Analysis of Team Case Study: Warm Weaves

As you can see by viewing my previous posts on lectures held this term, I found them of great help towards completing a successful business plan with my team. Nicola Wilkes lecture was the most influencial in terms of creating a good press release and advertisement strategies although each lecture provided useful in sights into the creative industry. Personally writing a blog is a big step for me but now I realise this is one useful tool to have!

Warm Weaves I feel was a success, but only due to good research and preparation. Helen was excellent in suggesting individual tasks to be getting on with and our equal contribution into research really helped in group meetings. Mair's mood boards summarising our research was an extremely useful tool to refer to as the business grew. Our previous skills obtained on our textile course meant we were not alien to the processes of design and colourways, however, coming up with an accurate finance statement was difficult. It made us realise all the extra expenditures in starting up a business and the desperate need for sponsership. Angela Giddon stressed in her lecture that when you first start out you'll be lucky to break even in the first couple of years. A good business is an established business.
 
I have thoroughly enjoyed this project, especially working as part of a team to successfully fulfill all aspects to our business plan. This project has really opened my eyes to the fact that work experience is going to be essential in establishing a good knowledge of the creative industries.

Robert Ryan

(Image obtained from http://castorandpollux.co.uk/category/artists/rob_ryan/)

Robert Ryan, is my main inspiration for this final major project. I love his work and his folk style illustrations.

Much of his work is initially done by hand before sending it to be reproduced by the laser cutter. The image above shows him at work at his huge desk!

(Images above obtained from www.rob-ryan.blogspot.com)

These beautiful shadows are created just by placing his cut outs in the window. Within my project I'd quite like to play with light.

My Project:

Recentely I have just completed a concertina book of cut outs. I love the way each one is like a window enticing the eye to look through. Below is an example of one of my cut outs:

At the top of my blog, you can see some more of my cut out designs. I have taken these images into Illustrator and converted these into vector lines to carry forward to the laser cutter. So far I have only experimented with etching and cut through on acrylic on the machine but it's amazing!!

Final Major Project

Aim:

To create a range of illustrative designs for a stationary collection inspired from myths and legends from around the world.

Objectives:

• To refine research to Chinese, Mexican, Roman and Greek myths and legends.
• To document all research in a series of sketchbooks and research file.
• To produce a variety of drawings illustrating Roman myths/legends in a range of books of varying scale.
• To experiment with a range of drawing techniques and styles including digital rendering.
• To collect information for a Technical File and Research File.
• To create a range of mood boards summarising theme, colour/trend, companies and client profile.
• To research the target market.
• To explore and experiment with laser cutting techniques.
• To produce a final collection of prototype samples.
• To produce a collection of stationary designs.
• To visualise products using CAD visuals.

Introduction:

For thousands of years, all around the world, people have been telling stories. Often, they were not written down, but told aloud, passed along from person to person. Every time they were told, they changed a little, with a new character added here and a twist to the plot there. From these ever-changing tales, myths and legends were born.

'A myth is a traditional story that tries to explain the way the world is, or the relationship between gods and goddesses, and human beings. Myths are made up, but they often help to explain local customs or natural phenomena.' - The Kingfisher Book of Mythology, Page 7.

'A legend is very like a myth. The difference is that a legend might be based on an event that really happened, or a person who really existed. That's not to say that the story hasn't changed over the years.' - Ancient Greek Myths and Legends, Page 2.

The personal journey I have taken as a textile designer on this degree course has led to a great interest in illustration, largely as a result of the Welsh Literature project set in 2008. A great influence to my work has been the illustrator Margaret Jones who has produced beautiful drawings for the Mabinogion. To develop my own original illustrative style I would like to explore laser cutting. In Mexico and China paper cut designs are used to decorate and celebrat religious festivals and national holidays. I would like to use this idea of 'celebration', and bring to life the myths and legends that are close to home and part of our culture.

Proposal:

I intend to concentrate on Roman and Greek mythology due to a keen interest in the city of Bath where I live; situated here is one of the largest tourist attractions in South West England, the Roman Baths. I intend to collect primary research by making sketches of the gods and goddesses created by the Romans. These sketches will inspire my illustrations for the myths and legends that I select. I also intend to visit the National Roman Legion Museum in Caerleon and take photographs and collect relevant information via leaflets and guide tours.

