Content

Ÿ Business ConceptŸ ObjectŸ Concept DevelopmentŸ More than a NameŸ Color BoardŸ LogotypeŸ Company ProfileŸ StationaryŸ LetterheadsŸ EnvelopeŸ The 8 PsŸ WebsiteŸ CVŸ SWOTŸ Market AnalysisŸ FinanceŸ Portfolio

Business ConceptI would like to introduce a business plan for an my own illustration studio, which I would like to start in the near future. The studio will focus particularly on producing drawings and illustrations that might be used for books, magazines, newspapers, postcards as well as any other media both printing and digital.

As a designer I plan to design and publish my own illustrated children books as well as distribute authorship works of other artists around the world. I also seek for collaboration with different illustrators and designers for creating joint projects.

While I was developing a business concept for my studio, I was guided by several values, which were my main inspirations.

love - whatever you do, do it with all your heart

humor - share a smile

kindness - kindness is contagious, pass it on

simplicity - less is more

nature - love and respect nature and what it gives to you

fantasy - allow yourself to have dreams and fantasies

freedom - do not be afraid

friendship - everybody needs a friend

Most of my illustrations carrying a fairy tale mood, with different kind of animals, people, and made up creatures being main characters in them. From the mood board I created you can see that character design is essential part of all my illustrations. I want each image to become a live being with its own traits and feelings.

ObjectThe object which inspires me is a tree. A tree is a life. A tree is changing every season. A tree can be green, orange, yellow and red. A tree can be bold. A tree is most beautiful in autumn. A tree produces fresh air for us to breath. There are a lot of trees in the forest. It`s nice to walk in the forest and breath fresh air. It`s nice sometimes to hug a tree. Trees give us strength and health. A tree is a house to many birds and small animals. You sometimes can see a furry tail sitting on a tree or hiding behind the tree. Trees are magical and live in fairytales. I think we all should love trees.

Concept DevelopmentI started to develop my business concept defining the nature of the company. Guided by the values mentioned above, I decided to create an illustration studio aimed at both children and adults.

For me, illustration is more than just vector graphic images, it is visualizing a sensual information, for example a poem, a story, an emotion, a thought through your imagination and creativity using techniques, colors, shapes and forms that you find sensible and appropriate. The image comes from your heart and soul.

Inspired by works of illustrators, such as Oliver Jeffers, Chris Haughton, Sara Faneli, Julia Grigorjeva and others, I started to think of the name for the studio. Naming the company is essential part of business concept development, as it is the name that creates the first impression for the customer and builds the foundation of the brand. I wanted the name to reflect the business idea and the mood I defined. It should be something playful, magical, soft, green, kind and warm.

Thus I ended up with a list of names, that came to my mind:

once upon design - usually fairy tales start with the phrase “once upon a time”

inknotes - the notes one made with ink, sounds easy and simple

playpen - playful pen, or play with pen, I thought words play and pen is a good fit

illustory - illustrated story

all are small - there is a rhyme, also the name tells us that we all are still children

illustrain - train, that leaves an illustration after it passes, not the smoke of the engine

rain bows - two meanings: rainbows, and rain bows, both reflect nature and freshness

mole in the mall - the concept of something small being in something big, just sounds funny and I like the rhyme

acorn - I have always liked acorns, I think they are good representation of nature and they look cute

furry tail - two meaning again: fairy tale and furry tail of an animal, sounds simple and short

While creating the names, I considered the length and the easiness to pronounce the name. I wanted it to be short and simple, but memorable. I thought of the client`s reaction to it and what kind of associations would one get after hearing the name. I nowI would like to share the feedback I got from my friends on the names I created:

Name playpen seems to be easy to remember and pronounce. Playful design- a promise to play with client`s order, create several alternatives, present them in a playful and joyful way and choose the best one. Also easy to understand that business is aimed at writing or drawing something, because of the word Pen. For some people, however, Playpen seemed to be not the best name for the illustration company.

Names illustory and illustrain seems to be successful among the audience, as they are quite self-explanatory, can be easily remembered and are associated with illustrating a story or a concept.

Once upon design seem to get positive feedback as well, as it is clear the business is going to be about design. Once upon a time expression makes it easier to understand that the design is going to be about fairytales, as they are the ones to start with the phrase.

Acorn failed at once, as there are several companies called Acorn that do engineering and manufacturing, which is a bit far from illustration and design, which might confuse and mislead a client.

More than a NameI have selected three names and started to develop visual design concepts of how I might use them both typographically and symbolically. I wanted the logotype to reflect name and nature of the business both visually and emotionally.

I liked the illustrain images of a train with letters instead of smoke coming from the tube, as the train character (the purple one in the bottom right hand side) is quite an odd try, which would associate the company with one that has an extraordinary approach to creating things. The one on the top (the colorful train) looked like a toy shop logo, so I decided not to use it anymore.

