Portfolio Viewing - MADE Afflecks Palace

I visited MADE in Afflecks Palace as I'd heard it was a new boutique. Yenna sells revived vintage clothing, handmade bags, accessories, greeting cards and postcards, under the label Yenna (also her name). The shop itself markets itself into the gift industry and I thought this combined with it being newly opened was ideal for a portfolio viewing as Yenna would have a lot of interest in looking at new designers work, but the opportunity to collaborate with.


Yenna was really approachable and eager to look at my designs. She was really enthusiastic looking through the range and like previous portfolio visits commented on how they were humorous. She said the styling was eye catching because the colours are bold, which she said was a good characteristic to have because it would keep a consumers interest in the shop which I thought was an interesting theory. She liked the styling of my bird cards (above) but I'm still considering putting these cards into a different product and we discussed how they'd make cute cushions or purses without the typing "one for sorrow" etc, see above with no text. I think this would work well and would have some qualities about them which would sell better as cushions and purses are a much more personal purchase.


I didn't show my unsuccessful cards, such as the cross cards (above), as I think they pull my portfolio down and I wouldn't want to knock any confidence a retailer would have in my work, so the feedback was generally positive.
We talked about figures and costs the breakdown of these costs are: to buy 12 designs with a minimum buy of 25 cards per design totalling in 300 cards would cost her £450 if I sold them to her at £1.50 each. If she then sold them on for £2.50, she'd make a turnover profit of £750 and a net profit of £300.

I can't reduce these figures as it currently costs me too much to print them, but I'm hoping with the help from Janneke Geene, I'll be able to establish contact and a print run from a company with more reasonable print prices.

I think these figures seems a little off putting for Yenna as she told me she'd think about it, but we swapped contact details and I'll contact her again soon. At the moment making a sale isn't my mine priority as I want to attend a workshop funded by Blue Orchid to get information on how to write up a written contract, copyright issues and general business knowledge so that I don't end up in any trouble. After I've attended that I'll feel much more comfortable in making sales, in the mean time I just really appreciate any positive feedback I receive as it makes me feel as if my designs are pursuing the market they are intended for. It was a good experience as always and I've gained another contact who may be interested in collaborating or trading business.