This project has been inspired by Iconic imagery and Retro games. I'd researched into what sells in and around the Northern Quarter and it seemed a popular subject. I wanted to really push myself in terms of the number of designs so I went for 46 designs in total. 24 cards, 6 gift wraps, 6 gift bags, 6 gift tags and 4 t-shirts. I originally intended to produce 2 t-shirts and 2 sweatshirts but after sampling on the sweatshirts I found the designs didn't take to the fabric well aswell as the designs not sitting right on the bulk of the jumper. The designs concept worked much better on a smaller garment and on a stark white cotton as it made the design stand out more.
I enjoyed putting together the greeting cards as I did in the last project and feel I have kept a flow in the range of cards, something backed up in portfolio visits. I also enjoyed the gift wraps, I developed a concept for the gift wraps that they would be inspired by the patterned fashion garments worn by women in the alternative market. In a questionnaire I'd sent out to 30+ people the majority of guys said they prefer a gift bag to a gift wrap, while the girls preferred to gift wrap.
The gift bags hold a much more masculine style than the wraps but I think I've designed the gift bags to suit both genders, while the gift wrap does look more predominately feminine.
I found the gift bags a struggle to design, despite again liking the concept. The concept for the gift bags were that they had enough purpose other than to just carry presents. They could be dismantled and play with, while two of them had geometric shapes within the designs, inspired by kaleidoscopes and board games. A problem I didn't oversee was how the design would look once made into a gift bag and so I'm not entirely happy with the finished product. I also had to work out the maths in producing a gift bag net, not necessarily my strong put and it was very time consuming and frustrating, but I managed to come up with a net I felt happy with that had a a front as wide as I could get it so that I could get as much design on show as possible. I chose black ribbon because I felt that the colour black brought the designs together coherently, while breaking up the masculine qualities making it hopefully more broader the market.
The gift tags were an assortment of all the motifs I'd used in all of my designs. This was because a gift tag is never bought alone, it is to compliment either a gift bag or gift wrap. I layered all the motifs on an A2 sheet and cut into selected areas to create the tags, the colours and pattern hopefully have an obvious link between the bags and wraps.
For market research for this project as I mentioned before I conducted a public survey, I wanted to see if there was any surprising data I hadn't realised before and there actually was. One of the questions asked was 'What is the most amount of money you'd spend on a card' surprisingly to me the average amount of money the public would spend was 4 pound if the style and design of the card was strong enough. I thought this amount would of been much lower and with an average buy of 1 card a month per person this have been pleasing figures.
For this project I'd devised a day-to-day time plan, but I found it really hard to stick to and some of the days would get mixed up, I found myself getting behind in the schedule and it became a worry, but I got back on track until the last week. Each job I'd planned to do in the last week took much longer than anticipated, despite allocating time for any mishaps. Printing contact sheets and visualisations took a whole day longer because of the enormous queues and it stalled 3 times for various reasons such as ink changes. I didn't have time to print out one of my visualisations because of this, but I have put it on my digital portfolio. I also regrettably ran out of time to print out the questionnaire results, though I do have them on my computer so I can always refer to them in new projects.
For this project I feel I have strong concepts in my designs and feel I have done well with creativity and technicalities as I've done a lot of research and been to my portfolio visits, but I'm disappointed in the professionalism in my work, particularly the gift bags and secondary research sheets. Though I do like the professional finish on the cards, wraps and tags. I'm considering having the gift bags re-made by a professional printers as I don't like the alinement on the ones I created.
I have learnt so much from my time on the Surface Design pathway, my creative ability and enjoyment of concepts have soared and I see a direction in career I wish to take. I've enjoyed learning about the industry and making contacts and I feel excited and ready to take on new challenges. I plan to attend a workshop in business advice, I'm hoping this will give me answers to issues I have with trading and copyright and then I plan to fully go into trading.
I'm currently talking to Ceri-Ann Brown, co-owner of Livid Thorn, in collaborating with her in a new business and I plan to work with her as well as pushing Paperandfrock.
I also have the project with The Peoples History Museum to look forward to and I'm excited about the year ahead.
Showing posts with label PDP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PDP. Show all posts
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
Portfolio Viewing - The Retro Games Shop
I contacted the Retro Games Shop in Manchester for feedback on my retro game inspired cards. They seemed pretty interested to look at them even though they weren't already selling any, and told me to email them small res files. I've decided to just email for feedback instead of selling my work because I want to complete a workshop with information on business and trading before a pursue this.
The response I got was generally positive and it has encouraged me to want to pursue contact with other subject related stores.
Carla Brown, owner said:
- Retro computer game theme cards were strong and linked the subject
- Colours worked coherently with the subject and era
- Humorous and bold
- I'd created a flowing range
- Enjoyed the visuals and creative style
- Currently not in the position to buy
It was reasurring to know from someone that is so passionate about retro products that she liked them. Positive feedback like this pushes me to aim for bigger retro stores around the country, but I will need this business workshop under my belt so I've more understanding about what it is like to be in the position of trade. I thanked Carla Brown for my feedback as it has given me confidence in my card range.
The response I got was generally positive and it has encouraged me to want to pursue contact with other subject related stores.
Carla Brown, owner said:
- Retro computer game theme cards were strong and linked the subject
- Colours worked coherently with the subject and era
- Humorous and bold
- I'd created a flowing range
- Enjoyed the visuals and creative style
- Currently not in the position to buy
It was reasurring to know from someone that is so passionate about retro products that she liked them. Positive feedback like this pushes me to aim for bigger retro stores around the country, but I will need this business workshop under my belt so I've more understanding about what it is like to be in the position of trade. I thanked Carla Brown for my feedback as it has given me confidence in my card range.
