Week 7 (PS Lvl 5) Funding

If I want to do a trade show soon after I graduate, I would have to think of ways to fund this as they can be very expensive, especially for someone just starting out in business. I have done a little digging on the internet and found some possible options.

British Council and Arts Council offer grants. However, this is for internationally work, so I would have to consider if I would want to exhibit abroad straight away. 

The Government offer low interest start-up loans for new designers. Obviously, the downside of this is that this would have to be paid back unlike a grant, but I have yet to come across a grant allowing me to do a trade show in the UK first. 

Week 7 (PS Lvl 5) Trade shows

I have been completely inspired by today's lecture on Trade shows. I would love to get a much better insight into the planning and everything that goes into trade shows, as I would like to be prepared for after graduation. I am planning to go to Indigo Paris in February to do work experience on the college stand and I think this would be the perfect opportunity to collect primary research for my report.



I have done a little research into which trade shows would be available to me. The Design Trust I found to have a long list of possibilities.
- Heimtextil in Germany
- New Designers, Surface Design Show,TENT and Top Drawer London
- Printsource New York
- Formex Sweden
- Maison & Objet Paris

Week 6 (PS Lvl5) The Trends Industry

This weeks professional studies session has made me spark more of an interest in the trend forecasting industry. I have found it quite interesting how trends for fabric, prints, colours etc are all sourced from popular music, film, global culture, design and social trend influences. 

I was already aware of some of the trend books/journals as I have had to use them for my work but gaining some knowledge of their background has sparked an interest for me, wanting to gain experience, research further into how this works and consider as a possible career choice. This interest has had me researching further into trend forecasting companies so I thought I would pop a couple of my favourites on to the blog...

WGSN

Wgsn is a fashion trend forecasting website. I have found the information they provide extremely useful, especially with my own work in the studio modules. The provide very good trend predictions that I have found so far have been proved right, and they provide a wide range of research for print and colour trends also. I think I would really like to work for a well established trend company like this as I believe I would enjoy the travel aspect of the job and getting a insight into future trends.

   

Trend Bible

Trend Bible are a North-East based interior trend company. They sell there trend books to many well-known brands. I think it would be interesting to get an insight into interior trend forecasting as it will be slightly different to fashion forecasting. Gaining experience or working for this company would be very beneficial especially as they are right here in the North-East where I live. 

Experimenting with multi directionals

Week 5 (PS Lvl 5) Identifying customer target markets

This week has focused on identifying customer target markets. I have chosen the fashion business Zara to practice identifying a target market and researched via there website.

What products and services do they offer?

Womenswear, menswear, childrenswear, baby, giftcards, instore and online services

What materials/techniques do they use?

Tailoring, Bespoke shapes, digital print, embroidery, chiffon

How much do they sell their products for/where do they sit in the market?

Mid-end market, student and professional

List their competitors?

Mango, All Saints, House of Fraser, Reiss

What is their unique selling point?

Good how they filter down from the catwalk

Unique, classical feel

How do they promote themselves/what image are they trying to portray?

Adverts in magazines

How would you describe the customer?

Mostly female, professionals

Week 4 (PS Lvl 5) The Design Meeting

I have learn't a lot about the realities of working with clients and how to professionally present my work and portfolio to a client, so I will be prepared for the future, in which I will be hopefully be able to put these skills into practice. 

My chance to meet potential clients would be at trade shows/networking events, which I may be able to experience if I get the chance to work on the College stand at Indigo in Paris next year. 
I have been taking a look at other designers websites to develop a better understanding of how I should be professionally presenting my brand if I were to become a freelance designer in the future.

Jessica Hogarth

http://www.jessicahogarth.com/

I have researched further into the designer Jessica Hogarth. Her website is professionally set out, with good quality photos and professional logo which still looks creative. There links on the site to her other social media accounts such as Facebook and Pinterest. She also uses instagram to blog pictures of the collections she is currently working on, connecting with her audience. I think if I were to set up my own brand, I would follow these guidelines. A well designed layout on a website, but also social media pages to interact with others and show my current work and progress. 

Studio work

My new bay in the studio

I am really excited about getting on with my first studio module, as we have started out with being required to produce a collection of Fashion fabrics and then straight into surface design, to produce a collection of paper based designs for the gift industry. Gift is an area I have never tried before, so I am looking forward to having the chance to experiment, especially since my first module requires me to use my CAD based design skills in addition to traditional textile and design techniques, allowing me the chance to further develop my CAD skills which I have not had much practise with. I have chosen to go with a Futuristic theme and i've already started pulling apart old equipment for the circuit boards and bits and pieces, as I'm interested in looking into the advanced technologies side of the theme.

Week 3 (PS Lvl 5) Subject Specific

I have known for a while that I am quite interested in getting into the Fashion side of design and this weeks lecture has helped me getting further information into the potential areas.


Notes from the lecture:

Product areas
-Menswear
-Womenswear
-Kidswear
-Babywear
-Bridal
-Sportwear

Styles 
-Floral 
-Graphic 
-Conversational 
-Concept led

Market Levels
-Courture
-RTW
-High Street


This has led me to researching other designers from the fashion industry. One of my favourites being Louise Gray. I love her abstract prints and colourful designs. 

http://louisegraylondon.com/

Week 2 (PS Lvl 5) Careers options

I have been doing research into career options in the industry on the creative skills set website. I can't believe how unaware I was before about the possible jobs at the end of the course. 

In particular, the role of a Buyer in the industry sounds especially interesting. I quite like the idea of sourcing new designs and the travelling that the job requires.
http://creativeskillset.org/creative_industries/fashion_and_textiles/job_roles/672_buyer

However, My main choice would be a Textile designer for Fashion. I know that I enjoy the design work we do on this course, and I would definitely consider continuing with it as a career. Looking at the job requirements on the website has helped me to get a better picture of what I would be letting myself in for if I did.
http://creativeskillset.org/creative_industries/fashion_and_textiles/job_roles/723_textile_designer

Week 2 (PS Lvl 5) Keeping it professional.

As part of the Professional studies module, we have been looking into potential career options after graduation. I have found this quite intriguing as although I am not particularly interested in looking into them all, there are a few more options than I had first thought. 
I thought I would share a few of the options for career ideas that this degree could potentially develop into... 
-Designer/maker
-Teacher
-Stylist
-Buyer/merchandiser
-Gallery owner/curator
-Illustrator
-Art therapist/community arts
-Self-employment/freelance
-Arts event organiser


Some useful websites for looking into these career options in more depth:
-Skillset http://www.creativeskillset.org/fashion_and_textiles/careers/
-BITA http://www.interiortextiles.co.uk/
-Textile Institute http://www.texi.org/
-UK Fashion/Textiles http://www.ukft.org/
-Creative Boom http://creativeboom.co.uk/


For assessment, I am required to write a report on 'A chosen aspect of the appropriate creative industry' which could be 
-A career
-Work Experience
-Experience of doing a trade show
-A business plan
-Self employment/freelance work
-Shop report


I think each area will be useful to look into as I would like to gain work experience, but also research into a variety of possible careers and possible business plans if I decide to become self-employed, so it is going to be difficult to decide what to write it on.

I think researching into a number of career options could be useful for showing the options I have available to me as a designer after I graduate. Gaining personal experience in these areas would help make the picture clearer for which career would be the right direction for me.

The report could demonstrate understanding of..
-The selected career- what you would do in the job
-How you would enter
-Knowledge of industry structure
-Primary research specific to your report from current industry professionals