mere thought into a reality. In fact, fashion design is all about great inspirations. Today’s designs are everything from elaborate drawings in a sketchbook to creative photo shopping.
Unexpected inspirations:
Miniskirt: Did you know the origin of the miniskirts by Mary Quant’s was actually named after her favourite car – The Mini. According to her, miniskirts meant young, fresh, colourful and fun.
The bikini: Louis Reard named his two-piece swimming costume after the Bikini Atoll, where the US military was testing bombs. He believed his revealing swimwear would create a shock similar to that of the atomic bomb. He sure did!!!!!!
Versace logo: Gianni Versace’s major influence was Greek mythology – the logo for his company is the head of Medusa – thought to symbolize the empowerment of women. Through his clothing, Versace wanted to give women confidence and power, and this was shown through his choice of flamboyant textiles, bold colors and flattering cuts.
Red-soled Louboutins: Christian Louboutin’s red soles were inspired by Andy Warhol and nail varnish. When designing a pair of shoes influenced by Warhol’s Flowers, Louboutin was dissatisfied with the outcome. While looking at the shoes, which had black soles, to try to figure out why they didn’t work, his assistant was painting her nails red. Seeing the polish, Louboutin grabbed the pot and lacquered the shoe’s sole, and an icon was born.
Great news for those of you looking to increase your store’s exposure! MyWear has released its new Facebook app! Now, with our new app, you can add a MyWearStore “Shop” tab to your Facebook page, where anyone visiting your page can see a catalog of your products, view the details, and shop from Facebook! We’ll receive, process, and ship the product and credit your dues, as always.
To install, login to your account on LaunchMyWear.com and click on the Facebook cart (top right).
You’ll be taken to the MyWear® Store Facebook App page. Click on “Setup your Facebook store”
From here, select which page you’d like your store to appear on and click “Add Page Tab”.
That’s it! Go checkout your new MyWearStore, right on your Facebook page.
When designing for your customers on LaunchMyWear, it’s beneficial to keep their preferences in mind. The idea is to stay true to who you are, so that you attract consumers that match your aesthetic, while also remembering the upcoming trends they’ll most likely want and their overall predilections.
Pantone Colors 2016
One of the easiest ways to accomplish this is by offering colors that are trending, (see Pantone colors of the year) and making products available in some key colors or tones that are popular your your buyers’ demographic.
For example, based on this chart, you can see that one clear winner is the color blue:
Whereas orange did not fare so well …
It has also been shown that more unusual and unique color names can increase the intent to purchase. This may hold especially true with women, according to KISSmetrics. So, keep that it mind when naming and describing your products.
While we’re on the topic of color, it would be a disservice not to recommend looking at a color chart to determine complementary colors to use in your design.
How often have you flipped through a women’s magazine to come across a quiz: “What’s your style?” Seems simple enough… but maybe too simple. Can our personal tastes really be summed up as Trendsetter, Classic, Girly, or Sporty?
We’re complicated beings that find inspiration through ongoing and ever-revolving stimuli, but admittedly, we also have preferences that often stay with us through our adult lives. So, when finding our senses of style, we’re told to rely on those consistencies to come to a conclusion about who we are, what we’re like, and what we offer. On an existential level, we are what we are and it doesn’t need to go any further than that. But, when creating a business around one’s style, such as a LaunchMyWear store, it’s a whole different ball game. So, I thought I’d investigate what the biggest influencers are in curating style and how you can use this to discover your brand’s voice.
Traditional Croatian costumes
Culture: Often, personal style may be related to the culture you grew up in, but can also be from cultures that you’re drawn to. The art, music, food, and behaviors you grew up around or were attracted to obviously play a huge role in your preferences now. For example, half of my family is Croatian. I grew up with a grandmother who donned a braided crown and babushka. There were summer kitchens and Christmas Eve parties serving seven variations of seafood and copious amounts of wine. I really enjoy the traditions and styles I was exposed to by my family, and possibly as a result, have developed a Croatian or global-influenced sense of style, often being drawn to folksy prints, embroidered dresses, and, yes, braided crowns. There are also cultures surrounding hobbies and interests, like nerd culture, for example. How did culture play a role in your tastes and preferences?