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
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.
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.
Wednesday, 20 April 2011
Portfolio Viewing - Peoples History Museum
I went on a portfolio viewing to the Peoples History Museum on the 19th April and met the Visual Buyer of the museums shop Janneke Geene, she's also an events organiser and fundraiser.
I showed her the card collection from the Dark Nouveau brief, as well as the 4 finalised tshirts for my FMP.
Janneke explained that all merchandise sold in the museums shop had some have some link to the exhibitions and what the museum is about. The museums exhibitions are about the history of society and generation, politics and historic events.
So at that point I knew my cards didn't have a link to the visuals already in the shop so she wouldn't buy and backed that up by saying the subject didn't link to the merchandise already in the shop but despite that she was enthusiastic about my work and complimented the creative style and thought they were clever and humorous, but because she liked the style and content of my work she asked me if I would be interested in producing a minimum of 6 cards inspired by the museum!
The cards would be blank inside and not linked to any occasion, the style would have a repetition to the style in my previous card collection, only the subject would change so that it linked to the museum. Janneke suggested I wait until after uni so I don't feel any extra pressure and said that there wasn't a deadline for the completion of the cards.
I'm definitely going to take up Jannekes offer of producing a card range for the museum as it would be great for my existing portfolio as well as promoting my business name.
All the cards would have a brief attachment at the back of the card, with my photograph, name, place of study and my website name. This is great for promotion purposes and I hope more business comes from this project.
We discussed how payment normally works, Janneke said that she normally runs by a 100% mark up, so say I sold each card to her for £1, she'd sell it in the shop for £2. I've found a greeting card printers where if I had 300 cards printed, it would work out at 23p per card. To pay for the additional cellophane and envelope for 300 cards it would work at an extra 3p per card. Giving me a profit of 74p per card. £222 for 300.
Janneke told me I could contact her via about any advice, ie. printing advice, quotes and she'd be happy to help.
She's already forwarded on an email a printing house she's using to print postcards she'd designed for the shop with a printing quote, I'll attach here at a later date and the contact details, which I've extracted from the email, which is below.
She also gave me a suggestion of contacting wildlife attractions, who will stock merchendise related to birds, which she thought of after viewing my magpie cards. I think it's a great idea and will think of other places to contact where the subject in my cards is relatable.
Overall the feedback was great and she has provided me with contacts, suggestions, advice and an amazing project opportunity which I can't wait to start when I've finished uni.
I showed her the card collection from the Dark Nouveau brief, as well as the 4 finalised tshirts for my FMP.
Janneke explained that all merchandise sold in the museums shop had some have some link to the exhibitions and what the museum is about. The museums exhibitions are about the history of society and generation, politics and historic events.
So at that point I knew my cards didn't have a link to the visuals already in the shop so she wouldn't buy and backed that up by saying the subject didn't link to the merchandise already in the shop but despite that she was enthusiastic about my work and complimented the creative style and thought they were clever and humorous, but because she liked the style and content of my work she asked me if I would be interested in producing a minimum of 6 cards inspired by the museum!
The cards would be blank inside and not linked to any occasion, the style would have a repetition to the style in my previous card collection, only the subject would change so that it linked to the museum. Janneke suggested I wait until after uni so I don't feel any extra pressure and said that there wasn't a deadline for the completion of the cards.
I'm definitely going to take up Jannekes offer of producing a card range for the museum as it would be great for my existing portfolio as well as promoting my business name.
All the cards would have a brief attachment at the back of the card, with my photograph, name, place of study and my website name. This is great for promotion purposes and I hope more business comes from this project.
We discussed how payment normally works, Janneke said that she normally runs by a 100% mark up, so say I sold each card to her for £1, she'd sell it in the shop for £2. I've found a greeting card printers where if I had 300 cards printed, it would work out at 23p per card. To pay for the additional cellophane and envelope for 300 cards it would work at an extra 3p per card. Giving me a profit of 74p per card. £222 for 300.
Janneke told me I could contact her via about any advice, ie. printing advice, quotes and she'd be happy to help.
She's already forwarded on an email a printing house she's using to print postcards she'd designed for the shop with a printing quote, I'll attach here at a later date and the contact details, which I've extracted from the email, which is below.
New Leaf Press (Salford):
My contact there is Billy Lucas – he’s lovely.
Explain I suggested you contact him.
0161 205 0405
Mandy Bowden’s dad runs a printing plant and the details are as follows:
You’ve have to explain you got the contact from me and that I suggested to check with them...
They’re very nice.
It's great to have Janneke has a contact as she seems really helpful and has given me a great oppotunity to produce work for the shop, I'm really excited as to where else this may lead.She also gave me a suggestion of contacting wildlife attractions, who will stock merchendise related to birds, which she thought of after viewing my magpie cards. I think it's a great idea and will think of other places to contact where the subject in my cards is relatable.
Overall the feedback was great and she has provided me with contacts, suggestions, advice and an amazing project opportunity which I can't wait to start when I've finished uni.
