Designing the Website ownasweatshop.com

Creating the website for 'How to Own A Sweatshop', I thought was going to be a breeze, but turned out to be one of the mind grueling things I have done on a web based platform.

First we had to come up with a design. We started looking for examples of other websites or certain design features we fancied. We came across a few aspects from other websites we wanted to incorporate into our website, for example their buttons, design concept and colour pallet. The things that stuck out to us most was the minimalist, simple and easy to use websites.

We Googled things such as: 'Best 2014 website designs',  'Minimalist websites', 'Not for profit webpages' and 'Design templates'. I would recommend coming up with a look before you start researching other websites, this way you make it an original concept and then start looking for inspiration and ideas which you can then add onto your idea. This is a good idea to stop people coming back later claiming plagiarism, but in saying that, there is nothing new under the sun, and if your are stuck for ideas go for it.

Here are some websites which we liked the look of:



www.bendavidsandhu.com

This website has been beautifully made, The home page is made up of 5 horizontal pictures, all laid out in a row with a side scroll. When you place your mouse over the image which is also a button, the image shifts to the right and has a black opaque overlay texture applied to it.

Once you click on one of the 5 images, it takes you to a full length page with what seems like an endless scroll.

Having all the information on the same page is good for Google marketing, as Google takes all the information from the homepage, every single word you post and image name.
This optimizes search engine results to your page as when someone types matching words into the search bar your page will come up first.




www.charitywater.org

This website is very minimal and sleek. This was the main website where we took inspiration from. We loved the simplicity of the website, and how it had minimalist logos which directed you to the next page.


We also loved the icons, as they were very simple but look very creative. The use of colour on their page also stood out, and how they used the constant theme of blue across their website symbolizing water.




We then came up with an aesthetic look which would cover across the board in regards to our brands style. At this stage we had already filmed the first half of the promo video which had quite a grungy and dark feeling to it, and to contrast that, our logo was very sleek, minimalist and white.
We decided that our website is a gateway to resolving the issues surrounding the sex slave industry in Kolkata, so it should be sleek, minimalist, modern and pure.


We sketched a few looks and how each tab would work:

We came up with a pinwheel look, the home screen would be made out of 4 inner circles. These would fade in one after each other, the design would end up looking like a globe. The colours would be silver tabs with a white background, when you put your mouse over the tab it would darken.

The outer slices would expand from the inner slice when pressed, and once those are clicked, would load up a separate page with the information on it. You would then be able to press the same inner tab and it would bring you back to the home screen

We really liked this look, and went away from the one page look. We thought this would be very creative and pleasing to the eye, it would also encompass our design concept for the whole project and would please people who come across the website.

As I don't have any experience with code, I decided that I would use a website builder which is capable of HTML5. I used a website builder called WIX which I recommend for basic website building. www.wix.com is great at creating creative, easy to use, drag and drop websites. It has lots of addons (most free) which are extremely useful. It has a mobile builder which you can create a different version for your mobile visitors.
You can view the first concept bellow:

http://ahartstonge.wix.com/ownasweatshop2

I started creating my website in Adobe Illustrator as it is vector based, I would recommend using this platform as no mater what screen size your site visitors use, it will not look pixelated.
I find Photoshop is allot easier to use, but it will render out images which do become pixelated.
Every tab and button, Wording and images were all in a separate layer, the outer slices were all on different pages so when people pressed on the inner slices it would seem seamless.

Issues I came across when creating the website this way is that when you export a PNG picture which is not a square, when you create a command for that image which when someone moves their cursor over the image, you want it to change colour so that the person knows its a button, would not work.

Also because there were so many images on one screen creates allot of lag.
As I was editing the website on a 27inch widescreen monitor, I then realized when I tested the website else where on smaller screens, it would not fit on the screen or every time you pressed a link would move the screen and shift the buttons.
I also had a huge problem with Internet Explorer loading the website, and had to create a new home screen so that it would redirect IE users to a different webpage.
After getting a few people to test the website, I found it to be not functioning the way I wanted it too.

Here is the first look of the website:

It was the night before our website launch that we decided we needed to scarp the website and start fresh. We needed something that would work on all platforms and was easy to use. We made a standard website which everyone would be able to navigate around. I still am adamant that I will get the first website working, but will work on that at a later stage.

