Hi everyone, I’m Madi Wolf. I am a senior graphic design major from Philadelphia, PA. I love traveling, designing, and food. I attend SCAD Savannah where I have been for the past 4 years (technically 3 due to covid). The main reason I chose to join this group for study abroad was because I wanted to gain worldly experience and gain more insight in the creative field in other countries. I joined without knowing anyone else going and no experience traveling abroad. After the three weeks with my class I can safely say I have some stories to share and memories that will last a lifetime.
Hello
My name is Madi
Manchester United
If you're like me, you probably know nothing about football. I was raised in a family that only follows the Philadelphia Eagles football team, and even then, I still don’t know a lot about the sport. When I learned that we would visit the Manchester United Stadium and Museum, I was looking forward to hearing more about the team as they have many invested fans. When we first arrived, we got to wander the museum and then meet up for a stadium tour. The exhibit was so detailed and large that we didn’t have enough time to really take everything in. On display were images of old players with their achievements, trophies the team had won, old uniforms they used to wear, and information about the team. This was a great introduction to the excursion and allowed me to gain more insight into the team and brand before being led through the stadium and locker room. The tour focused on how the fans engage with the players and how the brand utilized its environment to excite its fans. While the tour was very informative about the stadium, the lecture we received after it provided more information on how Manchester United goes about branding and sustainability. I learned that the team waits to join new social media platforms to build excitement among their fans, creating expectations and bringing attention to when they do. This excitement pushes the fans to follow the team on the platform as soon as they get on. This instant following is how the team has broken the record of the largest and fastest social media following for a professional football club.
Not only are they record holders, but the team is also beloved by fans to the point where children are expected and taught to adore the team as their family and friends do. This is similar to how people in America are raised to love the Football team their families watch. I found this very relatable because while I don’t watch the Eagles like my family, I still root for the team every time they are on. After the stadium, I was sitting down to eat in the restaurant with my friends and drank hot chocolate and ate chicken.They were both delicious, especially after spending time outside in the cold. Once everything was over, the class was given a quick opportunity to run to the gift shop and get souvenirs. Unfortunately, I forgot to get something for myself, but I did make sure to get my younger brother a hat I wore for the remainder of our trip.
Finding Food
I am what my friends would call a “foodie.” I am someone who enjoys food and is highly motivated if someone says food is involved. When I found out I was going on this trip, the thing I was most excited about,other than the fact I would be traveling to places I only dreamed of, was knowing I would get to try their food too.s. My main area of interest is baked goods and dinner meals. The location with the best food overall on the trip was Italy. I can’t decide between Florence and Rome, so I am just going with both. In Lacoste, we mainly ate food from the dining hall which was good,but it didn't hold a candle to the meals in the other places we went. London had amazing food. I tried to keep a close eye on my spending with food so I ended up eating fried chicken from this one place near the hotel twice which was very good. The chicken had a really nice crispy crunch and juicy meat. I still dream about that chicken even after the trip. Other than the chicken, I had a really good burger and fries, dare I say, the best I’ve ever had. The final thing I ate that I still think about is this one dish I got at an Indian street food vendor that only cost me 7£. It was a chicken curry and rice dish with chili sauce. It was so good I almost started drooling when I saw it. All of the dishes I had in London were reasonably priced and easy to locate and get to. I don’t think I spent more than 15£ on a meal in England.
Unlike England, Italy had food I was already expecting to like, such as pasta, pizza, and gelato. My mom and I both love the cannolis from this one place in Reading Terminal Market called Di Bruno Bros, and I really wanted to try an authentic cannolis while in Italy. Surprisingly, it was rather difficult to find one. I ended up finding cannolis while at a restaurant with friends, where we shared them. They were good but also incredibly small. I later found ones that were bigger but not nearly as good as the small ones. They had ricotta filling with chocolate chips and pistachios. The one dish I would recommend you don't skip and isn't as difficult to find is pasta. If you go to Italy, you need to get pasta. If not, you will miss out on the best pasta ever.
Shopping &
Brand Experiences
When going shopping, the first thing I notice is how the store is set up. When wandering Soho, I noticed that most of the stores had high-quality products at a reasonable price and that the setup allowed the customer to engage with the brand in a meaningful manner. One example of an excellent brand experience was theBurberry store in London. During our free day, I went with friends, and we were immediately greeted by a large space filled with lights and decorations. My friend was looking to buy a souvenir. As we walked around, we were approached by an employee. I was surprised as we were encouraged to try products and even had a mini photoshoot. The employee encouraged us to have fun and took us to different locations in the store to take pictures with the products. This really helped my friend decide to get a Burberry scarf. Not only did he have fun during the entire visit to the store, but he also felt good while wearing the product. While it was expensive, the quality and experience made him want to buy it. It also helped that it was more affordable because the brand originated in England, so we did not have to think about the additional cost of international shipping.
While in London I did not buy anything in Burberry, I did buy a pair of beautiful earrings with the help of Sara, another friend from the trip. My next purchase happened in France. While we didn’t have a photo shoot in any of the stores, I did have a good experience in a perfume store. With the help of my friends Riya and Z, we tried different smells until we found ones we liked. The salesperson was nice enough to help me find one I loved even though I was not originally planning on buying anything. I enjoyed that the store was set up so one half was only perfumes and the other was makeup and skincare. The packaging of some products caught my interest too. One perfume came in a bottle shaped like an apple. I would have bought it only for the packaging so I could have it on display.
