Life's a Pitch Session

It was good to start the session with the feeling that everyone was on the same page and we all understood the idea of our business, our chat the other day was really helpful and I felt like we were at a good stage to progress now. 

Below is my interpretation of the business concept, after we had done this task and shared each others responses it was clear that we were all on the same wavelength. This did raise some issues for discussion though:

• Is 12 a good number for the amount of winners? I personally thought twelve was a good idea because it keeps the selection limited which gives the sense that it is a prestigious thing to be chosen. Some members of the group thought that 12 was too few but I think it is a good starting point. Obviously as the business gains a reputation and a following this number could increase.
• We could invite guest judges to judge the entries alongside us if they have a particular link to the theme or are regarded highly in the creative industry. 
• Should there be a submission fee? We decided on no and I totally agree with this decision because it means it is inclusive to anyone with any budget. 
• There might be a possibility to associate with other companies, maybe think of who could sell frames for our prints (Habitat, John Lewis, Ikea...) or any companies who display artwork (coffee shops, offices, conference centres, libraries, hotels...). This might be something we look into once the business is already established, it might be a lot to take on right at the beginning.

It also came up that we want to get our work shown on the site as well and we could use it as a platform for ourselves too. As a small collaborative group, we could design the header of the website each month to fit around the theme. We also had a discussion about stickers and who actually buys them, we came to the conclusion that they are usually given away for free alongside other products. I thought that the stickers could be something we design collaboratively as well and they would be sent out with every order we get. This way, our work is being promoted as we are selling other people's and the business itself is being promoted too if the sticker contained the logo and name. 

These some rough drawings I did during the break while talking to Tyler about how the winners could be shown on the site. We were getting a bit ahead of ourselves thinking about this so far in advance but it did raise some issues worth considering:

• How will the design of the website cater for designs with different proportions and orientations?
• Will it be able to be adapted to be viewed with ease on a phone screen?
• Could there actually be an app that you can download with updates of the new topic and items for sale? Products could be purchased through the app too. 

Below on the left is a manifesto I wrote for our business, the manifesto on the right is the combined outcomes of all members of the group. We underlined some keywords and words we wanted to change on the combined version as we were looking ahead to refine these sentences into a short piece of writing. I think it is really important to get across the idea that we want to build a relationship with artists and we are open to viewing work from any experience level. We need to be seen as a friendly, ethical community/business who actually cares about artwork and artists.

 This was our attempt to put all of these components together but we didn't get very far with this. We have set ourselves the task of writing out our own manifesto so that when we meet again we can take sections from different ones and combine it into a master-manifesto. We are also going to brainstorm name ideas and carry out any other research we see necessary. 

Seeing as this was our last timetabled session before the Christmas break we have arranged for us all to meet at 10am next Monday to feedback to each other what we have all done and have a group discussion about the development of the business idea. Hopefully we will then be able to sort out what each of us needs to do over Christmas so we can come back after the break well informed about our business. 

Research for Life's a Pitch

This is the research I did in preparation for the session on 30th November.

Postage prices research - this might affect the sized we make the prints and posters available in so that it could fit into a cheaper price bracket. 

Would we have to send through Royal Mail or can we send through a courier?

UPS, Parcel Force, MPD, DHL...

A business account would mean better deals on pricing. 

Packaging costs - envelopes, tubes, jiffy bags, etc.

Boarded envelopes and jiffy bags are cheap enough to buy in bulk from places like amazon or eBay. 

We would need to decide on the sizes we definitely needed and see if there is a wholesaler who could provide these for even cheaper. 

Would we print the designs ourselves on the envelopes?

Would we pay the printer we would use to do it for us?

Would we still have to provide the blank envelopes or would we pay them to source them?

Name Ideas

Twelve, Douze, Illustr8 (appropriate for 8 winning designs), Monthly Draw, 

Life's A Pitch - Change of Idea

I tried to arrange a meet up for our blog group before the next PPP session so I sent out a message on the group forum but got no response. I'm not sure whether I didn't do it right or whether the notifications aren't set up properly but the other members of my group didn't get informed that I had posted anything. I resorted to Facebook to get in contact with them. It wasn't convenient for everyone to come into the studio for a chat about our business idea on the Friday so we discussed the topic over Facebook. Obviously it would have been better to have everyone sat around a table but this worked for us and I feel we left the conversation with everyone on the same page. 

