This was our final toolbox class and we had to prepare our final page of the A3 presentation pages. The last page should be a press release, a piece of promotional writing to introduce our product or range.

I do feel like I am quite successful in making my press release presenting my product clearly, it was actually quite hard for me to find the right way to make sure I described it in the best way possible. I put in more effort to create a press release just like how it seems in a magazine or blog. I described the materials and shape of my product, the sustainability part, and talked about my customers. I also stated where I got the inspiration from, Shoreditch. I explored and imagined how things would go, and how the bag would be made if it was really produced and launched.

I made sure not only just take inspiration from the wall art of Shoreditch, but also from the architectural objects in the area. Like the clasp of my bag, it is made from one of the door details. I also feel like the inspiration for the bag handle was interesting, inspired by pipes and metal ventilation. I actually feel like there was enough inspiration that I got from Shoreditch, which can be seen through the bag handle, clasp, bag material, texture, and design. The shape of the bag itself is inspired by door knockers, how they have curved shapes. If you see the images that I took from Shoreditch and how I use them as an inspiration for my work, you can clearly see where the ideas come from. I feel like my product outcome quite shows an understanding of my consumer needs, I can picture my customers wearing the bag. Like I said, I was actually going for a muted tone but didn’t have any when doing the illustration so I did it with more vibrant ones. Giles said that it looked good and he was able to see my customers wear it.

Although if I had the chance and time to redo my toolbox project, I would have done more research and explored more ideas. One of the problems that I have been experiencing during the toolbox is that I sometimes find it hard to find ideas to pour into my designs, including the clothing, shoes, and bag assignments. But looking back, I have felt some improvements compared to the earlier times. My lack of exploration often holds me back from doing my work, which makes my progress slower. This also affects my performance in media/styling classes, I sometimes find it quite hard to find suitable backgrounds to take the pictures in. However, I liked my results and tried not to go overboard with the editing to make sure that it suits my customer. Some may see it as a lack of exploration but in fact, I did experiment with a lot of editing and chose what suits the most. Since I aim to achieve a vintage vibe for my bag design photo shoot, I tried editing them with a lot of textures and filters to get the vibe. I did not edit them with vibrant colors as that is not how I imagined my product be portrayed. One thing I realize is that I didn’t really explore a lot of places and photography techniques during the process, which I felt is because I don’t really have much experience in photoshoots and doing media outcomes. I suppose I could’ve done more to make the outcomes more interesting. I believe as time goes on, with more practice and experience, my skills will certainly grow. I feel like I am most successful when doing fashion business projects, an area in which I am passionate. However, I feel like my business work could always have more elaboration in terms of explaining and analyzing them. One thing about me is that I always feel like my work could’ve been done more perfectly. I can get overwhelmed with the work at times, but still appreciate all the effort I put into all my work. I am also relieved that I am able to do all the work in the time given, managing my time well, whilst still having free time to do other things.

Overall, I feel like the toolbox project made me gain a lot of knowledge, from the process of research and linking them to my ideas to creating different types of final outcomes. I experienced a lot of things I have never done before, and the whole experience was very fun. I designed a lot, way more than I imagine I could. I’m actually surprised and happy at the same time, seeing the work and growth in myself. For stepping out of my comfort zone, and doing all the assignments. This project challenges me to explore and do something different. Not everything was easy, but I am proud that I made my way through all of it. I am thrilled to do my future projects in this course.