The secondary sources I intend to research are listed below:

• Cardiff Library
• Llandaff and Howard Gardens Library
• Llandaff journal room
• Internet

The research I collect will help aid my drawings. A strong development of a personal style should be visible in my sketchbooks and a progression of ideas, experiments and resolutions. I intend to expand out of the confinements of a book and draw on large scale sheets such as A2 and A1. Once a range of illustrative scenes and characters have been created, I then intend to make a collection of laser cut samples. I have been inspired by the illustrator, paper cutter and artist Robert Ryan who uses this technique. I aim to research and trial materials appropriate for the laser cutter and also research paper cutting techniques abroad, for instance in Mexico and China.

The final collection of designs will comprise of gift wrap, cards and other suitable stationary items. Main designs and co-ordinates will be selected.

Possible Outcomes:

• A range of drawing books exploring myths and legends around the world, specifically Roman and Greek.
• A series of drawing books exploring scale and media to find suitable shapes, characters and scenes that can be paper cut.
• A Technical File and Research File.
• A range of mood boards.
• A studio book.
• A collection of laser cut samples displaying illustrative scenes from one myth/legend chosen.
• A collection of digitally rendered surface patterns suitable for gift wrap and the insides of envelopes.
• A collection of hand made cards.
• CAD visuals showing laser cut designs.
  

New Designers fund raising

In July we aim to go to New Designers in London; an event where a some of 3,500 newly graduated designers come together representing the top 200 design courses from across the nation to meet industry employers, the media, trend predictors and a design hungry public. It is seen as an essential resource for all who attend and an invaluable springboard for all who exhibit.

However, the sum of £10,000 needs to be raised in order for us on the Contemporary Textile Practice Course at UWIC to gain a stand. We are doing all we can currently to raise the money, including cake sales, bag packing, sponsership letters, craft sales and much more.

Logo Design for Caerleon Roman Museum

Just before Christmas 2009, I was approached by the National Roman Legion Museum to produce a logo design for their twitter page. Unfortunately, I was up against another artist who was more established and more experienced and so my design was not chosen in the end. However, this experience gave me a great opportunity to work with a real life brief and I feel it has helped me to become a more professional designer. It made me realise how important it is to promote yourself within this highly competitive industry and so this is why I have started a blog.


Below is my logo design that I submitted to the museum. They wanted a hero like figure of a Roman.

Melin Tregwynt and Consultancy Project

At the beginning of my 3rd Year at university our first brief was set by Melin Tregwynt and was a competition to design an exciting new range of patterns. The chosen winner would have their design put into production. As a highly recognised Welsh company I wanted to produce designs that related to Wales. By this point I was strongly into my illustrative style and so I thought back to my Ikea chair project where the Welsh folk tales inspired me greatly. As Melin Tregwynt has quite a homely feel to it with their wool blankets and cosy cushions I also turned to home for inspiration. It was at this point I decided to look at sayings from a mother. My friend Mair Jones speaks Welsh and so she helped me relate these English sayings to Welsh proverbs. Below are some observational drawings taken from my drawing book of the work by Margaret Jones.



The image above is again another observational drawing but adapted in Photoshop. I really like the sense of layering, however, in hindsight I feel it may be too busy.

On speaking to a consultant Sarah Cheyne, a partner in the Gilbey and Cheyne company, I realise that my style or subject matter needs to change in order to make my designs commercial. Although my drawing is my strength I need to think more carefully about the end product I am trying to create. The Melin Tregwynt project was a challenge for me but it did make me realise that I do need to think more carefully about placement and subject matter.

Following on from this project we had the consultancy project where I took on board the comments from Sarah Cheyne and attempted to make my own illustrations making them more commercial. I decided to make a collection of cards, playing with the idea of silhouettes.


The written comments from Sarah Cheyne were as follows:

'Her initial drawings on the theme of Welsh proverbs were difficult to take forward into a successful design project. Talented designer whose drawing is lovely. She needs to think carefully about subject matter and relevance of what she is drawing so that it feeds better into her final designs. Work has shown a massive development since my first visit. She has successfully turned this project around to produce interesting and commercially viable cards using cut out techniques. Well done.'

