YCN; crit one.

This was the feedback given from our first crit. In this crit we didn't really have anything physical to show as such apart from our blogs and the research we'd began to put together. I found that this crit wasn't very useful in terms of the feedback. This was because it was quite hard to write down feedback people were giving whilst having a discussion about the ideas. It would have probably been more useful for those people to write down the feedback for us. The small amount of feedback we were given however was useful in the sense that we hadn't really considered how we were going to include the actual imaginative colours tool within the exhibition. A point was made that our clients need to be able to interact with it to decide whether or not it would be relevent to their company and their needs. This is something we could definitely go away and think about. 

YCN; Contract.

I found a partner in Charlotte Bourke and felt this would be a good person to work with because it was someone new that I hadn't really worked with before. Once we'd got our partners we had to come up with a contract of what each of our responsabilities would be in terms of the collaboration and these were all things that we'd agreed on. If there was ever any doubt within the collaboration we could always refer back to this contract. 

Enterprise & innovation; Final presentation.

"Our three main methods of promotion are our business card, website and press ad. All these elements tie in with our target audience because each separate target audience will have access to a different form of promotion. 

The business card will be necessary when it comes to networking and building our client base because we can hand this to potential clients. Having a memorable and unique business card will work in our favor because it will rest on the clients mind. 

The website will be accessible to all of our target audiences but each will view it a different way depending on what they are looking to get out of it. Clients may view it to see the work we have produced before or find contact details and consumers and students may just generally want to know more about our company or also get in touch with us." 

Based on everything Kirsty had written within our business plan each slide covers certain aspects of this. I did find it quite difficult to put our whole business idea into just ten slides because theres always the thought that you may have missed something. We discussed our company quite a lot within the slides because we felt that we needed to be sure people would go for this idea as if they didn't like it we wouldn't really have a business venture at all. Including a basic breakdown of costing for our company helps people understand how realistic we are being about everything and shows that we understand how the business would operate. Looking at competitors was a really important aspect because we need to be aware of what is already out there so we can make sure we try and work above this to become the best possible company. Covering the PEST analysis shows that we understand the business world and how we would have to fit within this to be successful. I feel that this presentation will inform our audience of exactly what our business is about and how it could be successful. 

Liv also created a piece of motion graphics as the ending to our presentation, just to give it a unique twist. 

Enterprise & innovation; Presentation layout.

After we had created our business plan we needed to put together our presentation so we could present our idea to our peers. I came up with this very basic design for our presentation and what each slide would include. I felt that the minimalist approach was again really relevent because it was in keeping with everything else we had produced and the more important side of the presentation was the information it put across and not whether it looked fancy. Using the same colour scheme as we have previously also linked everything together and using the logo shape on the corner of every slide was just another nice little feature and with intention so that people remember this as they are constantly being shown it. The idea of our presentation is to sum up everything we have stated within the business plan but within ten slides and in a way that anyone would be able to understand. 

Enterprise & innovation; Business plan.

The original business plan that Kirsty found was quite complicated because there was a lot of text describing each section as a 'useful' tool but this just seem to cause more confusion. Upon conducting more research Kirsty found this other business plan from Barclays that was a lot simpler to understand and very first time business owner friendly. It tells you what to put into each section and sometimes gives you examples, it also sometimes breaks elements down into tables which makes certain aspects a lot easier to understand. 

We used the above business plan as a template for our own and Kirsty was able to put this together based on the research we had conducted. Our personal business plan gives a breakdown of every aspect of the business idea and where we hope the business will travel over a period of time. It also gives a break down of costs and has helped us understand exactly how much money we will need to get the business going and to help it survive over time. The idea of the business plan is that someone who is completely unfamaliar with our business can pick it up, read it and understand every single plan we have and how we hope to survive as a new business. 

Enterprise & innovation; Promoting ourselves.

Front and back of the business card. 