Thursday, 14 April 2011
PDP Contact List
Roger La Borde - Phoned and emailed PDF files to sarah@rogerlaborde.com
Bellybutton Designs - Phoned and emailed PDF files to rachel@bellybuttondesigns.com
Firebrand Art Ltd - Phoned and emailed PDF files to info@firebrandart.co.uk, though Guy Chief Director said they are not looking to commission at the moment but is happy to give me feedback
Lime Cards Ltd - Phoned and awaiting call from Mandy Burstat for information on portfolio viewing
Loveday Designs - Phoned and told they are currently not in business but PDF files can be sent to info@lovedaydesigns.co.uk
YCUK - Phoned and was told they only deal with business from South America
Pink Pinapple- Phoned and emailed PDF files to peter@pinkpinapple.co.uk
Peoples History Museum - Contact Janeka, arrange portfolio viewing for 19/04/2011
Bellybutton Designs - Phoned and emailed PDF files to rachel@bellybuttondesigns.com
Firebrand Art Ltd - Phoned and emailed PDF files to info@firebrandart.co.uk, though Guy Chief Director said they are not looking to commission at the moment but is happy to give me feedback
Lime Cards Ltd - Phoned and awaiting call from Mandy Burstat for information on portfolio viewing
Loveday Designs - Phoned and told they are currently not in business but PDF files can be sent to info@lovedaydesigns.co.uk
YCUK - Phoned and was told they only deal with business from South America
Pink Pinapple- Phoned and emailed PDF files to peter@pinkpinapple.co.uk
Peoples History Museum - Contact Janeka, arrange portfolio viewing for 19/04/2011
Thursday, 7 April 2011
October Textiles Ltd
Click image to enlarge.I contacted October Textiles Ltd, a printing firm for a quotation on 4 digital printed tshirts.
This was originally for the kaleidoscope design so would roughly have 12 colours.
One colour cost £4.09, so times that by 12 and you're looking at £49.08, times this by 4 tshirts plus services, carriages and VAT brings my bill to £274.
On that note, I will be printing them myself, using either flex or transfer paper, I will experiment with the quality of both so see which has the best results.
Wednesday, 6 April 2011
Quitting Hollywood
I sent Quitting Hollywood the above email, hoping to get some relevent information about submitting artwork to them. I thought if I could submit my card designs to them, this could be used as a portfolio viewing but I have decided against using them as one of my portfolio viewings from the below response.I received this email below, which answered all my questions. As Quitting Hollywood work on a one price fixture for any designs submitted I will not be sending any designs to this company
as I will not be able to sell them to other companies.
Click on each email to enlarge it.
Monday, 21 March 2011
Fab Lab Report
I visited Fab Lab in New Islington Saturday morning. They have an open session Friday and Saturday, meaning you can go use their equipment for free. The three I was most interested in was the digital embroidery machine, the vinyl cutter and the laser cutter. The laser cutter has a long waiting list and needs to be booked prior to the session. The vinyl cutter and digital embroidery machine didn't have any bookings for the day so I tried out the digital embroidery machine as I was new to this equipment.
Prior to the session I had rung Fab Lab to ask which format to bring my work in, they said PDF was fine and would be compatible but when I actually got to Fab Lab I was told that the
machine isn't compatible to a PDF and needs to be in a .sew format, this meant a complicated and frustrating process of:
> Opening my work in Inkscape, saving as a .svg
> Opening that file in gimp2 and saving as a .bmp manually
> Import the .bmp with easyport
By this point the design I'd originally drawn in illustrator and saved as a PDF was heavily pixelated, but I was told because the software was old that was the best they could do.
Easyport was the software I used to fill my work with colour, the digital embroidery machine
then recognises the colour and asks you to change thread accordingly.
After I had selected the colour it had to be saved as a .sew to be then opened in Pulse
Ambassador to be saved in the format .jef
It took 4 hours in total, because when it was pixelated I had to fill in some of the lines I'd previously drawn in illustrator because they were missing.
Here is the process from my time on the digital embroidery machine.
I originally started on this one, unaware I had put a background on the design and I had chosen green, so aware the green would dominate the design, I stopped the machine and changed the thread to white. I later decided it I was going to go with my original idea of not having a background so I stopped the machine and started again on a new piece and removed the white background from the design on screen.
This was the outcome. I've noted that because the shapes of the design are small they are unrecognisable as diamonds in this piece. I think for design purpose the machine works best with stronger, bolder shapes.
This is the outcome after I cut away the joining stitches. It definitely doesn't have the professional finish I expected it to have. I think this was due to it starting off as an incompatible file and it having to be saved so many times, especially as a .bmp, as it isn't a very good format to be saved as in the first place. The next time I use this machine though I will have a clearer insight to achieve a more professional finish with the design and that would be to save it as an .svg in illustrator after putting the illustration together, this would then cut out the large amount of saving the design went through which caused pixilation and further problems.
I'm glad I visited Fab Lab and tried my sample on fabric as it still gives me an indication of how the sample would of felt if apply on a tshirt. I think because of the density of the design, it would of made the tshirt feel quite stiff when worn so I wouldn't of used it as a final design for that reason, but I have tested it and received a sample out of it as well as gaining knowledge on how to use the digital embroidery machine.
Monday, 14 March 2011
Peoples History Museum
On Tues 8th March I visited the Peoples History Museum in Spinningfields, Manchester.
I had heard about their exhibition 'Banners' which showed over 400 banners in the collection including the world's oldest trade union banners, made by the Liverpool Tinplate Workers of 1821 and exhibited the history of political posters, through the fight of election by Labour and the Conservatives.
I went to this exhibition because I'm interested in the Graphics in these posters, the colours and illustration of the posters make them iconic, as the illustrations are bold. Each poster was designed to be bold and to the point, this is why the detailing is left minimal and the colours are bold but plain.
