work placement

As i intend to carry on with the prawn shop after i graduate, and i don't really consider myself to be a graphic designer i didn't feel as if i'd benefit from the traditional placement of going and working in a studio for two months, however i have arranged/am in the process of arranging a series of industry engaging activities to do after the submission, due to time constraints and money.

• Visit manufacturer, see how and where the t-shirts are made, discuss the shoes we will be designing and bringing out later in the year 
• Conversation with ex-pretty little thing employee, to learn about how their company is run, what went wrong for them as a brand, any anything else she may be able to give me insight in.
• Meeting with ex-topshop buyer, to learn about how brands go about stocking other brand sin their stores, what are they looking for, what should i avoid, how and who do i contact 
• visit the royal academy renaissance nude exhibition- inspiration for compositions and forms for a new collection
• Visit a possible new supplier to see what they can offer me, new products, a new business relationship 

cover letter

session: the art of the cover letter, and although it isn't something i feel i need at the minute, one day in the future i'm sure this knowledge will come in handy.

Within this session we learnt what a cover letter is, and what it should do. 

• skills and personality in a to a narrative/story 
• show you've done your research 
• sincere 

shouldn't: 

• waffle 
• general statements 
• informal 

important aspects: 

• clear, concise, confident 
• make sure the spelling and grammar is correct
• have personality, stand out from the rest (but in the appropriate context)
• finish strong 
• don't be afraid of humour, if appropriate 

Creative Convos

Creative convos was a good experience as it allowed the opportunity to hear from young people who are out in the world designing. My favourite speakers of the week were Eva Cramers and Bafic. Eva, a dutch designer spoke of how she always enjoyed being creative, but never really saw it as a career option; this is something that resonated with a younger me, being told that a career in design wasn't a sustainable safe option. Eva showed us images and a video of her end of year show piece, the amount of work that went in tot he piece was really inspiring and made me realise that this is the opportunity to voice who i am, and who i'm going to be once i leave, and producing something of such a high quality will allow me to show who i am as a designer.

Bafic was another speaker who inspired me, he works in film, photography & other forms of designs, with his process being distributed throughout various platforms eg music and videos. He spoke of making stuff and putting it out there, not being afraid to show the world what you're doing. This is something that i can relate to, if i didn't upload pictures of two t-shirts i'd designed on to social media, then the prawn shop wouldn't be here today. Make it and they will come. 

Idea Generation

During a class session we were asked to complete a series of quick idea generation tasks based on out concerns and questions surrounding our practice and our futures. The main aspect of this session i found useful was writing anything that came in to out heads on to post it notes, and then putting them away. This was really useful due tot he fact that it allowed and almost forced me to voice my anxieties and get them out of my head, it also helped me to look at them as tasks, as when i think about them they seem so huge and unmanageable, such as 'how am i going to keep up with packing orders as my business expands' from voicing this concern i was able to think about it rationally. 

Reflecting on this session it really did help me, after i established that packing orders was something that was concerning me, but something that i could manage, i was able to set up a new system with my manufacturer where he now packs and posts orders for me, directly from the manufacturing location. This has allowed me to feel less stressed, it means that customers now get their orders quicker and most importantly, i can now work on my business not in my business. 

6 month plan for after graduation

Now that graduation is getting closer and closer, i've decided to create a i month plan outlining everything i hope to achieve by he end of the year. Through various ppp sessions i've come to fully understand the importance of planning and setting goals.

The Prawn Shop event

In Feburary i release a limeited edition clothing collection with one of my classmates and illustrator Tom. During the time in which we were working on our collection, i was contacted by the events coordinator at The Old Red Bus Station in Leeds, a venue, restaurant, club and bar space (initial email opposite).

I thought that this sounded like a great opportunity, and as i was currently working on a new collection with Tom, i suggested that we do the event together, and create a launch party for the new collection. Tom was on board and i was excited and less nervous to hold my first event with someone else, as we could prepare everything together.

