Etsy Shop

I've finally added products to my Etsy account! 

I now have 22 items listed to sell.

I have promoted the shop on my facebook page, as well as adding a 'shop now' feature.

I shall be promoting the shop across all of my social media accounts on a regular basis.

This will ensure more shop views, and hopefully increase sales of work.

Module Feedback from Level 5

OUIL501

This module was an enjoyable one last year. I got to express my concerns as a part of my practice, and this, I believe I can do quite well. If I'm passionate about something, I can analyse it to death, so the written element of context of practice is easier now. (Last year I had no idea what I was talking about in cop, I couldn't choose my own subject so I had no interest in what I did, so of course I did REALLY badly.) To make sure I have success in my dissertation, I really need to be interested in my subject, which is why I've already began investigation of my research project. 
I need to improve my introduction and conclusion, as well as link my theories to the texts I read. 

OUIL502

PPP was my best outcome of the year! I'm really happy with this grade. It shows that I am naturally good at evaluating my progress and looking ahead to the future. I hope that I can continue at this level, I just need to stay confident and believe in my work/ abilities. 

OUIL503

I didn't feel too great about the responsive module. Throughout, I'd find it difficult to manage my workload, and organise the projects. I found myself trying to do everything at once, which meant I applied myself too thinly to each project, and generally could have done everything a bit better. I need to work on my problem solving, and fast, if I want to improve on my practical work. 

OUIL504

This was my first project after first year, and I don't think I'd fully got out of that same way of working. I was pretty certain that first year was a disaster, I wasn't happy with a lot of the work I did, or the outcomes. It was all new to me. The only success came at the end of the year with PPP; I worked on a project I really liked, got into and enjoyed the outcome. The difference was that i'd settled down, got used to everything, and gained a momentum that made me very ready to take on the last project. In a similar way to this, I found the start of second year to be daunting, I had to learn many new processes and I got stressed out again, and was unable to apply myself as well as I could have. There was a success - my prints - and this gave me a new outlook on how I make my work. 
My entire time on the course has been trial and error and improvement (which is what it's meant to be, probably?) I have learnt a lot, and I have improved as a person more than I will admit to myself. 
The main place I keep falling short - 
ASKING FOR HELP. I can't, when I'm feeling rubbish is when I'm the least likely to ask for help/ improve. I need to try and stop this from happening by rising above whatever it is that makes me feel bad and getting help on whatever it is that is confusing me.
For this project I could have improved on:
- Time Management
- Documentation of work (more thorough) 
- Pro actively conceptualise Initial ideas 
- Keep practical investigation consistent
- Develop a higher level of written and visual communication
- Wider research into Illustration
- Recognise potential Audiences 

OUIL505

I enjoyed completing 505, I made images I was really proud of, as well as reasonably successful, commercial items. I could have improved this project by being more consistent with my evaluation.

Be Your Own Boss - Practice Pitching - Rick Ferguson

Practice Pitching 

Albert Mehrabian's communication percentages model (when talking about feeling or attitudes) 

• Words we use 7%
• How we say the words 38% 
• Non - verbal behaviour (body language) 55%

Logical Levels (Robert Dilts):

• Environment (where, when with whom) 
• Behaviour (what)
• Skills and Capabilities (how)
• Values and beliefs (why) 
• Identity (who) 
• Mission / Vision (purpose) 

Content (3 things to consider)

• Bookend - Introduce something at the start of your pitch, then return to it at the end
• Power of 3 - Overall structure of the pitch (beginning, middle and end) and also within the presentation (listing 3 words)
• 'Heart' content (values, beliefs, purpose etc.) and 'Head' content - (what, how, where etc.)

Style (6 things to consider) 

• Avoiding crutch words (so, okay, right, moving on, um, err.. etc)
• PAUSE during presentation
• Appropriate eye contact not too much/ too little
• Volume, pitch, speed
• Awareness of unconscious ticks/ Movements 

Be Your Own Boss - Self Employment - Russell Smith

Self Employment 

Notes from session on self employment:

• A person a can be on tax records as both self employed and employed.
• Tax has to be done independently when someone is self employed

3 Types of self employment:

• Freelance/ Self Employed 
• Limited Company 
• Not for profit 

A limited company is backed up against bankruptcy - also seems more official and gives commercial credibility as some companies only deal with limited co.

First £10,600 earned is tax free - So one can still register without paying tax

Number to register - 08459451515

UTR - National insurance class 2 - £2.80 a week 

Self employed people get an element of tax back -

Tax that is claimable - train, car, bus etc. to see exhibitions or clients. 

car petrol - 45p per mile

Food isn't - unless away from home 

If a business makes a loss it can be rolled forward to the next year so that they pay less tax.

or the loss can be claimed against employment for tax rebates.

