OUIL502 - Studio Brief 2 - Life's a Pitch

For this session we gathered in our groups and were told we had to create a fictitious business plan for an illustration based company.

There were a lot of varied ideas, some more realistic than others.

We decided that we wanted to have a high street presence and create a shop which would sell illustrated ephemera, similar to Colours May Vary, but more inclusive of a high street shopper rather than specifically art enthusiasts.

We wanted to focus on selling things like t-shirts, posters and homeware, which is more desirable to the general public, I believe, than expensive prints. 

OUIL502 - Animation

OUIL502 - Studio Brief 1 - Anja Mulder

Anja Mulder is a photographer and illustrator based in the Netherlands. I found inspiration from her work and the way she kind of creates a product with her illustrations, they definitely have a unique look to them, and the way that she composes her work when she photographs it gives it a context. I like the mixture of pen and earth tone materials she uses, it gives the work a very hand made feel.

OUIL502 - Studio Brief 2 - Who are you? Part 1

Business activity, What do you do?

We are a retail shop which sells illustrative work and objects and also has a cafe and gallery area, with a studio space for us to use.

Mission statement, What do you aim to achieve?

We want to provide an outlet for affordable illustrative work that appeals to a wider audience than existing illustrative retail focused businesses.

What new products or services will you introduce in the following two years to help your business grow?

A cafe area where customers can purchase home made food and cakes whilst they browse in the shop.

What is your long term 5 year goal?

To establish something that attracts customers and keeps them coming back to not only purchase items from the shop but also get involved with activities we host at the shop.

Who are the people in the business?

People who are also creatives and understand illustration.

How many people are employed?

We run the business as a whole but people will be employed individually to run the cafe and gallery space

What are their individual roles?

Depending on what part of the business they oversee they will be responsible for running that area

Describe the range of goods/services you are providing.

Cafe area which we sell food, gallery space to exhibit work, shop are to sell illustrative work and a studio space above.

What percentage of turnover each will provide.

The shop and cafe will provide most of the turnover, but events that we hold within the gallery will also help to make money.

What resources will you require?

Heavily focused on screen print so we will need screen printing facilities, a large printer, photocopier and scanner, 3 Mac computers

Studio space, cafe area, shop are and gallery area

Do you need stock to start your business?

We could begin by selling our own work and also work of other local artists who would be interested in the start up of the business

How much will your sales stock cost?

We want to keep prices affordable to appeal to a certain market but also be competitive.

What evidence do you have that people will buy your product/service?

Existing art shops are already up and running and making a profit

 Is your idea completely new?

The idea itself isn't new but we have identified areas within existing businesses that need improving upon

Is there increasing demand for your product/service?

The demand will change as trends in the art world emerge and develop.

Who are your customers?

Creative people who are interesting in helping local artists and getting involved with our business. Casual shoppers who want to buy something nice looking.

Where are they? Where do they go?

We would be located directly in the city centre so they could be anyone who has specifically come to our shop or just casual shoppers who were browsing around the city.

Where do they want to go?

We want out shop to be a perfect blend of existing similar businesses to provide exactly what customers want.

Why would they buy from you rather than anyone else?

We aim to provide a wider range and style of work at more affordable prices.

OUIL502 - Studio Brief 1 - Polish poster design

The colour scheme that I want to use in my printed pictures brief was inspired by these Polish poster designs that I found on Pinterest. The combination of a monochrome palette with a bit of bright red to create a focal point works well. I think it would be quite effective with my posters, in order to make them stand out.

Raphaelle Vimont

OUIL502 - Studio Brief 2 - Study Task 4 - Who are they?

PRODUCT

• T-shirts
• Posters
• Illustrated ephemera
• mugs
• food packaging
• menu's
• tea towels
• stationary
• household products
• textiles
• patterns
• wallpaper
• stickers
• badges
• screen prints

PRICE

• competitive prices
• affordable
• not middle class
• price dependant on process and time invested into work
• sales (seasonal)

PROMOTION

• Internet presence
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Tumblr
• flyers/leaflets
• posters
• monthly newsletter through the post

PLACE

• high street presence
• potential pop up
• internet environment

ON THE WALL

What are their strengths?
They have a prime location in the city centre, and are one of only a few shops that sell illustration related products at a relatively cheap price compared to places like Colours May Vary.

