FACEBOOK

I played around with a few different styles of cover photos, including the logo, just text, symbols etc. and i found that they just didn't sit right with the profile pic, it was too similar and boring.

I then researched business cover photos and found an article in creating a successful cover photo. 

• Show what you do 
• promote events/products
• change with season i.e. christmas theme
• show your fun side

I then had the idea to show off one of karens products, a crocheted blanket. I edited the photo so it wasn't too high in saturation, cropped it and positioned it.

Im quite happy with this outcome, however i might play about with the colour, photo and maybe try a different texture. I also might create some for the changing holidays.

WEBSITE

http://amymilligan2905.wix.com/ohhsewpretty

I created a website using WIX for the business. At present, it doesnt include any products, blog posts or details of the company. I intend to do a photoshoot with all of karens products and add them in later. 

I feel like this is a good starting point for pushing the business further. 

Next I intend to update her facebook page by creating a cover photo, a 'post' template and competition graphics.

Successful business #2

Colour Me Bootiful

This is a make-up artist in my town, as soon as i thought of online businesses this one popped into my head. She has over 23,000 likes between her 2 pages.

The feedback and ratings she gets is nearly always 5 out of 5 and the customers are alway commenting on how amazing she is at her job. Recommendation and word of mouth is always one of the best techniques in advertising.

The owner of this business is called Toni. I feel like i know her and ive never met her, she posts regularly and talks like she is chatting to her friends. She uses emojis in her posts which is so relatable, is a bit more colourful and makes her posts stand out. 

She always does these type of posts, monday makeover, transformation tuesday, what you need wednesday and so on. Her pictures are always of high quality standard and shows a clear image of her skills.

This competition that she held in september, got toni over 7,000 new followers. A simple like, share and comment competition that was so successful for her business. every one of my friends was sharing this post. 

Successful businesses

I follow a lot of businesses on social media. Everyone uses facebook, twitter, instagram etc, so why not use it to sell your products.

I started going through my timeline to see which businesses stand out from the crowd and figure out why.  

It didn't take for a business to pop up advertising products. On facebook you can pay to have your business sponsored so that it comes up on peoples timelines, even if you dont follow that business.

norma&dorothy

I thought this looked like a really nice business so i decided to see what it was about. It caught my attention with its beautiful photography.

This page is beautiful and has over 6,000 followers. Below you can see the first screen shot is a video, a stop motion short that shows the process of making the card. I think something like this would be so useful to have on ohh sew prettys page as it shows just how much work goes into a product, I think the consumer would appreciate the item so much more, therefore be more willing to pay extra for a special handmade item.

Also, on every post, they put their website address for followers to go and buy the items.

The photos of the items are beautiful and all taken with the same backdrop, they all look similar which highlights their identity.

What the business needs

Ohh sew pretty operates from a small workshop at the back of a house in kilfennan. She has a facebook page that she uses from time to time and posts things every so often. She sells her products to people she knows, through word of mouth and at craft fairs that she attends maybe once a month.

I asked Karen what she wanted from her business and her thoughts on how she thinks her business can grow. She firstly told me that she wanted a website, somewhere where she can put her products and a bit about herself.

She also felt that her logo needed up dating. I gave her some advice and showed her my previous work. I personally felt like her brand needed a look that would be memorable.

After some research I feel that what the business needs to do is have a strong social media presence. I need to look at successful businesses and how they operate, post and speak through social media.

I have created a logo and colour scheme and I feel like this gives me a platform to build on, to create a popular, successful brand.

I also think it would be beneficial if the business had a blog to document her work that people could go and look and keep up to date with her products. She could share this on twitter and facebook so people would be drawn to her website.

I intend to look at 

• a website 
• look at successful business posts on social media eg. twitter, instagram & facebook, 
• how often to post 
• what to post 
• what language to use
• competitions to get more followers
• blog to document her work

The logo

This is my final logo.

I also choose the colour scheme as Karen uses a lot of the colours in her products.

