← Ella Watson

Final Major Project · First Class

flax

Rooted in the land. Made for now.

Flax is a fictional British womenswear brand I created for women aged 18 to 25 who love the countryside look but want it to feel modern and wearable, not like a costume. I took it from market research all the way to a brand identity, an original photoshoot, a lookbook and a launch campaign.

Module
Visual Communication, final year
Grade
First Class
My role
Everything: research, strategy, art direction, styling, editing, design
Tools
InDesign, Photoshop, Lightroom, Canva
Two models in knitwear, shorts and wellies walking down a tree-lined avenue at Frogmore Hall

The final work

The lookbook

Shot at Frogmore Hall, a Georgian estate in Hertfordshire, then laid out in InDesign. Two women at ease in the landscape and in their clothes.

Flax lookbook front cover: two models pulling on knitwear in front of the hall Flax lookbook back cover: two models walking down a tree-lined lane, @wearflax
Spread: the models on the lawn in front of the hall, and sitting on stone steps in wellies Spread: model among palm leaves, with the line Quiet confidence, wherever you are Spread: both models against a brick wall, and one on the steps in a tartan scarf Spread: a sequence of three running shots, and the models on the drive Spread: models behind a hedge, and a close-up resting on a fence in a patterned knit Spread: the line Born for the fields, with a model laughing in a tartan scarf Spread: knitwear detail, and the models reflected in a window

Launch campaign · Autumn/Winter 2026

Born for the Fields

A launch plan across social, out-of-home, influencers and email. The idea: put countryside imagery right in the middle of city life, where the Flax customer actually spends her week.

Flax poster on a street, showing a model in the countryside
Out-of-home placements: London Underground for commuters, university high streets in Leeds, Durham and Bristol, and market towns like Hertford and Cirencester.

Objectives

  • Build awareness with 18 to 25 year olds drawn to the countryside look
  • 10,000 website visits in the first launch month
  • 5,000 Instagram followers within three months
  • Drive first-season sales through digital and out-of-home

Budget split

  • Paid social 35%
  • Out-of-home 25%
  • Influencers 25%
  • Email & PR 15%
AugustPre-launch

Email waitlist, teaser content on social, seeding with micro-influencers.

SeptemberLaunch

Out-of-home goes live, paid social begins, website launches.

OctoberBuild

Influencer content goes live, organic social ramps up, PR push.

NovemberConvert

Retargeting ads, email nurture sequence, Christmas gifting push.

The countryside brand built for your generation

Natural materials, considered design, real English landscapes

Wear where you’re from, wherever you are

Sustainability at the heart of everything we make

Mock-up of the @wearflax Instagram profile
Social: @wearflaxTikTok three times a week (get ready with me, behind the scenes, city commute), Instagram four times a week, and Pinterest boards optimised for search.
White Flax gift box held in two hands
PackagingA rigid gift box in Linen with the wordmark in Moss. Clean and minimal, with no plastic at any point.
Brown Flax swing tag on a pair of jeans
Swing tagBark-toned card with the brand line on the back, attached with natural twine.

Brand identity

Colour, type and logo

The palette comes straight from the English countryside: woodland greens, linen and hay, bark and soil. It says natural and authentic without falling back on the navy and tartan most heritage brands use. This page is set in the Flax colours and typefaces.

Moss#085041

Primary. Logo, headings, key accents

Fern#1D9E75

Secondary green. Highlights and calls to action

Linen#F5F0E8

Primary background. Pages, packaging, website

Hay#C9B99A

Warm neutral. Backgrounds and borders

Bark#7A5C3E

Earthy accent. Packaging, swing tags, details

Soil#2C2C2A

Body copy and captions

Primary typeface

Alice

A serif that nods to heritage and craft but stays clean enough to feel current. Used for headings and editorial lines.

Secondary typeface

Inter

A modern sans-serif for body copy, captions and digital. The contrast between the two reflects the brand’s two sides: heritage and now.

Page of logo options with favourites circledLogo exploration. Options generated and refined round by round Shortlist of five logos with the final choiceFinal logo. Classic and modern, with a youthful edge Colour palette pageColour rationale. The original palette page

Photoshoot · Frogmore Hall · 8 April 2026

Directing the shoot

I chose the location, styled the two models, directed them and edited every image. All natural light.

Styling

Earthy neutrals, natural fabrics and layers, kept deliberately modern to set Flax apart from more traditional countryside brands.

Direction

Relaxed and unforced. The aim was a sense of belonging rather than performance, and a friendship between the two models.

Editing

A shortlist on composition, light and expression, then one warm, earthy grade across the set in Photoshop and Lightroom.

Model in a patterned jacket seated in front of the red-brick hall Both models standing either side of a statue on the lawn Model laughing in a red tartan scarf on stone steps Model in a navy jacket in front of a palm Model in a camel coat on the lawn with the hall behind Both models in Fair Isle knits leaning against a brick wall Both models on the steps of the hall Both models playing in the field Model in a Fair Isle jumper and wellies in the field

How I got there

The research behind it

Every decision above, from the location to the name, came out of research. Here are the key pages from the project. Tap any page to read it in full.

01

Planning

Clear aims and objectives, and a timeline to run the project from January to May.

Aims and objectives pageAims & objectives Gantt chart of the project timelineTimeline January to May 2026
02

Primary research

A competitor store visit to Barbour in Leeds, then a close look at how the countryside look performs on TikTok, Instagram and Pinterest.

Barbour store visit pageStore visit. Barbour, Leeds Barbour in-store photos with findingsIn-store findings. Merchandising, price points, styling TikTok analysis pageTikTok. #englishcountryside and #oldmoney Instagram analysis pageInstagram. #countrystyle and the established brands Pinterest analysis pagePinterest. What gets saved
03

Secondary research

Market size, trend forecasting, cultural context, competitor performance and what Gen Z actually cares about when buying clothes.

UK womenswear market chartMarket size. UK womenswear (Statista) WGSN trend forecasting pageTrend forecasting. WGSN, countryside and heritage Cultural context pageCultural context. Why 18 to 25s are buying in Competitor brand research pageCompetitors. Barbour’s numbers and its older customer Sustainability and consumer values pageConsumer values. Sustainability and Gen Z
04

Analysis

Finding the gap: heritage brands with strong stories but an older customer, and a younger audience engaging with the look online with little made for them.

Identifying the gap pageIdentifying the gap SWOT analysisSWOT analysis Competitor analysis tableCompetitor analysis. Price, age, aesthetic, social, weakness Positioning map of countryside and high street brandsPositioning map. Where Flax sits Customer profile page for Ellie, 22Customer profile. Ellie, 22, Hertfordshire to London
05

Creative development

Turning the research into a look and feel, a location and a way of editing.

Mood board defining the aestheticDefining the aesthetic Location and visual direction pageChoosing the location Image selection pageSelecting the shots Colour grading pageColour grading Typography pageTypography

Looking back

What I’d keep, and what I’d change

What worked

  • Grounding the brand in a real, growing trend gave it a clear commercial direction from day one.
  • Frogmore Hall told the brand story the moment you saw it.
  • The competitor analysis confirmed a genuine gap, which gave me confidence in the creative calls.
  • Building a customer profile, Ellie, kept every decision focused on a real person.

What I’d do differently

  • Run a survey with real women aged 18 to 25 for first-hand data, not just observation.
  • Shoot earlier, to leave more time for editing.
  • Visit more competitor stores beyond Barbour.
  • Explore more logo and type routes before settling.