What are their weaknesses?
A lot of the stuff they sell seems really mass produced, doesn't have much of a hand made feel to it, and there isn't much variety

What opportunities have they taken?
Their main selling point is posters and designs to be put on a wall, there aren't any other dedicated poster shops that sell posters that aren't the generic ones you find in HMV

What threats do they face?
Because a lot of their merchandise seems mass produced and not authentic, they may not attract a certain audience, like the arts and illustration community, it may be driven more towards the generic public.

OUIL502 - Study Task 3

Kaiserisms Deviantart

This work would fit into the Quaternary sector, as it is associated with culture and arts.

Peta and Cruelty Free International Inforgraphics

I think that this work would be part of the Tertiary sector as it could be classed as media and entertainment as Peta have used it as advertising and part of a compaign.

This work for Absolut Vodka would probably be in the tertiary sector, as it's meant to be sold in a retail environment.

This US Army Enrollment poster would fit into the Secondary Sector.

For the Secondary sector I think that instructional illustrations, for example, instructional leaflets for flat pack furniture, would be part of that as they are used in the manufacturing industries. Most illustration would probably fit into the tertiary sector, as it's mostly for entertainment and media, but also the Quaternary sector, which describes the culture, education and arts sectors.

OUIL502 - Studio Brief 2 - Life's a Pitch

What is the idea/concept of your group's proposal?
- A space that sells T-shirts, posters and illustrated products at reasonable prices, online and instore

What service do you propose to provide?
-Affordable products and gifts
-Provide an outlet for existing illustrators and practitioners to sell them work
-Gallery space for exhibitions
-On-sire greasy spoon cafe
-Additional studio space

Who will benefit/make use of your services?
- Creative practitioners
- Gift buyers
- Art enthusiasts
- Casual shoppers
- The hungry public

What are the aims of your proposal?
- To secure permanent premises for the shop and cafe
- To establish an online store/presence
- To establish creative connections
- To have competitive prices for a market aimed at lower-middle class customers
- To be inclusive to students

What are the expected outcomes of your proposal?
- To create a new cultural hub in Leeds
- Attract a broader consumer base and make the shop fully inclusive
- Gain the invested interest of practitioners
- Make a considerable profit
- To generate loyal customers

How will you measure success?
- Profit
- Being talked about within the art community
- interactions with practitioners/students via live briefs and competitions

What problems can you forsee?
- Seeking permission for on site catering
- Lack of interest due to competition
- Inability to make profit

OUIL502 - Studio Brief 1 - Ryan Humphrey

I found Ryan Humphrey's work on Tumblr, I think it relates to work that I'm doing now and inspired me a little. I'm doing a couple of x-files zines for Thought Bubble and found the way he draws characters quite interesting. I like the way the bodies are out of proportion and slightly skewed, it adds a uniqueness to an otherwise quite ordinary portrait.

OUIL502 - Study Task 2

Book Illustration -

PRODUCTS -

• Children's book illustration
• Fiction book illustration
• Non-fiction book illustration
• Scientific illustration
• Front cover illustration
• Back cover illustration
• Dust cover illustration
• Magazine illustration
• Editorial
• Newspaper illustration
• Info-graphics
• Illustrated short stories
• Graphic novels
• Comics
• Leaflets
• Informational leaflets
• Leaflets in a doctors

AUDIENCES

• Teenagers for teen fiction
• Adults for adult fiction
• Children and babies for childrens books
• People on public transport reading the newspaper or metro
• Other artists
• The parents of children buying a childrens book