There were also a set up that showed how a 1940s shop would of appeared back then and I found great visuals in the vintage food brands and packaging.
It was through my visit at The Peoples History Museum that I noticed their card ranges, which focus was on iconic imagery. I asked at the desk how I would go about getting my own card range in the museum as I have a range I feel it suitable for the museum and they put me in contact with Janeka, the Merchendiser for the museums store and I have booked a portfolio viewing with her for April 14th.
TWD Accountants
TWD Accountants visited us to give a presentation on their accountating firm and gave us an insight into what to expect when setting up our own business, I found it extremely useful.
Key points I learnt were:
> If you earn less than £6475 a year you fall in the 0% tax rate
> If you earn less than £37,400 a year you fall in the 20% tax rate
> Anything over £37,400 a year and you fall in the 40% tax rate.
> You are expected to register yourself as self employed with HMRC within 3 months.
You must inform the tax office.
> Any trade must be accounted for, keep all invoices and receipts.
> Any travel expenses, materials bought for business etc, will be deducted from your annual salary which will determine which tax rate bracket you fall in.
Benefits for using TWD Accountants service:
> They will work out your end of year accounts and tax return.
> You will receive a complimentary 1 year use of book keeping online. Usually £24.99.
> There is a fixed fee service of £222 inc VAT.
> Free telephone advice.
We were provided with a useful booklet with all FAQs and knowledge about accounting. The presentation cleared up any issues I have had with Tax and I understand a lot more about it.
Sunday, 20 February 2011
Paper and Frock stall
I held a stall on February 1st as a promotion strategy for Paper and Frock. I sold second hand and vintage clothing and accessories. It was to promote the companies website which will be going live in May and to create awareness of the name.
I put up 10 posters around college and handed out 50+ flyers, which detailed what the website was about and what we were going to sell.
I went quite well, we sold about 20% of what was on offer and made £41.
Morris, 6th form centre manager said there were lots of way to promote the stall in college if we ever wanted to do it again. You can put advertising on the computers as you sign in, send texts out to pupils or get tutors to inform classes about the stall, these seem like good strategies for the next one.
Monday, 10 January 2011
End of project Report
I started this project with a market already in mind, that being the Alternative market as it has influenced me for years already and I feel I'm part of it and understand how it shifts. After researching what established outlets were out there already I discovered Thunder Egg, they sell work of other companies so this created a good network of research for me to look into, sourcing out which cards were part of a publishing company or as independent outlets. This enabled to gather information on their styles and identify and analysis what is was that companies were doing in their card production and website design to get a successful company. One outlet I felt were relatable were Lazy Oaf. Lazy Oaf sell there work on their online shop as well as in other retailers, they have done very well in getting their work in Thunder Egg as this create mass promotion. Its a strategy I had already thought of doing, but it was reasurring to see other business taking the same approach.
I wanted to see just how popular this market was so I conducted a public survey and 70% were interested in Alternative music, while 60% said they felt how they dressed fitted into the alternative bracket.
With my market researched, I wanted to work out the profit and turnover figures. I researched dozens of printers across England. I have worked out that if I were to sell to a retailers, I could only sell a minimum of 25 cards per design at £1.50 per card (it is min of 25 as that is the min run for one design in most print houses) I would like to sell on average 12 card designs to each retailer, so a total of 300 cards. The total bill a retailer would pay me for the collection would be £450, resulting in a profit of around £350 - £380 depending on the Print Houses available for production. If the retailer sold all the cards at a retail price of £2.50 they would make a profit of £300. These figures seem fair.
I broke the card designs down into 3 collections, 16 cards titled Winged Creatures, 16 cards titled Victorian Era and 16 cards titled Symbolic Structure, they all were influenced by the same topic which was Gothic imagery. I wanted to source my inspiration to what I would classify as the most extreme genre that fits in the Alternative bracket and then adapt the imagery into designs that fit a more broader market to make it more commercial. Winged Creatures was a studying of primarily Magpies, though I did look into butterflies and moths and the structure of wings though I only looked at that for visuals. The saying 'one for sorrow, two for joy etc...' really struck with me on this project and I felt the concept was really contemporary and hadn't been used before in cards. After showing my work at Portfolio Visits though I later realised that birds don't sell well in the card industry the concept might be too bespoke, but in terms of visuals for a uni project I really like the composition and colour. In retrospect they would of made better wall art though.
Victorian Era collection was my most enjoyable to put together, I enjoyed thinking up the captions to go with the imagery and as a collection I think they run harmoniously together, the colours are fresh and bold and the illustration is modern and contemporary. It's this collection I've received the most positive feedback from as well.
Symbolic Structure collection has been my biggest surprise, I wasn't sure how I was going to create contemporary and variable cards when my visual imagery had been predominately gravestones, but after reflecting on my visit to Lymm Park I realised that I could use games as a visual. Playing Cards is an old game and I felt it tied in with the theme. I also found relation in gravestones with mathematical symbols such as the symbol '+' which after creating a few digitial experiments with I then likened with the historic art of cross stitch, I felt that by repeating the mathematical symbols it created a digital version of this art form.
I have really enjoyed this project and on reflection I feel I had come along very progressively. I have a clear focus on who my market is and what is achievable in the next year. I plan to progress by putting my designs on other products such as gift wrap, gift bags, tags and wall art.
