Jennie rivers information about freelancing

I have not written this report but it is information I have found on another blog written by Ester Freeman http://estherfreemantextiles.blogspot.com who was a tutor the year before last.  I just think this is perfect information to bare in mind for the future.  



•    Jennie Rivers is the owner and director.
•    She used to be a children’s wear buyer, for M and S, they trainer her to be a product developer over 10 year period, this involved looking at garments and making sure that the details were all correct, researching cost prices, renting factory spaces etc.
•    Jennie then did a degree at LCF.
•    The studio visits Indigo and NYC Print Source Shows.
•    Graphics, colour pattern – October 2007 she set up a design studio.
•    Looked for freelancers with commercial experience, talent and skills needed to pitch to retailers.
•    They wanted to be different within the markets so started with people who were highly skilled in hand drawn illustrations, getting back to grass root talent – linking with what was big on websites such as etsy etc.
•    They trained the freelancers how the industry works, showing the balance between the commercial and the creative – and how to make the designs into a format that the industry understands.
•    The design world is now more attuned to the Illustrator program, and vector based graphics.
•    Manufacturers or buyers have been given trends to follow and it’s your job as a studio and designers to match their needs.
•    Beclaires, Probasteel, Premier Vision – all do trend prediction publications.
•    Trends can be set by anything and are based on mainly the current/future cultural influences – technology/politics/colour/the economy etc have all been recent trends.
•    You can only ever buy what exists, and these could have been influenced by something in the trend predictions on some level.
•    When designing you have to have a direction, be open to buyers, have attractive colour ranges, and make a unique group.
•    You have to have a working understanding of the trends that exist.
•    Go onto designer forums, style sites and downloads the Puff’s (educational packages).
•    Be informed - research, have an updated blog, do shop reports, look at a wide range of blogs/publications and collections.
•    Link your own blog to other people. Look at someone like Abigail Brown at Portfolio or Julia Rothman – she is a great networker and self publicist, this has supported her to get to the position that she is at now – what events did she attend, who are her friends, how did she get famous?
•    If you promote your work under your own name, then you have to take responsibility for your own work.
•    If you work for a big studio, you would be expected to create up to 20 designs a day, and achieve 30/40% of those sold to keep your position. The competition is fierce!
•    Push different looks within your work, it is great to have your own ‘handwriting’ – a style that is your won, but you also have to be able to adapt to a variety of styles to make the most of the possible sales.
•    You have remembered the 4 key factors in being a designer and creating designs – employability, sellability, versatility and ability.
•    Create really cool designs, target the high end, establish who you are and research that you would like to approach for employment, be selective, whom does your work style suit?
•    Phone the studios that you would like to work with, they maybe rude, but know who and what style you are and they may be looking for and keep at it!
•    Your CV should be creative – readable, functional, have balance, show an understanding of colour, layout and typography. If you make a good impression with your CV it can open doors and studios talk! They may forward your details on.
•    Texture, hand drawn, repeat, flawless, swatch palettes, vector designs will all make your designs sellable.
•    If you lack in technical ability it will prevent you from selling designs, you should look to develop your IT skills continuously.
•    If you have an agent they will look for you to submit 10 designs a week, and will take 40% of the price paid, leaving you will 60% (designs will currently sell for £375 in Europe and $650 in the USA) you should expect to sell 10 designs at a show minimum.
•    You are paid when a client pays the agent/studio – that can be a big delay – on average 90 days.
•    If you have a contract with a studio or agent, it means that you still own your own work; you can get a license form Creative Commons to protect your work online. It is VITAL that you get one of these for the work on your blog. Or you can join Anti Copyright In Design (ACID) and put stickers onto all of your designs.

Jake Platt-Freelance Fashion Designer-(Portfolio contact)

I sent Jake a PDF of my some of my design work and this is the feedback he gave to me.  Jake was freelance at Henri Lloyd and now he is fully employed by dare 2b.

Looking through your collection is inspiring; you obviously have a flare for graphic design and print, for fashion and there are quite a lot of fashion company’s looking for in house graphic designers.

Your designs look strong as a collection because of their variety and because of your colour choices, you have obviously researched current and future trends to gain inspiration for your colour palette. I think the brightness of the pink in your women’s collection against the softer deeper tones works fantastically.

I like the way your work is laid out, clearly showing the range of prints you have created. Your line quality allows your designs to look varied, and one of the strongest aspects of this collection is how you have created delicate shapes and more bold street graphics and have combined them into one commercial collection. I also think your fashion illustrations work well because of their simplicity.

I would continue to research emerging trends and styling and print design, which will allow you to create even more exciting designs and make your portfolio even stronger. You obviously have a great understanding of print; I’d just suggest looking at existing prints on the high street and what people on the streets are wearing, to ensure your designs are always commercial and fresh.

I am delighted with Jake's feedback and will make sure i take his advise on board.