First issues raised in the chat:

• The travelling truck idea was getting too complicated. 
• We're not sure how much licensing and organisation it would take to sell food and drink as well just the artwork. 
• The truck idea would have a lot of initial costings before even having the chance to make any money, we would be starting out having invested a lot of money into it already with no guarantee of any return. 
• Would it be possible to simplify the truck idea down?
• Could we revert back to the idea of the online competition/shop?
• The online shop might be more manageable and simpler to work out costings for. 

We seemed to decide on taking forward the online shop/competition idea and the conversation developed into what this would involve. The idea is that a monthly theme would be set, work based around this theme would be entered into the competition, winners would be selected, their work would be sent to a manufacturer for products to be made and then would be available for sale on the website for a limited time. It is almost like a hybrid of Redbubble and Illustration Friday. 

Things to consider with the development of this idea:

• Limiting the range of products available would mean we would only need one manufacturer. 
• Maybe just sticking to 2D products like prints, posters, greetings cards, postcards and stickers would keep things simple and also make the postage process simpler. 
• If the business proves successful and gains momentum we could include additional products like t-shirts or stationery.
• How would we gauge how many products we would need to make without ay previous sales figures?
• Would we have to prepare for a loss and leftover stock in the first few months or could we make to order?
• Could one of the products be wrapping paper? We would have to consider that some designs are not suitable for repeat patterns. This might be a development we could plan for in the future if the business takes off. 
• How many winners would there be for each theme? Maybe 10 or 12. 
• Whats the audience? Local or worldwide? Limiting it to the UK would be a good starting point and it would keep shipping prices simple. 
• We would have to consider the packaging of the products, names, branding and logos need to be developed. 
• Could we include a personal note from the winner to say thank you for purchasing their design? A personal touch - providing a direct connection to the creator. 
• PRICING: manufacturering costs, postage costs, employment and wages, what do the designers get? 
• What files would need to be submitted for the competition? Resolution, size, colour, etc...
• Primary research - send out surveys to get a feel for what our audience think about it in terms of what they would pay.
• Research into other sites lie Quertee and Redouble and analyse how much percentage they take. 
• Submission fee? Might be off-putting. 
• If we make enough money we might be able to but our own printing equipment and cut out the cost of paying another printer. 
• Space needs to be considered, if we had our own printers we would need a bigger work space - rent, bills, additional costs. Might be best to avoid this to begin with. 

I feel a lot more confident with this idea rather than the lorry idea. I think this is much more realistic and we would be able to work with this idea as if it was something we could actually do. I think because the lorry idea would have been way out of our price budget, it seemed slightly unrealistic so it would have been easy to get carried away with things whereas the website is more grounded and can be taken more seriously. 

I need to do some research and think of some potential names to bring to the next PPP session. 

Colours May Vary and Joan Cornella Exhibition

We had a talk from Andy and Becky today who run Colours May Vary. They are really interesting people to listen to and it is clear they are doing what they love as their job which is so important. They spoke about how to approach galleries and shops with work, including themselves and said that it is best to send an email rather than turning up unannounced. The email should include a description of the work, why I have created it and some good quality images of it. They say to consider whether a seller is appropriate for your work but never tell the seller that it is, that is a decision they will make for themselves. 

They also spoke about the value and quality of prints. I was expecting them to say that analogue prints such as screen or lino would sell for a lot more but they surprised me by saying that digital prints do just as well. They say they get some beautiful digital prints that have way more merit than a poorly designed or executed screen print. It is not the case that the method of production dictates the quality of the work, it is quality that dictates quality. 

We went to the Joan Cornella Exhibition while we were at Munro House. I really enjoyed it and had a good laugh about some of his pieces. It amazes me how his mins works! He is very open with his subject matter and is not afraid to put anything out there and it is working in his favour because it is getting such a positive response. It did make me think about how cautious I am with my work and I always try not to offend anyone or be insensitive about certain topics. I suppose this depends on where I want my work to exist but you are always going to have some people who hate your work, whether it is controversial or not, so you might as well make it what you want it to be. 

