Thursday, 19 May 2016

SUMMATIVE STATEMENT

Over the course of this module I have taken on quite a diverse range of projects. Many opportunities arose, which led me to try out new things. For instance, the Anorak Magazine workshop; this was an amazing chance to try something different that I hadn’t experienced before. I very much enjoyed working as a team and meeting new people. I especially surprised myself with how well I worked with children and how much I enjoyed it, as it’s not something I have done much in the past.

From taking the opportunities that the University had to offer I had two successes. The first was at Christmas, winning the LCA Christmas Card Competition, which really gave me a boost and some confidence in my practice. And then the second success was coming second in the Carmelite Prize 2016. Plus, not only that, to then be offered an amazing contract with them. The news was very overwhelming. It has really helped me begin to believe in the work that I am producing, is appreciated and enjoyed.


Another side to my practise is my plush toy range. My Tuesday’s Toy brief has been a big learning process and I have got a lot from that brief. It has taught me the skills and given me the knowledge to be able to be adventurous in what I want to make. In addition, I have found out so much about the designer toy industry and market. Transitioning into my final project, you can see that I have pushed my skills to create this final range. I plan to continuously expand on my ROH TOTS range after I leave here, and hopefully in the future have a full time business selling my plush toy collections.

PROJECT REPORT

Wednesday, 18 May 2016

STUDIO BRIEF 9 - PROJECT BOARDS

STUDIO BRIEF 8 - PROJECT BOARDS

STUDIO BRIEF 7 - PROJECT BOARDS

STUDIO BRIEF 6 - PROJECT BOARDS

STUDIO BRIEF 5 - PROJECT BOARDS

STUDIO BRIEF 4 - PROJECT BOARDS

STUDIO BRIEF 3 - PROJECT BOARDS

STUDIO BRIEF 2 - PROJECT BOARDS

STUDIO BRIEF 1 - PROJECT BOARDS

Tuesday’s Toy was a weekly brief, which ran from the end of September until the beginning of March. The brief was to create a plush toy. There were no specifics on what the toy had to be as the brief was very process led.  

UPDATED STATEMENT OF INTENT

After looking at my old statement of intent I have made amendments and made changes to it. 

STATEMENT OF INTENT - Evaluation of the last one

This is the most recent Statement of Intent that I wrote in January. I feel that I have succeeded in what I wanted to achieve in my rationale. I haven't booked 'tables at craft fairs and events across the country'. But I have attended several events and craft fairs over the year which has been a great learning experience. Particularly, going to Toy Con UK in London, was an amazing and really made an impression on me. To see the standard and array of different toys there, has really made me want to push my practice so that I would be able to participate in it next year. Though, I haven't booked tables across the country I did take part in The Corn Exchange's Craft and Gift Fair which was a great opportunity for me to be on the other side of the table and see how people react and feel about my work. It was all very positive and I defiantly want to do more in the future. 


Apart from the D&AD Shuttershock Brief I did do all the rest of the Briefs that I put on my updated Statement of Intent. The reason I decided to discard that one was because, it wasn't very suited towards my practice and new opportunities arose which I wanted to work on. 

Tuesday, 17 May 2016

All the Sweet Treats Together

Gumballs

These I found were quite difficult to photograph because the packaging reflected quite a lot. And the bright colours just came out too bright in the light. 

Doughnut

I felt that the doughnut got a little bit lost in the white background so I also experimented with the pink paper that I used the other day for the cookies. 



Cookie Jar




These I feel came out the best. The jar was a little bit of a challenge to capture as the light shined on it a lot, but I feel they have come out well. 

Candy Floss




Lollypop



The lollypop is quite fragile therefore it cannot stand up on its own and will need to find a way around that for the final show. 

Pink Tones


I wanted to get a photo of all the light pink toned foods altogether as they make a nice collection within the range.

The Date is Set!!

Task List


Monday, 16 May 2016

Donut Making

I found the doughnut to be more of a challenge than I expected.Before jumping in and making the final doughnut I started off by making some mini versions of it, so that I could get an idea of how to I would go about it. 

Sunday, 15 May 2016

Lollypop Making



Unfortunatly the spray paint left red marks all over the white areas so I had to re paint it all again. 



This has been the most challenging toy to make yet, mainly due to its scale and working with the tube and fabrics.