Future plans and ideas

Since I decided that I wanted to be a surface designer and work freelance for the commercial industry I have been thinking also about finding a business partner, at uni, a girl in my class Nichola has a style that although quite different to mine, it seems we have something that we could both work with and adopt a working style together.  I think the nice thing is that we both admire each others work and sometimes see different ways of making designs for one another.  It really helps when someone else can see something or have an idea that you wouldn't have thought of.  With our names Nichola and Dionne, we have decided to call ourselves Neon and work a couple of days a week from a trend prediction at her home because she has an attic office with room for two desks.  I think the positives about working with someone else are the fact you can bounce ideas around, have regular critiques about design work, keep motivated, go on trips together and share the experiences and learn from them as a team, share the costs to man a stand at the trade shows, make independent contacts as well as together,  and generally feel more positive about the business being successful.

We are going to start this routine as soon as we have fully completed the degree and have a look into funding towards a stand in February at Indigo Paris, if we are unable to get funding then a second job will help us raise the money whilst we are designing for it.  The other consideration is to visit a few trade shows as soon as we can to get some experience of how they work and what type of work is their, we could set up a website which can help with building clientele (this information came from Joshua Johnson who is a freelance designer) and Alex Russell. 

Blue Orchid based around Stockport and Manchester give free business advise and run short courses in different areas depending on the nature of your business so this is something we will investigate.  

We have all the equipment we need to start the ball rolling and will use a local printers each time we have new designs for our portfolio.  I have found one that I have been using on a regular basis recently called Logoprint in Manchester and have found them to be great quality with a fast and reliable service.  I am dealt with by the same person (Dave Garson) each time which really helps because he understands what I need each time I go. 

Contacts

I have sent a covering leter and attached a pdf with my recent designs on to the following companies so they can view them and hopefully give me some feedback.  I have also sent an e-mail to Lee Huggins who is a freelance fashion designer and again attached my design pdf for him to look at.  Lee Huggins is also based in Manchester and has either worked at or done work for the design studios listed below.

Covering letter:
I am a third year student studying pattern surface design for fashion, Lee Huggins gave me your name as a contact because I am looking to get some feedback on some of my portfolio designs.  I have attached a pdf for you to view if you have the time to do so, I would be really grateful for any feedback if it is not to much trouble. 

Kind regards
Dionne Genovese

Rajan imorts Ltd
Rajan House 61 Great Ducie Street
Manchester · M3 1RR (Road Map)
 Tel: 0161 8313700. Fax: 0161 8313716.
contact details: Karen seddon/yunis panda

Juice Corporation Ltd

16 Bury New Road
Manchester M8 8FR
0161 831 7550

Contact details: coocey

SRG imports

Unit 6 Mountheath Industrial Park Prestwich, Manchester, M25 9WB
p: (16128) 1 4400
http://www.srg-imports.com
Contact details: russ billington
Centenary House
1, Centenary Way
Salford, Manchester
M50 1RF
England

T: +44 (0)161 786 2200
F: +44 (0)161 789 5415

Source lab
sports clothing
Source Lab LtdLandmark House
Station Road
Cheadle Hulme
Cheshire
SK8 7BS

Email : sales@uksourcelab.com
Telephone : 0161 4881808
Fax : 0161 4857048Source Lab Ltd
contact :ANDREW RONNIE

Rose Barber/Sian Evans
Broadway Studios
28 Tooting High Street
London
SW17 ORG
sales@printtank.com (also wrote Print tank a letter)

Nell Fabric screen printing based in the Arts and craft centre.

Dear Helen, 

My name is Dionne and I am currently in my third year at University. I came to your studio a couple of weeks ago to see whether you would mind answering a few of my questions and look at my portfolio designs, you asked me to e-mail them to you.  Thank you very much for your time, I appreciate that you are very busy.  Please find attached my design pdf, i would be very grateful for any feedback you could give me.  

Where did you study and which area did you specialize in?

How did you start off after graduation? Did you need grants? Loans?...Did you have to raise much capitol?

I notice that the studio spaces in the craft centre are occupied by people who make and sell their work in the studio which i think is really nice, What techniques are you able to achieve working in your studio space?

Do you use digital printers to apply your designs onto fabric or do you do all the printing yourself? 

Do you ever get involved with trade fairs or similar places to sell/promote your work?

Do you advertise? if so how do you advertise and is it usually successful?

Do you work alone or with other practitioners?

Where do you find your inspiration for your work?

How do you keep yourself motivated if you are faced with quiet periods whilst working in the studio?

Do you have any tips or words of advise regarding working independently rather than working for a design studio?

I really hope my questions are not too demanding! I would really appreciate it even if you could only answer a few of them.  Thank you very much for your time and i wish you every success with your work I think your designs are really fresh and exciting.  

Kind regards

Dionne Genovese

Companies sources from indigo Paris website

I have sent a PDF with designs on to the following fashion companies, I found these on the Indigo paris website on the exhibitors list.

