So my sister used to work for Boden in London, and she managed to arrange for me to spend a week there doing work experience in the children's logo and apliqué department. Not what i had in mind for potential work experience, but an exciting opportunity even so. I was looking forward to it!
I woke up each day at 6:15am to be ready to leave the house at 7am and make my way to West Acton, where the Boden office is located.
When I first got there, I spent a couple of hours in the morning sorting out my placement with HR and getting shown around the building. Once I was settled in, I got to sit in on a meeting where the team discussed what they would be working on that week. This included:
1) Theme
2) Mood boards
3) Research trips
1) The theme they were working on for Spring 17 was inspired by the story of Grace Darling. Grace lived in a lighthouse on the Northumbrian coast with her family, and became a heroine in the Victorian era after she helped rescue multiple survivors from a shipwrecked boat. From this starting point we would research the obvious connections to the story (sea rescue, coastal animals, sea animals, and storms), as well as other avenues beyond this (deep sea divers, sea creatures, etc.)
2) Once we had discussed our theme, we were set the task of creating mood boards to help with inspiration. Mood boards are basically boards covered in inspirational imagery including tears (images), photos, sample fabrics/accessories, and once we are happy with our mood boards, relevant samples would be bought during research trips.
We split our mood boards into four different categories:
1) Our main logo team board, which provides an overview of graphic/illustration inspiration
2) A photo board featuring relevant photography references
3) A catwalk/trend board collating all of the fun and exciting things we’ve seen on the catwalks
4) A technique board, which gives examples of interesting ways of working, e.g. embroidery, sequins, patches
3) Research trips involved buyers travelling to different countries such as Japan and India in order to carry out market research and buy items that we like the look/technique of and we could use to inspire news designs for the new line. During our morning meeting, some of the girls who went to Japan showed all of us what they bought and explained what they like and how we can use them in our own work. Everyone responded passionately and enthusiastically and it was a very inspiring discussion.
I can’t specifically remember what i did day by day, so I will just say what I did throughout the week.
We were all tasked to find images for a mood board (photo board) at the start of the week, so we each set ourselves a small list of different images and spent the morning compiling it all together. This included things related to the sea and seaside such as boats, weather, lighthouses, etc. but also other things related to Grace Darling, Grace had a pet cat, collected shells and duck eggs, and had a vegetable patch, so we used images of these things also.
Once the mood boards were complete, I was given free reign for the rest of the week to come up with design ideas for logos and appliqué. Here are a few of the designs I came up with:
These are just a couple of basic pencil sketches. I started all of my designs like this, before scanning them in and finishing them up in either Photoshop or Illustrator.
This is my snorkel octopus design, it was pretty popular in the office, so I finished it up by lining it in Illustrator and colouring it in Photoshop. From what I can see from the Boden website, my exact design was not used in the end, but someone used the idea and created this t-shirt as a result:
I’m happy that my idea inspired someone else, but disappointed that my design was not used. However, I agree that this design works better for Boden clothing. I feel that if I stayed at Boden for longer than a week, I could’ve created something more suitable and it could’ve been used.
This is a rainbow trout that I was asked to draw, inspired by an item brought back from Japan. Chloe, the woman who asked me to draw it, thought it would be good if the rainbow part of the fish was made with different coloured sequins, or if the speckles were knots of cotton. I large part of the design process involved figuring out what fabrics and textures we could use, and organising it with the factories and producers. I was not involved in this process however, so my knowledge of the process is very limited.
Here is a lighthouse design I was asked to draw, to potentially be used on a jumper. I was asked specifically to include Sprout, Johnny B’s pet dog. Johnny B is the owner of Boden and Sprout is included in many of the designs.
These two designs are from me just playing around. I didn’t show my manta ray design to anyone, but I really like it, and I would like to use it for something else in the future. Maybe a wrapping paper or a scarf or t-shirt print.
The two love birds are a particular favourite of mine. I thought the feet as well as the beaks and sweaters could have been made with cotton stitching detail over the initial print, if it were to be made into an item of clothing.
Unfortunately none of my work was used in the Spring release. But again, I think if I were officially working for Boden, even for a month maybe, I could’ve seen my designs through into the production stage.
One plus however, is that a few of my designs were taken to India, on another research trip. The girls who went went to the factories that produce Boden’s clothes, and discussed fabrics, techniques, and prices. I haven't heard from anyone at Boden about my designs, but I'm satisfied enough. They were taken to India, which is far more than I ever expected to happen to my work that week.
Overall, I had a very positive time with Boden. I felt truly happy all week, and I felt like I was creating something with a purpose. I don’t mind that my designs weren’t used. I inspired one tshirt, and I enjoyed the experience. I learned a lot about how the clothing industry works, and I also gained confidence in using Photoshop and Illustrator, which is something I’ve wanted for a long time.
I probably won’t go into the clothing industry as a career, but working full time as a part of a creation team was a very positive experience, and I certainly feel more knowledgable and enriched. This gave me a good idea of what working full time is like, and I actually look forward to my future career now, rather than dread the thought.
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