Group Business... Press Ad

Task

We have been set the task of creating a press ad for our company, featuring: our name, slogan and services. The press ad is to fit in creative review, so we need to consider the formats of this magazine, and make sure that our ad fits, as well as finding out what the cost would be.

Here is the pricing guide:

Photographs:
Here are a few photographs of existing press ads that exist in an issue of creative review.

We have decided that we will create a few rough ideas each of what we think our press ad should look like and the content that should be included, and then we will get together to discuss the elements that we like, and then bring them all together to create our ad.

My Ideas:

I started by thinking of some key words to describe who we are as a company to help guide my designs, so that I create something relevant to our business.

Fresh // new // contemporary // sophisticated // professional // stylish // neutral (appealing to both genders) //

I think a simple but effective, clean style will work best for this company, rather than my usual illustrative style. My illustration skills would still be able to be put use for this company, as some new businesses needing branding may want this kind of look for their identity.

Branding and identity is something I have researched for my design context blog in the print unit, so I will look back over this to help inspire me to create my own identity ideas for our company. I've also put the words from our slogan in to a google image search to see what comes up, and a lot of the designs for businesses containing these words are to do with dieting or exercise, so we need to be careful to make it clear we are graphic designers and not trying to get people to lose weight!

My logo ideas

These are some quick ideas based on who we are as a company.

Out of all the logos, these are my favourites. I'm a bit wary of it looking too much look recycling, but the inspiration behind it is actually the refresh button on safari. I'm glad that the designs aren't looking like they are for a gym or diet plan though, as a lot of the logos I researched did.

Here is a really simple press ad idea in illustrator. I don't want to go far in to designing without seeing what the rest of my group have come up with, in case I'm heading in the wrong direction.

I've been looking through the fonts I have saved to try and find one that represents the kind of style we are going for. Here are the few that I have chosen, but its up to us all as a group to decide on which fonts and colours we will use.

Group Ideas

What everyone else has come up with:

Charlie designed loads of logo ideas, and also thought about the positioning of the elements on the press ad.

Lisa designed some press ad ideas. We like the three pointed colon on the ad, looking like a design decision rather than a standard logo. We are thinking that three words for re: may work better than having four.

We then discussed what we had come up with. Some of mine and Charlie's logo ideas were quite similar, so we thought about how we could bring these ideas together, with the refresh symbol. To continue to progress, rather than all continuing to create our own ideas, we decided to capitalise on our skills. So, Charlie is going to continue to develop the logo on illustrator. We decided that Marty would bring together all the ideas to create the press ad for tomorrows tutorial. Me and Lisa will look at where our business should be based, this will be regarding the competition. 

Charlie's Logo Designs:

Marty's Mock Ups:

Group Business... 2nd Meeting

Over the holidays we have been communicating via Facebook about our ideas, but today we have had another meeting which has been really useful to help us decide on an idea. Four heads are definitely better than one and we have bounced ideas off each other to come up with a strong concept.

We were given one hour to decide on a company name, to identify our key skills and a specific industry we are interested in, to come up with a slogan, and to write a list of 10 key things we are going to offer as a company. We started with a bit of a brain storm, discussing our interests, and found it much easier to think of ideas together based on these, rather than thinking on our own.

Idea Generation

Our interests

Charlie - bespoke print, ethical, music industry, communication
Marty - layouts, branding and identity
Lisa - branding and identity
Me - illustration, web design

We talked about our different interests and industries that we could work for, and straight away branding and identity seemed like a shared interest that our different talents would all be useful for. From this, the whole idea of bringing something to life, changing it, improving it for the better came, and this gave us somewhere to start to think of a name.

Name suggestions: metamorphosis; refresh, brand refresh, morph, evolution, flux, reflux, flux design, vivify, revive, metaflux, vivi, re:

(A lot of the names we liked were already taken by other graphic design companies or creative collectives, and some of the names we looked at we realised had double meanings that weren't appropriate - such as diarrhoea!)