If you don't account for all expenses the earnings can be artificially high, which leads to paying more tax.

Tip - save 18% of earnings for tax and most of the time will be covered when tax bill comes.

5th April - Beginning of tax period 

don't pay tax until after a year and a half. 

31st January - 10 months of tax to pay at once & 50% of next years for the first year of paying tax.

Have to submit tax return before 31st jan 

Retain for records:

• Sales Invoices / Paypal Receipts 
• Expenses / Receipts
• Bank statements
• HMRC
• Checks / Paying in books
• Grants/ Prizes / Rewards 

Sales Invoices 

Date sent 

#Number (sequential)

Customer 

Amount 

Payment terms

*There are no rules with sales invoices.

Pricing 

How much will you spend? 

- Over heads - Computers etc.

- Hourly Rate - Work this out from adding up the expenses 

Top 10 Tips 

1. The news is bad - mostly negative. Helps to ignore it and stay positive 

2. Be around positive people and make friends with good people

3. Who a customer buys from is better than what they buy. Your USP is your personality

4. Get good at sales and Marketing

5. Don't undervalue yourself - Value is what a person is willing to pay

6. Pay attention to money attributes  - Don't feel guilty about making money

7. Keep on top of cost: Maximise revenue, rise cost or limit resource cost/ sales income. More marketing.

8. Read, listen, learn as much as you can about business. 

9. Networking everywhere. Find out about people. 

10. Get a good accountant that works with creatives. 

Be Your Own Boss - Is Your Idea Viable? with Keith Evans

Keith Evans from Cida co. came in to talk about how to measure the viability of our ideas.

Tips to remember overall when selling work;
- Don't be afraid to ask
- User generated content
- Think Globally
- Network
- Keep an eye on competition

11.9 billion - What the creative sector is worth.

UK Creative Sector  

• Competition - Getting a better idea of how to price your work, potential collaboration.
• Technology - Online Presence, Social Media.
• Customers - What do they want, where will they buy it? 
• Policy/Legal Issues - Tax credit, Trade/ Marketing - intellectual property, Copywright.
• Supplier.
• Economy, Education, Environment - Awareness of things eg. cuts to fees, staying with the news.

Important things voted by the class - 

• Protect the value of your work 
• Self Promotion and Networking 
• Brand 'UK' - Leading Country
• Digital  - Brand, Selling (eCommerce/ Market) Experience
• Uniqueness 
• Enterprise Schemes
• Sustainability - Selling point, suppliers 

COSTAR 

Used in the UK & USA, eg. Iplayer

Methodology - Measuring the value of ideas

Customer - Who is it and what is their unmet need?

Opportunity - What is the full potential, how can it expand? 

Solution - What is your proposed solution for capturing the opportunity?

Team - Who needs to be on the team to ensure the solution's success.

Advantage - Your competitive advantage over alternatives.

Results - What will be achieved from your solution?

Critical Behaviours For Success

1. Confidence sells! What you say in a pitch is only a small percentage of how you communicate.

2. Have a clear sense of values and beliefs.

3. Conceptual thinking - Be open to people's ideas.

4. Strategic Thinking - Value the planning process, plan over significant periods, recognise trends and opportunities.

5. Commercial Aptitude - Keeping up to date with the latest developments.

6. Project Management - Ideas into reality, critical links between people, ideas and info at all stages of the project - understanding negotiation, communication and reach agreements.

7. Risk Taking - Hope of success, not fear of failing. Set goals despite setbacks.

8. Customer Sensitivity - Long term relationships of trust - high level of customer service. Regularly exceed customer expectation.

9. Networking - Key business activity. Networks provide access to info, expertise, collaboration and sales. Planning and preparing leads to desired results. Sell you!

10. Leaderships - Drive your own projects.

11. Innovation - Develop work.

Popular Culture - Artist Inspiration

Onlyleigh is an animator on youtube and tumblr. Her videos are so popular because she takes some of the most popular tv shows/ films and merges them together to create satire that resonates with millions of people - the original audiences and fans of such content.
Because there is such a heavy fan base of this media, a lot of them are online (especially Orange is the New Black, because viewers usually access the show via the internet as it is a Netflix original series) This makes them more likely to share the content on social media; giving the animation more views/ success.
I'd love to make this a reality with my work as well. What I intend to do is create work that resonates with the most people as possible, so that it can be more widely viewed. I intend to do this by creating illustrations with humour and recognisability - not unlike my celebrity work.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NefqXlOmPPA