Personal influencers: Did you have a family relative or close friend that was always on fleek? Did they teach you what items of clothing to splurge on and what to regard as a passing trend? Maybe they bought you your first favorite dress or jacket. For me, this person was my Aunt Cindy. She taught me what details to look for in quality clothing, where to find a bargain, and what fashion pieces would remain timeless for years to come. These lessons were subtle, but, over the years, have stuck with me. Consider who helped you develop your fashion sense and what they taught you, because there’s a good chance those lessons are still influencing you today. Also, consider peers or people who had negative influences and told you to refrain from wearing something you liked or believed in, then mentally tell them off and move on with your life!
I haven’t the words. <3!!!
Famous and celebrity influencers. This is a big one. I would guess that 75% of teenagers, or more, gain influence from music, movies, and TV. These favorite musicians and celebrities often change over time, but their impressions can have a lasting effect. I’ve played with so many different types of music and style that it would be difficult to keep track of them all, identifying with “indie/punk/emo” as a teenager and onto electro pop and funk in my twenties. But there has never been a time when I didn’t love David Bowie, Bob Dylan, and Prince. Find those influences that stood the test of time and examine how they might have played a part in determining your sense of style now.
I wanna hang out with these gals.
Decade: Sometimes this ends up being the nostalgia you have for the way people dressed when you were a kid. Other times, you find yourself drawn to particular decades because of the culture or beliefs of that era, or maybe it ties in to one of the other influencers mentioned above. I’ve always loved the 60s. Maybe it was having a flower child mom, or because of the 60s reboot that happened in the 90s when I was growing up – probably all of the above. Looking at the time period you’re most drawn to can help you make discoveries about your own personal style.
Spatial/Visual preferences: Highly organized people often feel better when things are out of the way and in place, while others might have a “more is more” attitude. These states of mind can often extend to fashion preferences. I, for example, am a neat freak minimalist and this holds true for my taste in clothing and accessories. I don’t like any fussy or unnecessary zipper or button details and I have a strong preference for streamlined silhouettes. Dolly Parton, on the other hand, has a more go-with-the-flow, “why the hell not?” attitude which I appreciate tremendously, but just isn’t me. It’s interesting looking at how this last one relates to your other influencers. Although I love Prince jumpsuits and folky embroidery, I want quirks in small, thoughtful doses. Examine your own spatial reasoning and preferences in the context of your other style influences to see a bigger picture of what your style or brand might represent.
So, I guess my sense of style can be summed to Folksy-Classic-Fluid-Mod-Minimalist? Yeah, let’s go with that! What did you come up with? This can be used when developing a cohesive e-store on LaunchMyWear.com or if you ever need a little inspiration. And, as always, tweet your designs and ideas to @LaunchMyWear
Finding stock images can be difficult. A google image search will normally yield one of two things: A slew of mystifying photos of overly excited guys in suits, or worse, an image you like, but that’s watermarked to filth.
When designing the banner for your LaunchMyWear store, watermarks and men in suits might not be what you had in mind, so we’ve compiled a list of some sites offering free, aesthetically-pleasing photos to choose from. Enjoy!
After you’ve registered at LaunchMyWear.com, it’s time to create a brand identity for your e-store. One good way to do so is by developing a logo. A logo is what visually represents your business and brand, after all, and can influence people’s attitudes towards your business, as well as your brand’s memorability. In this article, we’ll focus on points to consider while designing a logo for your business.
Keep it Simple: Keep your logo simple for easy recognition. Simplicity is easier to process, which, in turn, can be more memorable and help you stand out in your consumer’s mind. Often times, simpler logos are also more identifiable in smaller forms, such as on mobile devices and business cards, and they’re easier to recognize when printed with lower quality. As tempting as it is, logos don’t need to tell the entire story of your business, so try to focus on sticking to a two-color scheme and minimalist design, and not overthinking it.
Memorable: Another critical point to keep in mind while designing your logo is memorability. You want your logo to be unique, after all! Creating something that will stand out in people’s minds, while still remaining simple enough to process is the key here, as it ensures better ROI (Rate Of Return) from your marketing campaigns. For example, Apple’s logo design is incredibly simple, but the bite on the apple makes it unique and memorable.
Timeless: Logos should be enduring for many years to come. It would be counter-productive to create something that you’d eventually have to change, after devoting so much time to creating awareness and recognition around your original logo. However, trends change, customers’ preferences and mindsets do, too; So, your logo should be able to withstand evolving customers and an evolving product portfolio. Hence, a timeless logo is great to have.