Colours May Vary

We went to a briefing at Colours May Vary for our exhibition of work from OUIL504. 

Listening to Becky and Andy talk about their business was really inspiring, it is clear they are doing what they love and they are doing it well. 

How to approach them with work:

• Send an email rather than dropping in so they have time to look at it and aren't just bombarded with work. 
• Give a description in the email, explain what the idea is behind it. 
• Include good quality images to give them an idea of what the physical product is like. 
• Don't tell them that this product would be great for them - that's their decision. 

It is up to me to consider whether a seller is right for me or not, can I see my work fitting in in the surroundings of their shop or website? It is important to sell in there right places so that I can reach the right audience. 

Method of production doesn't dictate quality. Quality dictates quality. 

I was surprised to hear this really because I thought the rise in analogue printing methods recently meant that people were somewhat opposed to digital print. However, they both said that they can get some really rubbish screen prints and some really beautiful digital prints. I suppose its true that it depends on the quality of the work and quality of the process, just because something is handmade doesn't make it immediately better. 

Life's A Pitch

Last week's session was quite unsuccessful for our group. We were brainstorming a lot of ideas but everything merged into one big mess and nobody really understood the concept of the business we were proposing. It was all very rushed and confused so this week was our chance to make things clearer for ourselves and spend time talking to each other. We decided to move on from whatever was discussed last week and start fresh. We had one problem that two people from our group were not here so it was just myself, Georgie and Tyler making all the decisions for this. 

Find the business idea. 
Define business concept. 
What do we care about?
What type of business is it?
Where does it sit in the current market?
What does it look like?
Who does what and when?
What are your personal goals?
How are you motivated?

This was our first idea, a website which functioned similar to a site like Etsy.com and illustrationfriday.com which had a selected product range which rotated around a monthly theme. It would work like a competition where people would submit entries based around a theme and then a select few would be chosen to be sold and the business would take a cut of the profits. The idea of adding a time limit on the availability of the products might increase the demand for them as people know that they won't be around forever. The themes could also work around seasonal things such as Christmas or Easter so that the products on sale were appropriate to the time of year. 

I liked this idea because it was a relatively simple concept which I imagine (without any research) would be cheap to set up, and if the creatives were responsible for the shipping of their own goods, the business wouldn't require a significant team of staff. I suppose this format of business reflects my own interest in illustration and where it can exist, when I think of my own work I see it being available in print form or on products which is very relevant to this. 

The conversation then went onto having the same idea as an art fair where work is submitted around a certain theme and a few products and prints are selected to be sold as part of this collection. This changed the direction of the business entirely and the idea of the website was somewhat left behind. 

We wrote down some of our individual interests but didn't get very far before new ideas kept cropping up. We came up with the idea of a travelling art fair, initially on a small scale (we suggested in a camper van so the business had an 'image'). The travelling part of it needed a restriction so we kept it to the North of England. When thinking about who would enter work into this, we wanted the business to have an ethos of supporting people who are trying to get started in the industry so we thought about it being aimed at students, the recently graduated, beginners and hobbyists. 

The drawing on the piece of paper below was of a lorry where the back opens up and folds out to make this small, indoor space where tables can be set up, artwork can be hung and people can walk around and look at things. This is an upgrade from the camper van we initially thought of, and the double decker bus we thought of after that. 

Then the idea came of including music and food and other stalls in with this. I was concerned that this whole business concept was becoming too complex and I was confused about how it would exist. Would it be an individual stall that would be a part of a wider organised event, like thoughtbubble festival for example. Or would it be an event in itself which brings along its own food stalls and music for entertainment?

Our goal for this were to help people promote their work. We wanted to make this for people who are just getting started in the industry but then didn't want to rule out the inclusion of some bigger names because this might help to boost the profile of the business if some recognised names were on board. 

At this point, the business is a cross between retail and entertainment because it includes both. It is the entertainment side of the plan that I find concerning because I don't know what permissions you need or whether you need to pay to set up something like this in numerous locations. 

