Following on from last yr things i wanted to improve were
-time management skills
-use workshops more effectively
-experiment more
-keep up with blogging everyday
-become more aware of the industry
-work placement next yr
-focus my design practice
-make my work more professional
______________Personal Profession Development / Design Strategy / Design Presence______________
Tuesday, 31 May 2011
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
Contacts!!
I created a new contact, Craig from InchPunch design through one of my friends after speaking to him about my degree course he spoke of a friend that might be able to help me with a placement opportunity. One to look into!
Tuesday, 3 May 2011
Enterprise Evaluation
The Enterprise and Innovation module has given me a good insight and understanding into my future and business opportunites. It is easy to run along with the degree programme and forget that we are in a little bubble and there is a huge design world out there waiting for us. This module has allowed me to build confidence and awareness of the realities of working as a Graphic Designer and the huge competition that is out there and has gave me the ability to be more employable against my graduate collegues.
I found the tasks quite difficult as to source what weaknesses companies had and compare myself to these companies as we are in opposite ends of our design path. Although they linked with the lecture well and backed up what I had already learnt I found it difficult to apply these. Also the written side of this course has always been a downfall of mine therefore I didn't enjoy the written summaries for the tasks.
For the final aspect of the module we sourced a group together based on our joint interests in the area of design in which we'd like to work in and then looked at our skills base and specialisms were very broad therefore enabling us to create a multi-disciplinary design studio which is the type of studio I would like to work for. Our group presentation came together well in the end but was a struggle to find time for us all to meet due to optional modules crossing over and the mass of holidays/ bank holidays etc. Although our meetings were very productive and we managed to get a lot done. I took on the role of sorting all the finances, legal side and resources for our studio and found it difficult to access information without actually setting up a real company. Luckily my relatives have a lot of experience of setting up their own companies which they could then direct me where to access the right information. A lot of websites needed and information on legal services were provided by Bridget in the lectures and this proved to be highly useful within the work i needed for the presentation.
This Module has definately gave me a few pointers in how to set up my own business or just get myself out there into the design world. I really enjoyed learning about other companies and how they started up, I think its given us all a lot of hope to where we could end up.
I found the tasks quite difficult as to source what weaknesses companies had and compare myself to these companies as we are in opposite ends of our design path. Although they linked with the lecture well and backed up what I had already learnt I found it difficult to apply these. Also the written side of this course has always been a downfall of mine therefore I didn't enjoy the written summaries for the tasks.
For the final aspect of the module we sourced a group together based on our joint interests in the area of design in which we'd like to work in and then looked at our skills base and specialisms were very broad therefore enabling us to create a multi-disciplinary design studio which is the type of studio I would like to work for. Our group presentation came together well in the end but was a struggle to find time for us all to meet due to optional modules crossing over and the mass of holidays/ bank holidays etc. Although our meetings were very productive and we managed to get a lot done. I took on the role of sorting all the finances, legal side and resources for our studio and found it difficult to access information without actually setting up a real company. Luckily my relatives have a lot of experience of setting up their own companies which they could then direct me where to access the right information. A lot of websites needed and information on legal services were provided by Bridget in the lectures and this proved to be highly useful within the work i needed for the presentation.
This Module has definately gave me a few pointers in how to set up my own business or just get myself out there into the design world. I really enjoyed learning about other companies and how they started up, I think its given us all a lot of hope to where we could end up.
Monday, 2 May 2011
END OF YR 3 -GOALS
By this time we will have a well established company with a strong, constant client list. We will be known for being the face or emerging creative talents and renowned for our fresh, next level outlook on projects.
We will now be able to:
-Raise wages possibly up by £2500 each
-Look at increasing percentage of pension contributions
-Sell shares in our business allowing us to expand.
-Look at expanding to larger premises (we could do this in the same building)
-Look at expanding throughout another city
-Take on interns and placements with a possible vacancy for a fresh young designer to help us increase workload we can take on.
Because of large profits made in this business we can now look at doing self-initiated briefs on large scale to represent and market our brand. This would give us the chance to be as creative as we like and get press coverage which will boost our name further!
We will now be able to:
-Raise wages possibly up by £2500 each
-Look at increasing percentage of pension contributions
-Sell shares in our business allowing us to expand.
-Look at expanding to larger premises (we could do this in the same building)
-Look at expanding throughout another city
-Take on interns and placements with a possible vacancy for a fresh young designer to help us increase workload we can take on.
Because of large profits made in this business we can now look at doing self-initiated briefs on large scale to represent and market our brand. This would give us the chance to be as creative as we like and get press coverage which will boost our name further!