The front of our business card was originally a logo design that Liv created but when we got feedback on this logo from others we were advised not to use it because photo logos like this don't tend to work over a range of elements due to the fact they are more complicated. Due to the fact we really liked this design we decided we would apply it to other elements of our business and feel it works really well for the front of the business card and creates a sophisticated solution. We decided to keep the back of the business card quite minimalistic so there is no confusion with the information it contains and its straight to the point. The idea of using greys throughout all our designs for the company comes from the fact that our favourite colours are blue, pink and orange and we imagine that if you mixed these together you'd get a mucky grey colour. We have managed to include all elements of our corporate identity but feel this works really well because they compliment each other. 

We printed the business cards out on a range of stocks which include antique paper and watercolour paper. The watercolour paper is definitely the better option of the two because it has a nice quality texture to it and the antique paper being slightly yellow doesn't make the design look as good as it could. Based on these business card designs Kirsty created a folder than will hold our business plan in, just to add another nice personal touch to our company. This is will hopefully make our idea more memorable. 

Liv took on the task of creating a homepage layout for the website we plan on setting up. I really like the design because it sticks to this minimalistic approach that all our elements seem to have and it looks really easy to navigate around. The buttons Liv has included to direct the audience to different pages just include really important aspects of our company which is good because we want everything to be straight to the point instead of including our 'whole life story'. Again the use of colour being quite neutral works really well because it ties everything together as being from part of the same company. These colours add a level of sophistication. I feel that having all elements of the website central to the page is another great feature because your eye is automatically drawn to everything instead of things being all over the place. 

Enterprise & innovation; PEST & SWOT analysis.

Based on the research that Kirsty and Liv conducted on our competition within Edinburgh I chose three of the compaines to carry out a SWOT anaylsis on as this would determine just how much of a threat they were. I also carried out a PEST anyalsis on our own company to determine where we place within society. 

http://edinburghart.com

Strengths: 

- Their work is fresh and interesting and so will appear to the modern day audience. 

- The start up of the website design is very creative. 

- They have a good city center location. 

- They have an online shop as a further source of income. 

Weaknesses:

- The text on their website is quite small. 

Opportunities:

- They could tour craft events around the country to put themselves out there a bit more and make some extra money on top of the shop space and online space. 

Threats: 

- More shops like this are cropping up so competition is building. 

http://www.thetouchagency.co.uk/

Strengths: 

- They have designed for big clients such as WWF and Amazon. 

- They are located in the center of Edinburgh.

- Their website creates a good first impression. 

- Their team has a range of people from a range of design backgrounds. 

Weaknesses: 

- The logo isn't as memorable as it possibly could be. 

Opportunities:

- They are quite a small business so they could expand. 

Threats: 

- There are a lot of design studios in Edinburgh to compete with. 

http://www.edinburghdesignstudio.co.uk/

Strengths: 

- They have won awards. 

- They cover both digital and print design. 

Weaknesses:

- Their website isn't that appealing.

- The story of them as a company is quite short. 

Opportunities:

- Giving more background on the company may help because clients may then put more trust in them. 

Threats: 

- Companies are holding onto their money more so design studios are all trying really hard to impress. 

Pest analysis of our company.

Political

As a company we will steer clear of political issues based on opinion because this could get us into a lot of trouble if we upset the wrong people. We will work within the guidelines of environmental law to be an evironmentally friendly company in the best way we can. We will not promote anything that goes against things that government have set in place because this could create a bad name for ourselves.

Economic

Due to the current economic climate the cost of things for the business will is likely to be higher. We need to do our best to keep these costs down in order to produce afforable design and keep the company going. We recognise that economic factors will make times difficult for a new company. 

Social

If we are in keeping with the social factors of design we are more likely to have work because there is high demand for this. Following trends will keep our design fresh and innovative, and because it's a trend there will definitely be a market for this because it will be current.

Technological

We will use the latest technology avaliable in terms of print to create the best possible quality for our clients. We may not update our software every time an update occurs because these changes can be small but very costly. Our designs will need to move along with the technological change because this will alter how design looks. 

