Studio Brief 2 - Who is the competition?

Colours May Vary
Although for our Life's a Pitch we are doing a travelling arts van and Colours May Vary is an established shop with a set location I think that what they do is similar to what I would like our arts van to do - sell art-related products and host workshops etc.

Political factors
The shop is really on top of the politics behind buying stock to be sold

Economic factors
Since we are supposedly coming out of a recession, Colours May Vary is probably more likely to see more business these days then it might have been several years ago

Social factors
Illustration and graphic art are pretty trendy right now so their stock could probably be considered quite "cool"

Technological factors
The readily available nature of printing today makes illustrators able to provide stock - social media allows Colours May Vary to promote itself.

Product
-Prints
-Art books/magazines
-Potentially art supplies?
-Printing workshops
-Art-related talks from professionals and ourselves
-Printed apparel

Price
-Cost of van upkeep
-Cost of stock to sell
-Cost to buy stock
-Hiring people to give talks
-Cost of materials to run workshops

Promotion
-Social media - facebook, instagram, etc.
-Schools/colleges/universities
-Flyers
-Posters
-mailing lists

Place
-City centres
-Online presence - blogs/social media/online shop
-Anywhere our van can travel to - festivals, towns, villages - but preferably a place that is connected in terms of transport and network

What are their Strengths?
Strong branding behind themselves that makes them an attractive place to shop at/visit. Achieved through a tidy website that is consistent with shop interior and beliefs of owners

What are their Weaknesses?
Location - they are at the bottom of town in Leeds behind the bus station. Though the rent for a shop in that location is cheap, it's not the ideal place to be discovered.

What Opportunities have they taken?
With the growing trendiness of illustration these days, they've been able to capitalise on this growing market and set up a shop in the years in which we are also recovering from a recession. They've taken advantage of the cheapness of their location while promoting themselves through various social media outlets.

What Threats do they face?
Art-related stores that are more central in-town (though I don't think there are that many), the possibility of another recession which will mean no one will want to spend hard-earned money or frivolous pieces of art.

Study Task 3 - Sectors & Service

Primary Sector:
The primary sector of the economy extracts or harvests products from the earth.
e.g. agriculture, farming, mining, fishing, hunting

Secondary Sector:
The secondary sector of the economy manufactures finished goods.
e.g.  metal working and smelting, textile production, chemical engineering, construction

Tertiary Sector:
The tertiary sector of the economy is the service industry.
e.g. retail and wholesale sales, transportation and distribution, entertainment/media, restaurants

Quaternary Sector:
The quaternary sector of the economy consists of intellectual activities.
e.g. government, culture, scientific research, education, and information technology

Public Sector:
The part of the economy concerned with providing basic government, state or publicly owned services
e.g. police, military, health care, primary/secondary education

Private Sector:

The part of the economy that is not state controlled, and is run by individuals and companies for profit.

e.g. all for-profit businesses that are not government owned/run

Third Sector:

The part of the economy that includes voluntary or not-for-profit sectors or organisations

e.g. voluntary and community organisations, self-help groups

This poster was designed for the tertiary sector, as it relates to the entertainment industry, particularly television and advertising. I think it is successful as it creatively and entertainingly advertises the channel it is meant to advertise in a relevant way. It is part of the private sector

William Grill's illustrated book "Shackleton's Journey" is part of tertiary sector as it is a book meant to be read for entertainment, but could also potentially be part of the quaternary sector because as it is based on historical fact, could be considered educational. I haven't read the book so I can't comment on how successful it is on the education front but it's nice to look at

This cover illustration is part of the tertiary sector again

Could potentially be seen as the secondary sector as it is a finished good? Unless the illustration was commissioned as a service in the tertiary sector and the card was made my someone else in the secondary sector.

Jules De Bruycker etchings

For OUIL504 Printed Pictures

 

What I really need to do to make my etchings "pop" and not look like sketches is get a strong tonal contrast within them. De Bruycker's etchings are good examples of this.

George Grosz

  

George Grosz's characters are kinda weird but I kinda like them. They look very observed but are still really playfully done

Previous Sci-Fi channel advertisements

For OUIL503 Responsive

  

http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/2009/02/sci-fi-channel.html

Posters by Mike Koelsch that are pretty funny conceptually and nicely executed. I feel like they wouldn't be appropriate for the Syfy brand anymore as they try to widen the perception people have of their channel, but these are interesting to see and nice posters in themselves.

Studio Brief 2: Life's A Pitch

What is the idea/concept for your group's proposal?
Our idea is to have a travelling arts van that would go from city to city promoting art and also acting as a sort of pop-up shop

What service do you propose to provide?

1. Sell prints/art-related products
2. Run art-related workshops for all ages
3. Giving art-related talks/making visits in schools/colleges

Who will benefit /make use of your service?

1. Cities which we travel to
2. City's art scene
3. Illustrators whose work we stock
4. People interested in learning arts
5. People who take part in our workshops

What are the aims of your proposal?

1. Make money
2. Spread brand at an easy-to-reach street level
3. Create a brand
4. Promote other budding illustrators

What are the expected outcomes of your proposal?

1. Test waters of ideas before setting up a space/shop

How will you measure your success?

1. Profit margins
2. Reception of the public - if it's good
3. How long the driving van can be sustained

What problems can you foresee?

1. Products not selling
2. Not being able to afford start-up funds
3. Not getting a response from the public

David Firth

Despite being a cliche for disturbing animation he actually makes some pretty interesting art work too which I find inspiring for printed/moving pictures:

 

 

He's even done insect animation - very relevant at the moment - clearly shows an understanding of how the real thing moves which I need to study myself

Charles Keeping

Discovered this guy at the illustration exhibition over in the Parkinson Building at Uni of Leeds - really amazing, almost grotesque style which I think I can use in my printed and moving pictures brief.

 

Association of illustrators

I went to the AOI awards exhibition at Somerset House and saw some nice illustrations. What was interesting about the exhibition is that it displayed the work on the walls in frames like a normal art exhibition, but in the middle of the room was a glass case showing the work in context - in a book, magazine, etc.

William Grill's delicate pencil drawings particularly stood out to me as showing incredible craft, as it was one of the few pieces on the walls that was original artwork that hadn't been through a digital process.

Jasu Hu also did a visually arresting set of illustrations that were nice in context, but even more amazing in large on the wall. I dunno why I didn't take a picture of these on the wall to be honest

Etching inspiration

For OUIL504 Printed Pictures Brief

Kurt Wiscombe

Ryan Luke Johns

Chris Salmon

Emma Repp

http://www.printeresting.org/2014/09/01/david-barthold/

Sonia Rollo

Chris Orr

Phillip Dvorak

Jerry Gerard Di Falco

The last few are my favourite of the bunch - I really want to experiment with working into etchings with watercolour/gouache - bold, limited colours like the ducks, or blended colours like the one above.

Greeting cards

Chris Wharton Greeting Cards - for fans of television and film:

Jamie Mitchell Greeting Cards - for animal lovers (or rather friends of animal lovers)

 

Gemma Correll Greeting Cards - for lovers of puns

Alice Palace - Cards for various occasions/audiences (below: couples)

Gravelly Art - incredibly unironically inappropriate cards for people whose pets have just died

 

Looking at these has made me think that making marketable greeting cards is probably a lot easier than you might think and could be a quick money making idea.