Taking Care of Business // Stationary templates

http://www.pixeden.com/psd-mock-up-templates/stationery-branding-mock-up-vol-1-2

I found some stationery templates for branding and identity. I chose the above one to upload our branding onto.

I switched the orientation of the business cards so that they are portrait, and erased a template for a letter because it seemed unnecessary.

Ideally we would each have an individual business card with our name on it for a personal touch.

Taking Care of Business // Photoshoot

Last minute we had the idea of doing a fun, casual photoshoot with pieces of fruit. This is because we identify strongly as 'fresh', and whats fresher than fresh fruit..(except our work)?

We think that it adds personality to our studio, and adds a tongue-in-cheek vibe. 

We made gifs of each of us that consist of individual photographs that were created by throwing fruit up in the air below each person to make a floating effect.

Me!

We are going to add these to our presentation.

Taking Care of Business // Fresh Prints: Final presentation and details

Manifesto

Who are we?

Fresh Prints is a collectively run studio, based in Leeds, founded by 5 young Graphic Designers from across Europe.

What do we do?

Publications, ad campaigns, installations, branding... Any work that primarily uses print to communicate.

We believe in embracing new technology, as well as using traditional techniques in a progressive way to create fresh, informed design.

Why choose us?

We work methodically to create beautiful things.

We want our work to be informed by both our experience and your needs, by creating an honest partnership with the client, wherever they are.

Attention to detail and knowledge of our craft helps us create vibrant, exciting and forward thinking design.

What do we stand for?

Honest, gimmick free working practice.

Critical engagement.

Ethically sound business practice.

Hands on design.

Yearly Costing

Wages: 80,000

Rent: 5,000

Printer: 600

Adobe cc: 3000

Insurance: 360

Materials: 1800

Accountant: 300

Total: 91,060

Required Income

Weekly: 1751.2

Per Person: 350.2

Per Day: 70.04

Price Per Day Per Person: 180

Price Per Hour Per Person: 30

Total weekly income of studio at full capacity: 4500

Running of the Studio

Day to day, we work as a collective to find and work on briefs to support the whole studio.

Our size gives us flexibility to work on projects either as individuals, small groups or an entire studio. We play to our strengths, and assign briefs and tasks to those whose skills suit them most.

The management of the studio is democratic, we have monthly business meetings and daily design catch-ups.

Target Market

Fresh Prints aims to be a viable company within the existing design industry both in Leeds and further afield.

As a relatively new company with a relative lack of experience, we will look for clients amongst small businesses and organisations, aiming to undercut larger studios and provide a more bespoke service.

Promotion

Our main outlet for displaying our work will be our website which will be updated regularly and carry the brand identity, an About page and a Contact Us.

We will also attempt to amass followers using popular social networks Twitter, Instagram and Facebook where our work will also be displayed. We realise the huge potential of these global networks.

Mock up of our branding identity, featuring business cards

Taking Care of Business // Fresh Prints: Manifesto development

Ideas I personally had to base our manifesto on:

• Print based design
• progressive and breaking boundaries
• conceptual
• up and coming creatives - 'Fresh'
• co-operative - fairness and equality
• ethics
• passion about good design
• none of this 'trendy'
• specialise in print because you can touch and feel it

We had a meeting about the manifesto and our ideas and concluded that the following is a good outline and we should all go away and have a go at it.

• We are new designers (fresh)
• We specialise in PRINT
• our work is mainly hand rendered
• traditional techniques in progressive ways
• our work is mostly editorial, advertising and branding
• all our design is well informed

We then decided that answering our own questions would be a clear and concise way to explain our selves:

Who are we?

What do we do?

How do we stand out/why choose us?

My individual try at the manifesto:

Who are we?

We are Fresh Prints, a collective of five young creatives with a fresh outlook and passion for design.

What do we do?

We specialise in print based design, because we love holding a great piece of design in our hands and interacting with it.

We work on editorial, advertising and branding while focusing on hand rendered design, as we believe this is how to create original work that could only be made by us. 

Why choose us?

Our diverse range of skills paired with a fresh perspective on design helps us to deliver beautiful, effective creations.

We want our work to be informed by your values and needs, so whether you're nearby or across the globe, we'll make sure we discover what makes our clients tick.

Taking Care of Business // Our identity as a studio

As a group we came up with key words we want to identify as:

• unique
• friendly
• good materials
• vibrant
• quality
• high standard
• progressive
• hand-rendered/digital(?)

These will help us to form our manifesto.

Name ideas:

• Stripe - most of us in the group wear stripes very often, so we thought it might represent us in a lighthearted way.
• Dot - coming from 'dot to dot', connecting ideas and outcomes clearly and effectively.
• Fresh Prints - I said 'Fresh Prince of Bel Air' jokingly as an idea which sparked the idea in Alec... it is an appropriate play on words.

The name idea 'Fresh Prints' made us think that we should focus on print design, which would help us in terms of identity as it is narrowed down.

However, we don't want to come across as solely practicing screen printing and the likes, so we need to focus on how to make it clear we are about poster design etc, anything that is printed out (which is most design).

Taking Care of Business // Studio space & costs

We have looked into spaces we would hypothetically set up our business in Leeds.

Duke Studios
a space for freelancers and groups of people to work, Duke studios seems very appropriate for creatives. However it seems that we would not be able to decorate and furnish it as we please, and some of the decor is a little too relaxed and not to our tastes.

Corn Exchange
The are a lot of empty spaces in the corn exchange, which would be good for a studio as the location is perfect and there are already creative businesses running there.

