Monday, 30 January 2012

Enterprise lecture

Stash your cash
Looking after the money

Accounting

Keep track of who owes you money
See how much you are spending on materials and services
See the money coming in and going out
Make sure your not spending more than you earn

Invoices and Statements

Invoices is the bill, statement is the reminder

Essentials of an invoice: Business address, customers address, date, item by item details of service or product provided, total amount due.

Essentials of a statement: Same as invoice, with details of invoices unpaid.

Terms and conditions

Designed to protect your rights and interests
Costs
Delivery arrangements
Payment terms
Credit limits
Your right to charge interest on overdue amounts and claim compensation for recovery costs
A commitment to quality
Data protection

The Statement

Send out on due date or day before
Send one every month thereafter
How much is owed
How long it has been outstanding
A call to action

Accounting software

Quick books: £75
Online Quickbooks essentials: £19pm
Bank Tree: £26
Sage: £240

Accountant

Only use someone certified.

What do businesses spend money on?

Start up costs
Overheads- What you have to pay whether you have any clients or not.
Direct costs- Coat of producing work.

Start up costs

Spend cash on new equipment
Design website
Register company name
Design logo- make signs
Decorate premises
Launch party

...Many companies get a loan to cover these initial expenses
Pay back each month over 2-3 years

Where sto get the money from?
Barclays, Natwest, HSBC, Lloyds... but banks very rarely lend money to creative businesses
Crowd funding- find them online
The arts council, Yorkshire forward, Venture capitalists, Shareholders
prizes and awards: Shell live wire, Make your mark, BIPP, D&AD

What do investors want to know?

Marketing plan
How much money do you need?
How much money have you got?
How will you spend the money?
How will you pay it back?

Indirect costs

Utilities
Offices supplies
Equipment leases etc

Also known as... Overheads, fixed costs, the cost of doing business

Direct costs

A cost directly attributable to the manufacturing of a product, or what the customer takes away from them.

Tangible assets

Car, computer, manufacturing equipment etc

Intangible asset

Talent, reputation etc

The different between cost and price don't mix these words up.

Capital

The money, property and other valuables which collectively represent and wealth of an individual or business- what you are worth.

Capital assets

The money, property and other valuables.

Receipts, payments, cash flow or net payments.
Balance, Profit, Loss.

Open a separate bank account, get an accountant, gat a solicitor, Register your business with the inalnd revenue.

Business Link.
Startups.
HM Revenue & Customs.
CreativeChoices- Tshirts and suits.... Download for free.

Sunday, 29 January 2012

Leeds Print festival

This weekend I went to Leeds Print Festival, which was organised by Amber. It was amazing seeing some gorgeous prints, meeting new people and attending some truly inspiring talks. We received talks from Generation Press, Si Scott and Anthony Burrel. Every one of these talks excited me and have given me all the more motivation to pursue a career in Graphic Design. An amazing weekend. We even got some free samples of print and design.







Generation Press
This is the second talk that I have been to by Generation Press, still just as interesting as ever. It's great to see a graduate from our course doing so well.

What print is still commercially viable today, in the digital age. Print is exciting again, people want something physical, to touch, feel even smell.

A lot of printers are forced by the market to make cheap and quick prints, which devaluates the printing industry. Generation Press still strive for quality and perfection.

The surface of the paper determines the dot gain, something that needs to be taken into account when deciding between different stocks and transferring design from digital to print.

It is particularly hard to print photographs on uncoated stock, this is because you want a coated look with an uncoated feel, which is difficult.

Different techniques to colour edge, handcrafted and mechanical methods- Generation Press were very secretive about their process.

The Not For Commercial Use project was to comment on the relationship between graphic designers and printers.

Generation Press' branding was centralised around using their own coloured paper. They added their own pigments to the paper to make it unique. They named it after their colour technician, Barry(y)ie.












Si Scott

I love Si Scotts work, he has such a unique and personal style of working which is clearly always evolving. Really very beautiful.











Anthony Burrill

Very influenced by technical drawing early on, initially by a school text book 'Design Drawing One'.

I love this concept for Hans Brinker budget hotel. Executed effectively, using simple imagery and striking straight forward type.









Keeping the typography strong and straight, but keeping the human, stuck down feeling to it.

Acid Washed

Daisy Daisy Sunday Best

These examples of motion graphics are great, especially after working with Lorraine about using the sound to direct your animation. Some great examples of this, and very appropriate to what we're working on at the moment.


Friday, 27 January 2012

InPress... Catalogue studio visit

Today we went to see Catalogue which was really nice and so helpful. Tom and Ollie were really friendly and answered all of our questions. We love the look of their studio and it has motivated us to progress on our idea of a working studio.



They had a carousel for screen printing T-shirts, they got this from www.wickedprintingstuff.com. They said it does a the job OK, but recommended getting one with clamps on the side to stop the screens from shifting.



They also managed to build their own exposing unit for around £50 using a UV light and a glass coffee table, very clever and cost effective. They said it does the job just fine, they print the design onto acetate then flatten it to the screen using a wooden block.
They also built their own area to wash down their screens.