Versatile: Your logo should be versatile enough that you can use it on various platforms. This includes web, mobile, and any marketing material; like your apparel and accessories on MyWear®. You want your logo to hold up on different sizes, a single color design, and on multiple products, so, it’s a good idea to make sure your logo isn’t too wide or tall.
Appropriate: As mentioned earlier, your logo doesn’t need to advertise what you sell exactly, or the entire story of your business, but, it should make sense in the eyes of your customer’s. A certain amount of relevance in accordance to your business will help your target customers gain a clear perception of who you are, with comparatively lesser marketing expenditure.
It should also trigger the proper emotional appeal. Colors can play a major role in this. To know which colors trigger which emotions, refer to the table below:
via ideopsychology.com
Some other points to be considered while designing your logo:
Most top brands only use one or two colors in their logos
Blue, red, and black are the most used colors in logo design
Many top brand’s logos use only text, with no graphic design or symbol
The most commonly used text is San serif
Many logos have a rectangular shape or horizontal orientation
Many include the registered trademark symbol in the logo
Most top brand logos don’t mention the products they’re selling
Keep in mind: the above practices shouldn’t be taken as gospel. As an artist, you probably already know what logo’s right for your business. These are just handy tips to be considered during the logo designing process. Now, go ahead, and get to designing! You can upload your new logo in the setting section of LaunchMyWear.com.
Because LaunchMyWear.com relies on all new, patent pending technology to produce custom clothing and apparel, designers may wonder how exactly our platform works. More importantly, how does it work for them, as designers?
Your Own Private e-Store
First and foremost, with LaunchMyWear.com, you own an e-store, which can be customized just the way you want it. You control everything, from the name, theme, and font colors, to what your customer sees when entering your store. Upload your logo to establish your brand even further. You can even group your merchandise into assigned categories of your choosing.
Secure Payment Gateway
Your e-store, which showcases your products, wouldn’t be complete without a payment gateway. Hence, we offer you and your customers a secure checkout that’s already integrated into your e-store.
Your Own Label
At LaunchMyWear.com, apart from owning your e-store, you can also launch your own fashion label. This feature will be active after you generate at least 50 orders from your e-store. You can even apply for a trademark through us. Need more help? We offer one-on-one consultations to our designers to help them get their trademark and label up and running.
Ability to Apply Print Anywhere on Your Merchandise
As an artist, don’t be restricted to design only on specific sections of your merchandise. LaunchMyWear.com is the only platform that lets you design a product with all-over prints, or on any surface of the product you like! Our 3D tool will help you design on any section of your creation that you please.
One Design, Many SKUs
Our patent-pending software converts your design, from the 3D tool, to different sizes, including both standard and custom sizes, and automatically creates SKUs for production. So, you only have to design once!
You Design It, We’ll Manufacture It!
We’ll manufacture your design when it’s ordered, without any upfront fees. That means no inventory, no pre-orders, no minimums, and no cost to you, the designer. And, because it’s made to order, you can design and launch as many products on your e-store as you want!
Social Media Integration
LaunchMyWear even makes it easy to promote your products online! No need to login to individual social media channels and post your content. At LaunchMyWear.com, you can promote away, directly from our social media share dashboard.
Drop-Shipping
Once ordered and manufactured, we deliver straight to your customer’s doorstep. Or to yours, if that’s your preference!
Transparent reporting
Our transparent reporting allows you to keep track of your orders and earnings. Link to your secure Stripe account and watch your designs pay off, literally.
Simply put, LaunchMyWear is an all-inclusive package for any designer to create new, custom looks to be produced, on-demand, without any of the obstacles associated with traditional fashion manufacturing. Hopefully, now you have a bit of a better idea of just how our platform works and how it works for you, as a designer. And, with no costs to you, there’s no reason not to get started!
On site packaging of your e-store is as important as your products. You would agree how a well-lit and decorated offline shop encourages you to make a purchase from that store. It gives an additional boost to the sales. At LaunchMyWear.com we offer you various themes to choose from, so your store can have a unique and a fresh look. To choose your theme:
Go to the settings page
2.Upload your store logo
3.Select your theme and update
Congratulations! Now, your chosen theme and logo are applied to your e-store.
