Week 1 Blog Entry: w/c 21st September 2020 - Creative Enterprise

This was the first week of the project. This module is going to be really useful for me, as I would like to manage my own business once I have completed my studies. My intention is to sell my work as a number of products, including but not limited to mugs, greetings cards, seasonal cards, prints (framed or otherwise), jigsaws, coasters, notebooks, cushions and tea towels. I have highlighted the two products above, as these are my initial thoughts on what I would like to produce for this module, that I can then market to sell in a pop-up shop alongside the rest of the group.

To start off, I have looked into pricing for both cards and jigsaws. I realise that jigsaws are going to be very expensive to make, even if I just bought one, so instead of looking at places like Photobox or Puzzlesprint, who produce puzzles as a one-off, I would need to look into companies that produce jigsaws in bulk, so that I can sell my puzzles at prices that people would actually pay for, without spending a fortune myself. Within some of the research I've already undertaken on Thursday, I found two different companies that produce puzzles in bulk (one with a minimum quanity order of 25): Cornflower and MapMarketing. I intend over the next few weeks to collect together a list of more companies that offer this service and then email them all to ask for a quote. I think initially I would look at producing between 15-25 puzzles, so as not to overdo it if I don't end up selling anything. Some questions I might ask would include:

• What is the minimum quantity for one order?

• How many pieces would each puzzle have?

• How much would it cost to order between 15-20?

• What do the pieces come in? A box or a tin?

• How big is the box/tin?

Depending on what the responses are to these questions, I can then decide on what price to sell the puzzles for. Jigsaws tend to sell really well throughout the year, but especially so at Christmas, so I think this would be something I should consider looking into. I work in retail and we sell a lot of jigsaws around this time of year.

For Christmas cards, I thought this might be a good idea considering the time of year. Last year, I had some cards made up from one of my existing images of a Robin and sent them out to friends, family and neighbours. They did get a really positive response, so it might be something I consider again this year. I have previously had them printed on a glossy card, but I felt like they didn't reflect a really good quality card. Instead of doing the same thing again, for this project, I'm going to use a different card and shape. Instead of retangular, I'm going to try a square shape with a gold, glittery card. I've had a look around at printers before and I think Instantprint offer exactly what I'm looking for at a reasonable price. After speaking with Janye, I think I could experiment with some print-making techniques to add something a little bit more unique to my images and create something eye-catching and different from what's already out there.

The image to the left is the one I'm considering using for whichever product I decide to do. This is the image I have used before and I got some positive feedback from it. I edited the image to make is look more seasonal, so I changed the background of the image to black and white and kept the Robin in full colour. I then added a snowy effect online. This is the image I would edit again to either go on the front of Christmas cards or jigsaw puzzles. I may take some other seasonal photos that so see which image I think would sell better and perhaps ask others on what they think would be better.

I think the first thing I need to do is look around at all of the different printers to see if there is any other pricing that is better than what I already know. I will also get in touch with the jigsaw manufacturers to ask the questions I mentioned above. The discussion with Jayne made me think about ways I could make my images more marketable without being to generic and similar to everyone else. I could even produce two different types of card, one simple and more generic and the other using a print-making tecnique. This would be a good way to find out what kind of product sells and would help me to decide how to proceed with my own business prospects in the future.

Leading on from this, I also feel that I would need to come up with a eye-catching and persuasive marketing campaign to let people know that these are available for people to buy. I know I definitely want to use Instagram and my own website to do this, but I may also need to think about business cards. I could give out business cards if anyone buys something from me, but they would also be useful to hand out anyway. I have had some business cards printed before, but I think I need to print some more and perhaps consider redesigning the layout.

I went to Trentham Garden Centre and took some images of the decorations there to see what colour schemes there were. I found a lot of different themes going on, particularly with the use of red, gold, pastel and blues and purples. I particularly liked the purples and blues, which has inspired me to create some really brightly coloured outcomes that might deviate from the norm.

I haven't really learned anything new this week, but I've been able to start seriously considering what it is I want to be selling now and in the future. Jigsaw puzzles and greetings cards are two of the things that I really want to look at to start my business. This will be a really good indicator as to whether or not the products I plan to make are saleable or not.

Next week, I will start looking into my competitiors and techniques I could use to start photographing some potential images for the puzzle. I will then start writing my proposal. I think at this point, I want to focus on abstract, using props such as tinsel and Christmas lights to create something a little bit different to what's already out there. Although the Robin is a staple during Christmas, I feel like this has been done quite a lot with a lot of different products, so something abstract would work for this. I want to look at pricing and materials for cards an jigsaws and I will also start looking into competitors who specialise in Photography and Art, including Emma Bridgewater, Wrendale Designs, Etsy and notonthehighstreet.com. I will write all of this up in my business proposal.