During the production process and the built up anticipation and excitement for the shop 657's Spring 2-2- collection, a lot of unexpected bumps popped up along the way. These bumps slowed down the set plan the production team conducted, which led more critical thinking and creativity being embraced under pressure.
“We, the product team, are very excited to present the new SHOP657 merchandise collection. As students of the Academy of Art University, our best medium of self-expression is through fine art. Our school’s merchandise should represent our creative activities and artistry. This idea sparked our theme of incorporating illustrative based designs and our love for minimalism in fashion.”
The design team wanted to create something authentic for the school, while also creating something that spoke to San Francisco. Something beyond just the traditional cable car or skyline design, they wanted to represent pride in the city and school equally. Developing the color story was a struggle, it is always easy to fall back on the Academy's colors, but the design team wanted to expand on those colors in order to create a wider and more diverse color story.
The first three weeks were when each member of the team produced designs that reflect each of their ideas through witty illustrations while maintaining the overall theme of minimalism. They decided on having 2 collections that represent the Academy of Art’s community and multiple talents. One collection will represent creativity and self-expression, while the other will embody more pride in San Francisco and the school itself.
The first 3 weeks were when we individually produced designs that reflect our idea of witty illustrations presented minimally. We decided on illustrating designs that reflect art students, the school, and San Francisco as our home. The hardest part was trying to merge all of our sketches to make it cohesive. We learned that the production process is not a highway road. It is filled with u-turns and red lights. Pulling back our past designs, constantly revising what is produced, and gathering all the flats into one final visual document takes time.
Aside from the fact that COVID-19 made it twice as hard to design as a team and had our deadlines pushed back, we saw it as a blessing in disguise. Through extra zoom meetings and constant iMessage chats to revise our designs and budget plan, we became more aware of specific details and finally produced a collection that we all are very satisfied with. The design team had tons of fun producing this collection and we hope that it would excite all students as much as it did for us.