Building the Polished Brand

     As the Digital Content Creation Intern for Polished for Pennies, it is important that everything I create be representative of the Polished brand that Vittoria has created and envisioned. Branding is so important in today's fashion industry for recognizability and loyalty, and in order to stay within the bounds of what is "Polished" has been an exciting challenge. In Drexel's Design and Merchandising program, we usually get to create completely original ideas based on our own creativity, so creating for someone else's vision is a drastic change. 

     In listening to Vittoria's aspirations for her brand, I tried to use the skills that Drexel has employed me with of identifying and catering to the target market. From everything I've seen and heard from Vittoria, Polished for Pennies' target market is the real, everyday woman who many not be in her ideal financial situation, but strives to make the most of what she has. She is resourceful, confident, and stylish, and social. She lives in or around Philadelphia and loves sharing her great deals with her close circle of friends. She enjoys standing out in a crowd and paying a compliment to a fellow gal pal. She is relatable, yet someone that other women aspire to be like. 

     From these traits, it is important that all content on the blog feel "real", not scripted or contrived. The "Polished Gal"can smell BS, and will call it out in a heartbeat. Furthermore, it is important to stay within a reasonable price range and to promote value. Any visual content on the blog must be modern and appealing, with a "Polished Pop" to engage the "Polished Gal". It must feel elegant, yet still approachable. It must be something that the "Polished Gal" aspires for, but does not feel too out of reach. 

     When creating the cover photo for the Polished for Pennies Facebook, I had to keep all of these things in mind, while sticking to Vittoria's visual tastes, and bringing in my own creativity. This is where another skill I have learned at Drexel came in, designing for a client. In Nick Cassway's Computer Design for Design and Merchandising, we created a website template for a real developing textile company. I found it so challenging to portray what the company wanted within my own designing style, but by the end of the term I felt I had accomplished just that. These compromising skills have really guided me through this internship. Vittoria and I have really fallen into synch with our ideas and styles and we've unconsciously developed a design process that upon reflection, is very efficient and promotes creativity. She will explain to me what she is looking for, I send her basic options that could all fit that description, she guides me towards which she likes the best, and I expand on that option with my own ideas and the traits of the "Polished Gal" in mind.

     Now that I can represent Vittoria's brand confidently with my design style, it is crucial that we make this brand into a business. Exciting developments are in the works with our professional web developers, and I can't wait to tell you all more about it!