Ideas for names - this was really hard because we have not clarified the full concept of our business yet. We wrote down a list of words relating to the plan so far and tried to branch off this to think of more interesting things but we didn't get very far. I think the best names are the catchy ones which are totally unrelated to the theme of the business but really memorable. I think the name will come to us as we continue to develop the plan but at the moment I don't think that this should be a priority. 

My Haiku

I am far from being a lyrical genius but this is what I came up with. Words aren't really my thing. 

Georgie's Haiku

Travelling lorry, 

Supporting local talent, 

Sells creative's work. 

Tyler's Haiku

Travelling art fest, 

Makeshift stalls, local artists,

Inside a lorry. 

We blended these into a super-haiku which we stressed over a bit and changed it at the very last minute before Tyler had to read it out loud to the group. 

Travelling art fest

Unique, local creations, 

Arts, crafts, music, beer. 

The rest of the group got the main principle of the business by saying that it was a mobile art festival which supported local craftspeople. However, I think the last line, particularly the mention of music and beer made this sound more like a large event when I didn't really think this was the case. Some people interpreted it as a party and I think this detracts from the main function of the business which is to sell work. This is probably something the group needs to discuss next session when (hopefully) everyone is here and we can make some decisions as a full group. 

I think it was difficult for our group to agree on things today because there was only three of us but I suppose this will always happen with group work. I feel that it really hindered us not having the other two group members present because we had a limited input and we still don't know whether they will agree with anything we have discussed today. It is difficult being in a group with people who you don't know very well or have different working styles because you have to work extra hard to find compromises and make sure everyone gets their say. I am trying to be diplomatic with the way I am conducting myself in these group sessions but I am hoping that as we get to know each other a bit better we can be more honest with each others ideas and opinions and maybe work much more effectively as a team. 

Since writing out the outcomes of this session, I have started to realise that this business plan isn't really viable. I know we haven't done any proper research about it yet but the costings of just setting this up would be a lot of money. We would have to fund the cost of a lorry plus its insurance and a licence to drive it, storage for when it is not in use, the cost of an allotted space for the fair, and any other licensing to sell. I really think this business concept need to be simplified - the same thing seems to happen to all of our ideas where we have an idea and loads of different things keep getting added and it all spirals out of control. I think we need to simplify it a lot or think of a new idea altogether and restrict the different elements of it from the beginning. 

Could we narrow it down to just prints?
Just analogue media?

Thought Bubble Festival 2015

I was lucky enough to have shift working as a student ambassador at ThoughtBubble festival this weekend so I arrived early to have a look around all the stalls and see what it was all about. I never thought I would find myself at a comic arts festivals because comics have never really interested me that much. However, the practitioners who were selling work stretched so far beyond comics there was something for everyone. Looking round the different stalls was really inspiring, it was great to see so many different styles and ways of working all in one place. 

I've got a bit of a thing for zines now that I've learnt a bit more about them. I like the small ones, a bit smaller than A5 because they just feel like little personal notebooks. I bought one about a girl's relationships with all the hats she has owned and the stories behind each of them. And I also bought one about moving house which I thought illustrated the process so simply yet it was really emotive. 

I spoke to a friendly man who was selling comics by a few different artists and he gave me this one for free. He said it was by his friend who has no confidence in his own work and he is trying to give these out at comic book festivals to raise his profile and give him some confidence. I thought the drawings were great and even though this isn't a style of artwork I would usually connect with, I really like the front cover. It made me think about my own work and how I can lack confidence to put it out there for people to see but it just shows that however good you are, this can still be a problem you have to battle with. 

I really got the bug from being here, I came home wanting to make things and organise myself so I could maybe get a table somewhere and sell things. Seeing some of the third years with tables made me realise that it is within reach to do something like this. Their work looked really professional and there was really no way you could tell who was a professional and who was still a student - it doesn't even matter anyway! If someone likes something they will buy it!

Walking around the stalls made me think more about how to price my work. This is something I always struggle to do and whenever I do sell any of my work I always find myself wondering what a reasonable price to charge is. 