We found a nice big office space in Dudley, near Leeds. It proves to be more affordable than a space that large in Leeds city centre, however we all felt a little put off because of the location (but when talking to John he told us that location doesn't matter).
We have swayed more towards this space for a studio, which the pricing for is around £5,000 a year.

Costs we roughly calculated per year...
Wages: £80,000
Rent: £5000
Printer: £600
Adobe CC: £3000
Insurance: £360
Materials: £1800
Total: £90,760
Average required weekly income: £1745
Per person: £349
Price per day per person: £150

Taking Care of Business // Design studio research

We found some design studios around the world that produce quality work and have clear identities.

Five Thousand Fingers

Anti

Sorbet

Graphical House

Nine Sixty

Moby Digg

As a group we have discussed the features some of the studios have, such as how they describe and sell themselves. Here are a couple we read:

Anti

BIG IDEAS, VISUAL EXCELLENCY.Anti is a multi-disciplinary agency offering creative solutions to clients from every part of the world. We believe in simplicity, storytelling and creating fans.If you start telling about your passions and believes it will create an authentic sharing of experiences and passion between client and brand. Experiences recruit fans, and fans create financial opportunities. Tomorrows number one brands are the ones who can secure a strong concept with a correct visual signature.

Sorbet

Sorbet is a multidiscipline design studio based in Auckland, New Zealand. We help brands gain clarity, value and a collective vision through design.The motto is simple: tell your story, and tell it well.We help our clients establish a clear direction and identity, then match that with a strong design aesthetic that encapsulates exactly what their brand is about. Each project is meticulously researched, every avenue explored, with a bespoke visual language being the end result. It's more than just a logo to us, it's your story.

Both studios seem to describe themselves as being 'multi-discipline', which we discussed at the start is something that we wanted to be as we all bring something different to the table.
However we have now decided that it would make this project more straight forward if we narrowed down our practice. This will make it easier to create an identity for ourselves.

Taking Care of Business // Co-operative businesses

Definition:

Co-operative businesses are owned and run by and for their members, whether they are customers, employees or residents. As well as giving members an equal say and share of the profits, co-operatives act together to build a better world.

Co-operatives are a flexible business model. They can be set up in different ways, using different legal structures, depending on what works for the members.

The definition of a co-operative business is that they are owned and run by the members - the people who benefit from the co-operative's services.

Although they carry out all kinds of business, all co-operative businesses have core things in common.

Co-operatives want to trade successfully – they are businesses, not charities, after all.

Co-operatives share their profits

Members, such as farmers or freelancers, tenants or taxi drivers, can often do better by working together. And sharing the profit is a way to keep it fair and make it worthwhile.

Rather than rewarding outside investors, a co-operative shares its profits amongst the members.

Co-operatives are owned by people like you

Co-operatives are a business model that exists to serve its members, whether they are the customers, the employees, or the local community.

The members are the owners, with an equal say in what the co-operative does.

As well as getting the products and services they need, members help shape the decisions their co-operative makes.

Across the UK, co-operatives are owned by more than 15 million people – and these numbers keep on growing.

Co-operatives are a success around the world

This mix of self-help and mutual aid has made co-operative business an international force for good.

100 million people around the world are employed by co-operatives, while nearly 1 billion are members.

http://www.uk.coop/what-co-operative

Some graphic design businesses I found that are co-operative:

http://www.calverts.coop/

http://www.wave.coop/index.html

Taking Care of Business // Legal business structures

You must choose a structure for your business which will define your legal responsibilities, like:

• the paperwork you must fill in to get started
• the taxes you’ll have to manage and pay
• how you can personally take the profit your business makes
• your personal responsibilities if your business makes a loss

You can change your business structure after you’ve started up if you find a new structure suits you better.

Types of business

The main types are:

• sole trader
• limited company
• business partnership

Sole trader

As a sole trader, you run your own business as an individual. You can keep all your business’s profits after you’ve paid tax on them.

You can employ staff. ‘Sole trader’ means you’re responsible for the business, not that you have to work alone.

You’re personally responsible for any losses your business makes.

Limited company

A limited company is an organisation that you can set up to run your business - it’s responsible in its own right for everything it does and its finances are separate to your personal finances.

Any profit it makes is owned by the company, after it pays Corporation Tax. The company can then share its profits.

Ownership

Every limited company has ‘members’ - the people or organisations who own shares in the company.

Directors are responsible for running the company. Directors often own shares, but they don’t have to.

'Ordinary' business partnership

In a business partnership, you and your business partner (or partners) personally share responsibility for your business.

You can share all your business’s profits between the partners. Each partner pays tax on their share of the profits.

You’re personally responsible for your share of:

• any losses your business makes
• bills for things you buy for your business, like stock or equipment

Limited partnerships

The liability for debts that can’t be paid in a limited partnership is split among partners.

Partners’ responsibilities differ as:

‘general’ partners can be personally liable for all the partnerships’ debts

‘limited’ partners are only liable up to the amount they initially invest in the business

General partners are also responsible for managing the business.

Limited liability partnerships (LLPs)

The partners in an LLP aren’t personally liable for debts the business can’t pay - their liability is limited to the amount of money they invest in the business.

Partners’ responsibilities and share of the profits are set out in an LLPagreement. ‘Designated members’ have extra responsibilities.

Co-operative

Owned and run by and for their members, whether they are customers, employees or residents. As well as giving members an equal say and share of the profits, co-operatives act together to build a better world.

https://www.gov.uk/business-legal-structures/overview