Claire Worthington FMP porfolio visit. Part 2

I met up with Claire again on Friday 22nd April and we set up my webdomain it cost £6. 43 for two years and is means that the website name is now mine (www.catherinesummersdesign.co.uk) Summers is my maiden name and I am going to use is for my business. Having googled the name Catherine Summers we did not find any other business trading under the same name which is good news. The website is not live yet as I need to get photographs of my portfolio of work to add to it and Claire is in the process of creating the different pages and collating all the information. She has asked me to write a short bio and think about what I want the website to do ie sell from it or create interest in my work, it needs to be clear what the role each of the pages of my site is for ie, to sign up for a news letter or to purchase an item etc etc. She explained that things can be changed and upgraded as are appropriate but advised to keep it simple initially and make it really easy for viewers to follow, We have also set up an email account for business which will be available via the website. Thanks Claire I look forward to our next meeting and the next stage of this exciting journey !

Social Media Campaign

Having had several meetings with Claire Worthington about the development of a website she also advised me to launch a 'social media campaign' using twitter, facebook and linkedin which are all online social networking sites. I created a twitter account on 4th March and was delighted to find I soon had several 'followers' from the art and design industry including a shop owner whom I am now in contact with regarding selling my work. I also found links to possible funding opportunities and local facilities such as a studio which offers silk screen printing services. I its a brilliant way to network and find people who will help and support you in your work. Claire said she had been at a lecture given by a woman who's business is to advise people about how to exploit online social media sites who had recommended that business people should tweet 6 times a day and the content of the tweets should be 20% information 20% entertaining 40% interaction and 20% business, in order to retain interest and be successful.

I have also joined linked in which is much more business focused and once I have finalised my portfolio and have quality photographs of my work ( my friend who is a professional photographer has offered to take shots of the uni show and all my work ) I plan to create a facebook page to help promote my work and link to my website.

portfolio visit to Nicky Rodgers

I visited Nicky on the 15th April, she has a design background and makes soft furnishings but her full time position is an area sales rep for a french company called Casamance fine fabrics and wallpapers. Nicky is very much working in the commercial field so her input is based on the best way to market my work for the most number of sales. I showed her my work so far and explained that the project had developed from fabric dolls into more commercial textile items and also framed art .Nicky felt that my drawings were strong and in order to produce a commercial collection the items needed to be a range of products for a specific area for example all kitchen items that people would want to collect, ie tea pot, crockery,tea cosy, table cloth, tea towel etc she felt this would hold the work together and make the collection more coherant. Nicky said it was a very competitive industry but her company did purchase art work from artists which they then modified and used in their designs so this would be a posibility for some one like me. She explained that her company had a large team of designers who all had different roles with in the production process. Nicky liked my framed art work and suggested that I looked at producing a range of proffessions as a theme , police officer , teacher, fire fighter etc.

It was great to talk to someone from a business point of view and her advice re marketing stratergies was really helpful, thanks so much Nicky!

www.casamance.com

Mrs A Originals FMP portfolio visit

I visited the studio of textile designer Mrs A today in Mossley, she kindly agreed to look at my portfolio and give me some feedback . Pauline's background is in youth work but since she retired from her full time career she has focused on her art work. She pays £100 a month for her studio space which she can access 7 days a week and creates one off bespoke chairs and hats as well as painted canvases. Her work was initially a hobby but it has become a business as people have seen her work and commissioned her .She shows her work at craft shows and trade fairs and also sells via two local boutique shops

I explained to her that i was working on human shaped dolls with animal heads that represented certain people or situations that had either held me back or set me free. I told Pauline that i felt my work was too personal and 'dark' and was struggling with ideas to make it more commercially appealing. I told her that i felt the characters could be digitally photographed and the images placed onto mugs , plates or greetings cards but I was beginning to see that i needed to move away from the ugly animal images i had drawn an create more positive up beat imagery .

Pauline felt that i should decided on 10 to 12 animals that have personality traits that people could relate to ie a dog is loyal, faithful and obedient, they needed to be positive attributes that would make people smile . She suggested that I write a small explanation as to the rational of the dolls, why , where the ideas came from etc and how the project has developed. She also thought that each doll should have its own little book or card with its personality traits written on it. She thought that the dolls would be more sophisticated if they were not dressed then the focus was solely on the head. She felt that maybe a high quality fabric would work better as the dolls were very tactile and maybe to try different coloured fabrics but stay with black for the the heads. She also thought they needed to be slightly smaller so they could fit in your hand.

Pauline was very positive and enthusiastic about what I was doing , she felt the dolls definitely had potential and i should aim for the high end of the market. She feel they were quirky and playful and the focus should be humour and the feel good factor that would raise a smile and remind people of some one they know! Pauline gave me lots of advice re packaging and branding , she felt it made more sense to purchase boxes rather try to make them my self, she felt the art work was where i needed to invest my time and energy rather than the packaging.

She said she would be happy to purchase one ! Mrs A you were like a breath of fresh air , thank you so much for your input I will take it on board !

Jennifer Collier

I find the work of Jennifer Collier very sweet and I am interested to see how she presents it . I am looking to produce framed work for my fmp so I am particularly interested in Jennifer's types of frames and how she packages work which is for sale . I am also interested to see how much the work is on sale for and the price differences for framed and un framed work. As an artist you can obviously frame work yourself, sell it unframed or employ someone else to frame it for you and these decisions will impact on the final cost of the finished piece.

www.jennifercollier.co.uk

FMP development

I am fascinated by the idea of dolls that represent my issues so I began looking at images of cloth dolls and voodoo dolls , I did not want my work to be too dark or sinister and felt it was appropriate to use the dolls in a positive way to represent escape from problems and set back , the idea of wings is also something that keeps coming to the fore front !

below are images of my experimental work.

This doll represents my youngest daughter .

This caged rabbit in a nurses uniform represents my health issues .

Each screen printed animal head is a representation of a person in my life , some have been positive influences and some not !

Dragon House Of Yuen - Etsy website

This textile artist uses recycled materials to create hare, rabbit and squirrel soft sculptures which are sold through Etsy. It caught my eye immediately because of the rabbit content ! I love the simplicity of the image which is then developed into amusing textile items , mt very favourite is the handbag made from a kilt wearing rabbit , genius !

Etsy is an website where people can sell hand made or vintage craft items , goods on sale range from jewellery, toys , framed art, photographs and clothing there is a listing fee of approx 10 pence per item which covers a 4 month period , then Etsy take 3.5% of every sale . The seller deals directly with the buyer and is responsible for shipping the goods to the customer. It is a great way to sell work with very little cost .