During the summer I was given the opportunity to to utilise my time so that I could gather a reasonable amount of research. I was set to research three different case studies which were chain stores, pop up events and independent stores. I gathered primary and secondary, so that I could get a good understanding on different types of giftware. By doing this research it allowed me to explore different ideas for my project. 

To get a better understanding of what makes a giftware business a success I researched three different businesses that do well on the market. Etsy, Jelly cats and the hamper company all have become so popular due to their unique gifts that everyone loves. From this research I gathered a good understanding on the key parts to how I can make my designs successful and what sells well as gifts in the modern day and age. 

One of my outcomes was gift wrap so to get a better understanding I created a research page on surface pattern which made it easier for me to understand the different types and where they can be found. I then researched three successful surface pattern designs so I could see the different styles and designs that they create which I then also understood the popular themes that are used. I found from this research that nature works well with patterns so immediately I was inspired and many ideas came into mind from this. 

To get my ideas flowing I focused on observational drawings looking at nature as that was the direction I was heading in with my theme choice. I found a set up of plants, logs etc and I zoomed in on the interesting parts, focusing on the detailing. I explored with observational drawing and negative space to enhance the drawings and see them in different ways.   

Here I have created a page on two giftware artists that I zoomed in on as this was a final outcome aim. This helped me understand the techniques and styles that are successful in the industry so that I could take inspiration from the designers and make my outcome a success that would do well. 

This is my physical giftware that I created with an image that I took inspiration from my observational drawings. I used a repeat pattern for the surface as I was experimenting with how you can physically do this. 

I then took this further and experimented with my original asset digitally with a repeat pattern and this came out much stronger as it allowed the image detailing to stand out more. 

To get to my chosen theme I went through a progress of research and thinking. Here is my thinking process wrote down on paper to help you understand the ways I was going. At the top I started with the mind map of all the different pathways I could go down with my project as I was torn between paths so this helped me understand the main top 10 themes I wanted to pursue with so I created a page on the pros and cons of those. I then got down to my top three and I went more into detail with those to see which I felt most strongly about and then I got down to choosing nature as I thought it could be the most successful and fitting for this project. 

I explored the meanings of the different areas that make typography so that I could understand it better when I explore with different fonts digitally and physically. After I had understood the meanings I went onto exploring with digital fonts that I thought would suit my theme and the topic I am aiming my outcomes at. I focused on script fonts as I thought it would work best with my plain designs however I looked more at accessible ones that are not hard to read.  

This is a page I created on the research I did on greeting cards so that I could get a good idea of the styles and how they are presented. By doing this research I got inspiration that I focused on when I was creating my thumbnails. 

This is primary research that I got from the York gift market that was up for a week. This allowed me to get a good understanding on the way people set up their stalls so that it coneys their work in the best way possible so that it will stand out next to different stalls as realistically everyone work is competing with each other due to the small spacing so this gave me a good idea of the way I could set up my ideal store. It also inspired me with different gifts that I could add to my collection of work for this project. 

One of my final outcomes to to create a hanging decoration which I was not familiar with as I have not created one before so to get a better understanding I created a research page on hanging decorations so that I could familiarise my self with what makes a good hanging decoration and the styles you can create. 

Getting peer feedback to me is important as I want to be able to reflect on what I can do to get the best outcome I can with my work and what could be improved to achieve this so here is a page I created talking about the feedback I got from my peers and I reflected back on this and experimented with what they said I could do to improve my work. 

This is my final outcome for my hanging decoration that I created. I like the outcome of the hanging decoration as I believe it fits the brief standards and I like the boho feel that has been created by the wood laser cut followed by the branch that holds the assets together. However, I am not so certain that I like the packaging as it felt flimsy so if I could do it again I would use a different material for the packaging so that it conveyed my work better. I would also use a better design on the outside of the packaging as it is basic and not much time and effort was put into it which you can tell.