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Zamin Dharsi +763 234 [email protected]/dharsitwitter: @dharsi
brand planning & innovation
My ProcessEvery creative person has their own process. Some begin with sketching, other dive into online research,
while few hit bound books to get a sense of how to approach their project. I believe every individual
persons process says a lot about who they are, and how they solve problems.
Zamin Dharsibrand planning & innovation
Hello, my name is Zamin Dharsi.
I’m a brand anthropologist concerned with
human factors and social-sustainability who
believes in innovation.
I’m deeply interested in how the design world is
reacting to modern cultural advances and
globalism. I build systems that translate brands
to audiences.
Logistically, I have a background in Graphic
Design and a degree in Branding, Marketing
and Public Relations. I have spent a year
working at an advertising agency in Dubai,
several years freelancing as a brand-strategist
and designer, and the last year as the social-
media administrator for MCAD.
What do these all have in common?
People.
Whether I’m collecting stories to engage an
interactive audience, or doing quantitative
studies to pick a color-scheme for underwear, I
have an intense curiousity for humanbeings.
Here is a small sample of work I’ve done, and
the well-conceived research behind it.
creative analytical
1 design
because of my background in design, I’ve found
that this is the place I always start, just to get all
my thoughts out.
2 research
next comes the most expansive portion of the
project: research. Depending on the timeline, this
can last from minutes to weeks. I usually begin
with analytics and what the social-media world is
saying about my subject matter, then moving into
blogs for a more in-depth analysis. I then move to
conducting a market assesment, which presents
itself in the form of quantitative and qualitative
interviews with the ideal demographic. 3 concepting options
i’m a big fan of post-it notes, which I filter through
key-words of the company’s mission statement to
determine which concepts makes the cut.
4 testing
i enjoy doing 2 rounds one testing:
one with creatives/designers and
another with my target audience.
5 design
final design round, to get it ready
for finalizing and pre-production.
6 testing
finally, I work to get feedback
while collecting archiving data to
cross-analyze in the future.
Contents
the brasustainable product design
and biomimicry research
design research
1
2
3
tru2uethical clothing businessmodel & product design
brand planning
kfaiintegrated marketing campaign
strategy & direct targeting
project management
The Brasustainable product designand biomimicry research
project components
design research
sustainability
market planning
product design
Primary
• Women
• Ages 18-32
• Western Market
Secondary
• Women
• Breast Cancer
• Obese
women who wear bra’s 24/7
women who never wear bra’s
cancer cancer-free
75%
.5%
Health
heart disease
What about size?
breast cancer
1 in every 3 women dies
of heart disease every
34 seconds.
Black
75% of men surveyed said the sexiest part of a bra is
how easily it comes off, and favored a front-clasp.
White Nude Colors
2 of the deadliest causes of women’s deaths in America are heart disease and breast cancer,
both of which have been shown to be contributed by blocking blood flow due to wearing bra’s
which are too tight.
Comfort
Demographics
Oprah once said that “Freedom should be synonomous with bra’s, and not the other way
around.” The problem relies mainly in underwire, which doesn’t support the natural fluctuation
of a woman’s biology and hinders full-growth and development.
VisualFinally, It’s important to not forget that the main reason why women wear bra’s is for visual
appeal, in order to look and feel confident as well as sexy. A qualitative study of 12 women
and men, which I conducted, yielded these results.
80%
45% 10% 30% 15%
wrong-size
what is sexy?
80% of women
worldwide are wearing the
wrong size. This means that 2.5
million women, which is equal to
the entire population of Jamaica.
75%
The BraThe Problem
The brassiere is a female undergarment that is
used by 3.3 billion women in the world. Gaining
popularity in the Qing Dynasty of the 1600s, the
Bra has not been redesigned since the early
1900s, and although many health factors
correlate with the garment-nobody has made
significant stride in changing the paradigm
of how women dress.
This is a biomimicry study on the brassiere,
resulting in a new product I designed simply
called, “The Bra.”
My design was selected to be featured at the
Science Museum of Minnesota in an exhibition
called “Visualizing the Future.”
health
minimize risks of cancer
by reducing over-heating
comfort
ability to fluctuate in size
and eliminate underwire
visual
keep women feeling
confident and sexy
problem-solving
the ideal solution would have to address
3 components to be truly holistic.
1
2
3
1
2
3
project components
sustainability
product design
market research
campaign development
The BraThe Solution
spider silk• Lightweight• Flexible• Body-Contouring
counter-balance pockets• Non-Adhesive Epoxy gel• Liquid goes to solid• Ratio of 1x 3 inches = 1 lbs
• Customization: 0 lbs - 6 lbs
front-clasp• Easy-on• Easy-off
hollow-underwire frame+ mesoglea liquid mold• Sea Anemone• Liquid that hardens• Malleable• Flexible• Biodegradable
interior coating of ‘urea’compund• natural cooling agent• erythromelagia• Catalyst with Moisture (Oxygen+Hydrogen)• Activated when sweating using air
adjustable hooks• Enhance Cleavage when needed• “At-Rest” convertible phase
3”
1”
We heard that 80% of women are wearing the wrong bra-size. So we had one of two options: teach 3 billion women around the world how to correctly measure themselves, or reinvent a bra that does that automatically.
