Enterprise & Innovation:

Trade Fairs

July
Home and Gift, Harrogate
Contact Clarion Events: 020 7370 8359

February
Spring Fair, Birmingham NEC
Contact TPS 020 8277 5800

Tigerprint Competition

[http://tigerprint.typepad.com/competition/beautiful-traditional-card.html]

Tigerprint is a Bradford based greetings/design company with international studios and sells cards as the primary stockist of M&S.

Enterprise & Innovation

Market Research & Competitors

To sell greetings cards there are two ways; either to freelance to the greetings card companies e.g. UK Greetings or create your own line of greetings cards. Artist's Market offers an annual to which designers and companies can submit their work to showcase their talent, the annual edition is updated to include the most current contact and submission information for more than 1,900 creative industries. The Greetings Card Association also provides useful information basically about the two ways of going into business with another company as a freelancer or setting up your own. I also found useful hints and tips to selling in the card industry, as well as a directory of publishers looking for artists

[Information obtained from]: http://www.greetingcardassociation.org.uk/home/ [accessed 11.01.10]

Wholesale/Direct to Retail Publishers

Wholesale publishers distribute their products to the retailer via greeting card wholesalers or cash & carries. They work on volume sales and have a rapid turnover of designs. Many designs are used with a variety of different captions. Eg. a floral design may be used for mother, gran, auntie, sister.
Remember that the vast majority of wholesale cards are captioned. It is usual to leave a blank space on the design to accommodate the caption. While wholesale publishers were hitherto generally only interested in traditional, cute and juvenile designs, they now publish across the board including contemporary, humorous ranges.
Direct-to-retail (DTR) publishers supply retailers via sales agents or reps. The majority of greeting cards sold through specialist card shops and gift shops are from DTR publishers. This sector spans from the multi-national corporations such as Hallmark down to the small, trendy niche publishing companies. Direct-to-retail publishers launch series of ranges based on distinctive design themes or characters. Categories of DTR cards include contemporary art/fun, fine art, humour, children's, photographic and traditional.

Do's & don't when Freelancing to Companies:

+ Do your homework. A little time spent researching the market will save you a lot of time, money and frustration in the long run.
+ Do ring up the company prior to sending copies of your designs to check whether they accept freelance work and to find out to whom they should be addressed.
+ Do remember that few greeting card display racks show each card in its entirety. Remember to ensure that some of the design 'action' appears in the top half.
+ Do remember that most wholesale designs will need to include a caption - or space for one
+ Do present your work well and meet your deadline. Remember, news travels fast in the industry.
+ Do put your name and address on the back of every design.
+ Do enclose an SAE if you want your work returned. Please make sure this is large enough and has enough postage on it to take your samples.
+ Do agree how you will be paid.


Don't ever send originals.
Don't waste your time sending a long letter of introduction. It invariably will not be read.
Don't sell two publishers similar designs. A bad reputation will follow you around.
Don't take rejection personally.

Websites of Competitors

[Using the GCA database]:

- http://www.HeartandDesign.co.uk/ - Osset

- http://www.ytrdesign.com/ - Holmfirth

- http://www.dorisandalice.co.uk/ - Ilkley

- http://www.ionacards.co.uk/ - Leeds

Progressive Greetings Worldwide magazine:

- http://www.progressivegreetings.co.uk/

Useful Sources:

+ http://www.theaoi.com/

+ http://www.greetingcardassociation.org.uk/home/

+ http://www.powerhomebiz.com/guide/cases/cheryl.htm

+ http://artists-market.com/index.asp

Enterprise & Innovation

Re-evaluation & Proposition: Greetings Card Designer

For my Enterprise I was unsure of what was actually being asked of me, was I producing a plan for when I leave to come to some big design company? The answer was of course, no. Innovation and enterprise is about exactly what it says, its about being innvoative and creating an enterprise or a company, not about going to work for someone else. Simply offering your new designs skills to a company and saying, 'hey take me on,' is not innovative, when nearly 50 people on the same course are wanting to do the same thing the odds are more or less against you. Having spoken to Bridget my concious was cleared and spoke about what my ambitions were not just in design but as part of my whole life, the important thing to remember about the subject was bringing something new.
So it is about creating something innovative. As a designer and a person I have ambitions to sell my create talents in product and aim to create products that people will buy, but what I want to do is create something different from the market something that is personal and offers something that is special. One of the things I have always wanted to do is create greetings cards, I have always made my own, not because they are cheaper but because it's personal and I would like to sell them properly as a part of my practice.

I would like to create a range of greetings cards for valentines. being the nearest seasonal opportunity for people to buy greetings cards I will also be able to test my ability to use what I have learnt during the innovation and enterprise module to better how I go about the project and not to just regurgitate the information. This will involve using the 4P's, customer segmentation analysis, a SWOT analysis to eveluate conpetitor and the communication mix to help in my marketing strategy, of course there are other aspects to consider which will help my business plan more successful.

Proposed Proposition Statements:

10 Statements that identify your ‘positioning’ as a Graphic Designer

1. As a person I pursue the idea to sell, and seek to produce for a consumer society and the idea of buying into a brand.

2. I have a keen interest in craft & attention to detail, through my application of typography and layout design, and have a personal appreciation of tactile graphic design.

3. Having grown up within a consumer society I have both a personal and professional interest in retail graphics and designing for retail.

4. Identity design comes in partnership with design for retail to which I feel I have a strong sense for building brands that meet consumer needs.

5. As a person I am inclined to operate locally but with a higher demand in capitals especially for fashion, operating nationally with a large retail sector in london, or internationally, would be something to consider.

6. Through personal selling by use of business cards and visitation, a potential use of internet by means of a continually updated blog and current website and also selling through public relations using reference of my blog again aswell as getting involved in local projects such as selling products and offering my services given my area of retail graphics as an interest.

7. I would like to work as part of a design team to gain useful knowledge and contacts to later become freelance and seek to set up own professional practice in selling printed media and brand myself an identity.

8. Design groups such as that of Gratterpalm are inspiring who's ideas are solely about creating graphics for the retail sector and boosting sales, working with a variety of international and unlike that of gratterpalm produce promotion for local retailers. The design Group attik also seeks to offer graphics for a consumer society who's practice in design is much more ethically and socially driven.

9. I feel I keep up-to date with trends using magazines such a Viewpoint to seek the new, the principle of 'turnover' in retail. This can be a huge benefit when it comes to determining footfall and patterns of customer behavior.

10. As a part of my on going development I intend to produce not only a portfolio, but engage with design in general by getting myself involved and as recently i have begun taking initiative to sell product in local spots and visiting galleries.

Task 4

Who else is out there? - How good are they?

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