Here is the second website idea which we ran with:

The next steep of launching the website is to remove the wix.com ads and link our domain name to it.
When you use Wix you will get a web link which looks something like 'yourname.wix.com/yourwebsite'.
If you are short on cash you can use this web address but I strongly recommend you purchase a .com or .org to make your campaign have a more professional image.
I would advise you to not get a .me or .anythingelse domain as these are hard to remember. When coming up your brand name, make sure there is a .com domain available or if not, change your brand name. A website address is the most critical thing when starting up, because you don't have a store which people can see your work, the website is the only tool you have to drum up excitement or interest in your project.

Purchasing the Domain

So what is a domain?
A domain is essentially a web address which you put into your address bar. An example of this is google.com.
A domain name is not the website you just designed but it is a name for your website, a gateway for potential customers to access your website.
Still confused? Here is an example: my name is Xavier (This is the domain; when you call me by my name I will respond) I have green eyes (This is your website; It holds all the information).

What is the best domain to buy?
The best domain to purchase is a .com I would recommend you change your brand name if you can not get a .com or .org with your brand somehow worked in it, and easy to remember.

Try not to use '_' or '-' as this is hard to remember, also don't make your website to long.
For example: howtoownasweatshop.com we did not chose to make this our web address as it is ridiculously long, which is why we went with ownasweatshop.com.

Another example to not use would be slang words, as when spoken, it is hard to remember how the website was written. eg: ownaswtsp.com or urpretyc0olaye.com

Where is the best place to buy a domain?
The website which I used to buy my domains was www.godaddy.com
Godaddy is moderately easy to use, and also has allot of users and is cheap. This is good because if you need any answers on how to do a certain function, everything is on Google or on Youtube.
They also have sales where a .com can range from $3 - $14 per year. Just be careful when going through the checkout, as they try and make you purchase allot of unnecessary add ons. Make sure these are all unticked.

If you are concerned with privacy and people knowing where you live, your email address and phone number, either enter incorrect details when signing up or purchase 'Private Registration' which is $12 per year. There is a website called 'whois' which without Private Registration, will publish all your sign up details when you create a domain account. This also helps protect yourself from spam, scams, prying eyes and more by shielding your personal information from public view.

Our website is now live!

On the 22nd July 2014 at 10pm, our website was launched.

Please visit our link bellow:
www.ownasweatshop.com

Coming up with a brand name

The first thing we had to decide on was a company name. We knew this name would be the most vital marketing tool we would have in our discretion. We knew that this is what we would be using to print on all of our logos, website, and any letter heads.

This name was the hardest thing to think of as this could essentially make or break us. It is not only a brand name, but something that people would recognize as an ethical company, and a name that would put the words freedom, escape and life too it.

I have always been a huge fan of Richard Branson, the owner of the Virgin brand. I loved how he picked the name of his company Virgin and reading about the struggles he faced throughout is endeavors. The thing I admire about him is how he puts his hand into many different industries, he puts his heart and soul into every single one of them, and even if they fail he picks himself up and carry on.

 The name "Virgin" was suggested by one of Branson's early employees because they were all new at business. It was simple but meaningful. Richard also inspired me with his statement in his autobiography, “Above all, you want to create something you are proud of…. That has always been my philosophy of business. I can honestly say that I have never gone into any business purely to make money. If that is the sole motive, then I believe you are better off doing nothing.”

From reading about Richard, I realized that the name we pick will then carry on throughout the campaign, and we will use it for any other endeavors we try. We then decided on the name 'How to Own A Sweatshop' with abbreviations 'Own A Sweatshop' and 'Sweatshope'.

The reasoning behind 'How to Own A Sweatshop' was that not only it is the basis of the campaign, (we will give you a step to step guide on owning your own sweatshop), but also the statement 'Own a Sweatshop' without knowing the context will draw your attention to it.

We wanted the name to market itself. If you heard that two men from New Zealand were trying to own a sweatshop, this will shock you as you will think of the negative impacts that sweatshops have and will want to know why on earth someone would even think of owing one. This will get peoples attention and they will be wanting to know more.

Shock advertising or Shockvertising is a type of advertising is a form of marketing  that deliberately, rather than inadvertently, shocks and offends its audience by violating norms for social values and personal ideals. This is the method we decided to go down.

The name 'Sweatshope' is the name which we will use at a latter stage which means Sweats Hope.

Introduction

As a kid I have always wanted to own my clothing store. I remember using playing with blue-tac and creating concept stores, which offered a place to shop for all my Army men and farm animals. Although my stores when I was age of 6 were very basic the ideology behind owing something of my own has remained present in my day to day life.