Organising Myself

I have really been making an effort the past couple of weeks to stay on top of my workload and keep myself organised. I made an effort this week to save the lists I make for myself to plan out each day and give myself a structure to follow. I am also finding my diary really useful at the moment because I always worry I am going to forget something important.

Week beginning 9th November

 I really want to keep this up because it is working for me really well. I feel I have been really productive this week and it is probably because I have kept myself organised and given myself targets of what to complete for each day. I think staying on top of my blogging is particularly important because doing it straight after a session or completing a task or doing some work means that everything is fresh in my mind and I can be honest with what I am writing. It also means it is not lingering at the back of my mind and I feel more confident to move on to the next thing. 

Creative Networks - Victo Ngai

Victo Ngai is an illustrator originally from Hong Kong but now working in New York.

These were the notes I took from her talk...

• Fine artists like to create problems to solve, illustrators like to solve problems that have been given to them. 
• Illustration is communication, it is a bridge between client and audience. 
• Editorial illustration jobs are the easiest to get straight out of university because they are the most abundant. 
• Victor uses dip pens and ink for her lifework after sketching her designs out. 
• The work you create needs to depend on the client, for example business papers like more literal and less conceptual work. 
• The audience really needs to be considered - sensitive topics needs to be handles tactfully and you sometimes need to work around a topic to not show it explicitly or offensively.
• There are so many possibilities when a client gives you some creative freedom with a brief and doesn't spell out each part for you. Victo thinks about what she wants to draw and makes this work for the article. This can make results which will be different to anyone else's as it avoids the clichés.
• Stories and books - to concept is dictated to you so you have less freedom. It is up to you to pick the 'moment' you want to illustrate, could be significant or insignificant. 
• You learn about all kinds of things through research for interesting briefs. It could be something you never thought you would have to know about as a creative. 
• Advertisement - these briefs can be hit and miss, usually the more money on offer means the less freedom you have. 
• Victo said that she sometimes likes to put personal things into her work, such as memories of situations because it makes her wonder how other people will read that having not experienced it themselves.
• Her editorial work is not too specific, it fulfils the brief when paired with the article but it is also a piece of art that someone might want to hang on their wall. 
• Style is overrated, it is merely a habit of drawing. 
• How you imagine the word is influenced by your experience. 
• Process of creating images: line work -> lightbox -> texture and colour -> combine this digitally. 
• It is good to test your images in black and white because this will tell you whether it has a strong value structure. High contrast and low contrast is key in Victo's work to emphasise the importance of something. 
• Don't see a task as a mountain, bring a goal closer so its less intimidating. 
• It't not how good you are, its how good you want to be. 
• Keep your interests wide, you work will subconsciously become a combination of all the things you have an interest in or a knowledge of.
• Its easy to sack when you don't have a boss - you need to structure the day.
• Multitasking can be a waste of time.
• Do important things as they arise and avoid the nagging feeling in your head of knowing you need to do an important task. 
• Dealing with self doubt - if you think you're good enough you won't grow anymore. It can sometimes be difficult to be positive but take yourself away from your work for a bit and come back to it. 
• If you are trying to freelance straight out of university then you probably need a part time job because the money is not stable. Make sure its a job you hate and use the negativity to encourage yourself to be a successful illustrator so you don't have to do it anymore! Don't waste your creativity and energy on someone when in this situation, don't get a job where you come home and realise you're too tired to draw. 
• Be thick skinned. Be shameless. 
• SLEEP WHEN YOU CAN. 

Victo's talk was really motivational and her precise, detailed drawings made me want to go away and spend time on drawing something good! I feel like I have been drawing roughs and quick drawings for so long I can't remember the last time I put my time and effort into something I was really proud of. Her response to the question about self doubt was also reassuring because recently I feel I have been losing confidence in my work. I'm not sure why this is but i'm feeling less and less confident about being able to talk about my work and putting it out there for others to judge. It sometimes feels like I'm fighting a losing battle though when I put so much time and effort into something and the outcomes aren't things which I am proud of.  I should probably take Victo's advice and try to be more thick skinned and shameless but I guess that's easier said than done. 

