Task 2

As a young graphic designer potential clients are everywhere. Due to the huge amount of competition that exists within the field, us as designers need to diversify ourselves in order to stand out from the competition. This could mean that I get both skills as typographer but also I need to be able to be a competent photographer, have a good sense of printing techniques, so clients see me as the 'whole package'. Where are my clients? Well everywhere really, anyone who is in need of a graphic designer could be a client. As I have limited language skills (bar English!) overseas graphic design might be difficult due to the language barriers. The demographics of my clients will be varied as they may be a small business in need of a corporate identity, or a bar or restaurant in need of publicity. Large multnational companies could be launching a new product or what to launch a new 'look' in response to their consumer market and that is where I come in.

Last year I set up my blog which has been excellent to publicise myself and I can give the blog link out to prospective clients and they can see my work and evaluate if it is in keeping with a similar vison as to what they want. A regional grant for young businesses would give me the boot I need in relation to publicising myself, I could set up a website which is something I will learn how to do in the new year when we start our design for web module. I would not waste money using flyer's to promote myself as the are not cost efficient at all. Diverse business cards would be another promotion material that I could use to spread the word of myself as a designer.

The geographics that effect my client base are transport, would clients want a graphic designer who lives nearby i order to save on transport costs? If I locate myself in a city centre I feel that transport links would be easier to meet up with prospective clients. Due to the fact that my clients could be located mainly across the UK, being in a large city like Manchester could give be an able amount of work. However the rent prices for office space within city centres is rather high so there is a trade of to be considered here.

My potential clients would generally be up to date with technology. Graphic design is a technology based field so my prospective clients will also be media aware. They may use the Internet and the adobe software, they may also be up to date with graphic design journals such as creative review and graphik magazine.

I need to ensure that I have a good reputation as a designer. I want to ensure a high level of customer care in order to become a successful freelancer if that is the direction I take.

Task 2- segmentation of two consumers

Task 2- defining my market

demographics

This could vary as a graphic designer/illustrator as different briefs will be aimed at different target markets etc. For example:
A campaign for mother care would have a target market of parents of young children/ parents to be/grandparents/childminders.
However a advertisement for a new sports car would have a target market of young possible male professionals/businessmen with a lot of disposable income.


geographic factors

How location could affect cost, for me this could be a high rent for an office space in the centre of Manchester and the trade-off between a high rent for a small studio in a popular area to maybe a larger unit in a smaller, cheaper location. The location of where I am situated could possibility generate more business as if I am in a large city centre I could benefit from a better and more productive client relationship as I am easily accessible for my client due to better transport links in inner city areas.
The large population density of a city such as Manchester could also bring in more business if I am working freelance or for a company as there is greater passing trade and a improved chance of being noticed for example The North West had a population of 6.9 million in mid-2007,an increase of 1.0 per cent since 1997. This compares with an overall increase of 4.6 per cent for the UK over the same period (http://www.statistics.gov.uk/).

(http://www.statistics.gov.uk/)

The above diagram shows that in 2007 the population density of Manchester was 2,500 people per sq km, this compares to near by Lancaster which has just 100-249 people per sq km. This proves that if I situate myself within Manchester city centre there will be a vast amount of increase with the amount of consumers I can target nearby. However this would also mean increased competition, which will be a factor to take into account.

psychology

I have values as a young designer. With increasing knowledge about environmental factors that are effecting us I like to ensure that I do my bit to keep environmental repercussions at a minimum. I have a keep interest in second hand goods! This may result in re-using existing materials and products and transferring them and evolving their purpose within my design. For example I like to collect old fabrics and use them in illustrative collages. This I feel is a good way to reuse existing materials and avoid wasting paper unnecessarily. Sustainable design is important to me and minimising the use of non- renewable resources. Recycled paper is something that I like to use aswell not only for its environmental benefits but its aesthetic qualities too! Choosing non-toxic paper coating and sustainably-produced or recycled paper is a value that I hope to use more within my design.


behavior

Good business and consumer relationships is an important way to build a reputable rapour. According to Forbes. com IKEA are ranked 4th in their list of reputable companies.



