Since September, I have heard about their plan/wish to hold a Christmas pop-up in Soho, targeting customers doing their Christmas shopping. Since it was the most popular shopping/holiday season, booking a pop-up space during that period was difficult – it seemed that sadly the pop-up wouldn’t happen. However, we found a venue a little earlier than the Christmas shopping season –> Opening of the Fruity Bootique!
Graphic Design role
Although I had been doing many office management-related jobs, I appreciated how they continued to consider me as a “graphic design” intern, giving me design tasks.
The first (and could be the most) significant task was designing a fly poster, assisting and collaborating with our graphic designer Meen. The inspiration behind the moldboard was a vintage Italian boutique/camiceria with a classic and historical feeling but also stripped back. We wanted to curate an immersive gallery-like space, thus the graphic design elements (poster, ads, merch, little details) had to portray uniformity following this specific concept.
First I assisted her in brainstorming various composition designs inspired by her initial ideas. (The image below: top row is Meen’s initial work, second and third is mine) As she was in Korea, we built this workflow where she would hand me over the work before she went to bed, I worked on it while she was asleep, handing it back when I went to sleep which is when she woke up.
I tried to create a composition similar to what she had created, but simultaneously adding a new perspective to stimulate further ideas. The images used were incredible – I really enjoyed being able to create something using these images. However, we were very tight on the deadline which made this process a little stressful and overwhelming, I worked until midnight to come up with designs I was satisfied with. (But I knew Meen was also overwhelmed as there were even more tasks for her, which made me reflect on how I could support her.) To be honest, I was really worried that they wouldn’t like my designs as it was my first time designing a poster that highly regarded my creativity.
Nevertheless, I tried my best and did as much as I could –> the mindset of “doing my best at what I can do right now”. I was glad to know that they liked these two: the curved logo on the left was incorporated into the final poster which I was contended about!
The final posters! There was a complication the next day with bleeding and format before handing in the poster to the flyposter company as the communication was not very clear – I was in charge of reformatting the original file, bringing it to InDesign, trying various ways to apply the correct bleeding with Rio, the designer who kindly helped me out immensely through this process. At the end of the day, we achieved the correct format and it was sent to the printer.
Quote from my journal: “It was super hectic but Rio helped me through all the way which was extremely helpful, if I had to do it myself I would’ve simply passed out. It was time-consuming and a little stressful, but we made it work! I’m proud of my contribution even though it may seem little, and I’m so thankful for Rio and the very supportive Fruity team. I learnt the importance of seeking help, not carrying everything by myself, and letting myself be overwhelmed.”
When I passed by the flyposters for the first time, I was thrilled with how great they looked, more than what I expected! It felt unreal and I was once again grateful for being able to take part. This made me even more excited for the pop-up.
After finalizing the fly poster, I started working on paid ads for social media. One thing I focused on is to curate consistency with the fly poster. I enjoyed creating these than the fly poster where I was a little overwhelmed, and the team seemed to like them too. However, due to the time limit and focusing on consistency, we decided to proceed with the same format as the fly poster and change the image. It was a little dispiriting as I was pleased with the outcome, but this was a learning point that it is critical to make the viewers connect the dots of different promotions and generate the link back to the pop-up. –> If they don’t look similar/consistent, the viewer is unable to link everything together as the promotion of one thing, in this case, the pop-up. It could be misinterpreted that the paid ads are simply advertising the brand, not the pop-up.
Finished paid ads: It was disappointing that I only saw one ad throughout this period
Collaborating with Meen, I helped with finalising the postcard, matchbox, stamp, invitation, exterior vinyl, and floormat designs.
My journal during this period: “I was in charge of finalising the graphics which worried me if I could manage all on my own. But I had everyone supporting me by giving me feedback, and I had a call with Meen where she taught me how to edit assets, which was extremely helpful! Although it’s been busy I feel productive: managing giftings to be sent out, creating sample sale posters, vinyl ideas, etc. Seeing everything come together made me very excited for the outcome and to be part of the pop-up. I’ll also be working as a retail staff, which is a new experience for me! Even though there are worries, I can feel that this pop-up will turn out amazing & definitely memorable.
Some of the sample sale poster ideas I created; it was really close to the deadline and I felt rushed, but I managed to finish it. We wanted to keep a similar feeling to the fly poster, thus I used a similar layout and fonts. In the end, I was uncertain if I was satisfied which was a little regretful– also, I didn’t know if the ad was published. However, I understand that this is because of how late it was finalised – I had been busy with other graphic tasks and involved with photoshoots, so I delayed making this poster until the very last minute. It is understandable and reasonable if they decided it wouldn’t be worth putting up a paid ad for a very short time. Despite how busy I felt, I believe that this is an inevitable situation if working as a graphic designer in the future, and is something I should deeply reflect on.
Opening of Fruity Bootique
It seemed like it was finally the opening day – but it was just the start of another busy day! There was a lot to do in a short time before the opening, so we had to be super efficient and quick. Putting the vinyl up, cleaning, decorating/spatial design, checking the stocks, pinning everything up, and putting down the vinyl floor! We didn’t like the original flooring of this space (which was very black, bringing the whole atmosphere of this space dark) thus we decided to put down a vinyl floor – we didn’t know if it would work, but we got an amazing result eventually!
We had to push the opening for 2 hours, but in the end, we made it and I felt extremely proud! I absolutely loved every single detail of the space and was so glad that I was able to take part in it from the start. I was emotional and proud of the amazing Fruity Booty team. Again, this experience is something I wouldn’t have experienced if I hadn’t joined Fruity. Since I was in high school, I had a sense of longing to be a part of creation; people from different specialism working toward the same concept or goal. This feeling was one of the reasons I decided to pursue a creative path. This was a goal-come-true moment!
Although I was worried, the pop-up started successfully with the opening private event, where I interacted with people and started a bit of a retail job. The space was packed with people which left me a little socially anxious, (something to work on is developing the courage to talk to a stranger –> skill needed in retail?) but it showed how much Fruity Booty is loved by everyone, which I was pleased about.
I worked as the staff for 3 days, and it was my first retail experience thus I was excited and nervous! It was way busier than I expected, I was running up and down the stairs to grab stocks for customers, organising the rails, hanging the pieces, and doing the tills. However I enjoyed meeting the Fruity customers in person which allowed me to learn about the market, the products people are buying, and their budgets.
I met a Japanese couple who I really wanted to talk to but didn’t dare to approach… eventually, I approached her asking if everything was alright! She told me she was glad to find a Japanese person which made my day as I felt the same. I helped her with the sizing and even gave each other our Instagram! –> This really made me realise the importance of “networking”. I think I have fulfilled my motto of “doing things that make me scared” this day, leading to a fantastic result!
From deciding to do a pop-up to materialising the concept, setting up, and opening the boutique – everything happened very quickly and every day was densely packed with new learnings. Again, I feel very grateful that I had this opportunity to be part of this wonderful pop-up with the most caring team. Reflecting on the improvements I have noticed through this period, I wish to develop my skills even more and progress further in the coming year. The whole experience was so memorable, this pop-up will always hold a special place in my heart.
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