DOG DAYS PROCESS

This process begins with the brief. Typically for MRA’s we will get a brief from either Marketing or Footwear but in some cases we have exclusive Apparel only MRAs and Dog Days is an example of this. The brief includes what the collection includes- Women’s Tank, Men’s short sleeve, socks, hat etc.

I will compile usually three different mood boards that outline different visual approaches and concepts. I typically pair the visual style and the concept in the same mood board because the visuals dictate how the concept will develop.

After sharing out the direction and getting sign-off I hop thinking of taglines, copy and puns. These usually come to me from 7:30-9 a.m. when I am walking my own Doggo (a Squirrel Fiend). After mulling around on what the core message will I hop into sketching. I do this either on paper or on my iPad. This is where I’m judging what kind of a lock up works best- the balance of graphic to type.

Once I feel good the layout and art approach I will start working on each illustration in Procreate. This is also an exploration in terms of getting the “whimsical but not too abstract but not too coloring book realistic” dog look correct.

After I’ve created the illustrations I head to Illustrator to work on composition and color. For some MRA’s we pull in colors outside of our seasonal pallet. For this collection we rely on the Inline pallet. We typically get to choose the ground color for the tops so its a lot of playing around with Inline ground colors and core colors (black, white, navy, heather ash etc.) to get the right combination of a poppy graphic, good legibility and a ground color that will appeal to him or her.

After I’ve worked through art team feedback and sharing out with our internal partners and getting sign off we arrive at the final graphic!