On receiving this comment from Sarah Cheyne I was thoroughly pleased that I had made an improvement within my work.

Commissioned Textile Wall Hanging

In March of last year I was commissioned by Worthen CE Primary School in Shropshire to produce a large textile wall hanging for their assembly hall, reflecting their eco-friendly ethos. The brief was to involve all children in the senior class to create samples, using mixed media techniques and to then form these into a final piece. I spent two working days with the pupils and taught such techniques as bondaweb, tyvek and heat transfer. Below is the image of the school that I had to create on the wall hanging.

I independently taught groups of five at a time.

Below you can see the end result of my wall hanging. I chose to work with heavy weight calico for the base and used a combination of machine and hand stitch to apply the childrens work to the fabric. I thoroughly enjoyed this experience and couldnt of wished to have worked at a better school. The staff were very welcoming and the school was very enthusiastic towards art. Surrounding the school building there were numerous sculptures and within the school hall there were felt and mosaic hangings. It was an honour to have my work placed among these already existing art pieces.

This experience gave me an opportunity to present myself as a professional artist/designer. I had to research appropriate materials and techniques that the children could work with but also have my wits about me with regards to health and safety. I then had to brief this to the headmaster to be allowed approval. Below is a reference from the headmaster Mr J Brough and the teacher who initiated for me to come to the school Mr D Lloyd.

Following on from this work experience I decided to pursue an interest in teaching. At the beginning of summer 2009 I went to another school, Fitzmaurice Primary School in my home town of Bradford on Avon. Here, I taught pupils independently in groups of six painting techniques and general drawing.

Ikea

In 2008, Ikea gave each student in my class a chair to redesign with a Welsh theme. My specific theme was Welsh literature and so I researched in such places as the National Museum and St. Fagans. It was at St. Fagans archive that I spotted the illustrator of the Mabinogion, Margaret Jones. Her drawings of which appear to be done in fine liner are very thorough giving each character their own personality. The ability to use the fine liner in a number of ways, for instance to create tone or to emphasise a line, gives her images a sense of depth and sensitivity. I particularly like her original style when it comes to creating mythical characters. They are quite monstrous in design with long hooked noses and fearsome teeth but allow the viewer to delve into their imagination.

From making some observational drawings of her work at St. Fagans I then looked at drawing characters for the story of Blodeuwedd. My most successful drawing I feel was the character Gwydion, a magician, pictured below. I achieved this drawing by sourcing imagery from fantasy and mythical books. Working with a fine liner gave me the detail I desired on the face.

Below is another illustrative drawing, this time of Blodeuwedd.

'Unrequited Love' is the title I have given my final piece depicting the story of Blodeuwedd, a welsh tale about infidelity and deceit. I had the challenge of thinking of a way of incorporating my illustrations and text manipulation with an Ikea chair. I produced a few designs in my drawing book but chose the idea of creating a scroll that weaved in and out of the chair as this allowed me to use a variety of mixed media. The end product was a heavily collaged scroll made of a variety of dyed papers, printed illustrations and 3D objects of wire and paper stitched together and woven in and out of the chair to create a sense of continuation and age. The surface of the chair has a base of green and blue covered in cracking medium then gold paint n top followed by gold leaf to give a more textured surface. The scroll compliments the chair with an overall warm brown wash and indications of colour in certain areas. To add to the delicacy of the paper scroll I entangled wire flowers around through the legs and back of the chair. I emphasised a varying scale of weaves through the chair with the scroll by differing the widths of the slats that I cut in the seat.

Working with an actual company like Ikea gave us a great opportunity to complete a real life brief. It gave us the opportunity to gain experience of what is expected of a freelance designer. In the summer of 2009 I decided to gain work experience with Ikea working alongside the Communication and Interior Design Team. I spent one week working at the store and was given the great opportunity to help put up a design showroom. This tested my textile design skills as I was expected to help choose appropriate items to fit the room, for instance cushions and pictures etc. I was also shown how the team work back stage on the computer software.

