Life's a Pitch // Business Card & Design Sheets

Design Sheets 

Secondary Research 

Packaging idea for card

This is the sort of thing that we have in mind, not in terms of colour of design but in shape and idea. Take the top example, that is pretty much what we want. We want to have a case that has a cut out and that reveals the card underneath. The pantone idea we are very much interested in. Its just finding the right colour to match our eye colour. 

Life's a Pitch// Business Plan & Contacting Studios

The Four IIIIs

For our Life's a Pitch I am in a group of 5 people.  I am in a group with 

• Ross Francis 
• Mickey Scott
• Sophia Akrofi 
• Joel Burden

We have  decided to be called 'Four iiii'. Which translates as The Four 'I's. We were a group of 4 at first by invited another head to join us. Our areas of specialism will be:

• Branding & Identity 
• Photography & Film
• Promotional Campaign & Strategies 
• Packaging & Publication

Our Target Audience will be Tertiary Sector & Secondary Sector. We have to think about these quetions

• 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?

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• What are your costs, charges and financial considerations?

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Fat Sands Production (Photography & Film)

To get an idea of how companies charge clients we decided to get hold of companies around the UK that specialise in the areas we are interested in. Because I am partly responsible for Photography and Film I decided to get hold of my friend Sim Warren from Fat Sands. I emailed him asking weather he could give me an idea of how he charges clients. 

"Basically, for a new group brief we have just been set at college, we have to construct a business plan or business proposal for a creative design studio.

In this brief we have to look into what services we provide, and have decided to look into branding & identity, promotional campaign etc. We are also looking into photography and film and this is where I thought you could help us out!

All we would like to know is do you have a general price list or is it a more of a specialised decision? If you do have a price list, could you possibly send us an example of what you charge and for what? This is purely a college brief, its no for a up and coming company!"

Sim Warren's Reply:

"It's always a knightmare pricing video as it always depend on what the client wants.

But basically I charge £250 per 10 hour day this is just for my time and expertise. If they want a specific camera I'd then hire kit and ad on the cost of kit hire and mark it up 25%. Not or getting there's travel expenses for me to get to and from locations and then a rate based on if I have to charge overtime for a long day. Editing I charge £200 a day for me to edit using my own MacBook based on a 10 hour day.

Kit lighting is always additional for budgeting then you have location costs, actors, crew, makeup etc etc but this is why it's all really difficult to price because it completely depends on the job!

Let me know if you have any more question but I don't really have a set price list because it always changes !"

Creative Industries// Six Tasks

Task 1 :  Identify 5 companies/studios which you consider potentially synergetic to you personally. Write a short explanatory paragraph and reasons for each.

1) Glasgow Press

Glasgow Press is a studio were you send your work to be printed, so it wouldn't be somewhere I would like to spend the rest of my life there. However, Letterpress is something I would very much like to do when I graduate. I feel that Glasgow Press would be a fantastic starting point as I would become familiar with all of the machines

2)  Yee-Haw Industries

I first saw this video about a year ago and I can't explain how much it changed my thoughts on design. Maybe it was the fantastic filming and editing, but I think it was how creative and different this type of work is. The pressing machines they use look fantastic and I love how they use raw materials like wood to press with. 

3) Mark Design

To me, location is everything and I have every intention on living in brighton again. Simply because from all the places I have lived and been, its the one place I feel truly at home. But, why Mark Design? 
They are a Web and Graphic Design studio based in both Brighton and London (Once again, amazing location! London too!). Their website looks very professional and you simply take that on board from your first glance and know they are successful.

4) Filthymedia

Another Brighton based studios that again focus on only Web and Print. Another beautifully executed website. I like their profile, they mention how wide spread they are in terms of clients and its the same story with their portfolio. They also do photography! Thats fantastic, I am a very keen photographer, well I was until I had to focus full time on graphic design. This studio seems pretty perfect to me. Great location and from the looks of things, a great studio.

5) Crushed

This studio seem to be very friendly according to the tone of their profile. They specialise in many areas from Film Making to Typography. They mention they work on a very wide scale in terms of clients, receiving work from all around the world. Again, they are a Brighton based studio! I am very surprised of the amount of studios Brighton seems to have. Its quite a good feeling now I have looked into it.

Task 2 : Identify the top choice and WHY you feel that they may have synergy with your practise now, or in the near future. 

Filthymedia

I have chosen to go with Filthy Media as it has to be the one that has caught my eye the most. I really want to look into some sort of pressing companies, but this is something I could maybe learn in my own time? I'm not sure, this will be something I feel I will find out. I mostly like their packaging, and looking at the LP design above says to me they work with a large range of clients. 

Task 3 : Is your choice based on LOCATION, DIRECTION OF PRACTISE, THE BRAND PHILOSOPHY, CLIENT BASED.

LOCATION AND DIRECTION OF PRACTISE. Location is ideal and the work they do is stunning and is something I could happily work with.

Task 4 : What if none of those is your main reason for choosing to follow this organisation, what is it specifically? 

I would still go with location and direction of practise. Infact most of the words given up there I would probably go with. The studios I have chosen look so professional and look like somewhere you would want to work. Considering this is the first time I have looked into studios in such depth. It makes me almost excited to ever think of working there. 

Task 5 : When considering those practices. Please consider

• Who they are/ who are you?
• Why you are contacting them and why they should listen
• What do you want them to do next and what do you actually want.
• Why they should get back to you

I would contact them because I feel I am the right person for a placement or job and they should listen because they should be able to tell I am intrested. They would know this maybe from an email I sent them full or positive language maybe about their studios etc.  I would want them to take me 'under their wing' and help me. I always think that if you turn up to a studio they will just ignore you. I like to think that if a young student turned up and I was in charge of them I would really help them, be friendly etc. the last point is very similar to the second one. They should get back to me because they should be able to tell how keen I am. Which I am. 

Task 6 : Now you have identified initially these studios you feel synergy with. Please list 8 methods you could utilise to contact them. 

• Email
• Email seems the most obvious way to get hold of any studio and I can imagine this will be how I get hold of design studios in the future
• Letter
• I feel that by sending a letter it will seem much more formal and it will make them feel you are much more serious about the possible job or placement. 
• Telephone 
• If you phone asking for a job, they will say no, or simply tell you to call back later, or to email, I don't know to be honest, but phoninr just seems a bit lazy and at the end of the day a bad idea. 
• Visit the studios personally
• This would be a good idea as your there and the easiest way of getting rid of you would probably be by looking at the work you have just brought in with you. That and if you turn up they will know you are really looking for something. The only thing I don't like about just turning up is it is quite arrogant and maybe a bit rude?
• Become one of their Clients
• This doesn't actually sound so daft, say you want to use them to just print something, you are in hindsight getting hold of them and contacting them. It could be a very cleaver way to end up working with them or even better for them. 
• Social Networking
• Many studios I have visited in the past have a facebook. Now, this would not a good way at all to contact them but you could if you wanted to.
• Voice Mail
• By leaving a voice mail that hopefully is strong. This will leave the company feeling positive towards you and they will feel you are confident. Obviously you would have left you details and I wouldn't be surprised if they got hold of you. 
• Ask a Tutor 
• I feel that by asking a tutor you will get the best way to contact a studio, being experienced professionals they will know how to go about such a thing.