Later, in Italy, I began my search for a scarf. I found a shop that had cashmere scarves for 40 euros, and the shopkeeper helped me pick a color that would compliment me. In Florence, I went to a leather shop to buy my dad a wallet right before the store closed and could not decide, so I had to come back the next day because of how lovely the people were in the store. While I fully intended to only buy my dad a wallet and leave, I ended up talking with the shopkeeper for at least half an hour and bought a leather wallet for myself. With all these purchases I got to make in the cities we visited I have come to appreciate how it isn’t only the presentation of the products from their packaging to their placement in the store or their quality and pricing that influence our decisions it is also the experience built during each purchase decision that can make the sale definitive or not.
Branding Museum
When looking at a product I always look at the packaging and logo. While I might consider how it changed since I last saw it I don't often research the branding. For this excursion we went to the Museum of Brands in London and got to see the exhibits and participate in an activity where we had to find a specific brand and rework it.
Rome
My time in Rome was filled with learning, and it did not end in the classroom. The tours we went on showcased art that I learned about in my classes. Both on the street and in the Vatican, I was able to admire these historical pieces in person. While enjoying the Colosseum and the Vatican, I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience. It felt unreal being in places with more history than my hometown. Unlike Rome, which had fountains and sculptures on every street, Florence was more focused on artisans and crafts. Florence is known for its high-quality leather, so I went and bought my dad and myself leather wallets. There was one street filled with jewelry and leather shops. The streets were busy with people window-shopping. It was a great experience where I learned so much. A special thank you to the Rome Business School.
Now here's the fun part. I am typically the kind of person who will wake up an hour to two hours before I’m supposed to leave in order to have time to get ready and eat food. But this happened to be the day both my roommate and I woke up late and had to rush to catch the bus. Thankfully, we made it on time and met with the class before our Retail Tour. On this tour, we learned about how renting a space is expensive in the city, so some spaces rent out locations to small businesses allowing them a shorter commitment. We saw an example of these locations in a small mall made of stacked container boxes.We went into a couple of stores to look at the products and saw some really interesting shops. We went into a sustainable clothing store and a woodshop that used only wood and made all of the storage in their store. I really enjoyed the shop because I liked seeing the creative space where products went from sketches to reality. After admiring the shop, we passed a chocolate store where I, unfortunately, did not buy any chocolate. We then passed a market and got to meet the Broccoli Man, who creates original work using broccoli. After all that, we split for lunch and then met for the Formula Media presentation. It was clear Mak was a skilled presenter and definitely knew what he was talking about. I wish we had more time to talk with him, but he had a busy schedule, so we only got some time to talk with him. After the presentation, we split again, and I went with some others to a market we had passed by earlier to look for souvenirs and then went to the underground Vintage Market.
East End Retail Tour & Formula Media
It’s always sad leaving a city you grow to love. But that’s why you should always make the most of the last day you have to explore. I made sure to keep that in mind during our last full day in London. The excursions we had this day were a full East End Retail tour and a presentation by the CEO of FormulaMedia, Manish Mak. It was an honor getting to meet Mak, learn more about his company, and hear about what he does.
The Vintage Market was amazing. When you go under, it feels like a different realm of existence. It felt like a maze trying to navigate it, and the clothes we saw were absolutely stunning. I seriously considered getting a scarf while we were there but held off in case I found one I liked more later. I did get two rings I wore throughout the entire trip and even have them on as I write this post.
Lacoste
When visiting Lacoste I was greeted with hills and rain. It was a cold week that was mostly spent in the classroom when I wasn't exploring the town. The class went to Apt and Aix-en-Provence for the day and gathered content and shopped. I enjoyed my time here and will miss the Lacoste cats.
After spending a whole day exploring Soho, we went to the Branding Museum. I was expecting a walking tour of a museum that held the history of brands with signs explaining their evolution in separate cases for each. The museum could only be described as that one family member who holds all their products to cherish in the memories and the nostalgia allowing them to share their past by letting you experience it through the items. The first thing we did after getting coffee in the cafe and checking out the museum gift shop was an exercise with the staff where we had to find specific brands and pick apart the evolution of the design and branding of their packaging. After that, we had to work with our teams to redesign the product for today’s market. I personally enjoyed this activity because it allowed me to use my design skills to collaborate with my team.
London
There were so many activities and meetings in London that it was a little overwhelming. We first went to Carnaby Street and met the creative directors of RE of Saatchi and Saatchi. That was one of my favorite meetings because John and Tom were very welcoming and informative. I immediately want to apply to join their team. What was interesting about this meeting was learning that the team was creating content for Manchester United, which was one of our activities later that week. During our first day, we explored the area and navigated the Tube (aka the Subway) with slight confusion. Carnaby Street is one of the main shopping areas in SoHo, and I was able to gain insight as to how the shopping experience was in London.
After everyone presented their designs, we had the opportunity to explore the museum on our own. They created an experience by creating halls filled with displays and audio that played through the exhibit on a loop. Even though the incredible amount of collected items was at times overwhelming, the experience was so fun, and I really enjoyed it.