Decided Idea

Group - Charlie, Claudia, Lisa & Marty

Company name - Re:

Idea - We aim to bring life to new companies with a complete identity package, and to help refresh existing companies without an identity or in need of a new one

Slogan - Re:work, Re:fresh, Re:vive, Re:brand

Industry - Business to business

10 Key Services -

1. Branding & identity
2. Web design
3. Editorial design
4. Creative consultation
5. Company to client contact time
6. Print specialism
7. Illustrative design
8. Whole package service
9. Photography
10. Mix of skills

Design Ideas

Work with how the Re: is displayed, my idea was to create motion graphics on after effects which could be shown on our website, such as with having the Re: logo, and then having a different word from the slogan such as 'fresh' turning in to another word and so on.

We need to experiment with fonts to choose one that suits our style, and decide will the letters be capital and things like this.

Strategy & Presentation

The issues we are addressing in our enterprise studies will give us the knowledge to set this business up as if it is a real business. So we need to consider the things that we have learnt, such as, thinking whether we would be a vat registered business, how we can cut costs, etc..

We need to decide who has an understanding of what. Between us we have a diverse range of skills, so  we should use this to our benefit, to assign roles effectively. We also need to think about the business side, to give people roles that suit their strengths, such as with Lisa, as she has a background in accountancy.

We need to back up our presentation with informed research, even in our presentation. 

We have been set a new task, to create a press ad. (See blog post)

Enterprise Lecture 6 - Don't Just Get A Job

Lecture 6 Notes

- Why? Competitive job market & its never been easier to set up your own business

- Creative industries now made up of small businesses/freelancers

- Business means to become a freelance designer; be a practising artist; or start a collective with other creatives.

- Johnny Cupcakes example (interview with bongo boy youtube):

be passionate about your subject; its a great time to start a business; collaborate - don't underestimate yourself, try the big names disney etc; 4p's - product is teeshirts, his price is regular and edition, he promoted it with a USA tour and has a fantasy baker as his place; he creates longevity by having limited edition stock and a brand name people recognise; talked about copyright issues as some designs have been ripped off; took a risk, didn't have qualifications, learnt from mistakes; talked about taking his business overseas as there is a demand for his product

- Jeff Bezos started amazon - took a risk

- The most experience business people would say you may your own luck by being driven and focused, people will trust you and send opportunities your way

- growingbusiness.co.uk - Do what you love; start your business while you are still a student or still employed; don't do it alone, get all the advice you can; write a business plan; do the research; get professional help; get legal and tax issues right first time

-  startyourbusiness - choose a winning name; register your business name; find small business financing

- bytestart & betterbusiness - why are you starting a business?; think about the skills you need not just the skills that you have got; collaborate with other freelancers; look at the competition; understand your customers and competitors combined (marketplace); might have to find staff; employ people who are cleverer than you; find out what are the biggest causes of business failure

- A business plan is a statement of what you are trying to achieve and how:

1. mission and values - driving force behind business, what problems are you going to solve, how are you going to make a difference

2. what resources and equipment you need and how much it will cost you to run business - overheads

3. marketing - how you are going to promote business with advertising, public relations, exhibitions (marketing communication mix)

4. money - how much marketing will cost; budgets; how much you will earn

- Questions you will be asked when building a business:

What are you going to do?

What is the value proposition?

What resources do you need?

How much will it cost to get it started?

How will you pay it back?

Who are your target customers?

- Need a business plan to focus your thinking, make a detailed business plan, understand what you are trying to do; set some clear objectives, plot when you will do things; can look back over it a year later to see how well you are doing, measure it against this; need a plan to get investors; attract collaborators

- freelanceuk.com

- Find a business plan in a bank, the arts council (community based), business balls.com, business link.gov.uk

- Where are you going to find funding? Things have changed in the last three years. Banks aren't lending money to small businesses anymore. People need more flexible ways of finding money: by helping others to get grants and then they can pay you to do the work; crowd funding where you invite people to invest in you; we did this is a crowd funding website;

- How do you get organised? Need a balance of people to cover different team roles. Usually each one person will be fulfilling at least two of these roles.

