Creativity And Commercialization

Creativity And Commercialization

Argument

From the perspective of social development, people generally regard the relation between creativity and commercialization as a kind of socialization of the product invention which aiming to satisfy  their increasing material demand. While in the art design field, especially for a designer, I am inclined to call it a game form from which an individual initiative has been stimulated, and have to struggle against the he realization of the market value on itself.

Costume designing is a professional discipline with wildly divergent interests and inventive abilities. Sometimes a design of sophisticated appeal is just a pure inspiration. Once after designers experience the moments of genius and inspiration--- the result of the accumulation of knowledge applied to practical life .they may follow their inner voice, build their own independent spiritual world, then carve an unconventional style. After all, as Bill Blass said:“Style is primarily a matter of instinct.”(Biography.com Editors. 2015)

However, in the high-speed developing information times of 21 century, “quick speed, fast development ”is the main feature. In such a high pressure environment, the designer's aura or talent is a product of squeezing instead of the natural feeling. We could not deny that these trategy-oriented ideas response to the changing market demands. Nevertheless only these creators  know whether their design ideas worth the Price tag ! (Fig.1) because just the addition of a well-known fashion designer's name to a simple pair of jeans can inflate their price tremendously !

Every moment there might be new collections from the drawing put into operation before distribution, becoming new arrival then getting profits. Fashion, you see, is all about business.

Today it becomes a common conception of modern clothing designer that it must use good material if you want be succeed. For designers, the fabric is his partner, is the basis for its creation. Even those who are most progressive in their own taste of clothes and image may need to adapt to produce designs, which are right for the mainstream market. So the design process will produce inevitable conflicts between the design product and the market management, the design department and the production department, the manager and the designer, etc. (Newell Hampson-Jones. 2012). As the most greatest shoemaker Manolo Blahnik（Fig.2） said:“I design, half the moderation of imagination, there are 15% is completely crazy ideas, the rest is in order to design the bread and butter.”

Although It Is not imaginable when marketing removes the investment on his promotion to sneakers, the reason is: the cost of his shoes is too expensive. But the ideals of designers are often countered by reality, even This never  happen to this craftsman, we just can't ignore this phenomenon in the whole industrial chain. Design is a means of interests, profits is the target while only the market is the touchstone of this game.

If there is a marketing department does the appraisal survey for brand designers, those independent have to evaluate the whole future by themselves. Customers usually make a preference on“good quality, low price.” In a word, is cost-effectivet.therefore, if individual designers want to benefit from the fierce competition market, they have to break up the traditional concept “Cheap things are inferior quality.” This is not easy. Whether the Early estimates of costs are accurate or not? Is the allocation of resources balance or not? Would the market plan have the flexibility to cater for changes in demand? Are customers satisfied ? Therefore, it is important to prepare in advance and have a set of well-considered comprehensive and mature measures.

Could these above be said that the combination of initiative design and commercial operations only causes troublesome collisions? Not necessarily !

Let us have a look at what the following those have brought the commercial components into design got?

Fashion shows emerge in endlessly (Fig.3), which just reflects the generous profitable profits of design commercialization. Sponsors abundant rewards are hidden below these stunning figures. Maybelline has been sponsoring London fashion week since 2014 (Bonita khan. 2014), at the same time Mercedes-Benzes, whose sponsorship can be traced back to the first fashion week held in Australia in 1996 (Monica Karski. 2015). With the cooperation relationship between WME - IMG, Mercedes soon injected into international top fashion activities, fashion week such as Beijing, Berlin, Madrid, Istanbul and Amsterdam are all supported by Mercedes-Benzes .The benefits are obvious: behind celebrities is the background full of his logo; With the word “XX fashion week”rides on city streets, back and forth between various high-grade hotels and shows. Like Calvin Klein said, “commercial things could capture your attention, it explain all this. ”(Fig.4)

Select shops are also a new pattern that we should not ignore. This way is relatively independent on online sales; effectively neutralize the individuality of designer and the commercial society. On the one hand, it not only makes the communication between designer and consumer closer. Such a network could even help design new clothes by letting consumers contribute their ideas to fashion designers, which can also help the designer mature his own design. On the other hand, this pattern is both online and offline to ensure to help designers cut cost, and greatly increase their profit margins. This is mainly confined to young designers yet; some qualified predecessors regard this booting on the grounds to sell ideas as unacceptable.

From this, we would better call the relationship between initiative and commercialization as a sort of unexpected meeting rather than conflict. Sometimes there are still plenty of trade frictions. Sometimes there is a united front. The two issues are of course interconnected but too often the discourse becomes confused and gets tangled.

Countermeasures

Now that the two cannot be completely separated, it is time for us to consider how to combine them effectively. From the perspective of design commercialization, those design ideas come down to the market circulation. In the process of circulation, consumers are expanded which provides a possibility for his designs achievement. We have to admit that designers themselves are talented and passionate, but individual characteristics could not satisfy their basic material needs. So the designers are required to participate actively to into society and adapt to it. After all inspiration is based on basics: Food, Clothing, Shelter and Warmth. To some extent, hence please access to public.

Besides, this integration prompt the concept of high-fashion down to affordable level is potentially good (Shugavery.2013). Japanese artist takashi murakami combined manga with commercial delivering it to all over the world.he cooperated with Louis Vuitton, designing a series  visual image system for the brand, which has made the sakura bag become classique. Industrialise the design, using commercial business to promote themselves, which seems a win-win cooperation.Not only the commercials are able  to have a diversified development, designers can achieve the realization of their individual value.

