Etsy Donation//Harry Potter Society.

http://thehpalliance.org/

A couple of days ago I got an email through on my Etsy account (from which I regularly sell design work- of which my 'Harry birthday' Harry Potter themed cards go down particularly well with the massive fandom that surrounds it) asking if I would be happy to contribute some of my work to the University of Edinburgh Harry Potter Society sale. Ordinarily, being a pauper student, this isn't something I would usually think of, but was happy to donate a few items (totalling around £25 RRP) to the charity, set up in honour of JK Rowling's character which supports charities around the world (more information of which can be found at the link above). Felt good to do, and hopefully there will be plenty more opportunities in the future!

Design Production for digital//Module feedback.

Module feedback I received today from my Design Production for Digital module- really happy with the grade I received, and quite surprised to be honest! Not at all shocked that the design outcome section of the module grading was my weakest area, as, admittedly, I found the design production stage quite difficult in this entirely new and (comparatively) complex software programme. Although not my best grade, I am pleased with what I got out of the module and feel that if I were to repeat it there is so much more I could have done with it, or could have learnt from it to go on to utilise in designing a much crisper, professional- looking design outcome.


Again, like with the majority of my projects, I'm pleased with the grade I received for my research and analysis and hope to keep this up for all of my projects in the future- however,  I need to balance it a little more to ensure that my design outcomes are of equal grading measure.

Enterprise//Enterprise Group//Presentation.

The group presentation for Enterprise was today- 'Book Klub' being Group 5, were assigned to a presenting slot in the middle of the afternoon, which, fortunately, gave us plenty of time to rehearse in the morning and throughout lunchtime, as we had, unfortunately, with printing commitments yesterday, had little time to go over the finer details.
Although incredibly nervous, I feel that the presentation went quite well- the slides were visual and engaging, as well as the "leave behinds" and printed hand outs which were well received by our peers as well as assessing tutor Jane.
I feel, personally, there were quite a few points that were missed that we could have mentioned, though time was limited- and all the information is blogged and recorded, so at least that was a consolation. Whilst discussing certain topics in the presentation it came tor my realisation (as well as in reflection of other people's presentations) that some aspects of the planning and business marketing scheme, in particular, were missing or perhaps not considered as carefully as they should have been- such as interest on shop stock which wasn't properly accounted for.
Although Jane, in particular, had a lot of questions for us at the end of the presentation, fortunately I think that myself and the other members of the group answered them with ease and a clear understanding and knowledge of our company (though we will see how clearly that was communicated from the grade results!). Also, we had no negative statements or reactions, so I feel that going for a slightly different angle  (essentially a retail business as opposed to a creative agency) was a worthwhile risk as we offered something original and unique.


But, perhaps most importantly, I'm SO glad it's over.
Nerves like no other.

Enterprise//Enterprise Group//Thank you to designers.

Sent this quick email this evening to the designers that helped us by contributing their items to our proposed stock for our retail outlet, with a link to the zine in which their work was featured as a quick thank you (and, when I personally contribute work, such as, to a student designer's magazine, I always feel it's really interesting to see how your work has been applied). Hopefully this will keep us in good connection and communication for the future as you can never underestimate the importance of both networking and politeness in my book!

Enterprise//Enterprise Group//Preparation for presentation.

A photograph of all of the collective items that we took in for today's presentation (feedback and notes of which will be published as soon as possible). The business plan and zine for Jane (the assessing tutor) for a closer look at the details of the business, prompt cards which I made up last night for useful notes and information, and, as a promotional tool to pass around the fellow students in the presentation session- business cards, as duplexed by Matt, events maps which I made up yesterday, stickers which I printed off yesterday evening, and prints that we will hand out from the "in house print designers" (Matt, Chris, Sarah and I) as an example of the work available 

in the retail outlet.

Enterprise//Enterprise Group//Business Plan.

Yesterday, taking the notes from the business plan written up from the original online Natwest business plan, I re-wrote (tweaks here and there) the notes originally put down by Sarah and Chris, with the final additional information of the finances as calculated over the weekend.
I put the information into an InDesign file to ensure that it was more structured and readable for the tutors, as well as understandable for ourselves. 
Originally, I wanted to take more time to bind the document for presentation's sake, but, unfortunately time was a real issue (printing at 3.30am...).
Originally, I was also going to make a separate finance document, though I feel that the basics are well covered in the business plan, all other other calculations and notes are available on my blog in both written notes and word document PDF format.

Enterprise//Enterprise Group//Prompt notes.

Another important, though simple design factor for tomorrow's presentation is prompt cards for notes, facts, data, statistics and general reminders for the topics and slides in the presentation that we will each be talking about, in order to keep the text on the screen at an absolute minimum, therefore keeping it as minimal as possible.
This afternoon, we all sat down together, discussing and writing down what we would say and collectively wrote short notes together, which I then took on this evening to create simple blue and white prompt cards which matched the aqua/turquoise spot colour to match the branding and identity of the 'Book Klub' company.


