Students score vital experience to help kick-on with their future careers

MSc International Fashion Marketing students recently had the chance to show their creativity thanks to an industry partner project with a football collectibles company.

With almost 9,000 followers on Instagram, Showboat was created for football shirt enthusiasts to highlight the shirts that matter most to them. Students from the MSc International Fashion Marketing course were tasked with designing a brand new logo for the organisation and creating a sub-brand to help bring Showboat to a new audience.

We sat down with Kay Mackenzie and Daniel Lauder to hear about the idea behind their designs and how the project has supported their own personal development.

Tell me a bit about your background and how you came to study MSc International Fashion Marketing at GCU?

Kay: “I actually studied the BA (Hons) International Fashion Branding course here. I wasn’t sure about my next steps and spoke to someone who previously studied this course and they really recommended it, especially since I was interested in marketing. I’ve really enjoyed it so far and getting that insight into the promotion of fashion.”

Daniel: “Fashion is always something that I’ve been interested in. I studied French in my Undergraduate degree, so when it came to my Masters I wanted to study something that was a bit more me. The four modules I’ve done this trimester have been incredible because you learn so much.”

Daniel, tell me about your project and what you focused on?

Daniel: “We had a couple of different options around how we could do it. I completed an analysis of Showboat’s existing brand and then came up with a sub-brand that would sell merchandise.

“My sub-brand was GOAT (which stands for ‘Greatest Of All Time’ – a phrase often used in football) and was really inspired by North Face and Adidas with their iconic three stripes. The merchandise the sub-brand focused on was basically for festivals with specific football shirt designs created for each of the headliners performing at Glastonbury, TRNSMT and Creamfields.

“I’m actually not the biggest football fan, so I wanted to include something that sparked my interest as someone who loves music. Coming up with the products felt quite easy as I was just making sure it all overlapped with the consumer demographics of Showboat and festivals. Part of my trend analysis also showed that a lot of retro football kits, particularly from the 90s, are really popular just now, so I just felt it was the perfect combination.

“A big part of the project was also to think sustainably. A lot of my other products; lighters, bucket hats and sunglasses all had a circularity model. This showed what the materials are made of and also explained their cost.”

Kay, tell me about your designs and the inspiration behind it?

Kay: “Obviously Showboat focus on football so I took the simple outline of a trophy for my logo and focused on having their name in the middle – I wanted to keep it simple, modern and sticking to the football theme. I also wrote Matchday above the trophy to show off my sub-brand and keep it related to the parent brand.

“I created two tracksuits which were very inspired by Britpop and the Oasis reunion. One was a jacket with a funnel neck, and I also had a hoodie and shorts. There were also collectors items with cards and a key-ring. I decided to include this because Showboat is a collectors item website, so it just made sense.

“I like football and I’ve got an older brother that is also into football, so I’ve bought from retro websites before. I knew the link between football and music, and you can also see people at matches getting a bit more stylish. That was something that was in my head when creating my designs.”

How has this experience benefitted you at this point in your career?

Kay: “Getting that real life experience means I can take this to interviews and that I can apply this to real-life scenarios throughout my future career. I see myself working in marketing in future, so this was vital experience for me.”

Daniel: “It’s taught me so much. I’ve gained a lot of knowledge around trend analysis, pricing and marketing through this project. There’s a lot of analysis I wouldn’t have known how to do before starting this course, and that’s really important as I look forward to my future career and trying to secure a job in marketing.”

Find out more about the MSc International Fashion Marketing course here at GCU

By Ross Clark
Achieved something related to your course or in your personal life? Email me at Ross.Clark@gcu.ac.uk