Angela Gidden: Designer, Creative Director, Creative Entrepreneur

(Image obtained from www.irisprize.org/jury/year-2007/i/151/desc/angela-gidden)

The final lecture for this professional practice module was held by Angela Gidden; one of Wales most progressive designers and leading furniture designers in the U.K. Her experiences spans over 21 years in furniture, product, interior and exhibition design working with clients in the U.K and beyond. Clients include lifestyle retail brands The Conran Shop, Heal's and Liberty. In addition her design studio attic 2 has been commissioned to work on many conceptual projects for clients such as the BBC, the National Assembly of Wales, Wales Venice Biennale and many more.

Lecture Notes:

'Romance and Risk'

Romance: a dreamy, imaginative habit of mind.
- a strong reputation
- original commercial ideas
- skills
- family support
- contacts
- skilled team
- energy
- determination
- passion
- vision

All businesses start with an idea and some passion.

Risk: gamble. chance, take chances, adventure, take a risk in the hope of a favourable outcome.

- a woman in business
- no start up funding
- bank manager says 'no'
- capital investment, savings and borrowed money
- over-working, 6am until 2am, 7 days a week.
- dependent, supporting husband
- premises
- employing people, wages to find
- customers to find - losing money, low salary or no salary
- isolation
- a whole new world

'be in control of your destiny'

'be original as a designer'

Attic 2 - design studio opened in 1993.

Pacino -1993, most successful and longest selling sofa/product at Habitat.

Welsh Assembly - designed furniture for public place. Must be very durable.

Our solution is never one single idea but an evolution of many...

Love the idea but why do it?

- is there an 'orginal idea' with a strong competitive edge?
- is there a need?
- is there a gap in the market?
- is there real commercial potential?
- is there a resource or support to tap into?
- is there potential for dynamic collaboration with others?
- is the idea going to add value?
- is there a desire to be in control?
- is there capacity, energy, and passion?
- is there a profit to be made?
- is there anything stopping you?

Attic 2 designs and produces furniture but creates waste. We need to turn the waste into products of value. The passion for sustainable design, creating a new brand....starting another business...

Nomads and Nest - an online store to buy satchels, fobs etc.

'We love our stuff to be cherished not chucked!'

New idea:

- Nomads and Nest needs a retail outlet.
- need to sell face to face.
- need a new market place.
- need to expand.

The Passion:

- create a shopping destination for Welsh designers.
- create a new designers community.
- create a new brand.

Wonder Culture launched, a designers market.

AND another idea:

- we need to promote our brands and businesses.
- we need to promote design in Wales.

'Design up your street' - newspaper

- talking
- design in Wales
- design beyond Wales
- design in your community
- design up your street

Nicola Wilkes: PR and defining markets; how to sell your image

(Photo obtained from www.cardiffwebscene.com/profile/NicolaWilkes) 

Nicola Wilkes has experience in working in the furniture and interior design industry since 2002 as well as journalism experience writing columns for the Western Mail and being a guest blogger for mydeco. She has created the online lifestyle magazine, Wales at Home, and is currently working as a freelance interiors journalist for interior design and home magazines while also raising Welsh designers profiles.

Her lecture entitled 'The Infectious Effect: How to make the media work for you' highlights the need for documenting and advertising yourself. This lecture was particularly helpful in relation to promotion tactics for our hypothetical business Warm Weaves.

Lecture Notes: 'The Infectious Effect: How to make the media work for you'
Think about your designs as a business - you need to make money.
Press very important to get name out there - Sunday supplements are ideal.

Elle decoration - brilliant for spotting new designers.

Free press - show your home, way of getting yourself advertised.
Know your market and its magazines. Go to magazine companies and show your product. Why will reader want to know about it? Attach a CD with images on it.

Respond to trends and keep a diary.
Remember key dates (christmas, easter etc) and be aware of key films e.g. alice in wonderland is huge at the moment.

WEBSITE, BLOG key to get yourself known!

Work smarter, not harder
- facebook
- linked in
- living etc.
- my deco
- twitter

Email, telephone, post! Just make contact!

Melin Tregwynt
'The media played a huge part...it helps that our products work visually - due to their simplicity they are recognisable and they photograph well. Once the media got over not being able to pronounce our name they really supported us in our early days which was incredible' - Eifion Griffiths, June 2009.

