Moody Bean

The main aim of www.moodybean.com was to build an E-commerce product and go through the entire product journey with the final point of sale in mind. This means making sure that any design decisions would always come back to make sure the product would succeed and become profitable. In the end, a simple hat that had the unique selling point of being able to express different moods when twisting it around became the product to do this with. The fact that the product was simple but still had a unique selling point that has not been taken advantage of within this industry meant it would be worthwhile investing time and effort into it.

I created some mockups of what it would look like and then put together a survey to test the general market. Originally the brand name was Sad bean, the idea was to try and normalise feeling sad and that it is okay to struggle sometimes. Eventuality following feedback of people not liking this name, it switched to the cheeker name Moody Bean. This fits better with the product as it is a beanie you show your mood with.

Considering the interest that was generated within the survey despite the unpopular name, this would be the product I would move forward with and develop further. At this point, the design was also reversible and included 6 words. After a while of creating prototypes and testing out different combinations of words, the hat was simplified to a minimum viable product. This meant 4 words (moody, happy, bored and confused) around the brim and it was no longer reversible.

This made sure that it was a straight forward manufacturing process but still gave a good variety of moods for the users to play with. In addition, the target market for this product was made clear within the survey as well. It would be aimed at young adults and teanageers that use the social media platform TikTok. Rather than trying to market it as a clothing product, it would be sold as a tool that content creators can use to help make short videos. This is also where the original inspiration for the product came from, a viral stuffed toy octopus that you could reverse to show a different face.

After the designs were finalised, I created a website that would host the brand. Some additional products were added to make sure the shop looked as professional as possible. This was done using print on demand services, a very simple process where you only need to upload the graphics. The website was created at this stage due to the ongoing negotiations with manufactures who would produce the first batch of product.

It took 6 months from creating the first round of technical drawings up to the delivery of the first 1000 units. This involved in-depth planing with manufacturers, adjustments to proofs/portotypes and managing shipment sceduals to get everything delivered before the launch.

Within this time, I established a network of brand affiliates and promoters of just under 40 people to assist with the launch. In addition, further measures were taken to bring awareness to the brand including stickers with slogans and QR codes on that lead directly to the website.

Whilst the launch has not taken place at this time, it is set up to be a process driven by content creation on social media platforms from myself and other affiliates. This project will be updated again with the results, successful or not, pending that event.