Then from the point of commercial design, this kind of products is designed directly to cater for the consumers’ tastes. Most of them are highly pertinent and practical, so that they need not to wait for the best moment. They just hit them.

A fast fashion brand Zara, its great flexibility in adapting, quick reaction to the changing fashion trends and customers' tastes guarantee that this kind of proximity is what i have discussed above. To attract its consumer base, Zara focuses heavily on the brick-and-mortar design and location of the stores as well and creates the illusion of scarcity for its products. Each store shared similar window displays and interior presentations to highlight the brand image. The location of  Zara store would always be at the center of fashion district and would either be renovated or relocated every 3-4 years to maintain high standard. Customers possessed a sense of urgency to purchase a Zara product because the clothing had a two-week shelf life. However, there was also a freshness to Zara because the floor would be replenished with new productsevery two weeks. Zara segmented the product lines further by price, fashion content, andtarget age group to maintain variety, and its prices were also kept lower than comparable products from a competitor.Therefore, We must admit that Lanvin, Chloe, Loewe, Christian Dior, Celine, Valentino, Givenchy, Hermes, Chanel, Louis Vuitton and other major luxury brands market margin is far less than Zara.compared with the other similar line, the quality of Zara can capture a huge amount of consumers. It perfect explain the  “cost-effective” I have mentioned above.

It is important to understand that fashion is not one thing. Fast fashion is very different from the others. The difference lies not only in the buyer needs but also in the industry setup from marketing to supply chain. As per Wikipedia, “Fast fashion clothing collections are based on the most recent fashion trends presented at Fashion Week in both the spring and the autumn of every year.” In other words, clothing that is readily available on websites today and fast fashion are two very different things.

For example, it has been16 years since UNIQLO opened its first store in London. In that time, UNIQLO has gradually extended its presence in Europe, with expansion into Berlin, Germany in April 2014 and Antwerp, Belgium in October 2015. A stronger online sales operation would contribute to a higher growth and serve as a channel for branding. In UNIQLO, online sales already account for a relatively high 20% of sales just in the United States, and they are more profitable than sales at their physical stores. More consumers are buying clothes online, and this indicates strong growth potential. So the company are building easy-view, easy-purchase websites, which aiming to encourage mobile purchases, reduce delivery times, and more.

In 2008,there was a cross-border cooperation between GAP and 13 artists. According to GAP, those 13 limited edition t-shirts features today’s most influential contemporary artists, including Chuck Close, Jeff Koons, Marilyn Minter, Kiki Smith, Cai Guo-Qiang, Barbara Kruger, Ashley Bickerton, Kenny Scharf, Glenn Ligon, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Kerry James Marshall, Hanna Liden and Sarah Sze. Each design has a plaque with the artist's name, bio, location, and even their personal URL. They even have their own section in the store telling the story of our artist communities, and where the designs came from.

Those successes of the business cooperation are not exceptions. The function of this intergration is not only for promotion, but also as a kind of brand culture. Good design is consequent to the last detail while successful designs express the balance of business and art.

The relationship between creativity and commerce has always been considered—perhaps never more so than today. We can’t ignore commerce, or it will ignore us. But maybe we can try to keep it in its rightful place, and limit the amount of time we spend in and on it so it doesn’t creep into our creative space. Therefore, as a designer, before the characterstic design start, we must establish correct design thinking and a clear recognization on commerce. Creativity is the most powerful force in business—creativity so powerful that people want to play with, participate in and pass it along This paints a broad role for creativity in the business world in spurring economic growth. Meanwhile along with the development of commerce, the designs has obtained more and more attentions.

Designers should not only pays great attention to consumer's emotion demand and to the culturally and artistry design. They must take the profitable scenarios for businesses into serious consideration. Any designs must be able to get everyone's recognition is a distinguished one.it is true of costume, as well.

Conclusion

In short, the designer's initiative and its market value, these needn't be mutually exclusive. Any design with the market there is inextricably linked. We cannot deny the fact that those full of energy and initiative designs get more value. Indeed, the close intergratation of commercial business and initiative design, certainly are becoming the components of popular culture.

Therefore，in order to go with the tide of times, it is all the more necessary basic for the education of designers to maintain the utmost integrity and keep pace with the times. We should endeavor ourselves to skillfully integrate elements of Creativity and Commerce, to precisely express our own voice.

Bibliography

Biography.com Editors. (2015) “Bill Blass Biography.com”.
Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/bill-blass-9215129
[Accessed: 16th September 2015]

Newell Hampson-Jones. (2012) “Standardization: Resolving the conflict between design and production”.
Available from: https://prezi.com/dvzl_l-qd--c/standardization-resolving-the-conflict-between-design-and-production/
[Accessed: 19th November 2012]

Bonita khan. (2014) “Maybelline official make-up sponsor for London fashion week”
Available from: http://www.hitthefloor.com/lifestyle/fashion/maybelline-official-make-sponsor-london-fashion-week/
[Accessed: 31th July 2014]

Monica Karski. (2015) “Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia retains name and sponsorship “
Availablefrom: http://hk.fashionnetwork.com/news/Mercedes-Benz-Fashion-Week-Australia-retains-name-and-sponsorship,478842.html
[Accessed: April 13th2015]

Shugavery. (2013) “ Money, Money, Money, Will You Change My Fashion Personality?”
Available from: http://en.paperblog.com/money-will-you-change-my-fashion-personality-748538/
[Accessed: 17th December 2013]