Costs
YEAR 1
Start up costs = £22,352.81
based on (rounded numbers):
-£10000 computers
-£8000 software
-£1500 furniture
-£500 research
Total overheads for Year 1
-£43372.86
If we take out a loan of £50,000 from the bank this will cover overheads for year 1, the overhead includes a 10% loan repayment
our total employment costs are £146,800 based on each earning £30,000 salary and a 5% pension plan and a 9% NI contribution (this will increase with the rise of salary)
we will work 210 days annually, 8 hrs a day.
which means our daily rate each is £214.48
which means our hourly rate each is £26.81
To break even in year one we will need to earn £180,000 approx to cover costs.
Our Year 1 annual turnover would be £199,991.81
If we raise our hourly rate to £29.76 then we can get a Gross Profit Margin of 11%
Which gives us a profit of £19,000 for year 1.
YEAR 2
Overheads drop dramitically due to no start up equipment.
Which means our hourly rate drops to £23.65 each
If we keep the rate the same as year one it means we have added a GPM of 26% for year 2
Which gives us a profit of £41,000
YEAR 3
Increase GPM to 35% by raising hourly rate by £3
- we will be well established by now so this will be ok
Profit for year 3 = £60,000
Start up costs = £22,352.81
based on (rounded numbers):
-£10000 computers
-£8000 software
-£1500 furniture
-£500 research
Total overheads for Year 1
-£43372.86
If we take out a loan of £50,000 from the bank this will cover overheads for year 1, the overhead includes a 10% loan repayment
our total employment costs are £146,800 based on each earning £30,000 salary and a 5% pension plan and a 9% NI contribution (this will increase with the rise of salary)
we will work 210 days annually, 8 hrs a day.
which means our daily rate each is £214.48
which means our hourly rate each is £26.81
To break even in year one we will need to earn £180,000 approx to cover costs.
Our Year 1 annual turnover would be £199,991.81
If we raise our hourly rate to £29.76 then we can get a Gross Profit Margin of 11%
Which gives us a profit of £19,000 for year 1.
YEAR 2
Overheads drop dramitically due to no start up equipment.
Which means our hourly rate drops to £23.65 each
If we keep the rate the same as year one it means we have added a GPM of 26% for year 2
Which gives us a profit of £41,000
YEAR 3
Increase GPM to 35% by raising hourly rate by £3
- we will be well established by now so this will be ok
Profit for year 3 = £60,000
Our Calculations
Our estimations for our salary are based on the calculations we did for our cost of living... mine was £21,632.60 but this was based on living local to Leeds and sharing with my partner. We have chosen a salary of £30,000 based on the fact we will be paying London prices and also can charge more because we are in London.
Working it out!
Based on start us costs researched. Equipment and resources needed... these are our first calculations.
Working it out!
Based on start us costs researched. Equipment and resources needed... these are our first calculations.
Refined calculations after more research and talk with group for spending in year 1.
Budget for marketing in year 1
Needs to be lots of marketing in year 1, to get our name out there and get money coming in ASAP!
Business Cards-
Mailouts-
Website-
Blog- FREE
Design Week-
Metro-
Budget £5000 for year 1
This will drop considerally in following years as we want to keep a lighter yet constant marketing strategy to keep us fresh and never forgotten.
Business Cards-
Mailouts-
Website-
Blog- FREE
Design Week-
Metro-
Budget £5000 for year 1
This will drop considerally in following years as we want to keep a lighter yet constant marketing strategy to keep us fresh and never forgotten.
Sunday, 1 May 2011
Books and mags
We will already have quite a lot of books to bring each, but keeping up to date with the design world is a must therefore we will take out annual subscriptions to graphic journals such as:
-Creative Review
-Idn
-Grafik
Aswell as design news weekly
Also we will probably buy 1 book per month, usually £40-£50 but could get a lot cheaper on amazon.
My estimate for books and magazines subcriptions per year is:
-Creative Review
-Idn
-Grafik
Aswell as design news weekly
Also we will probably buy 1 book per month, usually £40-£50 but could get a lot cheaper on amazon.
My estimate for books and magazines subcriptions per year is:
Rough Idea of Office Furniture costs
d3 office supplies give you an account manager that helps you to figure out what you really need and a budget to suit you. each year they will also review your order and cancel anything you do not need. Unfortunately they do not have an online shopping service so i can't check prices!
4 linking tables so we can save on space and work together as a team
A comfortable supporting swivel chair.
Do we need a meeting table if the office already has one downstairs?
This could be used to layout work and get the team together to discuss work.
Also any crafting work.
4 x normal basic chairs for around small work table
Storage systems for graphic journals and books
Stationary Cupboard
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