It took around 3 days to fully set up the exhibition space, consisting of two rooms which we fully decorated.
We had a stall in one room, where we were selling prints and tote bags, the concept behind this room was for it to be a more quiet exhibition area, with prints and artwork on the walls, a table on wine and prawn cookies, photo backdrops (which we produced to engage people with the event on social media). The second room was more of a party room, there were sofas around the room, more art work, a temporary tattoo station, an interactive drawing, the new collection hung up on the walls and a projected slide show of the collection.

We didn't sell tickets for the event, so we weren't sure how many people would actually attend, thankfully over 200 people attended the event, with most of them staying for over three hours. We held a raffle to win the new collection at 10pm which was a good incentive to get people to stay, as we wanted it to be more than a pop in and out event, we intended it to be a launch party where people could talk and look at some new stuff, and it worked, the night was a great success.

images from the event, we distributed film camera throughout to capture the different people who attended

I was so pleased with how well the event went, and how many people turned up, it has definitely made me a lot more open and excited to launch another event, which im possibly considering for the launch of my next collection which will be coming out in late may. 

Future collaborations

I have arranged two future collaborations with potyertitsawayluv, a pot maker based in leeds, we'll be collaborating on a series of prawn shop painted pots & an embroidered jumper. I'm really excited for this collab as i'll actually be able to meet up with the designer and discuss ideas together, i also feel as if the overall message of diversity within her brand is a perfect match for my brand.

I have also been contacted by a jewellery brand to create a prawn shop collection, i currently have no idea where to start with this project, however i'm really excited to step in to a brand new market and process of designing, i feel like i can learn a lot from this experience.

I have also been contacted by a fragrance brand who want to do a joint giveaway on instagram, I'm not too sure what this will entail however it could be a good opportunity, i'm just waiting to hear back from my initial email response.

Collaboration with Sophie Rimmer

During the time when mine and Sophie Bramptons t-shirts were available, i was tagged in a customer picture (see above) by a tattoo artist with 200k+ followers on instagram. The image she uploaded received over 22 thousand likes and over 50 orders were received on that t-shirt after she posted the image.
I looked through her profile and saw that she uploads illustrations of her tattoo designs, i then thought that after the success of the first collaboration i did, that doing another one might also be a success.
I decided to contact Sophie and ask her if she would be interested in collaborating on a limited edition t-shirt, she was very enthusiastic and we managed to get the design finished within a week.

 Sophie sent me over some elements and i worked them in to a t-shirt design as can be seen below.

I feel as if this collaboration is a lot more of an even creation between us both, and it actually worked a lot better to receive elements and work them in to a design, this is definitely something i will suggest when i next collaborate.

We released the t-shirt online, and so far it has been my most popular fast selling item. I think collaborations are a really great way of increasing the brands audience and creating new customers and new opportunities.

Future plans

As well as planning on continuing the prawn shop and expanding my freelance practice along side it, during a class session we were asked to write either a five or ten year plan for the future, written in first person speaking as if we're int he future, detailing what we're doing in our professional life, mine is below.

The year is 2025, i'm living in a quiet flat near a city but far enough that it's peaceful. I ride the train to work each day, my week is always different, this week i am flying out to release a new prawn shop pop up shop in New York, however my day for now revolves around approving samples for the new spring collection. I visit my office, where my small team of staff are working on the next prawn shop newsletter and organising press releases for the new collection, i go to my office where a neon prawn hangs behind my desk, i'm approving deals with retail outlets who want to stock the brand whilst i look through my plans for the rest of the day. The Prawn Shop is thriving and i'm working on a freelance illustration for The New York Times, we are planning to release a home-ware collection in the winter consisting of chairs, rugs and cushions, and i'm really excited to see what the next year holds for my self and my brand. 

Collaboration with Sophie Rose Brampton

Last year my self and a freelance illustrator named Sophie Rose Brampton began speaking after mutually following each other on Instagram. We briefly chatted over Instagram messages and spoke about collaborating one day, in January this year i reached out to her again and asked her if she was still interested in collaborating on a t-shirt.

