Overview
Alpha Industries came to MPI for a redesign of their Fall/Winter 2015 Outerwear catalog. As the designer, I was responsible for the incorporation of the brand, art directing photographers during on-location and studio photoshoots, catalog layout and design, photo retouching, and meeting facilitation.
Alpha Industries came to MPI for a redesign of their Fall/Winter 2015 Outerwear catalog. As the designer, I was responsible for the incorporation of the brand, art directing photographers during on-location and studio photoshoots, catalog layout and design, photo retouching, and meeting facilitation.
Challenge
Alpha Industries is an outerwear company founded in 1959. After acquiring the first military contract for field coats and flight jackets, the their brand has a strong connection to to both the product and the history. After making their product available for civilian purchase, the Alpha Industries flight jacket became an iconic symbol in the world of fashion.
Alpha Industries is an outerwear company founded in 1959. After acquiring the first military contract for field coats and flight jackets, the their brand has a strong connection to to both the product and the history. After making their product available for civilian purchase, the Alpha Industries flight jacket became an iconic symbol in the world of fashion.
The art director at Alpha Industries stressed the company's rich history and noted the recent web refresh an outside agency established for Alpha Industries. Alpha Industries requested a catalog that could keep these considerations in mind while creating a simpler visual experience for customers, drive higher sales for the season's line of jackets, and make a visual impact in the world of fashion.
Task
A meeting was set between MPI and Alpha Industries to discuss the direction of the Fall/Winter 2015 Catalog. The art director from Alpha Industries and I went through catalogs from previous years and noticed a few accessibility issues that were not addressed in the years prior. I saw this an an opportunity to incorporate a human-centric approach to the design process, to think not only about the product, but the customers who will hold and use this catalog for purchases, website traffic, and social media.
A meeting was set between MPI and Alpha Industries to discuss the direction of the Fall/Winter 2015 Catalog. The art director from Alpha Industries and I went through catalogs from previous years and noticed a few accessibility issues that were not addressed in the years prior. I saw this an an opportunity to incorporate a human-centric approach to the design process, to think not only about the product, but the customers who will hold and use this catalog for purchases, website traffic, and social media.
Actions
A competitive analysis was conducted of similar companies in the market and neighboring construction-related industry. Mood boards were arranged to develop a overall visual theme for both the photography and design of the catalog.
A competitive analysis was conducted of similar companies in the market and neighboring construction-related industry. Mood boards were arranged to develop a overall visual theme for both the photography and design of the catalog.
User data from the previous year's catalog was collected to support my hypothesis of potential stress cases existing. As I predicted, user feedback showed that both the tight, condensed typography from the product headings were difficult to read, and as a result, generated order inaccuracies which affected sales. Additionally, users didn't feel there was a strong hierarchy with the layout and didn't know which product to focus on on a given page.
Wireframes were created to showcase layout structure. Once this was approved, photographic standards were developed for on-location and studio photography. This communication was critical for optimizing the time on location, the client's budget, and ensuring the correct compositions were being shot for the pages and spreads of the catalog.
Once all of the photography was completed, a photo editor and supervisor finished print-ready and web-ready files and packaged them to myself for finalization. This is where I began a final quality assurance check with photography to ensure the correct product details were being featured, color space, resolution, symmetry, and correcting any other imperfections in the photography.
A touch up list was made for any reshoots and work was done accordingly.
Typography was used in break sections to communicate dimensionality within static images.
Page wireframes
Fronts were shot as the main image for print. Other details were featured in call out modules in the catalog or were supplied for the eCommerce page.
Alpha Industries' eCommerce section of the website.