Logo experimenting

After researching logos and experimenting with some shapes and fonts, I came up with these few designs. These are my favourite and i feel my strongest work. 

I feel like I needed to represent what the business is about through the logo, therefore i played about in illustrator to come up with a few different symbols like the bunting, needle and sewing machine, to incorporate it in. 

logo research

Brainstorming

Brief

for this brief I have decided to do brand identity. I have a strong interest in creating logos, colour schemes and working with fonts in order to create strong looks for businesses. I have previously studied business studies and feel like I have knowledge in what it takes to create a successful brand.

Nowadays there is a huge community for online businesses. Anyone can have a business, selling whatever they think will sell. It’s sometimes hard to find what you’re looking for, something that looks professional and has a high standard of quality.

My Project aim

There is a local business in the area that I live – ‘Ohh Sew Pretty’. The creator is a woman called Karen Thomas. She creates handmade items for your home, ranging from crocheted items such as blankets, hats, headbands, tea cozies etc. She also does a lot of sewing and creates personalized gifts like bunting, pictures, and cushions.

My aim is to create a brand for the business to help her stand out from the crowd. Her work is really beautiful and well made, I feel like she isn’t recognized enough as she doesn’t get her work out there other than Facebook. She has little to no brand and I feel that I could make her business look more professional by creating a logo, graphics, packaging and open up other platforms of selling to expand her consumer market.

I plan to analyse why there is so many businesses on Facebook, how and why certain ones are more successful than others, and if there are more ways of making the business grow outside of Facebook.

Deliverables

• A strong brand for the business including
  • Logo
  • Font
  • Colour scheme
  • Packaging
  • Gift vouchers
  • Receipts
  • Style guide

• A new platform for her to sell her items
  • A website
  • An app

• New innovative ways of marketing and advertising her business
  • Posters
  • Competitions
  • Offers
  • Business cards/letterheads/stationary
  • Advertisements
  • Signage

Research

Things to think about 

-Font

I played about with some fonts i had in my fontbook. These are a few of my favourites and could maybe combine some together.

These fonts are similar in that they look handwritten, I think this style would tie in really well with her products.


-Colour scheme

I looked at the colours that seem to be used quite often in her work. Theres a lot of warm tones used like reds and pinks, complimented with green and sometimes navy and blues. She uses cream and neutral tones to break up the colours, using different textures and materials for her work. 

-Patterns

Karen does lot of crochet and sewing, i could take some techniques she uses in her work to create a logo or packaging. for example, she crochets granny squares to make blankets, cushions, lamp shades etc, I could do something with this pattern like create a subtle background.

I love how she uses embroidery hoops to frame her work, I could maybe do something with this shape? 




-Packaging

At the minute Karen uses brown paper bags when she sells her products, stamped with a sewing machine, I think its really cute and goes with her products, it has that handmade feel. However i think something along these lines but done graphically with her own logo would compliment her professional work better.

-Logo


I think when creating a logo for this type of business, the font i use will be very important. It needs to reflect her style and be strong enough to look professional and be memorable. Ive seen a few ideas that I like but I think I could play about a bit more and incorporate the tools that she actually uses to create her products.

INTRO- deciding what brief

We have 3 briefs to choose from - 

-Brand Identity
-Graphics/Illustration - mapping the city
-App design - make student life easier

The one i initially feel drawn towards is the brand identity. Ive done similar work like this before and have enjoyed making logos and working with clients.


I feel this is something I am strong at and would love to do this as a career. I feel it would be good to get in the experience now and can do something I will really be proud of.

I have two close clients i could work with.

My Mum is a qualified nail technician and is looking to get herself out there.

The other is a local craft business called 'ohh sew pretty' that specialises in handmade items for your home, cushions, personalised bunting, crocheted blankets and hats etc.

https://www.facebook.com/karen.thomas.507?fref=ts

I feel like there would be more I could do with the craft business, I really love the items she makes, i feel like they are well made, beautiful pieces and I could incorporate her designs and products into the brand. She takes part regularly in craft fairs and has a facebook page but I think she could really benefit from having a strong look.