At the beginning of the year my main worry was not understanding production costs but after researching into it I felt I have lifted that worry. I was also worried about how funding worked and where to go for it, but Debbie Lords presentation to us really clarified where to go. The main things were the possibility of getting a Princes Trust grant or if that wasn't successful attempting to get a loan, I was really relieved to hear that the council provide free lesson into writing a business plan, it is such a relief to hear this exists.
I have already put my future plans into setting up an online business into action by buying the domain name www.paperandfrock.com, it costs just £9.99 for the year, with an additional £11.99 for an email address and account, info@paperandfrock.com. I wanted a website that told the consumer in a quirky way what it is that I sell, cards and clothing. I originally thought of frockpaperscissors.com, but it wasn't available, so after considering more on my options I was elated to see paperandfrock was available to buy. My aim is to emphasise the word rock in frock and create a lifestyle section on the web page, to collaborate with students, to sell my own work and work of others. I already have a job lot of vintage clothing to sell on it and I'm really excited about the following year.
I've received good feedback from people I've shown my work to, with 3 people possibly interested in buying my cards, this is something I plan to chase up on after the exhibition comes down so I can take cards that were in the exhibition into any Portfolio Visits as the finish looks more professional then the print outs on A3 and I don't want to waste money on getting second copies as it was really expensive to print myself. I worked out I spent £63 in total on paper, ink, envelopes and cellophane, roughly £20 was wasted on mistakes, such as the designs being cropped when printed.
I had to print them myself as I got a printing quote of 250 cards of 10 sets = £86.
Which meant they could only do a print run for one design of min 25 cards. This is a realistic figure if I were to sell at a retailers because likelyhood is that they would only want to buy about 10 cards but as I had 48 cards designed, I couldn't afford the price.
To summerise my downfalls were wastage and cost of production and although my time management has improved, I know where it can be improved. To rectify this I plan to do day-by-day timeline plans instead of doing it weekly. If this was rectified at the beginning of this project then I could of probably discovered why I had so many technicalities when printing, but I didn't have enough time to find out why and hadn't forecasted it being a problem. Another downfall is the feedback that magpies don't sell well as cards, but I plan to transfer this design onto another type of product.
But overall I have enjoyed and learnt so much, which I have explained how above and I look forward to my final major project!
I wanted to see just how popular this market was so I conducted a public survey and 70% were interested in Alternative music, while 60% said they felt how they dressed fitted into the alternative bracket.
With my market researched, I wanted to work out the profit and turnover figures. I researched dozens of printers across England. I have worked out that if I were to sell to a retailers, I could only sell a minimum of 25 cards per design at £1.50 per card (it is min of 25 as that is the min run for one design in most print houses) I would like to sell on average 12 card designs to each retailer, so a total of 300 cards. The total bill a retailer would pay me for the collection would be £450, resulting in a profit of around £350 - £380 depending on the Print Houses available for production. If the retailer sold all the cards at a retail price of £2.50 they would make a profit of £300. These figures seem fair.
I broke the card designs down into 3 collections, 16 cards titled Winged Creatures, 16 cards titled Victorian Era and 16 cards titled Symbolic Structure, they all were influenced by the same topic which was Gothic imagery. I wanted to source my inspiration to what I would classify as the most extreme genre that fits in the Alternative bracket and then adapt the imagery into designs that fit a more broader market to make it more commercial. Winged Creatures was a studying of primarily Magpies, though I did look into butterflies and moths and the structure of wings though I only looked at that for visuals. The saying 'one for sorrow, two for joy etc...' really struck with me on this project and I felt the concept was really contemporary and hadn't been used before in cards. After showing my work at Portfolio Visits though I later realised that birds don't sell well in the card industry the concept might be too bespoke, but in terms of visuals for a uni project I really like the composition and colour. In retrospect they would of made better wall art though.
Victorian Era collection was my most enjoyable to put together, I enjoyed thinking up the captions to go with the imagery and as a collection I think they run harmoniously together, the colours are fresh and bold and the illustration is modern and contemporary. It's this collection I've received the most positive feedback from as well.
Symbolic Structure collection has been my biggest surprise, I wasn't sure how I was going to create contemporary and variable cards when my visual imagery had been predominately gravestones, but after reflecting on my visit to Lymm Park I realised that I could use games as a visual. Playing Cards is an old game and I felt it tied in with the theme. I also found relation in gravestones with mathematical symbols such as the symbol '+' which after creating a few digitial experiments with I then likened with the historic art of cross stitch, I felt that by repeating the mathematical symbols it created a digital version of this art form.
I have really enjoyed this project and on reflection I feel I had come along very progressively. I have a clear focus on who my market is and what is achievable in the next year. I plan to progress by putting my designs on other products such as gift wrap, gift bags, tags and wall art.
At the beginning of the year my main worry was not understanding production costs but after researching into it I felt I have lifted that worry. I was also worried about how funding worked and where to go for it, but Debbie Lords presentation to us really clarified where to go. The main things were the possibility of getting a Princes Trust grant or if that wasn't successful attempting to get a loan, I was really relieved to hear that the council provide free lesson into writing a business plan, it is such a relief to hear this exists.
I have already put my future plans into setting up an online business into action by buying the domain name www.paperandfrock.com, it costs just £9.99 for the year, with an additional £11.99 for an email address and account, info@paperandfrock.com. I wanted a website that told the consumer in a quirky way what it is that I sell, cards and clothing. I originally thought of frockpaperscissors.com, but it wasn't available, so after considering more on my options I was elated to see paperandfrock was available to buy. My aim is to emphasise the word rock in frock and create a lifestyle section on the web page, to collaborate with students, to sell my own work and work of others. I already have a job lot of vintage clothing to sell on it and I'm really excited about the following year.