Sophies work, images taken from her instagram page

The concept for the t-shirt design was quite straight forward, we were to illustrate a scene of female diversity, i took the director role on this collaboration as we planned to release the t-shirt on my website, and i'm aware of what my customers like a what sells, where as Sophie had never released any of her designs on to clothing before.

Here is the design we collaborated on together, sophie illustrated the girls love heart and text in the background and the body on the left, i illustrated everything else.

I suppose looking back i could have made sure the design was equally split between us both as i ended up doing most of it, however this is something to think about for my next collaboration.











I organised a photoshoot with a level 3 photographer at uni and we took simple photos of the t-shirt

The t-shirt came out really well and so we decided to launch it for a limited edition time of the month of February, priced at £18 per tee. 
Both mine and sophie's (23k) followers really responded to the t-shirt and by the end of the month we sold over 300 t-shirts.
At the end of the month we split the profits 50/50 and made over £3500 in revenue.

The whole experience of doing a collaboration with another illustrator who has a wider audience than my own, gained my brand a lot of new attention and customers.
Myself and Sophie have decided to do another collaboration in August, this time we will be creating an embroidered piece.
During the launch of our t-shirt we also did a giveaway which received over 500 entries, the rules for the giveaway were for people to follow both my self and Sophie and tag a friend in the post, which again gained a lot of new followers for the brand.

She Can, She Did Manchester mid week mingle

I recently attended  a panel night/networking event in Manchester, run by She Can, She Did a platform started in 2017 that puts the spotlight on women in their teen, twenties and thirties who've launched their own businesses around the UK. 




The night consisted of a panel discussion by four female founders, Jenna Su, Alice Benham, Rosie Ann Butcher and Charlotte Larder, and an opportunity to mingle with other female entrepreneurs. 

The discussion was based around how the panellists began their businesses, although i did have a good evening, at some times it felt too female focused; often discussing the hardship of being a woman in business and not as much focused on the positive, encouraging aspects. 

The networking side of the evening was the part which i felt was the most rewarding and beneficial, i exchanged information with a number of women including a woman who runs a podcast focused around women in business, who I've recently been in contact with on instagram, and she's asked me to come on to her podcast and discuss The Prawn Shop and how it began. 

Overall the night was a good experience however i feel that i would benefit more from a more fashion focused panel, and so i'm looking in to more evenings of a similar structure. 

Duke Studios

My plan for after graduation is to hopefully get a spot at Duke Studios for 6 months, as they offer a free space for recent graduates to use in order to start up/continue to grow a brand or business. I first found out about this opportunity at the beginning of the year and arranged a meeting with Sharon, the careers adviser straight away in order to gain more information about this opportunity, the application process & anything else that could help me when it came to applying.

The application process consists of an application form and then if successful and interview with the owners of Duke to find out more about my business and how i will use the space.
The application entries are not yet open yet, however i have decided to prepare my application now, so that as soon as i am able to send it off, i can.
Below is the application form containing the relevant information.

Press

Over the past year the prawn shop has been receiving more media attention, around about 6 months ago i was contacted by a writer for The Suns weekly magazine 'Fabulous' about a feature within the publication, however due to the reputation of The Sun and my own personal beliefs i politely declined the offer, as i don't believe it would reflect my brand, and the brand ethos is the appropriate way.
Below are links to online articles that the prawn shop has been featured within.
The second link is to the Doncaster arts and culture magazine, my home town. This is also a print publication which has been distributed across South Yorkshire, from this article I've been contacted by The Frenchgate shopping centre in Doncaster to produce a mural within the building, this will take place  in summer, and i think it's a really good opportunity to not only promote my self and the brand, but also to add some diversity to my freelance portfolio.

feature in Nest magazines gender issue 

https://emitalaga.com/2018/03/31/the-prawn-shop/

https://doncopolitan.com/2019/04/08/prawn-shop/

https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/nest-magazine-leeds-arts-university-ollie-meeke-dan-pipe-publication-220319

Personal Branding: invoice

Whilst i'm in the process of setting up my freelance practise alongside running tps, i felt like now is the right time to design an invoice, ready for when i eventually begin to send invoices to freelance clients.
From engaging with this years ppp sessions, i had a clear idea of what is required for an invoice, and also through receiving invoices from my manufacturer for the past almost two years.

