The audience I set out to focus on for my project is those in the design industry – in any capacity, whether student, professional designer, educator, etc. the statistics represented in my scarves apply to anyone who touches the design world so it felt appropriate to keep it quite broad. To begin engagement I wore my scarf both in everyday life on campus and to a couple of CSM talks and events. In doing so I found that those I knew commented on the scarf and wanted to discuss the project. However, those I didn’t know personally did not inquire after the details of the scarf. This leads me to wonder if due to the gentle nature of a scarf / lack of overt product marketing, marketing / circulation via simply physically wearing the scarf is not enough to blast the statistics in the way I would like. Perhaps looking at a digital extension such as social media, website, QR scan, etc could aid to spread awareness on a larger level. Given I only have two scarves at the moment (which frankly I do not want to have be wearing all the time), digital may need to be utilized to assist the launch of this project.
Additionally, I circulated my project via the form of my GCD page to those not in London. The response was very positive and seemed to spark curiosity as well as requests to purchase a Mend the Gap scarf. A couple of those that enquired to purchase were not in the design community which leads me to question if sole focus on the design community is narrowing my reach considering the gender gap affects most industries. While I have currently only circulated within my own circle, it would be helpful to circulate my project to wider online audience to further guage interest, reaction, and propensity to purchase.
Moving forward I think user testing and product development is in the cards to develop more scarves so I can increase visibility and circulation of the project. Product refinement in scarf length, garment tag design, and technique will also push my project forward. The previously mentioned progressions could potentially be informed and activated through a workshop to interact and further involve my audience. I mostly focused on direct user feedback in the last weeks but hard data may be more useful – perhaps through a survey to guage interest purchasing scarves, which design is preferred, etc. This may lead into considering the digital side of this project which would solve limitations that the physical scarf comes with concerning circulation. Maybe there is a website stitched into all scarves that serves as a digital campaign to spread awareness on the design gap – a social media campaign could function alongside this. While I am hesitant to venture into the digital as the intent with physical woven work was to escape that over saturated realm. Moving forward I will have to be strategic about finding the right way to weave in the digital to the physical in order to further engage with my audience.
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