Action People

1. Shaper - tells people to get on with it

2. Implementer - someone who gets on with job

3. Completer - motivates people to get on

Social People

1. Co-ordinator

2. Team-worker - has good communication skills

3. Resource Investigator - research and deals with people outside organisation

Thinking

1. Monitor - cautious, makes you think about things

2. Plant - ideas person

3. Specialist - highly technical skills

- Power culture - small business with one boss who you answer to, who wants to be in charge of everything, may be family business

- Role culture - large organisation such hospital, large department store, or as LCA, there is the principal, but also deans and heads to form senior management, there are different departments which are self contained with their own leaders

- Task culture - temporary structure, a group of freelance people who come together to organise a project, no hierarchy

- Person culture - key people in a business and people who support them, such as a dental practice, they need people to help them to keep the place running; same as a design practice

- What skills do you need? Will you work alone? Will you be more productive if you work as a team?

- Income streams: private commissions; free lance design work; workshops and part time teaching; royalties from book sales and professional seminars

- Legal status determines how much tax you pay, choose what to do with your profits and that will determine your legal status

:: Sole trader

:: Partnership

:: Limited Company

:: Limited Liability Partnership

:: Public Limited Company

:: Social Enterprise

- If you choose the wrong legal status people might not trust you. Being a sole trader seems very informal, might stop you from borrowing money. Might be more reassured if you are a limited company as they can see what is going on.

- Look at business link, companies house (register of limited companies), social enterprise coalition, co-operative

- Personal taxation rates 2012 - can earn £7,475 before you pay tax

If you earn, you will pay:

£0 - £35,000 - 20%

£35,001 - £150,000 40%

Over £150,000 50%

- Also have to pay national insurance contributions

self-employed £2.50 a week, if you have profits you will be 9%, if it is over £42,475 you pay just 2%

- Also have to pay employment benefit to government - 3.7%

- As a sole trader, need to keep records of what you are spending your money on, responsible for debts

- In a partnership, you share the profit, responsible for debts

- If you have a limited company, it has shares which reflect how much of the company people own. Need to have AGM meetings, need to register with companies house, you need at least two employees (you can own 99% and someone own 1%), need to pay NIC, corporation tax and VAT (extra 20% on all goods and services), you need to pay corporation tax which is 21% of your profits. Work your different ventures out as different businesses.

- VAT: zero rated things can be changed, where it would take an act of parliament to put vat on things that are exempt, some things are 5% rather than 20%

- The only advantage of registering for VAT is that you are able to claim it back on everything you buy, so if you don't buy a lot then its not worth it

Enterprise Workshop II... Charge Rate

This workshop is in response to the first workshop, where we worked out the cost of living. We used this cost, which I rounded down to £23,000, to work out what we would need to charge to make a living and cover the overhead costs of running a business. 

We started out by working out our employment costs, by adding my required income, to the cost of my pension contribution and my national insurance. If you are self-employed, you have to pay your own national insurance.

To fill in this form, we needed to decide if we were filling it in as if we were a freelance worker or as if we were working in a small business of about four people. Working on your own would save money as you wouldn't have to pay rent, but then it would make some things more expensive as you wouldn't be able to share the costs with others. Working with others allows you to inspire each other too. Realistically, I think I will be probably want to work as a freelance graphic designer/illustrator, so I filled the form in as if this was the case.

If I was working in a group and needed somewhere to work, it would have to have a good address so that clients could easily come and visit, such as holdback urban village, which is a creative hub. A small space would cost about £500 a month, so if there were four of you working, you would divide by four.

Business rates are the same as council tax, based on the approximate value of the place, however, these may be included in the rent.

Electricity is about £1000 a year, if you are working from home, you can charge a 1/3 of the electricity and gas bill to the business.

Business calls cost more than with a normal phone, so need an expensive contract, as well as a good broadband.

You can't charge promotional materials to clients, so need to set aside some money for this. No more than 10% of your turnover should be spent on marketing. 

Need a spare computer with all software on it, because you cannot afford to lose a day with a client if something should happen to one computer. These need insuring. Need a good computer, and consider they may only last about four years.