I've received good feedback from people I've shown my work to, with 3 people possibly interested in buying my cards, this is something I plan to chase up on after the exhibition comes down so I can take cards that were in the exhibition into any Portfolio Visits as the finish looks more professional then the print outs on A3 and I don't want to waste money on getting second copies as it was really expensive to print myself. I worked out I spent £63 in total on paper, ink, envelopes and cellophane, roughly £20 was wasted on mistakes, such as the designs being cropped when printed.
I had to print them myself as I got a printing quote of 250 cards of 10 sets = £86.
Which meant they could only do a print run for one design of min 25 cards. This is a realistic figure if I were to sell at a retailers because likelyhood is that they would only want to buy about 10 cards but as I had 48 cards designed, I couldn't afford the price.
To summerise my downfalls were wastage and cost of production and although my time management has improved, I know where it can be improved. To rectify this I plan to do day-by-day timeline plans instead of doing it weekly. If this was rectified at the beginning of this project then I could of probably discovered why I had so many technicalities when printing, but I didn't have enough time to find out why and hadn't forecasted it being a problem. Another downfall is the feedback that magpies don't sell well as cards, but I plan to transfer this design onto another type of product.
But overall I have enjoyed and learnt so much, which I have explained how above and I look forward to my final major project!
Lymm Park
I went to Lymm park in October to gather primary and secondary research for my Negioated project Dark Nouveau. One of the card collections titled Victorian Era, focuses n Victorian artefacts, history, imagery, games, sayings, songs, fashions, furniture etc, so I went to Lymm Park in Disley. I found the architecture really interesting. The buildings front is symmetrical, with limited detail on the outer sides of the building, then heavily detailed towards the centre of the building. It reminded me of a butterfly pattern, which is something I've been focusing on in my sketchbook.
I found just being in Lymm Park sparked loads of ideas for my card designs. I thought that by adding captions to single Victorian artefacts would create modern designs. The moose head, grandfather clock and chandelier are all cards sparked from this. The children's toy room in the house sparked ways I could be clever with the designs which is where the playing cards came into it and I found it really inspiring just being in there because of the colours and games.
I only wanted to take imagery away with me from this visit as I wanted the rest of the design to be influenced by who my market are, such as colour, wording, font and style.
I found just being in Lymm Park sparked loads of ideas for my card designs. I thought that by adding captions to single Victorian artefacts would create modern designs. The moose head, grandfather clock and chandelier are all cards sparked from this. The children's toy room in the house sparked ways I could be clever with the designs which is where the playing cards came into it and I found it really inspiring just being in there because of the colours and games.
I only wanted to take imagery away with me from this visit as I wanted the rest of the design to be influenced by who my market are, such as colour, wording, font and style.
Saturday, 8 January 2011
Portfolio Visit with Dodo (Affleck Palace)
I had a portfolio visit with Lynn owner of Dodo in Affleck Palace. She has been selling Japanese anime inspired gifts and trinkets on the top floor of Afflecks for 6 months and she had some interesting and helpful advice.
She gave feedback on my portfolio saying it definitely had a place in the market and suggested I take my cards to Thunder Egg who predominately sell cards. I found it interesting she would mention them as they have been one of my focuses but I was unable to re-book a portfolio visit with them due to December being a busy month for them. She found them humorous and liked the Disney cards and Playing Card cards the most saying they were the strongest designs.
Lynn told me she only sells her own work in her shop but the space is small already and work of other designers takes up space and she doesn't make a bigger profit return than if she were to sell her own work, which made sense. She said although she thought buying in Afflecks Palace would be ideal for what she sells, she said she has been struggling to make money as the top floor is very quiet due to a recent refurbishment but that the middle floor of Afflecks always sells well as stores like Thunder Egg and Cafe Pop which also have outlets on Oldham Road are situated there and have had a long established network.
She added though that most stores in Afflecks would work commission based around January as it is a quiet month.
I found Lynns feedback really helpful on a more marketable side and helped me to piece together thoughts for future marketing strategies. I find it really interesting to hear the shops around establish outlets such as Thunder Egg and Cafe Pop do well, and it is something to consider for promotion purposes.
She gave feedback on my portfolio saying it definitely had a place in the market and suggested I take my cards to Thunder Egg who predominately sell cards. I found it interesting she would mention them as they have been one of my focuses but I was unable to re-book a portfolio visit with them due to December being a busy month for them. She found them humorous and liked the Disney cards and Playing Card cards the most saying they were the strongest designs.
Lynn told me she only sells her own work in her shop but the space is small already and work of other designers takes up space and she doesn't make a bigger profit return than if she were to sell her own work, which made sense. She said although she thought buying in Afflecks Palace would be ideal for what she sells, she said she has been struggling to make money as the top floor is very quiet due to a recent refurbishment but that the middle floor of Afflecks always sells well as stores like Thunder Egg and Cafe Pop which also have outlets on Oldham Road are situated there and have had a long established network.
She added though that most stores in Afflecks would work commission based around January as it is a quiet month.
I found Lynns feedback really helpful on a more marketable side and helped me to piece together thoughts for future marketing strategies. I find it really interesting to hear the shops around establish outlets such as Thunder Egg and Cafe Pop do well, and it is something to consider for promotion purposes.