Saturday, 14 May 2016

Craft and Gift Fair

This is something that I have wanted to do for a long time, so I was really happy that I finally got to experience this and be on the other side of the table. I am pleased with the work that I prepared and produced for it and got a positive response. I was surprised but a lot of people really liked the 'Sorry' card range the most. I think that the Corn Exchange was a great location for us to have our first craft fair as it an established place, and it wasn't too crazy and busy that we would be swamped. I would definitely like to do more as it is a great way of meeting new people and other makers. I met a lovely woman named the Perky Painter. She gave me quite a few tips and was very friendly. I think if I do intend to do more I need to look into places that can mass produce my designs for me onto prints and various products. 

Friday, 13 May 2016

Took a trip to Scrap

I took another trip to Scrap as I wanted to gather more materials for further toys that I am going to make after the deadline for the show. Whilst I was there I took a lot of photos of different ways that I could present my toys in the show. I was thinking of having them all in a big bin/box like a giant sweet bin and was thinking of different ways of doing so.

Proposed Toys

I drew out my ideas of proposed toys that I would've liked to of made if I were to continue with the Healthy VS. Junk range. 

Healthy 

Junk 
\

Thursday, 12 May 2016

Candy Floss Making


Gumball Packaging

Whilst I was down in digital print today, I noticed that some of the rolls were in a long plastic packaging. I thought that it looked perfect to put my Gumballs in! I asked James if I could have some and he said there was loads and loads of them in the back so I grabbed several. Most of them didn't have a bottom bit thats sealed, but I thought I could tie each end. 


Final Postcard

This is the photo that I chose to use for my postcard. I think that it is clean and clear and well presents the toys. I wasn't sure if we could include logo images onto the back of our postcards, but I thought I would put them on anyway incase we can. 

Photographing Gumballs

After photographing the cookies I decided to take photos of the Gumballs as well. I don't think they work as well as the cookies because they are already bright colours. Particularly the red blends in a bit to the background. Though the green works really well with the pink. 

Fresh batch of cookie photographs

One of these photos I will pick out to use for my postcard. I'm not quite sure which one to use yet,but I have narrowed down to these ones. I bought a bright, vibrant piece of pink card to use a background. I think that the pink has worked very well as a background and really makes the cookies and the card as a whole pop. Which I think is important as it will be with everyone else's cards, so I need it to be eye catching. 

Wednesday, 11 May 2016

Stickers


I have printed out each of these designs as stickers and will be selling them individually at 40p. IT was £2 a sheet which I got 15 stickers on each sheet. Which works out at 13p, which equals 27p profit. 



Tuesday, 10 May 2016

Photographing my final pieces

Dolly Oblong toys I met at Toy Con this year. I really admire the way they photograph their toys. Heres some images of their toys: 

I love the vibrant, bold backgrounds. This is something that I want to be able to try and do myself. 

Presentation

I am thinking a lot about how to present my sweets in the final show. I came across these cardboard sweet shops and vans, potentially something long these lines maybe? Just an idea.I have made a Pinterest board as well, for more inspiration. Consistently though I do want the black white and pastel pink colours throughout like in my ROH NOH and ROH TOTS logo.  

Deciding Dates

I have sent them a few emails recently as I would like to find out a date of when it is they want me to come to London. They've been pretty quite over the last week or so but I got a reply from them today. I have said to them that the 6th and the 9th June are best for me as I will be at Hallmark the other dates. 


Ying Yang Cats

I have re drawn the Ying Yang Cats in brush pen and drew it bigger, because before it was just a small sketch. I've worked into a bit on photoshop with different line colours and backgrounds. I think I like the blue lines with the white or light blue background the best, its a calm and relaxed colour which works well with the drawing. 




Or this is what its line just plain black and white? Which also works well, but the blue lines makes it pop more. 



Monday, 9 May 2016

6 - Final Christmas Cards and Tags

5 - Final Mothers Day Cards and Tags

4 - Final Sorry Cards and Tags

3 - Final Birthday Cards and Tags

2 - Final New Baby Cards and Tags

1 - Final Valentines Cards with Tags

Marshmallows Label

Below is a quick sketch I did to get an idea of how I would like the marshmallows to look like in their packaging. 


Like the ROH NOH and ROH TOTS logo I wanted the writing to be the same for the labelling of the different foods. 




Label Testing

I've been testing out different ways to have my label. I have decided on a logo now, so it's just figuring it out how it will be displayed on a label. The labels will go across all the toys, so it is important how it looks. 