Now that i have a prawn shop logo, i feel like it's a lot more professional to include to the logo within the invoice.

Here is a template i set up for future invoices, of course once they're actually in use the information will change to appropriate text for the brief.

I chose to use a combination of Speak Pro Regular and Heavy within the invoice, the rounded corners of the typography communicates the style and personality of the prawn shop effectively, whilst still appearing professional and legible.
I initially wanted to use Bebas Neue Rounded, however this type was only available in upper case letter forms & so this didn't feel appropriate for an invoice. 

Personal Branding: Freelance logo

Opposite are some initial sketches for possible freelance logo designs, i believe it's important to follow the same design of the tps logo in order to make the whole brand visually cohesive.
I've sketched out some possible illustration icons for the centre of the logo, as the rest of the design will follow the same style as the previous logo, i've annotated the two which i believe are the most appropriate and i will develop these further.


From the chosen initial sketches above i began to design possible freelance logos, i believe it's important to have a visually cohesive branding style throughout all of the different parts of my professional practice and so the same concept of a fruit sticker style logo (as previously discussed within the existing tps branding) has been carriEd through the the freelance logo.
A mouth illustration is both a familiar feature to many of tps designs and communicates the idea of working with a client directly, talking through ideas to find a solution.

I included pound signs on the logo to communicate the playful, cheeky side of the prawn shop, making it clear that i'm happy and open to freelance jobs, for the right price.

I then took another one of the initial sketches further, with the colour pallet and overall layout of the above design but with new imagery.
The concept behind this design is playing on the 'shop' element of my brands name, with the illustration mimicking a shops open/closed sign.  i thought that as these logos will eventually be icons within the new prawn shop website that when i'm busy or have enough projects on the go, the logo/icon can be changed to the 'closed' design .

I believe the open/close logo/icon is the most appropriate and also communicates more than i was initially anticipating it would, as it will directly inform the future client that i am available or not for work.

As i begin to add new aspects to tps as i brand, i believe the design style of the above and existing logo/icons can be carried through to the instagram highlight icons, similar to Eva Stilinski's as can be seen opposite, another way of making the brand as professional and cohesive as possible.

Concept: Gift Wrapping

The way i package my orders, or more recently the way my manufacturer packs my orders, communicates a lot about tps. It's the first thing a customer sees, and i believe it's important to try and enhance the buying experience wherever possible. I'm aware, both through customer notes along with orders, emails, and Instagram tags that many people buy their friends/family tps items for birthdays or other special occasions, often they ask me to include a note saying 'happy birthday' or something similar within the order, of course i always try to do this, however now that my manufacturer is packing order for me, this isn't really possible anymore, so i have come up with a new concept, gift wrapping. 

Both for customer enjoyment, and environmental reasons, gift wrapping seems like a good option to offer my customers, for an additional cost. Not only will the person not need to re wrap the gift, but they will also receive a full prawn shop experience once they open their order. 

Below is a list of items i will offer for the gift wrapping service, with the orders coming to myself, rather than my manufacturer posting them directly, so i can ensure the experience is how i envision. 

• coloured (100% recyclable) 
• prawn shop print 
• tissue paper around item 
• stickers (more than the one that customers usually get)
• a personalised note from the customer (there will be the option for them to leave me a message of what they would like me to include within the note)

I believe i will charge £5 for the gift wrapping service, as i sell prints for £5 anyway. This service will be especially popular around Christmas, so depending on the popularity of it i will have to reconsider the price point. I'm going to conduct a survey among my followers to see if they would be interested in the gift wrapping service, i'll need to photograph the full experience for my website first however. 

Personal Branding: plan B

Although i intend to work full time on tps once i graduate, i believe it's important to think about a plan B in case sales drop or something happens. I've been thinking about this for a while, and i really don't see my self as a 'graphic designer' in the traditional sense, i'm an illustrator if anything, and i really enjoy working for myself.

