Lán Hú
To design a new luxury brand built on principles of social sustainability that sells commuter cycling accessories.
Project Type
Team
Duration
8 Weeks
Role
Research . Brand Development . Prototyping . Website Design . Ideation . Market study
Social Sustainability Luxury Brand
Market, Brand and User Study
Cycling_Current Accessories
The current cycle and cycle accessories brands were studied and compared to understand the current trend, strategy and products in the market. Some non cycling luxury brands were also studied to understand the functioning of brand and how they make their products luxurious.
Interviewed a couple of daily cyclists and cycle enthusiasts to understand their problems and needs. Tried cycling to understand the problems faced while cycling.
What is Luxury ?
Luxury X Peoples perspective
Luxury is subjective and each person has a different perspective for luxury. These are some aspects of what could be luxury.
Interviews
Problems faced with cycling_Future Scope
It’s really hard to carry the helmets everywhere. I want to ride safely by wearing the helmets but at the same time doesn’t want my hair to get messy.
A lot of things doesn’t fit in the basket. The basket are not stable and secure. Most of the baskets are not elegant and appealing.
The cycle seats are very hard and uncomfortable. Difficult to wear multiple layers and ride.
Principal_Guide_Brand
The Fab City Manifesto_20 Gates of Exclusion
These models helped to develop a sustainable luxury brand. The models also guided to make the product luxury and how any product could be made exclusive. At the same time also learnt to build a socially and environmentally sustainable brand.
Insights
Cycling Problem_Beneficieries_Luxury
These are the problems faced in cycling and the potential scope to develop in a new brand.
Persona
Lucy Chan
Bio
Lucy is a 27 years old Chinese financial consultant currently living with her boyfriend in Shanghai. She is an extroverted woman who likes going outside, traveling, and meeting friends. She cycles to work every day, along with her boyfriend.
Due to her stressful job, she tries her best to de-stress several times a week, usually through exercise, hiking, and regular picnic visits to the park with her boyfriend. Since she is in a professional environment she pays close attention to what she wears and tries to always maintain an elegant look. She believes that a good outlook will help her attract more potential customers, because of this, she doesn’t mind spending a lot on luxury items, as long as it looks good and is functional.
Goals
• To keep her current way of riding to work but find a more luxurious accessory to elevate her experience
• To find a way to personalise her bike and make it truly her own
• Find an accessory that encourages her to de-stress during work that can be attached to her bike
Needs
• A product that looks elegant but is also functional
• A product that is easy to use and intuitive
• A product that can be attached to a bike and allow her to de-stress during the day
Beneficiary
Social Sustainability_Commute to school
Being a luxury brand with a social sustainability principle our beneficiaries are people at Hunan province, China. We focus on helping the communities and children at he Hunan Province to safely commute to school.
We will collaborate with the local government to donate funds for the construction of safe transport (bridge,road,etc) in the mountains benefiting the community. Certain percentage of every purchase made from this collection will go towards funding this project.
Picnic
Why Picnic?
We chose picnic because it is considered to be luxury, as historically it was a favourite pastime of the aristocracy. Also Post-pandemic, the picnic has started becoming a trend as people want to socialise and go out to spend more time with their friends and family.
Picnic X Different Culture
Different culture’s picnics were compared to understand how picnic practices differ in each culture and the things they carry for a picnic. The cutlery used in each culture was a distinct insight, the rest was about how their food customs.
Brand Identity
Logo_Font_Colour Palette
A brand identity was created for better communication. The word Lán in Chinese mean Mist; Fog in a mountain. The word “Lán” also sounds like basket (Lánzi) in Chinese and it also means the colour blue.
Our Brand Values
Core values_Our belief
Transparency
We are open about sharing our background work from ethically sourcing materials to the manufacturing process to showing how our revenue flows in and out.
Traditional heritage
We believe in keeping ancestral craftsmanship alive. Utilising them in a contemporary way.
Intersectionality
Representation and diversity is an essential aspect of our values whether it be in our advertising or the members of our staff.
Design Inspiration
Product Style
These are the functional and design aspects that the brand needs in the basket.
Design Exploration
The design of the baskets is focused on aesthetics, convenient and ergonomic. The basket was designed around the ability to with stand harsh weathers at the same time not compromising on the looks.
Ideation and Form Development
Hands-On
Understanding the form,structure and proportion
Our Design
How do we do it?
The embroidery colours will depend on the photo and the season of the picture. The whole basket is made by different artisans (Miao and Tujia) from Xiangxi, China.
Our Design
Weaving Pattern Exploration
Different weaving patterns and embroidery colour themes were explored to see different styles.
Fabboo
A handcrafted picnic basket by artisans
An elegant basket with a range of product to go with it for a fun picnic day out. There are different styles of weaving and embroidery pattern. No more worrying about carrying it in cycle yet being stylish!
Details
Simple_Stylish_Comfortable_Convenient
Website Design
Platform_User Touchpoint
Hú is a sub-brand of Lán. Lán is a luxury textile brand been successful for several years. A website is designed not only for better marketing and communication as e-commerce platform is more convenient for the customers to purchase. As a brand having a website also creates more trust in the customers.
Project System
How does the brand work?
Semantic Differential_Business Model Canvas
Strategic management
Strategic management tool to quickly and easily, define and communicate a business idea or concept to clients, investors or between the company team.
Semantic Differential to evaluate and understand our picnic basket position in the current luxury picnic basket market and to see possibilities to improve our product to stand out in the market.