They were kind enough to give us a sample of their work, which was printed using a riso printer. I had never heard of this process before but I really like it, its a kind of mechanical screen printing process, and comes out with a similar finish.




We then had a meeting and Niall came up with a great idea for our presentation. We intend to have an event/ gallery type night. We will promote this with posters around college leading up to our deadline and give out invitations during our presentation. The event will hopefully be held at the library pub where Niall works and will include pieces of our work and T-Shirts to buy. Also if we have time we will produce a small publication showing our work and bios of each of us.


Thursday, 26 January 2012

InPress... Equipment costs

I have found it difficult to find screen printing equipment to rent, but I have found a bit of information.
I can ask Ollie and Tom at Catalogue about how they went about it when we visit them tomorrow.

This website seems reasonable, they do a good deal on a package that includes everything you need to expose and strip a screen, including the screens. Delivery costs depend on the size of the order.




I also found a small vacuum bed, which is only big enough for A3 screens.



Ink costs:



I have also found another site, but all their equipment seem to be for amateurs and people who treat screenprinting as a hobby. They don't have many deals on buying in bulk. Worth a look anyway.


Another website, much more directed at businesses, however their packages concentrate on screen printing garments, whereas we need a kit for paper!



Something more directed at businesses, maybe the equipment is a bit too large for us? A company based in West Yorkshire, sells used screen printing equipment, and supplies to all over the world.







  

InPress... Funding

I have found a really useful webpage by Leeds City council intending to help out people starting up a business, and even mentions a 'Business Growth Fund'. I will look into this further.

http://www.leeds.gov.uk/Advice_and_benefits/Council_departments/Enterprise_Leeds.aspx



Enterprise Coaching
Enterprise LoansIf you need finance to get your business going, and aren’t getting anywhere with the banks consider
Leeds City Credit Union who offer loans up to £5,000:
The Business Enterprise Fund who offer loans from £5,000 to £60,000:

Artistic and creative businessesHelp for artists/creative people who want to sell their products:
Enterprise CentresThere are a number of enterprise centres where you can hire hot desks and office space.
  • Shine, Harehills Road, Leeds, LS8 5HS
    T: 0113 388 0000
    W: www.shinebusinesscentre.co.uk
  • Hillside, Beeston Road, Leeds, LS11 8ND
    T: 0113 387 6300
    E: info@tiger11.org.uk
  • Louis Hamilton Enterprise Centre, 47a Louis Street, Chapeltown, Leeds, LS7 4BW
    Peter Wenham
    T: 0113 262 0123/ 0781 6138 733
  • Factory4: Sheepscar House, 15 Sheepscar Street South, Leeds, LS7 1AD
    Space for artists with screen printing, woodworking and jewellery making facilities: T: 0113 391 2547
    E: factory4@leedscitycollege.ac.uk
Help for those wanting to set up a social enterprise via Unltd

Grant SchemeThe Business Growth Fund scheme is a grant limited to 20 per cent of capital costs subject to a maximum grant of £10,000 and a minimum of £1,000.


The grant may be used for capital equipment, machinery and tools; alterations to land and/or premises to meet the needs of business or security measures.


The business must be based in Leeds, and be established for six months or more. For full details, eligibility criteria and an application form call Neill Fishman or Katie Dunlevey on 0113 220 6350.
If you have any questions on the above support services call 0113 220 6359



InPress... Equipment rental

This week we all decided to research separate areas and group together and discuss what we found on Friday.
Francesca is researching different kinds of promotions and what it will cost, Kirsty is looking at business loans and car rental/ insurance, Niall is looking into studio rental and I am researching rental costs of Macs, printers and so on.

The first site I have found is Rent IT. They do next day delivery to most parts of the UK and provide most of the equipment that we need for a reasonable price. They also provide a repair service for quite a hefty price, but also allow you to find your own maintenance as long as they are informed.

Here are the best deals I found on the site, although it may be better to negotiate a quote as they do offer discounts for longer leases.

iMac 27"- 4GB


6 months:    £97.37/pm
1 year:         £70.57/pm

iMac 21.5"-4GB

6 months:    £69.16/pm
1 year:         £50.19/pm

Flatbed A3 Epson scanner- 600, 1200 dpi

6 months:    £67.34/pm
1 year:         £48.67/pm

HP 510 A1 printer- 2400, 1200 dpi. Colour, roll or sheet.

4 weeks:    £208.32

HP CMYK- prints 250 A1 pages (estimate) per cartridge

The cost of delivery is quoted on request, and payment is required in advance of every month.

08002985186
http://www.rentit.biz/


The next is HiRental, which is based in Leeds. This could be convenient, although it is more expensive than Rent IT and doesn't have all of the equipment that we need.

iMac 27"


6 months:    £268.17/pm excluding VAT

http://www.hirental.co.uk/





Wednesday, 25 January 2012

Business Cards

I have decided to design some business cards. I will tweak them over time of course but these will be good to carry around with me.
Here are some deigns that I have come across that I really like the look of and the concepts that drive them.








At last years 3rd year exhibition I took examples of their business cards to influence my own. Here are some of my favourites.

I am either going to print mine just black and white, or if I have time black foiling on black card on the front and black on white on the back.