I've done a few freelance jobs before, and i believe this is an appropriate side hustle as it were, to carry on alongside running tps, once i redesign a new website i will add a freelance page to the website, however in the time being i think it would be good to design a freelance logo, similar to my existing tps branding, which can act as an icon on tps website leading on the  page detailing information about my freelance practice.

Below is a collection of some of my freelance inspirations, all of them are women who have a career in freelance illustration, working for brands such as the New York Times.

Above are a collection of some of the freelance female designers i admire. The clients they work for span from magazines to bands and brands, all wanting their distinct style and approach to working, i think that's another thing aside from working for myself that i admire about freelance, the fact that you know that you're being approached for work because they like your style, rather than changing your style to fit a brief.

Over the next couple of months after graduation i intend to produce a body of work and upload it to a 'prawnfolio' (portfolio) side page on the main prawn shop website, i will also inform my audience that i'm available for free lance work, which hopefully will result in jobs coming in.

Now that i have arranged a new shipping system with my manufacturer, which means that i'm no longer spending hours every week packing and posting orders, i am able to work on my business not within it, ensuring that i'm creating the projects i want to create rather than  dealing with jobs which feel like a chore.

I'm going to design the freelance logo now, in preparation for when i officially launch this side project.

Personal Branding: online presence

The Prawn Shop currently has a website/online shop as shown below, theprawnshop.com

The home screen as featured opposite features an illustration from one of the t-shirt designs available on the website, i was thinking about featuring a new illustration on the home page each month, and changing the tones of the website to suit to opening image. I believe this will be a good way to show up to date illustrations to the customers and show that the website is often being updated and considered at all times.

I use bigcartel to sell my clothes, however i have a custom url which really helps make the brand appear as professional as possible.
Within the website there are links to an FAQ and a size guide.

At the moment the website meets all or the needs for my self and my customers, however as i'm thinking more and more about possible plan B's for the future, i know that at some point i will need to create a new website with more functions as i eventually want tps to transform in to more than just a clothing brand, with the brand producing articles, a blog, how to videos, tips for other young women wanting to start a business and exclusive wallpapers for phones etc, however this is something for m to work out and plan more thoroughly once i've graduated and i'm working on tps the whole time.

The brands instagram page (@theprawnshopp) is the main point of sales, i try to ensure that i'm regularly engaging with my followers by posting not only product images, but also illustrations and notes of encouragement etc. Through collaboarating on exclusive t-shrits with other illustrators i've managed to build up my following from three thousand to eight thousand in the past three months.



I want to, once i begin working on tps full time, release a new illustration each week, as i want to ensure that i'm not only posting images of products people can buy, i want to produce designs that people can just enjoy, this will also help to see through post engagement, what designs people are responding to which will inform later collections.

My goal for the next couple of months is to reach over 10k followers, as once my account is over that i am able to create swipe up features within the Instagram stories which will make it quicker and easier for people to shop the products.

Personal Branding Developments

As i had already redesigned The Prawn Shop branding as an extended practice brief, i decided to take this opportunity to brand more elements of The Prawn Shop, ensuring that all of my future communications are as professional as possible. 
I decided that i needed to produce a freelance logo alongside the existing one i designed within extended practice, this logo is to be used within The Prawn Shop website and within email exchanges to freelance clients. 

Designing a new logo for the freelance side of my practice, also opens up opportunities to design logos/icons for other parts of my practice, such as an icon for collaborations, icons to differentiate between products and so on. By conforming to the characteristics of the branding i have already designed, will ensure that no matter what direction The Prawn Shop goes in, the company will continue to be and appear visually cohesive, put together, considered and professional, whilst still keeping the vibrant, bold, female driven, uncensored nature of the brand.