Saturday, 7 May 2016

Sweet Inspiration

I was on the market the other day and went to the sweet stall to get some inspiration. I came across these long cable sweets. I definitely would love to make some of these if I have time. 



I have gathered some images together of different sweets to get some inspiration on ones to make. I think turning my pea into a gobstopper is a good idea, and continue to make more in different colours. 

Friday, 6 May 2016

Tutorial

I had my tutorial earlier today with Fred. I feel that it went well, and it's made me slightly less panicked about the upcoming deadline. Going through each brief has made me realize that most the briefs are pretty much completed and its more just finishing touches. We discussed the final project and have come to the decision of just focusing on sweet foods rather than healthy and junk. I suggested doing just junk food but looking at what I have made already we thought it would be best to focus in more and just do sweet foods. Which actually I am really happy about as that's what I am most excited about making. 

Sweet Foods: 

- Lolly pops - cardboard tubes, painted red and white. 
- Cookies - in glass jar 
- Marshmallows -  x10 in cellophane bag tied up with ribbon and tag with logo on. 
- Gobstoppers - multicolored 
- Doughnut - 1 large - Buy multicolored beads to sew on like sprinkles. 

Keeping on top of spending

Over the last few weeks, I have been trying to keep on top of how much I am spending on all the materials for this project.  I thought that this would be a good idea; one just because I like to keep on top of things like that and know for myself, and two, so I can figure out how much to price my work at at the end, based on how much I would've spent making the toy. 

Lollypop Prep



A while a go when I took a visit to SCRAP to get materials for the Yorkshire Sculpture Park event for Anorak Magazine. Whilst I was there I got this tube as I thought it would work perfectly to make a stick for a giant lolly pop. I came up with a couple of ideas with how I am going to go about making the lolly pop and I feel that it would look best if the tube was red and white stripes and then the lolly to be all red. I've put a couple of layers of white on the tube, then I am going to masking tape out the white bits and my house mate has some red spray paint that I can use to spray on the red bits, as it will save a lot of time, plus it has a smoother finish. 

Marshmallow Packaging

I am not really sure how to go about the packaging for the marshmallows. I have 10 and they're fairly big. I have been looking online at different ways of packaging them. I'm thinking of using a clear cellophane sheet and tying it together at the top with pink ribbon and a tag with my logo on it? Or still using a cellophane sheet but using card at the top to seal it together, with my logo on it? The only problem with that is, how to neatly seal up the sides?

Marshmallow Making

Over the last two days I have been creating my marshmallows. All together, I have 10 marshmallows, I think that this is a decent amount to fill a packet. I am happy with how they are looking, and I am excited about how they will look packaged up. 

Thursday, 5 May 2016

Reply


I told him that we all plan on getting all the correct documents and that I will talk to the others more about it all. He seems really positive and keen on the idea of us running a work shop though, so this seems like something that we could all work towards next, if everyones up for it! 

Wednesday, 4 May 2016

Cookie Making

I managed to find a big cookie jar! I ideally wanted the jar to be massive. But, it wasn't really realistic in being able to find one. The jar that I have got though is large and I am happy with it. 

Over the last 3 days, I have spent making cookies to be able to fill it with! I am really happy with how they have turned out. I made them smaller than I planned but this was in order for them to fit through the top of the jar easily. 



As you might be able to see in the first image I have cut out slightly bigger circles, as I plan on making some bigger cookies too. The reason for this is because my white paper bag packaging arrived and I feel the jar cookies might be a little bit small for them so I wanted to make some bigger ones to be put in them that will fill it a bit more. 


Ice Cream Logo Mocks



As part of my junk food range, I am considering creating plush ice creams in their tubs. The tubs would have a sticker with the logo on the front.I have played around with both the logos on the tubs as I just can't pick which one I like the most. I am now swaying more towards the ones without the black filled in. If I do create ice creams, I would want the tubs to be the right shade of pink which would be impossible unless I paint them myself, which would look not as sleek. Or just stick with white ones?





Potential Event

In January I emailed a guy about taking part in the Leeds Food Festival in August as part of a competition. We have briefly been on and off chatting about it, and is something that I might be taking part of, but I am not sure. 

As I was emailing him back today I thought that it could be a great opportunity for us to run a workshop there, as it is an event for all the family. He said "We are looking at around 16,000 attendee’s for the weekend." so that is ALOT of people that we can talk to and make connections with. 