Companies such as The Reputation Institute specialise in working with many of the most highly regarded organisations in the world as large multinationals know the importance of reputation as happy consumers mean more revenue. Important factors to consumers are trust, esteem, admiration and good feeling and when I graduate I want to ensure that customers that I have get a good quality product and an excellent level of service.

Task 1: my marketing mix

When looking at the marketing communicating mix, I can evaluate each of the four P's in relation to me as a designer.

Product - First of all my product is me as a graphic designer/ illustrator. The product will also be what I produce, whether it be illustrations which could be contextualised within a child's book or promotional materials for a company such as a website or advertisements. As I have many skills in different areas within my field the products that I create will be diverse. Depending on clients budgets and the briefs that are set, will also effect the product produced. Design companies such as Seymour Powell take a diverse approach to the range of products that they produce, whether it be reinventing the horse saddle or inventing Felix the cat. They create a variety of products that target different markets and their briefs have been set by a wide range of companies. Responding to consumer needs is important when producing products and will effect the success of them.




Screen grabs Taken from Seymour Powell's website

Many of the products that I produce will be tangible such as an illustration or a postcard. However the products may be augmented if I were to frame them or print an illustrated t-shirt. I could describe myself of the products that I produce in different ways in order to generate interest. This could be including features in my work such as marking my illustrations with "limited addition" or writing 1/10 on prints. This will show the customer that what they are purchasing is one of only a few that have been made. I often screen print posters that are hand printed. I could use the word handmade on my product to show the consumer that it is original and not mass produced.

Place – Being a designer, my product may be distributed in a variety of places depending on the product. For example illustations for a sale in Selferidges may be used on promotional materials such as posters or could be used for an in-store shop front. However a brand identity for Whittard's Tea may be seen on their website and on the bag and products within the store. Marketing channels of the product will be important to get my product to the the consumer. For example if I produce an illustration for The Guardian newspaper the illustration would need to be transported to where it is inserted in the newspaper, then the paper would be printed via a rotary printing press and the paper would then be packaged and sold. Finally the paper would be bought and read by the consumer in their home or on the train etc. Using a retailer would offer me a fixed location, such as a department store or a boutique to sell my product, this would offer me a good location in prime spot where my product can be seen. It would also enable my work to be sold in a concentration of similar businesses such as other illustrators whether is be book, or t-shirt based etc. However competition within a department store may hinder the sale of my products unlessI have a good USP. The benefits to my consumers would be the convenience of my product to be situated in an easily accessible location and I would reach a broader market. As i am still in university the best places to sell my product will be via an online store on my website which I hope to set up in the new year, or at craft fares as they are cheap to get involved with.


Price – The average sallary for a graphic designer is £25,000 according to http://www.salarytrack.co.uk/.



However price will depend on lots of factors and my income will depend on where I work or what I charge.
The price will also be the amount a customer is willing to pay for a particular product. The price will be determined by a number of factors including competition of what other designers charge per hour or per brief. The cost of producing design work will be a huge factor when I decide what to charge a client. For example I have to take into consideration time costs, stock and ink cost, the scale of the publication and how many of what I design will be produced and what production method will be used, may it be digital printing or screen printing and how many colours are used etc.
Expenses and overheads will need to be considered in order to calculate a successful price that will be fair and consistent to consumers, but will also give me a good profit return.
Pricing strategies such as competitive pricing so pricing my design just lower that competitors could attract business to me initiallyas I get started up in the field, I may also price the same as other Designers however offer more i.e give myself a USP such as if I create an illustration/ etching that I sell I may offer to frame it this may help to build good customer relationships. When pricing what I want to charge I need to be aware of cost plus pricing as I need to have by labour and time covered at least. My hourly rate would work out as the time I have taken on a particulat design plus my overheads such as rent for a studio or lighting, heating etc. If I was to undertake a one of brief for a client, I would look to charge the cost of my time and expenses. I need to ensure that my pricing id fair and consistent and represents value for money. When discussing pricing with a client I would leave room for negotiatio and still enure I allow myself room for growth in the field.