In addition to a new logo/icon(s), i also feel that it is vital to make sure all of my email communications are as professional as possible, as previously mentioned i am currently in the process of assigning new email addresses to different sectors of the company, although at this point it is still just myself working for/running TPS, having varying emails for different parts of the brand feels like the right direction to go in, for example a customer service email (to reply to frequent customer queries about order deliveries ((as people find it hard to read product descriptions)), a personal business email i could give out my self, to be used for contacting people within the industry/emailing about possible collaborations, and a general TPS email, which will be available for any media queries, collaboration offers etc. 

• Business email 
• Personal email 
• Customer Service email 

Whilst i am still in the process of assigning new email addresses and setting up new email accounts for TPS, within my existing email i feel as if an animated email signature will show the people i am communicating with, that i know what my brand is about, that i want to share my brand, and that i consider every element that tps can be implemented within. Overall i really want to show the brands personality through every communication i have, making sure that people know what tps is and what it stands for. 

Below i have began to experiment with possible animated email signatures, all using familiar prawn shop imagery, and colours from the existing tps branding.

Above are three email signature concepts i've experimented with, the first two being more icon based animations, where as the final experiment is more simple. I believe the third variation is the most appropriate for an email signature as it's to the point and direct. I also believe the composition of this signature is more appropriate for an email, as it will fit nicely at the end of communications. The speed of the chosen (final) animated signature means that when the reader first looks at it, the prawn shop is spelled out in quite a quick pace, the name then stays on screen for around 20 seconds, which i believe is more effective than the above signatures as they're a bit too fast paced and distracting. 
The overall design of the signature is cohesive to the rest of the tps branding, with the use of the same colour pallet, typography style and line thickness. I also believe this signature is appropriate for both customer communications and any future communications with possible clients and collaborators.

Existing Personal Branding

For an extended practice brief i designed a number of branding elements for The Prawn Shop, including a logo and business cards, although I've already designed quite a lot of the branding i want to take this opportunity to make sure that all of my future communications are as professional as possible. Below are the branding elements i have already designed, i believe it's important to carry on the design style of the existing material in to my further collateral, to ensure brand cohesion.

Above shows final tps branding i designed as part of an extended practice brief, consisting of a logo, stickers (to include with customer orders), a business card and a thank you/discount card to also be put in with customer orders. The above branding features a consistent and familiar colour pallet, using tones from existing prawn shop designs and clothing. A consistent line quality has also been used throughout all of the designs, this along with the colour pallet and similar imagery will all be used within the next stage of the tps branding.

Personal Branding: The Prawn Shop

warm room t-shirt, image from theprawnshop.com

During the summer after first year i started my clothing brand The Prawn Shop, which I've been running along side my university work for the past 2 years. The brand creates comfortable unisex clothing, featuring printed and embroidered designs based around femininity, body diversity and my own experiences as a woman. Over the past two years my audience of predominantly 18-24 year old females has continued to grow, with 50 sales on average a week, the brand currently has a website with its own domain (theprawnshop.com) and an Instagram account with 8000+ follows. My brand produces designs with vibrant colourful illustrations, often with a thin black line, the same vibrant bold use of colour and imagery is frequent amongst the prawn shops instagram page which often features customer images, and illustrations. 

A lot of the prawn shop designs feature female nudity, showing bodies of all shapes a sizes, i believe that when it comes to designing the branding for tps this is something that i should consider carrying through, however i believe that certain aspects should be more explicit than others, for example the material that will be shown/sent/given out to my customers/followers can definitely include more nudity as my customers are aware, and obviously enjoy this kind of imagery, however when it comes to designing material which will be shown to possible future clients, collaborators or brands i would like to stock my clothes with, i don't think nudity is the best direction to go, as i won't know whether that particular brand/person might take offence.

The tps branding should show the essence of the brand, with a colour pallet featuring tones that can often be seen within my designs, i believe it's important to adjust the imagery slightly, depending on who will be seeing it however there should be clear unity and brand cohesion throughout, i believe the most effective way to do this is to ensure the colour pallet and line quality is uniform throughout all branding. 

Prawn Shop Branding

Here is the prawn shop branding, created as part of an extended practice brief, the same design style will be carried out throughout more branding development within PPP.