Our meeting with Kit Miles was an eye opener. He advised us to not repeat their previous designs, creating something new and exciting. We need to investigate Stagecoach as a brand and refer back to their mission statement and aims. We learnt that commercial and residential fabrics have different regulations and rub tests.

As a group we sat down and discussed the pros and cons of moquette and leather. We aim to research further into materials for example the history into using faux leather in bus interior and the psychology behind defacing the seats.

Kit made us think about the impact and experience for consumers. We agreed to research into subliminal messages and interactive and tactile touch points in the bus interior.

Moquette VS e-Leather

Stagecoach UK

Its restricted> is this positive or negative?
Sarah advised us to interpret this narrow brief creatively and appreciate how we have many restrictions meaning we wouldn't go off on a tangent. We must fulfil the brief!!!

Brand
-Identify the company
-Identify the consumer
-How do we design for a client/brand/market
-How do we respond to other brands- vital!

Research
-Materials
-Sustainability
-Previous products
-Colours
-Logos
-Target Market
-Subject Matter
-Competitors
-Primary research- bus/interviews
-Stagecoach as a company
-Aims and Mission 

Stagecoach
-Wastage
-Pattern
-Colour
-Durable
-Stain resistant 

Consumer
market is broad- only with age! Build a consumer profile.
Age
Income 
Parent?
What do they care about 
Career/job/retired
Ease/time constraint
Social Background
Cultural Background
Tube vs Bus demographics
Access (disabled/elderly/child)
Where they shop
What they do 
Where they eat out
What they eat
What they wear
Where they shop for clothes
Hair style
Hobbies
Holidays
Pay for extra life luxuries (Sky tv/ wifi etc)
Pets

What do we want our designs to be?
Contemporary
Inviting
Clean
Calming
Spacious
Easy to use and practical
Simple
Interesting/ conversation starter

We have lots do be getting on with as our session with Sarah has been extremely though provoking. It has made me realise that our group brief could be really interesting, especially if we consider our consumer and explore Stagecoach Uk as a brand.

Stagecoach UK
"Design a collection of fabrics for use in updated buses used for public transport in Norwich. "

As soon as we received our brief we sat as a group and mind mapped ideas and research that we thought was vital to do to understand Stagecoach as a brand and understand the market. We realised that there were many things to consider when it comes to our brief. We knew our designs had to be practical when it comes to material as well as the actual design (repeat and colour choice)

We also had to consider our group members' strengths and weaknesses to allocate loose roles in the group, thinking about sampling, researching and drawing.

To do next:
Research Stagecoach as brand
Research Wallace and Sewell
Research other designers
Research materials
Agree as a group on what we aim our designs to be. What are the key factors we need to create successful designs?
Where do we want our designs in the bus?
Who will use the bus?