Portfolio Visit with Abacus (Afflecks Palace)
Abacus is predominately a jewellers located in Afflecks and I wasn't going to stop to show my portfolio to them at first until I saw a small selection of cards, roughly about 6, from the same designer. I asked Daniel the co-owner if they were interested in viewing my portfolio as I had a selection of cards aimed at the Affleck Palace market and he booked me in for a portfolio viewing for half an hour later.
He seemed keen on the cards and gave an overview saying they were cool, that he was interested in buying and that they were suitable for their market but would need to speak to his co-owner. We swapped contacts and he said he would contact me after speaking to his co-owner, but I think I might chase it up and email him the costs etc.
I feel that as they don't prodominately sell cards they will probably be sold by commission which is risky or I would have extras printed for outlets that would only want to buy a small selection as this will lower production fees and the added bonus of having my cards in as many outlets big or small is good for promotion purposes.
This portfolio visit was helpful in that I got feedback from someone who is selling in my market and that they were interested, it gave me another contact and also experience in showcasing my designs and initiating sales.
He seemed keen on the cards and gave an overview saying they were cool, that he was interested in buying and that they were suitable for their market but would need to speak to his co-owner. We swapped contacts and he said he would contact me after speaking to his co-owner, but I think I might chase it up and email him the costs etc.
I feel that as they don't prodominately sell cards they will probably be sold by commission which is risky or I would have extras printed for outlets that would only want to buy a small selection as this will lower production fees and the added bonus of having my cards in as many outlets big or small is good for promotion purposes.
This portfolio visit was helpful in that I got feedback from someone who is selling in my market and that they were interested, it gave me another contact and also experience in showcasing my designs and initiating sales.
Portfolio Visit with Jensen Chadwick (American Graffiti)
I took my portfolio into American Graffiti in Affleck Palace and the off chance they might be interested in looking, and boy was Jensen!
She's setting up a shop in 2 weeks, after being a sales assistant for American Graffiti for 6 months and was looking for some stock.
I showed her my cards and she was really enthusiastic about all of them and was eager to exchange contacts.
She asked my how the rates would work and I told her I would sell the cards at £1.50 each with a minimum buy of 25 cards per design which would total in at £37.50, she said that she would take every card if it was commissioned based meaning I would only make a profit if a card sold. Commission rates of around 70%-30%. I told her I wouldn't possibly be able to take the risk of producing every single card based on commission, so I hope to sell about 12 designs to her at a fixed sell price of £450. (300 cards x £1.50) = (12 designs x 25 card). If she sold each card at £2.50 she would make a turnover of £750, totalling in £300 in profit.
She wasn't able to negotiate a price there and then because her business partner wasn't available, but she was eager to swap contact details so I will be contacting her Monday morning so discuss our options.
Overall it was a great portfolio visit and even if nothing materialises from it it's given me experience selling my work and given me an extra contact.
She's setting up a shop in 2 weeks, after being a sales assistant for American Graffiti for 6 months and was looking for some stock.
I showed her my cards and she was really enthusiastic about all of them and was eager to exchange contacts.
She asked my how the rates would work and I told her I would sell the cards at £1.50 each with a minimum buy of 25 cards per design which would total in at £37.50, she said that she would take every card if it was commissioned based meaning I would only make a profit if a card sold. Commission rates of around 70%-30%. I told her I wouldn't possibly be able to take the risk of producing every single card based on commission, so I hope to sell about 12 designs to her at a fixed sell price of £450. (300 cards x £1.50) = (12 designs x 25 card). If she sold each card at £2.50 she would make a turnover of £750, totalling in £300 in profit.
She wasn't able to negotiate a price there and then because her business partner wasn't available, but she was eager to swap contact details so I will be contacting her Monday morning so discuss our options.
Overall it was a great portfolio visit and even if nothing materialises from it it's given me experience selling my work and given me an extra contact.
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.
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.
Presentation to Karen Little
I presented my work to Karen Little, who works professionally in the interior design industry and has been quite successful. I was really looking forward to receiving feedback from someone who is currently in the industry and working freelance to see if she felt my work was marketable.
I explained who my work was intended for, why I was interested in that area, where my inspiration came from, how I researched, what I enjoyed about the project and what I thought were my own strengths and weakness about my project. I showed her my sketchbooks and themeboards to show how I got to the final products. I behaved enthusiasticly about my project as I feel really positive about it anyway but felt like it would be a good approach to keep Karen Little engaged with the presentation, which is an approach I'm considering using for my Critical Studies presentation as it seemed to go well.
Her feedback was really interesting, she told me that she liked the majority of the cards and could see herself buying some of the cards, which was reasurring. She said my market was quite clear and she said she could see them being marketable to the alternative market that I suggested. She pointed out that the magpie cards were very niche and that magpies don't sell well in the card industry but they would make good wall art which is something to consider. She also gave me her contact card and told me she has good contacts with Hallmark so I wanted to contact them she would forward on Hallmarks contacts. This is such a good contact to have, as there is no harm in booking a portfolio visit with their visual directors.
Further feedback said I held a very comprehensive and expressive presentation and explained my journey in 3 distinctive different areas that all worked well together as a collection.
I found the whole presentation really uplifting and positive as well as informative, with the added bonus of getting Hallmark as a contact. I'm extremely happy with my feedback.
I explained who my work was intended for, why I was interested in that area, where my inspiration came from, how I researched, what I enjoyed about the project and what I thought were my own strengths and weakness about my project. I showed her my sketchbooks and themeboards to show how I got to the final products. I behaved enthusiasticly about my project as I feel really positive about it anyway but felt like it would be a good approach to keep Karen Little engaged with the presentation, which is an approach I'm considering using for my Critical Studies presentation as it seemed to go well.
Her feedback was really interesting, she told me that she liked the majority of the cards and could see herself buying some of the cards, which was reasurring. She said my market was quite clear and she said she could see them being marketable to the alternative market that I suggested. She pointed out that the magpie cards were very niche and that magpies don't sell well in the card industry but they would make good wall art which is something to consider. She also gave me her contact card and told me she has good contacts with Hallmark so I wanted to contact them she would forward on Hallmarks contacts. This is such a good contact to have, as there is no harm in booking a portfolio visit with their visual directors.
Further feedback said I held a very comprehensive and expressive presentation and explained my journey in 3 distinctive different areas that all worked well together as a collection.
I found the whole presentation really uplifting and positive as well as informative, with the added bonus of getting Hallmark as a contact. I'm extremely happy with my feedback.
Thursday, 11 November 2010
Work Experience at Pure Innovations
I had my last day at Pure Innovations, which is the day centre for adults with learning difficulties. I've enjoyed my time there, in terms of experience it's really boosted my confidence as I was there primarily to encourage dialogue between the service users and to guide creative development. Working in the sessions you had to use your initiative a lot for the sessions to run smoothly and you always had to approach tasks calmly and clearly.
I held about 8 card making sessions in total, 2 were floral sessions where I'd cut out floral shapes previous to the session and they had to assemble them into their own designs on paper that was put on to 5x7 cards or placed directly on the card, this was an induction to colour and shapes in floral form. Another session was working with geometric, where I approached the session the same as the last by doing alot of the preparation myself. We did 2 sessions of this. Alot of the service users are unable to use scissors so preparation was needed for the sessions.
It was quite difficult guiding everyone though for this type of sessions because there were about 8 service user to 2 staff member, me and Abbi, and everyone wanted guidance with applying glue. It could be really frustrating, not with the service users because it's not their fault, just because there weren't enough of us to guide them.
So to overcome this, I thought of another technique of card making. Each service user would have an A4 sheet so mark make with paint with, without the use of paintbrushes. This was a fun experiment in getting the service users to get responses through paint using different utensils.
There were some great results, so to get the designs onto card we cut them into small rectangles and placed them on 5x7 cards. They looked really good and when they were wrapped in cellophane the looked to a professional standard, I plan to sell them at art and craft fairs I might be part of with profits going towards session materials.
We also tried using sticky colourful labels to create patterns, which had really good results on their own or mixed with mark making.
This is an example of the work done in the sessions I held. This work is by Diana, a service user with moderate learning difficulties. We focused on pattern, colour and shape.
This is an example of the work done in the sessions I held. This work is by Diana, a service user with moderate learning difficulties. We focused on pattern, colour and shape.
In the end I had to leave the centre to focus more on my Uni work, but would go back again after Uni if I felt it would have some relevance in helping me establish my business. I did talk to the senior managers about selling some of the work through my own website once it is set up which they were really interested in.
Overall this has been a positive experience, I have gained confidence, a stronger intuition, a guide into progressing others creative perceptions, contacts, an insight to selling others work, a link with a charity and a stronger focus.
Overall this has been a positive experience, I have gained confidence, a stronger intuition, a guide into progressing others creative perceptions, contacts, an insight to selling others work, a link with a charity and a stronger focus.
Sunday, 7 November 2010
Thunder Egg
Thunder Egg is an outlet I would love to see my cards in. They say they are a Japanese cultured inspired outlet. 10 years ago I would of agreed that I can definitely see the connection there as Japanese fashion culture separated themselves from the rest of the fashion world, these days I think Japanese Culture has imprinted itself in today culture and society takes on their own impressions of it as I personally wouldn't say it was just Japanese inspired.
The card range in there is great, they are funny, quirky, alternative, different. I went in Thunder Egg on Friday, I'd phoned up earlier to find out when the owner would be in, she is also the buyer.
I asked her what she usual looks for in selecting cards for the shop and she just said bold, they definitely are though. Lazy Oaf are by far my favourite designs in there, I recently bought a card from their range for an anniversary gift for my boyfriend (top card) and I can imagine their range sells well. They are really modern and humorous.
The next design range are by Sukie which are in Thunder Egg, just shows you don't have to be traditional to get your cards in shops. Whether they sell well I'm not sure, but there are people out there like myself who collect cards just on their design.
I've booked a Portfolio Visit with Thunder Egg for Dec 10th, at 7.30am! Early rise, but I'm really looking forward to it.
The card range in there is great, they are funny, quirky, alternative, different. I went in Thunder Egg on Friday, I'd phoned up earlier to find out when the owner would be in, she is also the buyer.
I asked her what she usual looks for in selecting cards for the shop and she just said bold, they definitely are though. Lazy Oaf are by far my favourite designs in there, I recently bought a card from their range for an anniversary gift for my boyfriend (top card) and I can imagine their range sells well. They are really modern and humorous.
The next design range are by Sukie which are in Thunder Egg, just shows you don't have to be traditional to get your cards in shops. Whether they sell well I'm not sure, but there are people out there like myself who collect cards just on their design.I've booked a Portfolio Visit with Thunder Egg for Dec 10th, at 7.30am! Early rise, but I'm really looking forward to it.
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