Promotion - As I am now in my second year self promotion is key. I already have a blog that has been up and running for 2 years and it is an easy way to show potential clients and employers what design you create and how you think. in our second module, design for print, I hope to set up a website which I feel will establish myself fully within the world of design. Business cards are affordable and an instant way of promoting one self . Usual business cards are a7 landscape, however changing the format and using innovative stock and type may generate myself a USP. Also general networking on websites such as Facebook is useful as a young designer. Flyer's in general I feel are a waste of time any money and often get discarded so I would tend not to use this to promote myself. I am hopefully going to be involved in an exhibition in April with a few others from my course, it is early days, however this would be an excellent promotional tool and a priceless way to get myself on the may. Discounts of my work may temporarily boost sales, howveer it is expensive and maybe irrelevant to my field of design. When I do get established, I could use direct marketing and offer customers invitiations to an exhibition for example, this would create a personal touch and help build a good reputaion howver it is potentionally expensive and a high cost per consumer.

Task 1

Based on the principles that have been introduced in lecture 1 of the Enterprise module, investigate who you are as a creative in relation to who is out there looking for creative talent.

MY SKILLS

As a second year graphic design student I have started to develop the following skills
- layout-
starting to develop the ability to generate a successful layout from type/images that have been supplied to me. This may be achieved via Software such as in design which is often used when dealing with either magazine spreads, books or newspapers.
-typography-
learning in-depth principles of type, such as point size, kerning, picas. What font to choose for different publications. Historical contexts of type.
-printing techniques-
learning a variety of skills in both digital printing and traditional printing processes such as
screen printing, letterpress and etching.
-drawing-
increasingly developing my creative skills as an illustrator.

Who needs my skills?

graphic design agencies
Mother
Love

prospective clients
individuals or businesses who are in need of a graphic designer. As I want to be a diverse designer, my prospective client will be varied, they may be an individual seeking some illustrative design pieces or they could be a business looking for a graphic design identity via a website or promotional materials.

What skills do I need to develop?

software skills
In order to be a successful post graduate I have to learn the adobe suite in depth so I can compete with all the other graphic designers who will be graduating when I do in 2011. I will develop these skills through timetabled sessions we are currently undergoing and through personal exploration of the software in my own time.
image skills
I want to further my understanding of the visual language as an image maker, this will be furthered when I opt for the image module after Christmas.

typography skills
I am currently learning about the principles of typography however I still want to develop them further, I will be able to develop these skills when I complete the 10 week introduction to type that we are currently undergoing.

What are your professional/creative aims and how do they relate to the needs of the world at large?

After I graduate I aim to work for a design studio and work on live briefs within a business. I would not dismiss the idea of working as a freelance designer but that is something I would want to work towards once I have spent time working and developing my skills in industry. Within my course a lot of the final outputted design is produced on Mac's as the graphic design industry is technologically advance. I find the concept of spending all my time in front of a Mac a little intimidating, as I love the art of the hand crafted, so I am still hesitant as to if I want to be a graphic designer as I have a multitude of skills that could be better applied to a different sector of the creative industry. Due to the fact that there are around 20,000 design graduates appearing every year, I need to have an extremely diverse skill set to stand a good competitive change of getting a job or earning a placement.
One of the many good things about my course is that the skill set that I am learning are invaluable and they could be transferred to another area of the industry that I am better suited in. Recently I have signed up to working on Leeds Universities backstage team where I will be able to develop set-designing skills which is a design field that I would like to get experience in.
After speaking to a good friend who is currently working for Work Club, which is a design company in London, I was able to get a contact for a design company in Manchester called Love who have worked on live briefs for companies such as Nike and Sony. I was lucky enough to take some work in and get a feel for the place. It was a brilliant opportunity and I have been able to secure work experience there in the new year. I feel that this is a positive start for myself as a designer within the design industry.
Earning a decent salary will allow me to afford rent and the general cost of living that I need to earn to satisfy my safety needs and basic physiological needs such as food and water according to Malow's Hierarchy of Needs.
If I fulfill my professional aim of being recognised as a quirky and imaginative designer within the creative industry my self esteem needs may be atualised such as earning a good reputation as a proffessional and reputable designer. Elevating my status as a designer and becoming an expert in the field of design will also help to increase my self esteem needs on Maslow Hierarchy of needs. I am an avid film watcher and I enjoy european rail travel. These indervidual persutes, if continually persued will help me to reach self actualisation as they will give me intellectual growth and self expression.