** (Matt and Chris have title case 100% opacity as requested for their type for ease of readability)

Enterprise//Enterprise Group//Final Zine.

The finalised first edition of the 'Book Klub' zine, as uploaded by group member Chris. Designed by type and editorial specialists Sarah and Chris, with researched designers from my original designer contact and sourcing, and Matt's branding of the company, this design outcome is a great example of the combined efforts of our group throughout this enterprise module- each significantly contributing to the final outcomes for a well-rounded and versatile company and retail stock- some great designers showcased here, really pleased with what we have achieved in terms of research and contacts development, hopefully the presentation will match!

Enterprise//Group Enterprise//Accounts typed up.

Written up notes from the weekend's accounts and finance session- making it a little bit easier for both myself, and the tutors to read! This PDF documents the entire process of calculating our costs and the ability to achieve a profit, but I will now go on to condense this applying only the correct calculations into our financial plan for a clear, direct documented insight into how we will manage our finances for the first three years of business.


* MISSING NOTES FOR YEAR III OF BUSINESS- forgot to type up! Revert back to hand written notes for more details. 

Enterprise//Enterprise Groups//Printed events maps.

Going to print, cut and fold the events maps that had been redesigned with different colours and varying typefaces this afternoon, I came across a slight problem in terms with the alignment of the double- sided print- resulting in an uneven fold divide which was pronounced by the printed text. Having already attempted various different methods of folding with three of the prints, I didn't want to risk any more, so, instead, decided to mimic the rolled- up tube style that we are distributing prints in in order to preserve the information on them- still being able to function as a readable text as well as a poster design (on the reverse side)- with added blue elastic bands on the tubes for consistency- because the small details can make a big difference!

Enterprise//Enterprise Group//STICKERS!

To make our presentation tomorrow a little more exciting, we have been considering creating leave behinds (to go along with the business cards that Matt has created, along with the event maps I have printed and designed). Two ideas came about today, the first being donating prints (of the designs featured as stock items in the zine) to the audience during a hand out session, and the second, a small little detail- making stickers! I took the hexagon design adopted by Chris and Sarah's design in the zine with the spot colour used throughout. A simple but fun additional "take away" item to go along with posters, maps and business cards tomorrow- hopefully to help engage with the company, and to be remembered once we leave the presentation session.

Enterprise//Enterprise Group//Events map edits.

Having gone away to work on our individual tasks over the weekend, Matt returned with a business card design to fit into our existing branding for the company. However, deciding to duplex the business card with existing blue paper stock from the college library meant that this blue would differ slightly from the spot colour that Chris and Sarah have gone on to use in putting the zine together (more pictures to be shown/blogged at a later date). Therefore, for greater consistency in the "brand" image, I decided to use two blues as spot colours- the blue spot colour in the zine, as well as a swatch sample from the paper selected by Matt.
As we were now also printing in the digital suite, B&W/colour would make no difference in price, therefore, we decided to go the whole hog with the brand colours- making further edits to the design, also including adding more Bebas (the logo typeface) and the finalised logo design(s) as used by Matt on the business card designs.
I will have these printed and ready for this evening having had them cut, folded, and finished.

Enterprise//Enterprise Group//Accounts.

The accumulation of eleven hours work today = the total accounts for the business for the first three years. These notes that I took today work the way through the projected footfall and total sales per day in the shop, the costs of events and exhibition stalls and income, calculated commission costs, living wage accounts, and specific TAX accounts.
The calculations also follow through to how profits will be made throughout the first year years, and how the business will survive.
Tomorrow, I will go on to create a PDF file in InDesign ready for print for a grided, structured document that will not only be easier to understand for blog information, but also to be able to print and bind for the tutors and asesores in the presentation on Tuesday for a full cashflow summary and projected finances for the business.


Please see the PDF note details above for full information and specific details throughout the finance plan.

Enterprise//Enterprise Group//Initial events map print test.

On Friday I took on the job of creating the hand out printed media for the presentation on Tuesday- creating an "events map" which showcases the events that the company will be networking and selling at throughout 2012 in a simple, visual format. I created an A3 square (shortest side A3 square= 297 x 297) map fold format to utilise a multiple number of pages in order to get as much information delivered as possible.

I then went on to create some test prints in the mac suites at Uni. Initially, we wanted to print 35 copies, enough for each person in the presentation including fellow Graphic Design students as well as assessing tutors. At 8p per double sided A3 this would cost £2.80, whereas colour would cost £35.00 at £1.00 per print- so we decided to keep the greyscale I had originally been working with!

However, when we test printed the designs- the B&W copy was heinously bad- really stripy and inconsistent (the printer paper approx. 80gsm stock probably wasn't helping...) and in colour, the greyscale map was printing blue... just terrible. Therefore, we have decided to compromise, and will print out x 10 copies at £1.00 each in the digital print suite on Monday, therefore, unfortunately not being able to give the maps as hand out keepsakes, but still being able to show and pass around in the presentation. To be blogged as soon as they have been printed and completed!