Task 3

How will I promote myself? - What do they want to hear?

For this section of work I thought I would refer more directly to each part of the Marketing Communication Mix that was referred to in the presentation as I feel I shouldn't neglect to look at different forms of promotion. The six ways of marketing your business are:

1. Personal Selling

2. Public Relations & Publicity

3. Advertising

4. Promotions

5. Direct Marketing

6. The Internet

So far i have been looking at building a business on creating Retail Graphics, the idea of using graphic design to sell anothers product, but how could i sell my design skills using promotion?

1. Personal/Direct Selling - Working face to face with a Client is probably the best promotional method available. In terms if retail graphics, most international retail graphics teams seek graphic designers to create something, being that their business is well established price becomes less of a concern. For local retail business that may be starting up visuals become less of an immediate need and so are less likely to seek out graphic designers to create new graphics. One of the key things as an aid to this is a business card, a business card that says something about your practice and in a way sort of acts to show what you can do for the customer. Having been looking at business cards during PPD I have a proposed idea that could work. It is time consuming, but depending on the prospect of good payment is sometimes worth the extra effort by building a relationship.

2. Public Relations & Publicity - I have become a regular blogger, this in itself creates a document of on-goings to which potential customers can view and acts as promotion through public relations. Other forms that could be considered as public relations could be getting involved with events, having established myself as a crafter an ideal form of promotion for business would be to get involved in craft fairs and sell product at local stores, for instance i am working on producing some cards for Paper Scissors Stone. I would like to consider working on a much more national scale and have decided i would at some point like to enter the D&AD competitions directed at retail, this would open a gateway to new contacts and experience.

The obvious downsides to public relations is its time consumption and costings but as a dedicated professional with a passion for design this is no obstacle.

3. Advertising - You can find in job sections of everyday newspapers a need for a graphic designer, often requiring lots of experience. Graphic designers often place advertisements not in newspapers but design magazines, personally i do not feel this method is the most successful, alongside each other it would be very easy to be overlooked, the same for television and poster advertising. I am very interested in website design and selling skills using the internet, with intentions of not only designing for retail graphics but selling my own product advertising on web seems an option to help aid my promotion internationally. Considering designing a business card hand directly to customers, could the business card not be used as an advertisement, placing in cafes and such might attract various people, but maybe in a more specific location such as the London Graphics Centre could the idea of a business card be more successful advertising.

Like Public Relations it would have its problems, producing business cards is pricy and cannot always reflect what i practice as it is a means of one way communication. It may also take time, putting a out business card and getting not only the right person to see it but for them to want to call you is incredibly chancy.

4. Promotions - This would be particularly useful if i wanted to sell a graphic design product where items could have an introductory offer or seasonal offers. In terms of offering promotions as a design consultant offering more the customer such as a complimentary business card design could work well. Offers however do not build brands and can have the opposite effect because it can make product look worth less, it is also important to remember that reducing price reduces profit. Offers do offer benefits of attracting new customers.

5. Direct Marketing - This is about tailoring and personalisation, making someone feel significant in what you have to offer. In Graphic Design this could be personally inviting someone to an event such as a craft fair, handing over business cards and offering coupons. This could be expensive again but offers high returns in the way of building relationships, specified markets and the success rate can be measured for future reference.

6. The Internet - Having established a firm blog to which i continually post to, updating a website for me would not a be a chore it would be enjoyed. Aswell as using blogs i would like to docuement my practice within a formal website, currently learning towards digital media i am soon to prodcue my own later this year, ths wil provide the basis of a publicly exhibited portfolio to which is cost effective, visual, credible, and unlike most other fors of promotion is 24 hours running. To be successful it needs to be well designed to reflect my professional practice and creating an interactive website to keep people interested. Another thing which could be considered linking back to the idea of promotion is to have something that is free among the website whether it be a flyer or even something random such as a character to assemble, it keeps an engagement to which the viewer starts to build up a relationship.

Badly designed website can result is drastically opposite effects.

Task 2

Where are they? How will they find me?

Where are my potential clients located?

Brand Identity Developers within the area of retail use graphic designers as part of their way of creating new visuals which is important with a continuous change of styles and consumer needs. Leeds has a growing sector in retail, which boasts international based luxury stores from flagship premises for London based companies, Leeds also offers small exclusive boutiques, a variety of restaurants and diners, as well as health and beauty treatments. Leeds also has an airport and a busy train station attracting an audience that is international and developments in The Holbeck Urban Village, The White Rose Centre, Leeds Trinity and others continue in helping Leeds' retail sector further, all this means that retail is growing and there is a demand for Designers.
In terms of media, this can take various forms such as advertising, brand planning, local marketing and POS, these may change due to seasonal factors such as Christmas and sales. With recent technologies such as internet shopping and self service checkouts being implemented in most food chains, people are less likely to notice advertising at till points and POS.

Local graphic and advertising design companies in Leeds such as Gratterpalm, Sixteen Hands, Pure Creatives and 7nine focus their practice on retail graphic design to increase sales from local projects to national. Gratterpalm focuses its design for chain clients and high profile stores/companies such as ASDA, Umbro, and M&S. I would like to focus more on design for local business in Leeds, looking at existing small businesses which compete with these high profile stores. Within a recession there is a high probability that people will tend to stay in a comfort zone, shopping more locally and familiarly, where there is a less national and more of a community perspective, this puts pressure on local business to perform.

Resources:

Leeds: Live it Love it

Gratterpalm

Retail Week

Task 1

Who am I?

As a designer in the making i feel i have developed a stronger awareness of design in general especially in relation to my key area of Graphic Design, through development in my first year i think i never truly understood the fact that this is all a way ultimatly to make money and offer something new to the market, myself.

Over the past year i think these skills have been focussed yet some need more refining and development. Although the briefs last year were so varied in subject, i feel was able to adapt the the situation quickly and more so effectively. i feel therefore i am a strong creative thinker, who can adapt quickly to a pace of work that varies, ranging from an hour to 8 week long briefs. In contrast i sometimes lack the quality of proper documentation skills and sometimes move too quickly from the idea to the final product without writing information down and then become stuck.

I also feel i have a strong sense of visual qualities and aesthetics which could link back to that idea of moving straight to the visuals instead of idea developing. i love illustration, craft and photography, both doing and looking at, and this helps inform my image composition and layout skills. Throughout the first year i also learnt software skills to which are increasing still in the Adobe Suite.

What skills do you have?

Overall I would like to think I offer skills in:

Layout and composition

Craft

Visualisation of concepts

Attention to detail

Who are they?

Although i have learnt a lot over this past year i have found it difficult to actually image myself within a design studio. i do feel that i would be useful within a design studio but what kind of space, what clients, what colleagues and of course what would i produce.

Starting off small i have always been interested in craft and intend one day on opening a letterpress/screenprint paper based practice, maybe even working just for myself in a small studio space producing work for clients including stationary items and such. But it may not be very profitable, this i think would be better to lok at with some financial backing and a clear practice, so a good way to gain some experience would be to work for a design studio. I should work for a small design company, gaining experience as i go working my way up for bigger companys and bigger clients. Starting out small i thinkis the best way to go at the moment, looking for design work in my local area, competitions and work experience are some of the more current interests as well as my education.

Retail has also been some part of my life i therefore would like to pursue this further. Having had experience before working as a visual merchadiser and working in retail part-time i would like to look at doing something within the retail sector.

What skills do I need and how do I go about developing them?

Should i wish to look at pursuing a career as a retail graphics designer it is necessary to have a good foundation of personal interest into trends. Viewpoint magazine offers the latest in trend forecasting which is often a good information source for retail graphic design.