Enterprise & innovation; end of module self-evaluation.

1. What skills have you developed throughout this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?  
I have developed a number of skills throughout this module. One of the first and main skills has been collaboration/group work and this has been applied effectively because we managed to produce all the elements needed for the module and presentation. Another factor that showed to effectiveness of this skill was the research we all did seperately because this was brough together to produce our business plan. Although the application of this skill wasn't constant throughout, we definitely managed to bring it together in the end. I have developed linear business skills throughout this module because I had to understand how setting up a business worked in terms of both the maths and proposal elements. These have been applied in the best way possible considering this is something I had no experience in previously, proof of the application of these skills has been shown throughout both the presentation and the business plan itself. Another skill I have developed throughout this module is my presentation ability. This has been applied very effectively because I said my equal part throughout our presentation in order to gain confidence and show my understanding of the work that we had produced. The final skill I have developed is a research skill because this informed the tasks I have completed for the module but also the business section of the module. This has been a huge part of the whole module because a lot of the elements were based on research and looking at what is already existing within the industry. This skill has definitely been applied successfully because I wouldn't have been able to finish the tasks or complete our business idea without the help of the research I found. 

2. What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process? 
One of the approaches I have developed throughout this module is the idea of building a concept starting with one element and moving on to another in a certain order, for example, coming up with a company name and what we are about and then researching into these types of companies to inform the next stage. Without using this method of concept building the project would have never come together like it did because one thing has to be done before another as each element informs another and means we as a group could move on to the next stage of building our business. In a sense we also worked a bit backwards with this project because we came up with the name after we had thought about how we would like our design studio to be. This has actually benefitted us in the long run because the name was informed via the type of studio we were going to have 'upstairs downstairs'. The logo also came after everything else but this is something else that informed our design development process well because it meant we concentrated on the main and possibly most important elements of our project first and then thought about these elements which meant we could have a bit more fun with it because we weren't worrying about everything else. I learnt that its sometimes better to work backwards because certain decisions inform others and its important that parts of projects are prioritised over others depending on how time consuming they may be. 

3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these? 
The research element has definitely been a huge strength throughout this module because it has informed many decisions throughout the tasks and also within our business idea. In future I will keep up this amount of research that I did because I found that the more you had, the more informed some of the decisions were and it also meant you had a lot of back up for the decisions you were making. My general organisation has also been a strength throughout this module but more so toward approaching the deadline because i've managed to produce the work within the deadline and our own personal deadlines based on when we needed certain elements to be done by so that we could move on with our work. In future to capitalise I will make sure I start the module organised too because the pressure won't be as much and decisions may become more informed because i'm not pressured to get things done. General idea generation has been a further strength throughout this module because i've helped contribute to some of the creative decisions. To capitalise on this in future I will continue to come up with a range of ideas before settling on something. When it comes to the tasks a strength I have is understanding a certain area of the industry that I am interested in to a satisfactory degree. In future I will research even further so I become an 'expert' on the things I am discussing because I may actually learn something that I didn't know. 

4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in future? 
My presentation writing skill has been a small weakness within this module because there was quite a lot of text which can be quite off putting for the audience as they feel a bit bombarded and may spend more time reading than actually paying attention. In future I will keep my presentation as minimal as possible and speak more about things rather than having it word for word on the screen. I will also make my presentations more visually exciting because although this one was, it could have been more so. Communication skills have been a weakness in terms of the collaboration because there was points in which we didn't discuss ideas for a while. In future I will make sure that I converse with people about a project as often as possible or when nescessary so that there is no confusion and everyone in the group is kept in a loop. 

5. Identify five things you will do differently next time and what you expect to gain from doing these? 

1. Refer to sources in the library more. 
They are likely to be more realiable than the internet and I may come across something that someone else won't have found or thought of. This may inform my work in a more positive way because i'd be seeing something new. 


2. Converse more when it comes to group work. 
There will generally be better organisation and the workload will be easy to keep track of and also keep on top of. We can also discuss if people have come up with new ideas to capitalise on the ones we already had. 


3. Work to personal a deadline before the brief stated deadline. 
This is more of a personal gain because I feel that I would be a lot less stressed about what was left to do and would take more time in completing any outstanding work. There would also be more time to go back and change elements if need be. 


4. Prioritise a brief just as much as all others. 
This means that the work flow will be steady and constant and won't seem as daunting. There will be more organisation through doing this and said brief won't be forgotten about so much. 


5. Blog as I go. 
Keeping on top of the blogging means it won't be so much of a task at the end and i'd be less likely to miss something out. 

6. How would you grade yourself in the following areas: 

Attendence 5

Punctuality 5

Motivation 3

Commitment 3

Quantity of work produced 4

Quality of work produced  3

Contribution to the group 4

(1 being poor and 5 being excellent)

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; Business plan.

This is a business plan template that Kirsty found. This will help us break down each section of our business so that we can understand it in every possible way but more importantly so that someone else can understand it eg. the bank. A business plan states the intensions of the prospective business, the cost breakdown to begin the business and the aims of the course of at least three years. In the business plan template above, each section has a small paragraph so we know exactly what we need to discuss and where. Although at first this seems quite daunting, we all recognise is a massive part of the business because without the plan how do you know exactly what you want from your business. This is one thing that will definitely help me understand business more a personal level because I don't have much knowledge of it at all. Before we can go ahead and put this together we need to research all possible areas so we covered all costs etc. 

Enterprise & innovation; Location.

Instead of sticking to what we know we in the end decided to venture away from familiar areas and see where we could place our business within the rest of the country. Upon researching most creative cities within the UK, Edinburgh was one which came out on top. Although there is competition in this city, it seems to be less than that of Yorkshire. Edinburgh is also a place that we all quite like so it seems suitable. 

Myself and Kirsty googled a few different letting agent websites for edinburgh as a starting point for finding a location for our studio. The one that seemed to have the most interesting properties on it was Gumtree and we found quite a few we liked on that website. The most difficult part we found when searching for these properties was finding one in which there was an upstairs and downstairs but we felt this was definitely a feature of our studio we were not going to compramise on. With properties in Edinburgh we also found that the closer they were to the city center, the more expensive the rent was, we were willing to find a location that was further from the center but still quite easy to get to so this would benefit the client. With some of the spaces it was harder to imaigne exactly how large or small they were as the photos contained the shop floor full of items from the previous owner but on the other hand this gave us a better idea of what we'd get in there. 

The one space that stood out was the second from top. Although this didn't have the upstairs, downstairs feature we liked it in the sense that there was a lot of open space to work with and the rent was reasonable. We did however, think about things like heating cost because this would be such a large space to heat so its important we consider whether it would be afforable. 

Our favourite however, is the bottom space on this page. This is perfect because it has both the upstairs and downstairs and the downstairs area seems quite open plan so this is ideal for a gallery/shop space, its also not too large so we could easily find the work to fill it. The rent isn't cheap but nor is it expensive so we could work around this factor based on the fact it's exactly what we are looking for. The location is ideal because its not central but not difficult to access either and the general look of the building is inviting and appealing. We could imagine that people would find it easy to approach and it may even catch their eye. The one downside to this property is however, it states that the upstairs space is a living area, we are however going to go in touch with the person renting out this space to see if it could be converted into an office easily. 

After contacting the lanlord we still have no further information on this property so we will hunt for others for the time being.