Enterprise & innovation; Final location.

After not hearing back from the landlord about the first property we found that we though was ideal for our business we finally found one which we were able to get more information on. Kirsty found this property on gumtree and got in touch with the landlord to get a break down of all the costs that would be involved within this property and whether or not it would be suitable for our type of business. Having more information on the property was a really important factor because we needed this information for our business plan. This location has previously been a clothing shop so the facility is quite modern and seems suitable for a design studio. The location is perfect for three designers because its just the right size and we could make it feel like a very comfortable place to work in, add a homely touch to it as we will spend a lot of time here. The most important thing about this property is it has the upstairs downstairs element to it which is key to the name of our company. 

Enterprise & innovation; Logo.

After still being unsure on previous names we had explored, we came up with the name upstairs downstairs. This is probably the best one we have come up with so far because the message that comes with the name describes our company so the name itself actually makes sense and will be easy for others to understand. 

My logos. 

Personally I feel that logos that consist of shape and a typeface communicate a lot better because they are more memorable and easier to interpret so on this basis I designed the logos above. I chose a few fonts that I found were quite quirky and linked to our company being fresh and modern, the great thing about each of these fonts is that they are legiable but each have a unique style. The idea behind using just a hint of colour was to keep the design quite minimalist. I think if too many colours are used it would make the design seem a bit tacky maybe. I chose blue just generally because this is my favourite colour and had the idea in mind that each team member could use their favourite colour on their personal business card and letterheads to add a unique touch. Some of the logos had 'design studio' in them but then it was pointed out that we aren't just a design studio because we have our shop element so it was best to just use 'design' instead. My favourites are the two within the middle of the other designs (each in a different font) because I like the fact the upstairs and downstairs characteristic is distinguished within the design on the left. With the design on the right I like the fact the 'design' is rotated because I feel this adds a quirky element to the logo and doesn't make it seem as plain. This also gave another opportunity to explore the use of colour. Although these are good inital designs I still feel as though there is something missing from them. 

Final logo design. 

These are some of the logo designs that Liv created. Originally the logo in the shape and the 'upstairs downstairs' text were designed as two seperate logos but because the shape didn't communicate the company name to its full potential we decided to bring the two together and feel that this works well. The mixture of an 'old fashioned' looking logo and the modern text is quite a nice feature because this can show that we work with both the old and the new in terms of things that are avaliable to us and the style of design. The great thing about this logo design is due to the nature and simplicity of it, it can be used across a wide range of products such as business cards, letterheads and stationery. The logo colour can also be easily changed depending on the stock it is placed on and still communicate just as well. We have decided to use these are our final logo design because we feel they communicate best out of all those we came up with to date. 

Enterprise & innovation; Advertising.

http://www.metro.co.uk/home/

When I initially started researching newspapers within Edinburgh I found it was quite difficult to get any kind of information on advertising. I then considered The Metro because this newspaper is usually found on public transport which means a lot of people are likely to read it and it will also reach a large target audience. There are a couple of different types of ads you can place within this newspaper depending on what you are advertising and I also checked that they cover Edinburgh. It would not be strange to place a graphic design ad in a newspaper such as this because a huge part of the audience that reads newspapers is business people as the number travelling on public transport is constantly growing, so this is also another way we could get potential clients as well as targeting the student audience we are interested in. This is also another way that we can target members of the public to get them to visit our shop and purchase things so does that mean that we need two different types of ads that are communicating different messages? 

Enterprise & innovation; Car hire.

http://www.edinburgh-car-hire.com/

http://www.avis.co.uk

Due to the fact Edinburgh is such a large city the transport links will most definitely get you from A to B but these aren't always completely reliable. I have researched a little into car hire to see how much this would set us back. I think in general a car wouldn't be a permanent need but its good to know how much it would cost us because there is always going to be some point when we need one. This is also a lot cheaper than actually buying a car for our company. I looked at both weekly hire and daily over a range of different websites to compare prices.