Design in Industry: HST Creative

HST is an agency for that specialises in the creative industry. Hilary and Satish Tailor (founders) work on product design, trend and colour direction. The company has worked with brands such as such as Mapel, Adidas, Puma, PantoneView, Clarks and Umbro

Before HST Creative, Hillary has gained experience from many companies such as IFF (International Flavours & Fragrances), Lynx, Adidas, Puma and View 2. During her career, she has had experience with creating mood boards and concepts for packaging; focus groups for rebranding, which involved bringing male teens to participate in using her previous companies products to get feedback. She has also worked on colour trends for companies who had limited knowledge in this area, as well as helping them to visualise the product in different colourways, thus aiding sales. Furthermore Hilary's past jobs consisted of communicating the brand and its story behind specific themes; she has organised photoshoots and booked models; worked with other companies during a joint venture (such as marketing a bike with Vexed Generation and Biomega).

Vexed Generation folding bike concept
To prevent bikes from being stolen

Vexed Generation concealed bag

Hillary worked at View2 do other publications such as View Textiles, ViewPoint, View Publications and PantoneView. Pantone view has a specific style to their publications subsisting of a simple format, inspirational imagery and a clear concept whilst making the book apply to different creative industries.

View2 Magazine
Issue 18

The job entailed working with a team, but writing a story for the selected colours for that season separately until they came together to see each person's story. After 2 days of presenting ideas, the person selected had to create the trend book. It had to consist of a macro trend in order for it to be interpreted by creatives in different sectors. An example of a past project is "Eat".

The book contains:

Heavy text at the front so readers can skip through if not interested
The book has to explain why the colours have changed from last season
Navigation through the book is crucial, therefore Page numbers and chapter names must be included on each page.
A story with inspirational imagery
A harmony page - colours that go together (useful for marketing so merchandising ideas can be formed)
Product spread - Ideas for apparel, footwear, furniture in trending colours (also useful for merchandising)
Material pallet - Ideas for textures, fabrics with extra inspirational words that describe how silhouettes might look

How are colours predicted?

Hillary goes on to say they are partly to do with a self fulfilling prophecy, which involves 2 points:

Conspiracy - If someone has that colour then they must keep up with the trend
Logic - People want to see new colours

An example of this is - Pantone release a new set of neon colours because of the fact the dyes used to produce the colours were banned from the EU, but manufacturers found a way to produce approved dyes. This is a means of exploiting new colours that have become available to the market.

HST Creative Clients

Firstly HST ask their client how they would like their product to be delivered - in book form or digitally. They then discuss a job list which resembles a checklist of what the client wants exactly. This can then form as proof if the client asks for more services later down the line which they have not paid for. For this, a critical path is made, which acts like a calendar with mini deadlines. This keeps HST on track with the project, and can ask the client at every deadline if they are satisfied with the progress. HST research the company to see what their customers want from their client, in order to modify the brands ethos/image if needed. In addition, they research consumers in other countries (if this is applicable to them) to see how the quality of their economy. This could effect how other countries buy from the client. HST look at the client's competitors to see who they do and do not want to aspire to be. Technological research is made to see if this could effect the way the client manufacture their products.

Hillary concludes the talk with how she uses the world around her to create new trends: