http://www.smart-inkjet.co.uk/
Thursday, 11 November 2010
Work Experience with SmartInkJet
Steven Martinson founder of SmartInkJet is a friend of mine and wants some business cards designing for his company. He'd heard of my experience working at North Cheshire Studios and asked me if I would design them for him. I'm being paid so it's good to have some work my way through that summer experience. Discussed with him the type of font he would like and the colours, so going to be getting on with it. Will post the outcome when they are complete.
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.
Sam Hobson - Optic Interview
Business Name?
Optic
Business Product?
Casual Clothing, Custom Clothing, Custom printing. Also Rider Management, Event management.
Who is your market?
Extreme sports athletes and fans.
How long has your business been established?
about 12 months
Do you have a website? If so who was the web design company?
We do currently have one under construction,www.opticltd.com. We have done the design and a friend is coding it for us!
Any unexpected expenditures?
Yeah, travel and expenses on events cost quite a lot. printer ink! costs a fortune. Mis-printed jobs and mistakes can be quite costly too.
What percentage gets spent on overheads?
Its difficult to say as i work from home and we haven't done our 1st year end accounts but id say about 25%
Do you sell directly to consumers or business users?
We sell both to trade and directly to consumers. Bulk to trade and stockists is good to generate steady turnover to enable us to get into the VAT threshold. Selling directly to consumers is cool for us at the moment as the profit margin is a lot bigger!
Can you give me a guide on what the profit margins are? ie. selling directly to a consumer and to a business user?
Typically, for example a T-Shirt will cost us £1.20 + vat. Printed they cost us £1.71. We sell those to trade customers for £9 and they Retail at £15 so the margin is 40% to trade.
How have you funded the set up of your business?
I got a job in a pub and worked for ages and didn't go out!
How do you publicise your product?
We Advertise by sponsoring riders and events with the clothing. Mainly our target market is Mostly males between ages 12-25. Kids love cool new clothing and stickers and anything they can get for free so we have tons of stickers to give away. We also use facebook which is super handy for getting at loads of people for free and relatively easily!
Which publicising method attributed your business the most?
Organising events and sponsoring pro riders!
How have Art & Craft Fairs/Trade shows attributed your product?
We haven't done any trade shows, we take stalls to major events to sell from and in november we will have a stand at the Dirtbike Show which is part trade part consumer so im yet to see how that goes!
What do you expect to happen in the next 12 months?
We will launch the website and gain some more structure to the business. More events and more coverage, magazine advertising and we have just set up a race team, we are working with some more industry companies to provide support packages for racers.
In what ways have you used google to advertise your product?
we aint!
How has your business been involved in fundraising?
We have given some free stuff to some charity events as prizes and some signed shirts by one of our pro riders to a charity auction.
Like you I would like to set up my own business but in Stationary, do you have any advice on setting up your own business?
Id say, put 200% into it or it wont get off the ground! get up early and stay up late! Try and use every possible contact you can to give yourself the upper hand on the competition. Try and be individual and different and give people a cast iron reason to buy your product over the others. Also be organised, once the paperwork gets out of hand its a big job to get everything sorted out again and it does nothing for your morale! make sure you stay motivated and try to work with other people if you work at home, its so easy to get lazy and not be productive! Also let people know what you're doing, you will be surprised how keen people will be to help out in any way possible, spreading the word or anything they can do. Also just go for it, there's never a good time these days so just get it done, i gave myself no other options so i had to make money or i had none!
Optic
Business Product?
Casual Clothing, Custom Clothing, Custom printing. Also Rider Management, Event management.
Who is your market?
Extreme sports athletes and fans.
How long has your business been established?
about 12 months
Do you have a website? If so who was the web design company?
We do currently have one under construction,www.opticltd.com. We have done the design and a friend is coding it for us!
Any unexpected expenditures?
Yeah, travel and expenses on events cost quite a lot. printer ink! costs a fortune. Mis-printed jobs and mistakes can be quite costly too.
What percentage gets spent on overheads?
Its difficult to say as i work from home and we haven't done our 1st year end accounts but id say about 25%
Do you sell directly to consumers or business users?
We sell both to trade and directly to consumers. Bulk to trade and stockists is good to generate steady turnover to enable us to get into the VAT threshold. Selling directly to consumers is cool for us at the moment as the profit margin is a lot bigger!
Can you give me a guide on what the profit margins are? ie. selling directly to a consumer and to a business user?
Typically, for example a T-Shirt will cost us £1.20 + vat. Printed they cost us £1.71. We sell those to trade customers for £9 and they Retail at £15 so the margin is 40% to trade.
How have you funded the set up of your business?
I got a job in a pub and worked for ages and didn't go out!
How do you publicise your product?
We Advertise by sponsoring riders and events with the clothing. Mainly our target market is Mostly males between ages 12-25. Kids love cool new clothing and stickers and anything they can get for free so we have tons of stickers to give away. We also use facebook which is super handy for getting at loads of people for free and relatively easily!
Which publicising method attributed your business the most?
Organising events and sponsoring pro riders!
How have Art & Craft Fairs/Trade shows attributed your product?
We haven't done any trade shows, we take stalls to major events to sell from and in november we will have a stand at the Dirtbike Show which is part trade part consumer so im yet to see how that goes!
What do you expect to happen in the next 12 months?
We will launch the website and gain some more structure to the business. More events and more coverage, magazine advertising and we have just set up a race team, we are working with some more industry companies to provide support packages for racers.
In what ways have you used google to advertise your product?
we aint!
How has your business been involved in fundraising?
We have given some free stuff to some charity events as prizes and some signed shirts by one of our pro riders to a charity auction.
Like you I would like to set up my own business but in Stationary, do you have any advice on setting up your own business?
Id say, put 200% into it or it wont get off the ground! get up early and stay up late! Try and use every possible contact you can to give yourself the upper hand on the competition. Try and be individual and different and give people a cast iron reason to buy your product over the others. Also be organised, once the paperwork gets out of hand its a big job to get everything sorted out again and it does nothing for your morale! make sure you stay motivated and try to work with other people if you work at home, its so easy to get lazy and not be productive! Also let people know what you're doing, you will be surprised how keen people will be to help out in any way possible, spreading the word or anything they can do. Also just go for it, there's never a good time these days so just get it done, i gave myself no other options so i had to make money or i had none!
Summary: Optic are a new business, I've found it relevant to speak to them because they are more fresh and going through the early stages to business set up which is what I will be doing next year. They have clear and good business strategies to optimise the best advertising for the company.
Cez Brown - Livid Thorn Interview
Business Name?
Livid Thorn Clothing
Business Product?
Printed clothing and accessories
Who is your market?
Target audience is predominantly both genders ages 15-23
What is your actual market?
Usually people who like alternative music
How long has your business been established?
Around 5 years
Do you have a website? If so who was the web designer?
Yes, natalie wood
Any unexpected expenditures?
Not really, we keep within budgets well and do a lot of research
What percentage gets spent on overheads?
No idea sorry, usually nat's job!
Do you sell directly to consumers or business users?
We have done in the past
Can you give me a guide on what the profit margins are? ie. selling directly to a consumer and to a business user?
Not allowed to say! Though generally what you would expect typically from a business
How have you funded the set up of your business?
We started it with £25 each and built it from there
How do you publicise your product?
Social networking, newsetters
Which publicising method attributed your business the most?
Myspace when they used to promo us on the homepage
How have Art & Craft Fairs/Trade shows attributed your product?
Creates new awareness to people who we would maybe not find online, also gives opportunity to actually see the products
What do you expect to happen in the next 12 months?
A lot has changed this year and we are discussing new lines, but we're so busy we don't know!
In what ways have you used google to advertise your product?
Tried adwords once, also optimise the site for better search results
How has your business been involved in fundraising?
Worked for a whie with peta2
Like you I would like to set up my own business but in Stationary, do you have any key advice on setting up your own business?
A LOT of research and trying to find suppliers. Be very determined and set yourself clear goals to achieve. Dont expect to do really well all at once, it takes a long time. Getting an accountant was one of the best things we ever did as it actually saves you a lot of money in the long run. Keep ALL receipts too!
Livid Thorn Clothing
Business Product?
Printed clothing and accessories
Who is your market?
Target audience is predominantly both genders ages 15-23
What is your actual market?
Usually people who like alternative music
How long has your business been established?
Around 5 years
Do you have a website? If so who was the web designer?
Yes, natalie wood
Any unexpected expenditures?
Not really, we keep within budgets well and do a lot of research
What percentage gets spent on overheads?
No idea sorry, usually nat's job!
Do you sell directly to consumers or business users?
We have done in the past
Can you give me a guide on what the profit margins are? ie. selling directly to a consumer and to a business user?
Not allowed to say! Though generally what you would expect typically from a business
How have you funded the set up of your business?
We started it with £25 each and built it from there
How do you publicise your product?
Social networking, newsetters
Which publicising method attributed your business the most?
Myspace when they used to promo us on the homepage
How have Art & Craft Fairs/Trade shows attributed your product?
Creates new awareness to people who we would maybe not find online, also gives opportunity to actually see the products
What do you expect to happen in the next 12 months?
A lot has changed this year and we are discussing new lines, but we're so busy we don't know!
In what ways have you used google to advertise your product?
Tried adwords once, also optimise the site for better search results
How has your business been involved in fundraising?
Worked for a whie with peta2
Like you I would like to set up my own business but in Stationary, do you have any key advice on setting up your own business?
A LOT of research and trying to find suppliers. Be very determined and set yourself clear goals to achieve. Dont expect to do really well all at once, it takes a long time. Getting an accountant was one of the best things we ever did as it actually saves you a lot of money in the long run. Keep ALL receipts too!
Summary: I've known of Livid Thorn since there establishment. There market is very similar to mine. Social networking sites have really helped publise their company.
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.
Thursday, 4 November 2010
Plimsoll
Plimsoll is a report and analysis company set up to help businesses follow their market. Click on image to enlarge.
Sunday, 31 October 2010
Debbie Lord Presentation
Bio:
lorddebbie454@aol.com
Bedding and Home furnishings designer for Pure
Studied a BTEC Surface Design course at Stockport College and a HND Surface Pattern Design course at Cleveland College.
Debbie Lord gave us a structured and broken down advice guide to the industry both studio and freelance based using her own experience.
After studying she did an in house placement at Scopo. While there she rang every design studio in Manchester, she got just 5 company call back which just shows how competitive the industry is, but through this a Manchester Fashion Studio, offered her her first paying job.
Her 2nd job was for Derby House Fabric Debbie Lord gave us a guide to what her yearly salary was, I found this useful as I was unsure what to expect as a yearly salary for Studio based work. Her yearly salary was £8000, 15 years ago, this is roughly £12,000 in today's money.
Her 3rd job was at Tom Lewis Studio designing fabrics, wallpaper and bedding on a £20,000 a year salary. After 4 years working in house at Tom Lewis Studios Debbie Lord decided to work freelance. She explains later the risks involved working freelance but this seemed a smart move for Debbie Lord as she juggled work life with family life, with every risk though there is potential for more money. Setting up freelance Debbie had to pay £2800 for a Epson printer at home, which prints on a range of materials such as fabric and photo paper.
Her 4th job is working freelance for Pure in Macclesfield who specialise in bedding designs.
As a freelance designer at Pure, it is up to Debbie to make contacts with as many people as possible. She uses samples and visualisations to communicate with customers, all visualisations have a colour palette under the design. Designs are produced on NED Graphics.
As a full time freelance designer you are expected to produce about 10 designs a week as a part time freelance designer you are expected to produce 10-15 designs to your meetings every 2-3 weeks.
Work life as a freelance designer consists of producing themeboards, going meetings, visiting trade shows, exhibitions. You are expected to fund everything yourself.
An agency like Pure will take about 40%-50% for each design of yours that sells.
Advice on designing:
> A square repeat for bedding is 64x64cm.
> Crown House sell old archive materials for inspiration for designers. Once bought the copyright is yours.
> Never copy. Copyright will get you in trouble. You can make 6 changes to a motif you use as inspiration to escape copyright issues.
> Detail will make your design sell well.
> Content will make your design sell well, a client might buy just one area of your design if they like enough.
> Colours are important, have a good balance of light and dark shades, 12 colours are usually the most found on a design. The fewer colours the cheaper the design is to produce.
Advice on selling:
> Repeat Pattern sells best.
> Production houses are limited by the screen/print sizes. A large motif would be hard to sell on to Production houses for that reason.
> Keep the customer updated with email/phone calls. Show the design in stages if you're unsure.
Advice on the market:
> Working for a commercial market means you have to always keep your market in mind when designing.
> There are other markets other than 'high end' the working class market exists and it sells well.
> Be aware of the customers budget and the production costs, the two work together.
> Low end production customers will want less colours because it's cheaper to produce, high end customers such as Ralph Lauren wouldn't mind more.
Funding:
> You need a business plan to get a loan.
> Princes Trust gives loans with a low interest rate and grants if you are eligible.
> The Council has Business Links, where you will be able to get info on:
> You only have to sort out your accounts once a year for tax, but you should always keep on top of them for overheads etc.
> Websites online give you a step by step guide on how to work it out.
> Or pay an accountant to work them out for you. Expect a fee of £500-£600 a year.
Inspiration Tips:
> Create mood boards
> Have your own reference library
> Magazines
> Go to shops, look at trends
> Trust your own instincts
> Books
> Buy from vintage ref stores eg, Crown House
> Take a walk
> Visit Museums
> Libraries
> Talk with people
> Take a day trip out
You will be expected to be:
> Hard working
> Able to work in a team
> Independent
> Organised
> Able to collect ideas
> Able to share good practise
> Able to synthesise ideas
> Work to briefs
> Competitive
> Able to keep records
> Motivated
Important Tradeshows:
> Premier Vision - Paris
> Heintex - Germany
> Decosit - Brussels
> Surtex - New York
Summary:
I felt relief that most of what she said you were expected to do I already knew, though I'm sure when set up my own business the amount of work will still be a shock.
Her step by step guide was motivating and it helps to have it all written down because it makes everything feel more manageable. She covered every aspect I could think of so it really reassured me of what's out there.
A summary of where my initial costs will fall at when setting up my own business
> CAD facilities
> A website
> Card Production costs
> Advertising
www.imagekind.com -a
Be a good critic and evaluate your own work. Don't settle for a design just because you've spent ages on it, if your instinct tells you it won't sell, produce another one.
lorddebbie454@aol.com
Bedding and Home furnishings designer for Pure
Studied a BTEC Surface Design course at Stockport College and a HND Surface Pattern Design course at Cleveland College.
Debbie Lord gave us a structured and broken down advice guide to the industry both studio and freelance based using her own experience.
After studying she did an in house placement at Scopo. While there she rang every design studio in Manchester, she got just 5 company call back which just shows how competitive the industry is, but through this a Manchester Fashion Studio, offered her her first paying job.
Her 2nd job was for Derby House Fabric Debbie Lord gave us a guide to what her yearly salary was, I found this useful as I was unsure what to expect as a yearly salary for Studio based work. Her yearly salary was £8000, 15 years ago, this is roughly £12,000 in today's money.
Her 3rd job was at Tom Lewis Studio designing fabrics, wallpaper and bedding on a £20,000 a year salary. After 4 years working in house at Tom Lewis Studios Debbie Lord decided to work freelance. She explains later the risks involved working freelance but this seemed a smart move for Debbie Lord as she juggled work life with family life, with every risk though there is potential for more money. Setting up freelance Debbie had to pay £2800 for a Epson printer at home, which prints on a range of materials such as fabric and photo paper.
Her 4th job is working freelance for Pure in Macclesfield who specialise in bedding designs.
As a freelance designer at Pure, it is up to Debbie to make contacts with as many people as possible. She uses samples and visualisations to communicate with customers, all visualisations have a colour palette under the design. Designs are produced on NED Graphics.
As a full time freelance designer you are expected to produce about 10 designs a week as a part time freelance designer you are expected to produce 10-15 designs to your meetings every 2-3 weeks.
Work life as a freelance designer consists of producing themeboards, going meetings, visiting trade shows, exhibitions. You are expected to fund everything yourself.
An agency like Pure will take about 40%-50% for each design of yours that sells.
Advice on designing:
> A square repeat for bedding is 64x64cm.
> Crown House sell old archive materials for inspiration for designers. Once bought the copyright is yours.
> Never copy. Copyright will get you in trouble. You can make 6 changes to a motif you use as inspiration to escape copyright issues.
> Detail will make your design sell well.
> Content will make your design sell well, a client might buy just one area of your design if they like enough.
> Colours are important, have a good balance of light and dark shades, 12 colours are usually the most found on a design. The fewer colours the cheaper the design is to produce.
Advice on selling:
> Repeat Pattern sells best.
> Production houses are limited by the screen/print sizes. A large motif would be hard to sell on to Production houses for that reason.
> Keep the customer updated with email/phone calls. Show the design in stages if you're unsure.
Advice on the market:
> Working for a commercial market means you have to always keep your market in mind when designing.
> There are other markets other than 'high end' the working class market exists and it sells well.
> Be aware of the customers budget and the production costs, the two work together.
> Low end production customers will want less colours because it's cheaper to produce, high end customers such as Ralph Lauren wouldn't mind more.
Funding:
> You need a business plan to get a loan.
> Princes Trust gives loans with a low interest rate and grants if you are eligible.
> The Council has Business Links, where you will be able to get info on:
- Grants available
- Direct you to a decent bank that can get you a good loan
- Free courses on time management, book keeping and writing a business plan.
> You only have to sort out your accounts once a year for tax, but you should always keep on top of them for overheads etc.
> Websites online give you a step by step guide on how to work it out.
> Or pay an accountant to work them out for you. Expect a fee of £500-£600 a year.
Inspiration Tips:
> Create mood boards
> Have your own reference library
> Magazines
> Go to shops, look at trends
> Trust your own instincts
> Books
> Buy from vintage ref stores eg, Crown House
> Take a walk
> Visit Museums
> Libraries
> Talk with people
> Take a day trip out
You will be expected to be:
> Hard working
> Able to work in a team
> Independent
> Organised
> Able to collect ideas
> Able to share good practise
> Able to synthesise ideas
> Work to briefs
> Competitive
> Able to keep records
> Motivated
Important Tradeshows:
> Premier Vision - Paris
> Heintex - Germany
> Decosit - Brussels
> Surtex - New York
Summary:
I felt relief that most of what she said you were expected to do I already knew, though I'm sure when set up my own business the amount of work will still be a shock.
Her step by step guide was motivating and it helps to have it all written down because it makes everything feel more manageable. She covered every aspect I could think of so it really reassured me of what's out there.
A summary of where my initial costs will fall at when setting up my own business
> CAD facilities
> A website
> Card Production costs
> Advertising
www.imagekind.com -a
Be a good critic and evaluate your own work. Don't settle for a design just because you've spent ages on it, if your instinct tells you it won't sell, produce another one.
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