He replied and seemed very keen on the idea of having a workshop there. Though, he did say that we would need all the right documentation before hand. But, the event isn't until August so we would have plenty of time to be able to sort everything out. 


I have messaged everyone in the group about the event and will see what they say. This is the website to the event: http://northleedsfoodfestival.co.uk

Reply from Donna Wilson

Recently, before the PPP deadline, I emailed Donna Wilson some questions. I've just got an email back from her. (well someone called Rebecca, who I guess emails on behalf of her). 






These were the parts that I have found most interesting and helpful. 

Was there a big break that helped catapult you to success?
My final show at the RCA sold out, which was very encouraging and it gave me the confidence to exhibit at a public show called Designersblock, which opened my work up to a wider audience too. I would never have done that if it wasn’t for the RCA.


I feel similar in that I hope the final show kind of gives me that boost in confidence in openly displaying my work. She has mentioned Designersblock, I have had a look on their website and looks like it is really interesting so I have applied to be able to exhibit. 




Do you think it’s essential to sell through shops if you want to make a living as a designer and maker?This goes without saying, but having a website that really expresses who you are and what you do is invaluable. Other tools like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram help to make you more approachable to the public and help them to get to know who you really are. However, big-name clients like SCP, Liberty, and John Lewis have had a huge impact on my career. Their continued support and the business they bring me are important because they allow me to present my brand and products to a wider audience than I would have been able to reach otherwise. So many people have been introduced to my products through these retailers, so the partnerships I have with these clients have been essential to the growth of my business. I’m very grateful for that.


How do you find and choose your suppliers and manufacturers?It’s important to me to produce things in the UK on several different levels. For example, I want to promote local manufacturing and help keep British craftsmanship alive. There’s too much disposability in products and consumer goods nowadays and it’s environmentally irresponsible. I believe that if you have something that is handmade, it’s somehow more special than something made carelessly or mass produced, so you’re more likely to keep it for years instead of throwing it away. I want to make things that people use, keep and treasure for years – things that don’t end up in a landfill.
People have asked me why I don’t get them mass produced, as it would certainly be less time consuming, but for me I think they would lose their charm, identity and oddness.

What advice would you give to someone who is just starting out?  
It’s a gradual process and I’m constantly learning and adjusting, but I think the main thing is to work hard, be nice to people, nurture relationships with customers, collaborators and work colleagues and always be determined. It’s not always easy to do all this, all of the time, but I try my best. I think there is always room for more creativity, as long as you’re being true to yourself and finding your own voice.
Have you got any tips for makers who are struggling to grow their businesses?If you can’t make enough money from your business, my advice would be to have a part-time job on the side to help subsidise and ease the financial pressure. Use that job as a learning tool, as you can get tips on how to run a business no matter what field it’s in – the basics are the same!

Public Arts Dates


We have been emailed about what dates we are available to do. I am at Hallmark till the 3rd June so I have said I can do from the 4th onwards. 

Spray paintworkshop

As part of the Plusnet brief we were offered the opportunity to take part in a workshop to learn how to spray paint. We got taught the basics, like learning how to create dots and lines. Then progressing onto colouring in. I had a great time and enjoyed learning this new skill. Though, it was a bit trickier than I thought it would be. Despite whether our design wins or not, we are able to take part in painting it onto the wall. I'm pleased that I can have a go at doing this, so that if in the future I get the chance or asked to do a mural piece, I will know what to do and how to go about it. 

ROH TOTS LOGO

I have been thinking a lot about what the logo for my toys will look like. I had a go at making some the other week but I wasn't happy with any of them really. So I decided to play around with making some hand written logos. I wanted it to have the same feel as the ROH NOH logo, so I have used a similar thick black pen and capital letters. 



This is the one that I have selected out. I have tried it out with blacked out parts too, similar to the other tests that I did. I'm feeling a lot happier with these ones. I like the first or the second one the most, I think before choosing I will gather some opinions from other people. 




Tuesday, 3 May 2016

Pizza Box

I have been searching online for pizza boxes and they're just too expensive, unless I buy in bulk, but thats silly as I don't need that many. So I decided to just go into my local take away and get one of their pizza boxes. I chose to go to theirs because I know their boxes are white. I asked them for the biggest box they had and it is 16", which is pretty perfect really. 

I do actually quite like the idea of keeping the box how it is. I like that it authentic and then just put my sticker on it to seal it or put it at the side.