We took the easy way out.
a new way to look at comfort.
Introducing The Bra with smart technology made with all-natural flexible fibers that contour the shape of your breasts and customize themselves to fit you perfectly.
the system and the objectives came together by understanding that
most health risks are caused by 3 things:
• biological breast size fluctuation
• consistent sweating/obstruction
• underwire chaffing
By utilizing spider silk for the garment material, the fabric would fluctuate
with the body. Using misoglea, an element excreted by animones which
begins liquid and bolds into a moldable solid gel with exposure to heat,
archaic underwire could be eliminated.
Finally, counter-weight balance hooks in the back to eliminate back prob-
lems, and we’ve got the first health-promoting, sustainable bra.
health• Reduces risk of cancer
• Increases lymph flow
• Easy excretion of toxins
• Lowers body-temperature
• Decrease sweat
comfort• Eliminate metal underwire
• Stretchable fabric
• Breathable padding
• Front-clasp
• Body-Contouring wire
• Personalized/Right size
• Counter-Balance
• Black and Nude
• Opaque Lace
• Strap-less converter
• Cleavage enhancer
• Slight push-up/padding
visual
Tru2uethical clothing business model and product design
project components
brand planning
ethical clothing
market research
product design
The PriceIn researching the demographic as to their underwear purchasing habits, we found one of two
important factors that take place in decision making:
1) Price-point at the point-of-purchase
2) Brand-loyalty
The LookIn order to set the brand apart from other retail brands
(and our external competitors), the design of the
underwear would match that of Gap Intimates, Pact and
H&M. These companies would essentially be our
internal competitors. We would then go a step further,
to not provide replica’s of last season’s design, but bold
patterns, guest designers and artist collaborations.
Demographics
Tru2u + HaitiThe Problem
In the spring of 2010, a new company named
“TRU2U” challenged us to redesign the
underwear to be ethically and socially
conscious, in order to promote empowerment
for factory workers who make that underwear.
Simultaniously, earthquakes in Haiti broke out
leaving over 1.5 million people homeless.
We saw an opportunity.
We proposed an underwear, visually
competing with Gap Intimates, but at the
price-point of Hanes and Fruit of the Loom.
10% of the profits of each piece would go
directly to the factory worker in Haiti who
made the garment through a partnership with
“Verité,” who work to ensure postive working
conditions in factories around the world.
I was selected to travel to New York City to
present the design and campaign to board
members of Verité and Green Team.
The underwear will be in stores Spring 2011.
comfort
ability to fluctuate in size
and eliminate underwire
the price
keep the price close to
retail brands for more sales
problem-solving
We decided the line would not be
made of organic fabric, giving up
ecological sustainability for social
using this 3 pronged approach.
1the look
designed like Gap, to set us
apart from retail brands2
the cause
10% of profit of every sale
goes to factory worker3
1
The Cause10% of the profits of each piece would go directly to the factory worker in Haiti who
made the garment through a partnership with “Verité,” who work to ensure postive
working conditions in factories around the world.
3
2
project components
sustainability
product design
market research
campaign development
$24
$12.50
$10
$6
$3
PACT
GAP
HANES
TRU2U
FOL*
*fruit of the loom price shown as retail avg per pair
In order to make the most
impact, the decision was
made to price the product
closer to retail brands such as
Hanes and Fruit of the Loom,
so as to increase sales.
TRU2U
=
Hanes
Gap
external competitor
(price-point)
internal competitor
(fashion design)
Primary
• Women and Men
• Ages 18-24
• Shop Retail
Secondary
• College-Aged
• BOBO Culture
• Awakening Consumer
10%
Tru2u + HaitiThe Solution
In our market research we found that most retail brands keep their underwear line clean and basic: white, black and the occasional gray. Big brands however splash the garment with an ever-changing seasonal design, however, the design only changes on the outside.
So our solution was to have a basic solid on the outside, and an ever-changing design on the inside. Something that no other brand does.
Why? Because its true to you, and not to anybody else.
To further promote our message, we recommended that the print be designed as a comissioned piece by local Haitian artists. The artists would design their pieces inspired by Haitian proverbs, to help bring a community together and share their cultural pride during troubled times.
For a better tomorrow.
Zamin Dharsi +763 234 [email protected]/dharsitwitter: @dharsi
brand planning & innovation