Portfolio Visit with Paper Salad

I visited Paper Salad for a Portfolio Visit as they are in a similar industry to me and have also studied at Stockport College so we have similar backgrounds. I presented my Negotiated Project to them via Powerpoint and my Portfolio separate with card mock ups made to show the size and colour. There studio space was interesting to visit, they are based in Romily, Stockport in an industional estate set up with small buildings for businesses. Their building had lots of character located in a picturesque part of Romily, which I thought would be ideal for my own studio space as it had nice surroundings. At the front of their studio they had set up a shop, displaying all their products, while in the back they had 4 computers and a huge shelf ordering their many card designs.

I showed my Winged Creatures collection first via Powerpoint and they seemed a bit disappointed by them, they said that birds don't sell well in the card industry particularly Magpies as they are scary and if they were to send them to their agent they would have to do something completely different. I understand now after further backup of this opinion (from Karen Little) that Magpies don't sell well, but I don't agree that birds don't sell well in cards, I just think they shouldn't be the main focal point in the card and should be perhaps be smaller and part of a more detailed design.

Contray to this though they said that the birds that didn't look like Magpies were more appealing and looked friendlier and they liked the quirky slogans that were written on them, they also added that in terms of a uni project they were good designs with a good concept 'one sorrow, etc' and that uni is the only time you get to doing something really elaborate and out there as in a marketable industry, elaborate designs don't get commissioned.

After I showed my Victorian Era cards and they were much more appreciated, they could identify a market with them and found them quirky, humorous and ready to sell, particularly the Disney cards and told me to produce more cards in that style as they are popular at the moment.

They also liked the Symbollic Structure cards adding that the 'Black cards' are a popular design as well and reminded them of the 'I love NY' design and that the 'Playing card cards' were clever and hadn't been seen before.

They summerised with although good and that the colour and concept is niche I should think about my imagery more, as birds are popular in the card industry, that it should be niche but still commercial and that the alternative market might seem niche but is very commercial, which I hadn't thought of like that.
They added that if I wanted to be more commercial I should focus on colour such as pink and blue which are signifiers for genders.
They also said that the colours looked better on screen than the printed out mock ups, which can be rectified by calibrating.

Overall I think Paper Salad had some very helpful points, it was interesting to hear their opinion about the 'Winged Creatures' cards, as this is something I am going to bare in mind for further card designs, although I do think the design would sell on another products. I was happy to hear their feedback about the 'Victorian Era' cards and the 'Symbolic Structure' cards as it was a relief to hear I'd got some direction towards my market right. They also likened my work to the work of Alice Palace and Polite Cards, which is something to bare in mind when thinking about marketing.