Finished Zine

I finally got everything finished for my zine. I printed the inside pages on the black and white printers in the mac suites onto normal printer paper and got the cover printed on thicker stock in the digital print resource. I printed the cover on A3 because my inside cover was a full bleed pattern. I think the thicker cover gives the zine a more finished look and it feels nicer to hold. I bound the zine with black thread instead of staples. I was torn between white and black but the white looked odd against the off-white stock of the cover. I think black works really well though. I have also had to trim down the edges of the paper since it has been bound so that the inside pages can't be seen beyond the cover. 

Evaluation

I am unsure how successful this zine will be at Thought Bubble because I don't really know what its like. I have heard a lot of things and people saying there are all kinds of work but I still think it will be heavily comics based which this zine doesn't really fit into.

I have enjoyed making this zine quite a lot, although it has distracted me considerably from my other modules. It shows how much you can get carried away with doing something you are enjoying and leaving other things on the back burner (maybe for a bit too long). 

One thing I might change if I was to do this project again would be to think about the cover design as I am designing the internal pages. I am happy with how this cover has turned out for the best in this case but I did leave it to the last minute and to me, it seemed like an afterthought. 

I think choosing this theme and drawing style is so much more appropriate for the format of a zine because it will attract a group of people with specific interests and the bold black ink lines transfer really well though print. Looking back at my previous zine ideas, particularly the one where I was doing detailed, precise line drawings of objects found and seen on my travels in Europe this summer, I have realised that this probably wouldn't have been appropriate for the format. The line work would not have transferred into print as well and the level of detail would have definitely been reduced if I had used the photocopier to produce them. 

In terms of my professional development, it has made me think more about where I want my work to exist because this really impacts the view I take on subject matter, drawing style and tone of voice. I am not sure whether this is a good or a bad thing but it also impacts on how I personally define how successful it is as a product. 

Beautiful Losers

This evening I watched 'Beautiful Losers' which was recommended to us in our responsive session where we watched the 'Made You Look' documentary. The two documentaries have a very similar format but the difference in time is clear between the two. These are some main points that connected with me throughout the film and just some of my own thoughts too. 

• You can go over and over a line trying to make it straight and from a distance it might look straight but it never actually will be and that't the true beauty of it. 
• People devote themselves to a certain subculture, lifestyle or creative practice but then they often move on to something else. (could this relate to my COP essay where people identify themselves as being a part of a certain group but this is only a temporary identity)
• Your work will depend on how and where you discover your creativity.
• Things start small, people see it, people want it, you realise people like it and it grows. 
• 'Feed the organism'.
• What am I? Don't pull yourself into one box. (also relevant to COP, not being defined by one single thing, you are a mixture of lots of different things individual to you)
• Aspire to reach a range of people. It feels good to connect people through your work.
• Things can gain power from perceived power. 
• Most 'underground' things will become celebrated at some point. It whether you want them to be or not. 
• People's ideas of success are different. 
• Wanting people to know the work is yours will move on to wanting people to think it's theirs. (Barthes, death of the author, is the aim for us as creators to own it or would we prefer the consumer to feel like they own it?)
• It is your duty to tell your story and present your vision.
• The people in this documentary can't be labelled as 'beautiful losers', nor can they be labelled as just painters or just sculptors. They are just artists.  (This relates to COP because this looks at my theme of not being identified by a certain label, you don't fall into one category, you are a unique mixture of parts of a lot of categories. Looking at creative practitioners in this way is a smaller scale version of looking at the entire human race.)

Margaret Kilgallen

Her work stood out to me so I wanted to research into her a bit more. Her personal story was shared on the documentary and she shows true devotion to her family and her art. I think her confidence and personal strength shows in her artwork, she would paint straight onto a wall and be confident in her own abilities. Her use of shape and colour is all very strong. The meanings of her pieces are very loose, I struggle to understand them all  but I love how it looks like she is emptying her thoughts into her work but with such precision. 

"She would approach the wall with complete confidence, with a humility and a fierceness, but never fear." 

This film felt really slow at the beginning and I thought I wouldn't be able to watch it right to the end but it picked up and started talking about things I could actually connect with. I don't particularly see myself as part of a subculture (although that might be quite a blasé thing to say) so I struggle to connect with a lot of the things these practitioners were talking about. It has been interesting to watch and I found some of the things the practitioners said quite inspirational and encouraging. Clearly the 'Made You Look' documentary is more modern and speaks about the age we are living in now so I feel this is more relevant to me right now.

