Olin Gear
For a 6-week class project, my team and I designed new Olin College branded merchandise. We conducted user research to understand customer frustrations, created several designs, and sold merchandise.
My main role on this team was to create the surveys for customer research, conduct interviews, and to make various designs for t-shirts, sweatshirts, and hoodies. You can check out our team's class presentation here!
Role
Designer, User researcher, Graphic Design
Tools
Adobe Illustrator, Google forms
Design Process
One of the disadvantages of going to a tiny college is that there is a limited variety in designs for our college t-shirts, hoodies, etc. My team and I wanted to research what designs the Olin College community was looking for and to create new designs for merchandise that people can purchase.
RESEARCH
Conduct surveys and interviews with the Olin community.
Connect with the people who run Olin Gear and MarCom.
Understand the current store structure and constraints.
Conduct surveys and interviews to receive feedback on designs.
DESIGN
Design merchandise based on customer research
Talk to Marketing and Communications to get approval on designs.
Create online storefront and set up orders through CustomInk.
Present findings to our class and fulfill orders.
Research Findings
We conducted interviews and surveys with both the front-end (Olin community) and the back-end (store staff and Olin's Marketing and Communications) department.
Designs are outdates and make the school look like a tech startup
64% of respondents strongly agreed that Olin Gear needed better designs.
Olin Gear has a limited budget and customer base.
Designs
From the customer research findings, we created 30+ designs ideas and finalized 7 with options to buy it as a t-shirt, hoodie, crewneck sweatshirt, and quarter-zip.