OUIL502 - Study Task 1

5 Things I learnt last year

1. I CAN work digitally with things like photoshop, through practice.
2. It is beneficial for me to use a diary.
3. I definitely want to work more with screen printing and different printing processes
4. I want to invest more time in making complex pieces of work with lots of detail
5. I can draw anything I want through practice (getting better at drawing body parts)

5 Things I want to know more about

1. I want to gain a more in depth knowledge of screen printing and etching
2. I want to start researching different jobs within the creative industries and get a good head start on it.
3. I want to look into surface pattern design as I have found an interest with that.
4. I would like to have a go at animation, as I have ever had any experience with it
5. I want to learn more and research deeper into contextual studies

5 Strengths

1. I have got significantly better at drawing body proportions
2. I think that humour is still one of my main strengths although I want to get away from that a little bit
3. I have a wide range of ways of working and don't just stick to one style already
4. I think I am quite good at researching something when I am really interested and involved with it
5. My main strength is my opinions and my ability to express them through my work

5 Things I want to improve

1. I definitely want to get more organised and use my diary daily.
2. I want to improve my online presence and keep updating it regularly
3. I want to improve my work output
4. I want to improve my screen printing and etching skills
5. I want to make sure that I stay motivated throughout the whole year

5 Images that summarise my interests

patterned notebook

book cover

Children's book illustration

OUIL402 Personal, Professional Practice - Final module evaluation

1.  What learning have you inherited through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied it? Consider differing approaches to contextual/professional research
I have learnt a lot throughout this module. Being made to research other professional work has been a huge benefit to me, both for inspiration for my own briefs and also to help me improve me skills at critically analysing others work, I still struggle with this as I’m not very good at academic writing but I am definitely getting better and will continue to do this over the summer to help me improve further. Although I have not applied the time management skills very well to my own practice and my personal life, I feel like it is a valuable skill that I have learnt which I will try harder to apply next year.
2. What approaches to image making have you developed during this module and what informed such ways of working? Through my critical research and analysis of what exactly illustration is by looking at contextual references, I have learnt a wide variety of different image making techniques, by looking at different artists and evaluating what I like about their work and what I want to apply to my own work, I think I have made a large collection of work that appeals to me and inspires my own working practice.
3. What strengths can you identify in your practice and how have/will you capitalise on these in the future? I think one of my main strengths in regards to this brief has definitely been my on going interest in discovering both new illustrators and topics that really inspire and influence me. I have utilised Tumblr a lot more by following illustrators I know I already like and using it to find new ones. I have also started using Pinterest a lot more, as it is a useful way of gathering together different images and organising them to different boards, which is helpful when doing research for different briefs.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your practice and how will you address these in the future?
I think one of my main weaknesses is definitely my time management skills, although I know it is a useful thing to do, I am a very forgetful and unorganised person, so have found it hard to start carrying out the things I have learnt throughout the module. During the summer and next year I intend to apply my time management skills much more to both my practice and my personal life. I intend to start keeping a diary and writing a lot more to-do lists, as I find lists much more helpful than timetables, as I find them too difficult to stick to.
5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these? 1.     I want to get much better at time management by keeping a diary and making lists, I expect this to help me be much more organised, which I think will really benefit future briefs. 2.     I want to use a wider variety of resources next year, like screen printing and etching, I expect this to really benefit my practice by giving me a wider variety of skills. 3.     I want to get much better at digital work, like Photoshop and Illustrator, because I think not using digital programs I am really limiting myself. 4.     I really want to refine my tone of voice, I know how to be funny but I want to get better at communicating powerful messages, I think I achieved this with the PPP brief but I intend to get much better at it 5.     I also want to re-start my own Facebook or Tumblr page to put my work onto, so more people can see it. I think being confident and putting myself out there more will definitely benefit me in becoming more confident and being happier with my own work.
6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas: (please indicate using an ‘x’)  5= excellent, 4 = very good, 3 = good, 2 = average, 1 = poor
	1	2	3	4	5
Attendance					x
Punctuality				x
Motivation				x
Commitment				x
Quantity of work produced			x
Quality of work produced			x
Contribution to the group			x