Sectors and Service Task

Example 1: 

Which sector has the work been produced for? Tertiary sector -> Private sector.

Which services does the work relate to? A company, specifically a restaurant/bar, wholesale and retail.

Is it successful? Yes in terms of wholesale and retail but it is debatable whether the image itself has a strong connection with the restaurant and bar aspect. 

Summary

The simple design would be cheap and quick to produce and will be easily recognisable once the connection between image and company name is established. In regards to the restaurant being part of the private sector and its main aim being to make money, the distribution of this bag for free is somewhat a risk because I am presuming they have paid a company to get these bags printed for them. The Nation of Shopkeepers is then becoming reliant on these bags raising the profile of their restaurant and creating more interest so more people go there to spend their money. It is more complex than a simple exchange of goods or a service for money. 

Example 2: 

Which sector has the work been produced for? Tertiary sector -> Private sector, public sector. 

Which services does the work relate to? Communication.

Is it successful? It is successful in its efforts to communicate something to the public. 

Summary

I think that newspapers are classed as private sector but I am unsure how the whole newspaper business works really and whether any of their content is controlled by the state. Even if this is incorrect, Steve Bell himself is a freelancer so this would be part of the private sector. In terms of communication, it is successfully getting across a strong message about the a governmental issue which lies within the quaternary sector. I am quite confused about this one.

Example 3: 

Which sector has the work been produced for? Tertiary sector, quaternary sector.

Which services does the work relate to? Creative industries, education.

Is it successful? Yes, the design shows creative thinking and suggests the contents will be informative and educational. 

Summary

The role of this book is to fulfil its educational purpose which I think the cover design does, obviously the real information exists on its pages but the cover is a simple insight into a creative way of thinking. The book itself is a product which has an aim of being sold to make money, I think the overall professional look of the book means it is likely to be trusted by people interested in its themes, the names of practitioners and companies featured on it also boost its supposed 'reliability' as an educational product.

Example 4: 

Which sector has the work been produced for? Secondary sector, tertiary sector.

Which services does the work relate to? Creative industries, tourism, communication, retail trade.

Is it successful? Yes, because it communicates her experience well, shows creativity and has links to tourism and her surroundings. I am doubtful of whether this work is successful in terms of selling it as a product.

Summary

I found this example difficult to analyse but I thought it was worth looking into. I found it hard because the illustrator is actually producing this work for herself as a sort of visual diary rather than with an audience in mind. She does sell prints of her work and takes commissions which makes her work a buyable product. I think this work is more successful on the grounds of it being communicative of her current location and her journeys and I'm sure people can relate to this. However, on the retail and business side, the sale of her work seems somewhat an afterthought which might make it less successful than a practitioner who works for a specific audience/environment. 

Example 5: 

Which sector has the work been produced for? Secondary sector, tertiary sector -> private sector. 

Which services does the work relate to? Wholesale and retail trade, health.

Is it successful? I don't personally like the design but in terms of retailing for children, it is something that would appeal. It is a sellable, finished product but I have doubt about how professional its overall aesthetic is. 

Summary

The success of this products lies within its links to retailing and how this would strongly capture a child's eye. I imagine that this is a very cheaply made product, probably with a high profit margin which is also beneficial in the private sector as the main aim is to make money. I have included health as a service this relates to because of the consciousness about healthy eating and a child's diet, some adult consumers may be put off buying this product for their children because it is not good for them. 

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Evaluation of the task

I found this task really difficult, I am still not sure whether I have analysed each product correctly in response to the sectors and services they relate to. It is hard to decide whether illustration is successful or not under these terms because it can often work for most aspects but fail slightly on others. This might be a reason why it is important to understand where the work you are producing is going to exist so that you can make informed decisions about what needs to be prioritised to make your work successfully exist within a certain sector or service. 

I am starting to understand this whole idea a bit better but am still confused about a lot of things. Maybe things will become clearer in the next PPP session.