collaborative practice The Prawn Shop (sb2)

Over the summer i started up a clothing band selling t-shirts with my hand drawn designs on them, the images i was using to promote the products were all taken on my iPhone in my bedroom and due to the growing success of the brand i thought it would be best to have a photoshoot with models and props in order to get high quality images for the website.

I began by contacting a photographer who also attends the university, i had seen his work on social media and really admired his use of colour within his shots; and seeing as though The Prawn Shop (my clothing brand) uses a lot of colour within the designs, i thought this collaboration would work well.

The photographer agreed to shoot the brand, having already bought a few pieces from the online store before i felt like it was a really good starting point as he had an understanding of the brand already. We had several meetings over the course of three weeks, we discussed models, timing, props, colours, lighting and shot types.  

Above is the brief i wrote and gave to the photographer, after the initial shoot planning had taken place.

My role during the collaboration was to be the creative director of the shoot/model recruiter and prop designer where as Jonathan (the photographer) would manage the shooting, lighting and editing of the final images. 

I began recruiting models by putting up posters around the university asking people of all genders, shapes and sizes to volunteer to model for the brand, i wanted to recruit a wide variety of people to push the ethos of The Prawn Shop brand which  celebrates body image, diversity, equality and feminism. 

The posters received quite a lot of attention and more than 16 (the number of models ideally wanted as there are 16 products available) people volunteered. 

After receiving the studio times by the photographer, i allocated shoot times with the models and gave each product/model 45 minutes in the studio. 

The shoots were arranged to take place over the course of two weeks after university, using the studios in the photography department. 

Now that all the models were cast, i began by researching in to how i might design the set and the type of shots to be used in the shoot. 

Above is a mood board i made to begin to generate ideas for the shoot, i knew that i wanted to use bright colours within the shoot; to relate to the use of colour within the clothing designs however there needed to be a balance so that the colour of the design is still the most vibrant. 

I also looked at images from the brands instagram account which received the most attention to see if i could use any of these aspects within the shoot as they're what my target audience respond to most. 

As i run the brand myself, i have an understanding of my audience. My designs attract mostly women aged 18-24, for this reason i wanted to ensure the shoot was fun and styled in a way that entices people of a similar age to shop.

I began designing ideas for the set design, i had may ideas for the shoot (as seen below) however i took all of these to the photographer and we discussed which concepts could work, which couldn't, and which were the most appropriate for the brand in terms of ensuring the designs would stand out against the background props. 

we agreed that the best concept would be to have the design style which is on the tees incorporated somewhere within the background. I developed the idea of painting similar designs to the tees on a bedsheet which could then be used in different ways throughout the shoot. I sourced the bedsheet from a charity shop, a pink tone was chosen as it relates nicely to the colours used within the brand

Below is a quick shoot design, detailing what types of shots i would like to be taken in the shoot, i feel that the combination of shots will work well in showing the designs of the t-shirts, whilst also allowing the viewer to see how the model has styled the outfit; giving them an idea of how they could style their tee.

Above are some sketches of the imagery i will include on the painted backdrop, i've chosen to use imagery that can be found in most of the t-shirt designs to ensure continuity within the shoot and the overall brand.

Above are images throughout the painting process of one of the props to be used within the shoot. 

I chose to use a cherry red paint and light pink cotton in order to relate to the colours predominantly used within the prawn shop designs. In addition to this, i showed the photographer the mood board i'd made and he agreed that using pink gels over the lights in the shoot would make the images really vibrant and playful, like the designs, and the combination of the pink of the light, the pink of the sheet and the cherry red tones were thought to really compliment each other. 

The shoots began and the images were coming out better than i thought they would, it was so odd to see the tees being photographed in such a visually exciting and relevant way, it really provided me with the understanding of how different the reaction to a piece of clothing could be, depending on how it was presented. 

Throughout each shoot per model, the background props needed to be adjusted throughout in order to achieve the desired shot. Working as the creative director of the shoot, i believe i developed a further understanding for composition and how adjusting something so simple as the plant in the background could change how successful the shot is. 

2 weeks later and all the images had been captured, edits were made to the images in order to remove slight marks on the backdrop or fallen leaves from the plant, in addition to this, the colours of each image were slightly altered in order for the pink lights to be seen more. I did however ensure no touch ups were made to the models as the prawn shop brand ethos revolves around natural beauty and imperfections. 

Below are a selection of images which are now being used throughout The Prawn Shop website.

Screen shot from the online website

Taking on the role of creative director was a new experience and it proved to be a valuable one. It allowed me to see the importance of all the little aspects that make up a photo-shoot and how impactful they can be on the final images. Above are some examples of the final images which were chosen for the brands website, the playfulness of the brand has really managed to be communicated through the use of colourful lights and the backdrop design. The painted sheet really pushed the photo-shoot from being images of t-shirts to managing to encapsulate the brands message and design style. Since updating the website with the new images, sales have gone up by 43% which is most likely down to the fact that The Prawn Shop now looks like a respectable, professional and well put together creative brand, which understands it’s target audience and tries to push the brand ethos in every way.