It was 2009 when I starting work at my first retail job, I loved it so much, but I manly loved the generous staff discount. When boxing day came around, we had sales where we would see jackets reduced to as little as $1. It made me question how much it actually cost to produce a single piece of clothing. I started doing the math, how much you would have to pay your staff, rental costs for your sweatshop, equipment, power, water, materials, fuel costs, shipping and customs charges. It was clear that something has to budge to keep the costs down, so I set myself to Google.

I first came across an article about Nike and Apple sweatshops, this is when I saw the conditions of which these people who are creating the products that we use on a day to day basis. This really made me think about how lucky we are to be born into a county which has a net to stop power hungry corporations paying us below minimum wage, and being able to have access to freedom, time and money. This was a horrible conviction to think the clothes i'm wearing were made by people who were getting beaten, verbally abused, given no breaks or even time to go to the bathroom, working 18 hour days, and only getting paid $1 a day.

In my research I found a company called 'Freeset' who worked in Kolkata and took women off the streets who were involved in the sex trade industry. This inspired me, but I wanted to do things a little different. I wanted to document the whole process and give our business model to anyone and everyone as long as they themselves create an ethical sweatshop, which would eventually create awareness and cause the leading fashion brands to use fair trade sweatshops, it would give the workers a choice rather than being stuck in the sex trade world.

I wanted to create a Sweatshop which offered fair trade clothing not just your basic wears, but designer clothing with a different look of long back and drappy clothing. Clothing that would not look good, but would be made by people who are paid decent wages, are looked after, given proper breaks and are able to afford necessities in life such as hygiene products, clean water and electricity.

I then met someone with the same interests as me, his name was Jesse North. We then started discussing about how we could possible get around to make this idea take flight. We started drafting up how we would go about starting our own sweatshop, but the main problem we would have is financial. Neither of us have money and are both living pay check to pay check.

We decided the only way this would actually work is if we used a crowd funding platform. We knew this would be allot of hard work as neither of us have ever ran our own business, studied anything even close to marketing or business management, or have any clue on how we would actually get our friends and families support in helping us with this project.

But this is what gave us the drive. We realized we are perfect for this, as we will be documenting every small hurdle along the way that normal business men would have through about, detailing everything down to the smallest detail of what needs to happen to own a sweatshop. We know that this will be a long and hard journey, we know we will hit a few walls and meet allot of negative people along the way who will try and break us. But we will give it everything we have as we know that through this, we will be helping women in Kolkata, giving themselves and their family freedom.

I have always had a desire to write a book, ever since I failed English at school was was put into the 'learning disability' classroom with dyslexia. As a baby I contracted meningitis and was put on life support, no one knew if I would make it. I then lost all hearing, and grew up going to speech therapy classes every week. This put me behind my peers and meant I was always missing out on classes as had constant trips to the hospital. As I grew up my hearing got better and could hear just as well as anyone else. I have always struggled with learning and having to write essays for university, spelling has always been a downfall for me. I now have a personal goal to create an up-to-date blog for this campaign, from start to finish, with the goal of one day creating a book and sending the hard cover to my English teacher who believed in me.

Beginning

 Welcome to the behind the scenes of 'How to Own A Sweatshop'. This resource will give you a step to step guide on how to own your own ethical sweatshop. We will give you a day to day run down, not skipping over any detail, we will supply you with expenditures, our highs and lows, struggles and successes, what went right and what we would have done differently, the people who helped us out, our hand written documents, storyboards, behind the scenes photographs, concepts and designs and weekly video blogs.

Jesse North and Xavier Hartstonge will undertake the adventure of starting up their own ethical sweatshop campaign from scratch, with the help from friends, family and you. Neither of them have owned a business before, studied anything related to business management or marketing.

Follow our progress of how we immerse ourselves and jump in the deep end into the unknown.

First things first, we will immerse ourselves in the lifestyle. We want to experience this daily grind first hand, understand the poverty and feel the emotions. "It's impossible for us to go out there and launch a campaign without understanding or experiencing, its almost ignorant", says Jesse. "Then and only then, can we stand up and help these women".

'How to Own a Sweatshop' is a long term campaign; we will one day own a Sweatshop. Not your standard Sweatshop with poor working conditions, mistreated staff who working excruciating hours, but a Sweatshop that will support the women of Kolkata, provide education, healthcare and a steady income. 

Of course, this is many years down the track so details are not set just yet.