Need to find yourself a solicitor as you may need their advice, you need an accountant and they will generally save you as much money as they cost.

Need to take trips such as to D&AD to inspire you and for research.

Copyrighting your designs costs money.

Can rent a car if you live in the city centre as this may be cheaper and easier or use public transport.

Business insurance covers office equipment in case of fire/theft/flood.

Professional and product liability - if someone might get injured by something you make or if you design something that might offend someone.

Public liability insurance - incase someone injures themselves on your property. If you work freelance don't invite people back to your place, meet them somewhere neutral.

After filling everything in and doing the calculations, I worked out that I need to earn £176.58 a day to cover my cost of living and business overhead costs. If I was to work five days a week for 8 hours, 181 days a year, my rate of charge would be £22.07 an hour, which seems quite reasonable for a graphic designer. However this would be assuming I have work to do all the time, which I doubt I will. So in some ways this workshop has put my mind at ease thinking it is possible to earn a living as a freelance graphic designer, however in some ways I now feel more worried, because it seems more real, and I have learnt that running your own business is an expensive and time consuming venture. I think I will end up having to work longer hours and more days of the week that I thought I needed to!

Group Business - Learning Objectives

I have looked back over the module briefing to see what our learning objectives are, so that we can incorporate these factors into our group business.


Aim:


The student will explore the basics of how to identify and define the market, the legal and financial obligations of running a small business, where to look for funding and how to plan and control finances.


Fundamental Principles:
Organisational theory 
• Managerial skills at different levels 
• Business communications 
• Corporate Social Responsibility 
• Market analysis 
• Defining / identifying and targeting market segments 
• Business models ( Ltd. Sole trader etc.) 
• Legal obligations of different business types 
• Governments agencies / funding organisations / 
professional and trade organisations. 
• Taxation / PAYE/ Budgeting – cash flow forecasting 
• Intellectual property law 
• Insurance 
• Using an accountant / basic book keeping 
• Contract Law 

I have looked back over the module briefing to see what our learning objectives are, so that we can incorporate these factors into our group business.

Aim:

The student will explore the basics of how to identify and define the market, the legal and financial obligations of running a small business, where to look for funding and how to plan and control finances.

Fundamental Principles:
Organisational theory 
• Managerial skills at different levels 

• Business communications 
• Corporate Social Responsibility 
• Market analysis 
• Defining / identifying and targeting market segments 
• Business models ( Ltd. Sole trader etc.) 
• Legal obligations of different business types 
• Governments agencies / funding organisations / 
professional and trade organisations. 
• Taxation / PAYE/ Budgeting – cash flow forecasting 
• Intellectual property law 
• Insurance 
• Using an accountant / basic book keeping 
• Contract Law 

Things to include in the presentation:

What skills and services do you have to offer? Who is your target market? Who is your competition and how will you compete? What are your costs, charges and financial considerations? How will you structure your studio? Who will be responsible for what? How will you promote your services? To who? Using what media?

We haven't learnt about all these things yet, as we haven't finished having the enterprise lectures, so hopefully we will touch on them soon so that we can incorporate them into our group business. 

We haven't learnt about all these things yet, as we haven't finished having the enterprise lectures, so hopefully we will touch on them soon so that we can incorporate them into our group business. 

Group Business... Action Plan

Based on what I have learnt through looking at business studies books, I have made a list of things I think we need to discuss as a group at our next meeting to help us progress. The most important thing is to start with a good idea, so I've also included some of my initial ideas for what could make our business unique.

Action Plan

What we have done:
Research - companies we admire, looking at how they work as a business; business studies basics

To do:
[maybe not the correct order?]
1. Decide on idea, all agree - write detailed account of this idea, have to really know what it is, be specific
2. Decide what makes our idea special
3. Think about the competition - SWOT analysis
4. Market research - primary - analyse this, does it mean we need to change our idea?
5. Need to decide on company name and create a logo and look for the company that represents who we are
6. How much will we charge?
7. Where would we get the money from to start up a business?
8. Where would we be located?
9. How would we draw in customers? - social media, advertising, etc...
10. Create a business plan
11. Decide on a mission statement - what are our aims and values?
12. What type of business would we be?
13. Decide on objectives and create strategies to achieve these.
14. How would we deal with legal responsibilities?
15. Think about out presentation, and visual aids we can create. Extra touches to prove we are the best business!