Press always want:
- product contextualised - lifestyle shots
- cut out of product away from environment

Press Releases:
- clear and concise
- logo, header
- never two pages
- press release titled at top with month and year from.
- summarise product in short title, capture attention
- notes to editors
- where to buy from? How much?

How this lecture was helpful...

To strengthen our identity as the company Warm Weaves I designed postcards and business cards. From this lecture it was made clear that when promoting you need to be available to hand out information freely. We have prepared a design package for such a situation informing the client on the company, product and contact information. The designs below were so important and significant because they are giving out contact information, linking that with actual design work.

As a press representative for warm weaves I also produced a press release for summer 2011 for when the scarves are to be released to the public. We will send this out to newspapers, magazines and publications to advertise the new scarf range and communicate our aim.

We also realised as a group that we needed a marketing campaign and felt the most effective way would be to market our product with celebrity endorsement. Mair Jones created the image below, imagining that it could be page in a magazine. She includes prices, exclusivity of the product, celebrity endorsement and sponsors.

Lee Thomas: Trend forecasting and market awareness

Lee Thomas, a freelance designer, also works as a communication lecturer at UWIC. His designs have appeared in many well know companies such as Topman, Burtons and White Stuff. The lecture we had with him was mainly directed at recruitment agencies in the creative industry and careers. He strongly stressed the need to get yourself known through agencies and to have a point of contact through technology such as a blog or website so that your name is considered for future work.

Potential Agencies:

• Smith and Pye
• In Design
• ESP Recruitment
• Aquent
• CVUK
• Absolute Zero Degrees
  

An interesting site that he then went on to mention was ArtsThread.com, the worlds only creative graduate website.

Trends:

If you were to work as a freelance designer, keeping up with trend forecasts are imperitive to the success of your designs. Unfortunately, many of these trade resources are too expensive for an individual to afford. Therefore, such trend sites as the WGSN are very desirable sites to have access to. The WGSN or Worth Global Site Network is an internet based company which dictates the trends for all companies including the high street stores Topshop and River Island. With subscription costs of 12,000 a year, WGSN client base is limited to the big names in the fashion industry.
However, there are sites out there to help those that cannot afford such sites. Mudpie Trends is a trend website that allows for a free trial and free newsletter but the trendbooks start at £700!
Drapersonline.com - fashion news, jobs and trends.

How this lecture helped....

I found Lee's lecture extremely helpful in preparing us on how to look for graduate jobs. Although I am not entirely sure what designer pathway to continue on as yet, one thing I do know is that you have to keep promoting yourself all time in order to be seen.

Relating this to the Warm Weaves business, my group set about researching appropriate colour trends and designs that would fit in for summer 2011, the release of our scarves. We also wanted to strengthen our identity so we decided to limit our colour palette to the ones seen on the Bliss website thus reducing production costs. Below is a summary of our colours.

Our three designs for the scarves have been designed individually, reflecting our unique style. As designers we had to be aware of our client base - mothers. Within my design, I took a more contemporary approach following a feminine path appealing to a more modern mum, who likes the abstract. Helen's design chose to follow the folk trend for summer 2011 exclusively working with owls and foliage appealing to an older generation. Mair's design also followed the folk trend but uses russian dolls, buttons, ribbons, birds and cup cakes appealing to mothers and children alike. To view these designs please go to warmweaves.blogspot.com.

Rozanne Hawksley: Working as an artist, Mission Gallery, Swansea

Rozanne Hawksley, an artist who predominantly works in textiles and embroidery, had her first major solo exhibition at Ruthin Craft Centre recentely and we got to see the exhibition when it toured to the Mission Gallery in Swansea. On initial impact, her work seems very morbid with the use of bones and bandages, however, on closer inspection the amount of detail and the delicacy of the materials chosen could be argued to be very beautiful. We discover as she talks that her extraordinary art covers the great themes of life; love and loss, war and suffering, isolation and the abuse of power, by focusing in on intimate details of what they mean to a specific individual.

