Second Narrow
Designer, Founder, Art Director, Box Packer
www.secondnarrow.com
About the project.
Second Narrow is an urban techwear brand based in Vancouver; we make water resistant jeans, in Japan. Second Narrow originally started as an online shop, selling some of our favorite jeans from Japan and the US, and gradually transitioned into our own brand. Initially, we were crowd funded on Kickstarter, raising ~$40,000.
My role.
Second Narrow was started from inception by me and two friends. I was in charge of almost all aspects of the process from physical product design, copywriting, web design, promotional marketing materials and branding/art direction. It was a long and huge learning experience for me, but I got to work with and meet some of the most talented people, travel, and understand a lot about myself. Take a look at the process that was involved with this project below, I hope you like it!
The idea.
A couple years ago some friends and I decided to create our own online shop, ABCDENIM.com, which stocked our favorite denim brands from across the world. Second Narrow was a pivot from our initial business, and was created to serve one purpose - make the best jeans possible.
We designed 3 different fits of jeans based on the concept of versatility. I worked with a friend and designer to create the initial patterns and then continued to refine the product with manufacturers in Japan. The idea of versatility continued into the art direction and motif of the brand, branching out from basic fits to a more fashion forward consumer with the "J-Cut." Within our imagery we strived to showcase this versatility through the creation of 3 customer personas - The commuter, the everyday consumer, and the early adopter.
After the idea was cemented, mostly production and strategy took place. I worked on the branding and identity, as well as different plans on how we can promote the brand, all while overlooking the physical product while in development. I created a variety of visuals; videos, images, and written content that allowed people to be a part of and follow our journey and evolution as a brand. In addition to this, I created the designs and mockups for our webstore and blog.
Results.
After about 6 months of work, we successfully launched the Kickstarter campaign, gaining over 300,000 pageviews and a 200% boost on our social media channels, which resulted in ~300 pieces sold before we even launched. On top of this, Second Narrow was featured on some of the most popular menswear blogs in the world, gaining recognition from the key stakeholders in the market.
Web design.
Take away.
I think the biggest take away from this project was understanding to my own creative process and learning how to truly manage a team of creative people. I realized through this project that well crafted things take time and a team of people, all striving for the same end goal. Nothing was individual, and the ideas in my head would not have been able to get out in the real world if it wasn't for some of the amazing people I worked with.
In addition to managing and really understanding my own personal process, this project made me realize the importance and difficulty of actually shipping a tangible thing. A lot of other projects I have worked on in the past are ideas and products that I want to see realized, but this was something real, shaped and molded by constraints. Money, time, logistics, materials, marketing, were all real things that actaully had an impact on how the idea in my head came out in real life, and balancing these, comprimising, and problem solving became crucial in the execution of the project.