Initial Ideas for USP

- 24 hr Graphic Design
- Graphic design on to specialised goods e.g. homeward or unusual surfaces
- Custom made fonts to suit someones personality/what a business is about
- Personalised products/gifts - you supply us with photographs and tell us what you want and we do it

Enterprise... Business Studies Basics...

I don't have any real knowledge of business studies except from what I have learnt through actually working, whereas some people in my group did business studies at college, so I have decided to help teach myself some of the basics by finding A level business studies books. I'm going to look at these over christmas, as well as all of the links we have been given and other recommended tools of learning from the enterprise lectures.

Notes

AS Business Studies - Malcolm Surridge and Andrew Gillespie

Setting up a business

1. The Idea

Your product/service needs to be better than what is out there:
- is it cheaper?
- is it easier to buy?
- is it better designed?

What makes you/your product special? What makes you stand out from the competition? USP - Unique selling proposition

2. Market Research

You need to be sure there is a market/demand out there for your product. Do your research to find out if your idea has a chance of making a profit.
- need a wide range of customers, and make sure questionnaire answers are not worded in a way that just gives you the answer you want, so you get a fair response.
- your company may make a loss at first, but need to be sure it will eventually make a profit

3. Pricing

Need to decide on pricing, as if you charge too much, no-one may buy it, but if you don't charge enough, you won't make enough profit. Need to know the demand as how many you sell effects as does how much you sell for.

4. Competition

Who are the competition? Compare your product with similar companies (SWOT analysis) to help you define why you are better!

Think about protecting your idea with a patent, so that others cannot copy it.

5. Financing

Where will you get the money from to start up a business?
Consider:
- using savings
- borrowing from friends/family
- loan from a bank
- bring in investors

6. Location of the business

This is crucial to its survival. If you need people to visit it needs to be in a good location. Also need to consider rent costs.

7. Build up a regular customer base

Offer good value for money, be good to your customers to keep them coming back, and recommending you to others, therefore building up customer loyalty. This can help you get a steady flow of income.

8. Produce a business plan

Think carefully about your idea to make your business successful. Banks will insist on seeing a business plan if you are wanting to borrow money.

[i] Objectives
- What are you hoping to achieve?
- How will you achieve these targets?
- How much money do you expect to make?
- How much time do you want to spend working?

[ii] Information on the market and competitors

[iii] Sales estimates

[iv] Estimates of costs, revenues and profits

[v] Research on customer needs and how your business meets these

[vi] Unique Selling Proposition

Types of Businesses

Sole traders work for themselves, and so are their own boss. It is easy to start up this type of business, but working alone can be very stressful and challenging.

A company is a business owned by shareholders. Each share represents a part of the company.

Private limited companies 'ltd' are owned by shareholders who can place a restriction on who the shares are sold to.

Public companies 'plc' are owned by shareholders, but shareholders can sell their shares to anyone. Another firm might buy up shares in a business to try and get control of it.

Business Objectives

What are your aims other than to gain a profit? Is it to be well known or to enjoy yourself etc... Produce your aims and show your values in the form of a mission statement.

Set SMART objectives - these are targets that need to be achieved to reach the overall aims. These can be both short and long term.

S - Specific - exactly what you are trying to do
M - Measurable - must be possible to measure whether the target has been achieved
A - Agreed - everyone has to be involved
R - Realistic - has to be achievable
T - Time Specific - how long do you have to complete the objective, make sure its not open ended

Objectives typically relate to:
- profit - growth (gaining more of the market) - social considerations (what the business will do for society or the local community) - employee welfare

Need to review and evaluate objectives.

The objective is the desired destination and the strategy is the means of getting there.