Practical Advice Workshops ran throughout the day of the Forum, during breaks and lunch. These 15 minute workshops were run by Hidden Art Pool of Specialists Members and offered a variety of advice.
Details about each workshop can be found below.
11.40am - 11.55am - Pitching your Products for Profits
Sara Gattoff, Buying Vision Ltd
This workshop will offer advice about how to research your market, decide who to sell to what and how to sell it successfully.
Many designer-makes are wonderfully creative and many buyers are wonderfully commercial. Bridging the gap between them, so that buyers buy from designer-makers is not easy. Come along and pick up some tips.
1.10pm - 1.25pm - Getting the Most out of your Brand
Michelle Mason
Where do you want to be in 3 years time? Clearly define your brand, tapping into the customer and how to position your brand above your competitors.
This workshop will help drive future goals and achieve your objectives, as well as build brand awareness and focus on marketing strategies.
Michelle graduated from Chelsea School of Art (BA Illustration) and Central St Martins with a MA in Communication Design. In 2006 Michelle Mason successfully launched a collection of homewares including Perspex laser-cut table lights and fabric lampshades. The Rowan Leaf range of lamps, lampshades and cushions has been featured on international television shows Fuji TV Eikoku Seikatsu and British Satellite News and regularly feature in the press from Australian Home Beautiful to British Vogue.Her products sell through a variety of Retailers including Midcentury Modern, The Newlyn Gallery, Cornwall, The Royal Festival Hall shop and Moleta Munro in Edinburgh.
1.30pm - 1.45pm - Diversify your Practice
Marion Gillet, Creative Product Development
As success in business depends on repeat orders, so after a while it can erode one’s creative edge. A session to identify risks, opportunities and operational consequences of shifting activity, going to new clients and different markets.
Marion will be offering advice about keeping oneself interested in his/her own business and knowing how to grow a creative business.
Marion Gillet is a Design Management consultant. She works for and with designers managing projects as well as guiding manufacturers and retailers in commissioning and buying from UK-based designers. Her background in Product Design and her rich experience feeds her advising work. More and more support organisations invite her for talks, workshops and seminars for designers and makers.
Clients include: CGA, Cockpit Arts , Cornelia Spa, HiddenArt Cornwall, HumanBeans, MGX, Thomas Heatherwick Studio, Oliver Peake.
2.10pm - 2.25pm - Getting it all Figured Out
Ellen O'Hara, Business Development Manager, Cockpit Arts
Ever wish you had a better grasp of money matters? This session provides hints and tips on improving credit control, payment chasing, cash flow management and budgeting and introduces participants to mycake – a new, quick and easy to use on-line book keeping and benchmarking tool designed specifically to meet the needs of designer maker businesses. Get it all figured out.
This session is led by Ellen O’Hara, Business Development Manager, Cockpit Arts. Cockpit Arts are the largest hub for designer-makers in the UK housing over 160 micro businesses across two studio sites and providing specialist professional and business development support to many more.
3.40pm -3.55pm - Managing your Data Effectively
Michael Hannah, Golanda
This workshop will take a brief look at database options for designer-makers - why managing your data is important and how to do it. Michael will also introduce a new simple database product specifically developed for designer-makers.
Any small business generates huge amounts of "data" these days. Managing this efficiently is crucial to your marketing and to help you keep on top of paperwork.