Circle line
Jeremy Somers/Dietmar Voegel
Unit e4
Dalston culture house
3 Bradbury Street
London
N16 8JN
info@circlelinedesign.com

gather no moss
Richard Crouse/James Hartley
56 Featherstone Street
London
EC1Y 8R7
info@gathernomoss.com

Paper and Cloth
Jennie Rivers/Kate Hindley
Portfolio Inovation Centre
51 Georges Avenue
Northampton
NN2 1SP
info@paperandcloth.net

The chocolate Factory2
Angela Merola/Lauren Robinson
Space 4
4 Coberg Road
London
N22 6UJ
info@studio9london.com

Rose Barber/Sian Evans-Print Tank (Portfolio contact)

I met Rose and Sian at the Whitworth Gallery in Manchester, they came to meet the members of my class individually to look at our finished prints from the fashion brief that was set, it was good experience to get this type of feedback from a professional practitioner and I was pleasantly surprised with the feedback I received.

 Rose said that my strong points were use of color and sophistication in pattern in some of the silk prints. she also said that my elements in the designs were good and worked well together, she also said that as a collection my prints worked well and said she could see my work in places like Whistles that is higher fashion label. 

My downsides were that I hadn't made some of my samples big enough and also the cotton samples didn't work so well because the fabric wasn't thick enough and took away some of the colour because of the transparency in it. I agreed with all of the feedback I got and felt like i could take there advise into consideration next time I screen print by thinking more about the fabric i am printing onto for the best result, I will do more samples first.

I know I would like to work into some of my samples, maybe add a bit of stitch to enhance the colour in the cotton samples and back them up with another piece of fabric to make them slightly bigger and this will also give them a nicer finish.  

Rags to Bitches (contact report)

Rags to Bitches is a boutique in the Northern Quarter, I took a visit to the Boutique in order to find out more about them.  As a passer by the shop looks interesting with a real sense of style and sophistication.

The first question was 'are these garments re-worked?  No, the items in the Boutique are Vintage garments that have been specially selected, what makes them special to the customer is the fact the garments have been washed, dry cleaned and ironed so the clothes have a nice good as new feel instead of that second hand musty smell you would normally get.  

Around the shop are beautiful pieces of jewelery such a brooches, rings and necklaces.  The shop is decorated with elaborate pieces that sparkle, draping mannequins and spread out on pretty dishes that are also vintage.  The whole boutique makes you want to try on and touch, rich colors really catch your eye and inspire.  

You could buy a garment for a really special occasion or for a day or night out in the City. Another appealing aspect of this boutique is there is something for every occasion.  Spread out over two floors, you could enjoy trying on, the girls in the shop are really helpful and friendly.  

Workshops.  At Rags to Bitches they offer workshops to those who are interested in getting together for dressmaking tuition.  This is great for people who want to improve there existing skills, learn new ones or just exchange techniques.  

Other events.  They have fashion talks and other events such as hair and makeup nights where you can get tips and new ideas.

Do you have any other kind of interest with fashion apart from the vintage garments? Yes, I studied fine art and now I design my own patterns and screen print them onto fabric.

Do you sell any of them then? not at the moment but I am thinking about it...

Have you heard of any trade shows you could attend? yes, the fashion fairs are in Paris and New york, I know about one called Indigo and was thinking about going to that. 

Do you know how much it costs? I think its around £1000! its a lot of money, the other side to this is getting an agent to sell the work for me, however the agent gets a cut of the sale price.  Its probably better to get an agent though, that way I can work in the shop and let them show my portfolio around.

The Space-Blac (contact report)

Ciera Clarke-The Space-Blac at the Northern Quarter's Arts and craft centre.

Where did you study?

At Manchester college, 2yr H.N.D

How did you start up this business in the Arts and Craft centre in the Northern Quarter?

The college had a special funding scheme which enabled Ciera Clarke, Julia Roy Williams, Roshine McAulliffe and Hannah Lindenholm to work together in the Northern Quarters Arts and Craft Centre Boutique called "The Space".  The college however has decided to discontinue in the funding for this scheme but the girls are going to keep the shop going by renting out the space independently.  

What is your label called?

'Blac'

Do you sell your work anywhere else besides at 'The Space'?

They sell there work at other Gallery's on a sale and return basis, at a craft fair in Chorlton and the Christmas market stalls.  Selling work in gallery's isn't always as profitable because they take 50% commission for each item sold.  

How do you advertise?

They advertise via there own website, blogs, Myspace, Facebook and just recently had an article put in 'Model' which is a Manchester magazine.  

Do you know of any agency's that can give business advise?

Blue Orchid' and it's free. 

Do you travel anywhere other than Manchester to sell your work?

They like Camden and have plans to visit Brighton.  

Where do you get your inspiration from?

Art Deco and Bauhaus mainly using Metals, Plastics and Resins.