"I am drawn to the secret, the allegory, a meaning often hidden, secret ritual, that behind the facade. I work with those materials and those only that are necessary to my emotional thought process...with those that impel me to select them, whatever they may be. Very often I have little or no knowledge of the working of non textile components - exciting but frustrating in that it can take so long to achieve my aim." - Rozanne Hawksley.
Her installations combine poignant materials - a faded glove, a lily, a photograph or fragment of chiffon to make a powerful, reflective point. Many of her pieces contain a glove, representing the individual and also reflecting times when gloves were given out at funerals - black for servants and white for the upper class.

'Et ne non inducas (And lead us not)' 1987-1989
The exhibition 'Offerings' that we visited dealt with major themes that affect everyone; it was an unparalleled chance to see the thought-provoking yet unnervingly beautiful work of this remarkable artist.

Although I didn't come away from this exhibition with much to relate to the Warm Weaves project, it did inspire me with my own professional pathway for the future. I have always had an ambition to set up my own individual exhibition one day and show the journey I have gone through within design. Rozanne's beautiful website is a great inspiration and I have a strong aim to produce my own.

(Images obtained from www.rozannehawksley.com)

Jo Bags: Intenet selling and batch production

Within the second lecture we were shown an established business set up by Jo Bags. On her website she sells fun, funky and functional bags to hold a multitude of items. Each bag is handmade and as a result some bags are limited making them very desirable products.

(Images obtained from www.jobags.co.uk)

They are great for the environment as they are the re-usable alternative to the plastic carrier bag and will attract a keen eco-friendly client base.
How did this lecture help?
This lecture inspired my group to question our unique selling point. What is going to be different about our charity company than any others? We came up with the idea of releasing an exclusive range of scarves to aid Bliss. We will be unique because we are the first of its kind aiming to have charity scarves released seasonally, with initial release being exclusive to five stores in the capital cities of Britain. Just like Jo Bags products are limited so will ours making them very desirable.
Our next step was to establish a strong company identity with logo and name. We wanted to show the collaboration with Bliss so we included their flower logo but also our scarf motif.

We gave our business the name Warm Weaves relating to our textile background and of course the product of scarves. As Jo Bags is purely internet based we also wanted to make our product an easily accessible item, therefore we set up our own blog which will be directly linked to Bliss website so any existing Bliss followers will hopefully support our business.

Tim Savage: Starting up in business and the Bee Club

The first lecture we received at the beginning of this professional practice module was taken by Tim Savage who is presently UWIC’s Entrepreneurship Learning Director and supports students who want to set-up their own business. Within his lecture he explained how to write a business plan and how to evaluate the process and results. He also informed us of the Bee Club, UWIC's Student Union Enterprise club which aims to raise awareness of entrepreneurship.

What is the Bee Club?

The Bee Club is UWIC's Student Union Enterprise club which aims to raise awareness of entrepreneurship and help develop a greater understanding of how you can use the skills of entrepreneurship in your life.

Joining the Bee Club offers the following benefits:

• Networking events with other enterprising people
• E-newsletters each term
• Bee mailing list so your always up to date with events
• Free food and drink at events
• Business Start Up Advice workshop
• Business support
• CV and interview workshops
• Access to grant and business funding information
• Access to the Bees local business contacts
• Regular Bee and national competitions
• Development of CV boosting skills

What other help is out there?

Ignite is a Welsh Assembly Government funded, intensive workshop offered to students who wish to learn how to become more enterprising, employable and creative, as well as learning more about setting up their own businesses. Ignite is an intensive 5 day program designed to take you on a journey towards becoming enterprising in you chosen domain; be this business start-up, a social enterprise, the voluntary sector or within an established organisation.

(Images above obtained from UWIC's website)

The week ends with the students pitching for their seed money in a tough Welsh Dragons Den.

How did this lecture help?

This lecture helped greatly in deciding as a group how we could put our designer skills to best use in a business. We came up with the idea of collaborating with an already existing business, that being the Bliss Charity. As a team we wanted to design a business that provided new and innovative charity products to aid Bliss. However, before we could get carried away designing, research was of great importance to fully understand company profile, client profile, competitive market and marketing strategies. Mair Jones, my team member summarised this research into mood boards which greatly helped to begin our business plan.