The furry tail animal shaped logotypes looked most appropriate for me, as they illustrated the fairy tail concept, and I also wanted an animal to represent my company. Once I hear furry tail, I would think of something soft, warm, fluffy and gentle, like mother. I also think that tail represents playfulness and fun. According to my observations, animals` tails tend to act separately from the owner`s bodies and live independently.

I thought, if my target audience is children, they would easily recognize and remember the name, as word fairytale is well know for us since very childhood, as all of us use to listen and read children books with fairytales.

However, I also thought of the disadvantage of the name,as one who does not know the nature of the company,might think that is it an animal shelter or a pet veterinary.

Thus my next task, was to create a memorable logo, which would clearly let clients know what the business is all about.

Color Board

I experimented with applying different colors to the shapes of the animals and typography, just to get the right mood. I mostly used natural colors, colors of sky, forest, trees. All the colors seemed to fit each other in harmony and I decided not to stick just to one color for my brand identity, but use different colors, in that way diversifying the style and making it more interesting.

blue- the color of sky and water, represents serenity and peace

green- symbolizes nature and natural world, represents tranquility

grey- is a balanced color seldom evokes strong emotion conservative and minimalistic

brown- is a warm color, is found in earth and wood it is a neutral color and can stimulate appetite

Logotype

After experimenting so much with shapes and colors for the logotype, I decided to leave just a simple shape of an animal, which is not a concrete animal, but probably more of a symbolic representation. The animal is siting backwards and looking at the audience. The body of an animal is as big as its tail. I have chosen a hand drawn typography, which I created myself by using art brush tool. I decided to get rid of round forms and shapes that I created for the first logotype, as without them the logotype seems to be less corporate and more open minded. I prefer applying different colors to the logotype so I do not limit it to just one color.

Company Profile

Business name and locationFurry Tail331 A Hitchin RoadLuton LU2 7SWUK

07756130447furrytail@gmail.comwww.furrytail.co.uk

OwnersNadezda KovalevaSole ownership. Independently Owned

Mission Statement Fairy Tail is here to bring the feeling of a fairy tale to adults as well as children by sharing friendly and funny illustrations, which are inspired by nature and created with love.

SloganAnd so the story begins.

Objectivesto develop an outstanding, recognizable name in the marketto built a friendly and reliable client base within the market of illustrationto start developing corporate relationships with publishing houses and book storesto seek for and participate in different art projects and exhibitions around the world to collaborate with other artists and illustrators in order to share experienceto start making profits within next 2-3 yearsto simply evoke positive and kind emotions in people

Unique Selling PropositionŸunforgettable image experience available to all ages, genders, nationalities, etc.Ÿselling original, hand made postcards, books, prints, etc on affordable pricesŸproducts are not aimed at mass production, each illustration was made individually

and a certain amount of time and soul was dedicated to the birth of the image

ŸFurry Tail is has the most friendly and informal atmosphere, everyone is welcome to come, share ideas and feedback, everyone gets response and a cup of tea

Stationary

I created three versions of business cards and I decided to use the last one (the one with a tree), as I believe it suits the company the most. I used the object which inspires me- a tree and a small acorn, as icons. Typography here is hand drawn. I also created letterheads and envelope in the same style, using same objects and colors.

31 March, 2011

23 Ridgway RoadLutonLu2 9RF

Dear Sir/Madam,

Tation malorum numquam ei ius, tritani disputationi sed ut. Liberavisse conclusionemque mel te, pro ei maiorum eligendi prodesset.

Cu mea vero doctus, prima detraxit mnesarchum has te. Ea vis oblique delectus. Cum ne legere civibus volumus, te cum invidunt expetenda reprimique. Eam te possit putant. Duo ea modus verterem, mei kasd legimus indoctum te. Vix putent quodsi percipitur ne.

Vel quis nemore sanctus ut, amet laoreet eum te, eum aliquam vivendum concludaturque at. Quo no tollit numquam, ei utroque phaedrum mei. Inciderint mediocritatem eos id, nec petentium inciderint delicatissimi id. Sint quas feugiat eu vix, ei aeque vivendo sea, graecis dissentias quo id.

Sincerely,

Nadia Kovaleva

The 8 PsProductsFurry Tail offers a big range of illustrated products performed using different techniques, available for different age groups:Ÿ illustrated books (children, hand made, art, vintage books, etc)Ÿ illustration performed using different techniques (including, screen printing, photography, paper

cuts, combined, available for sale both original and digital copy)Ÿacrylic paints on canvas (also available in digital version)Ÿwatercolor paints (available in frame)Ÿhand made postcards for all occasions (papercut, drawing, scrapbooking)Ÿtoys (fabrics, clay, combined fabrics + clay)Ÿhand made jewelry and accessories (clay, wool, combined wool + clay)Ÿadvice (all customers awaiting for guidance considering techniques, implementation, composition,

etc. are welcome to get the friendliest advice from me)

PeopleAs a person with degree in both Business Administration and Design, I will be responsible for creative as well as administrative part of my business. I am planning to manage the business on my own first, but expand and seek for collaboration with other artists and illustrators for creating a shared ownership company and employ staff for administrative positions, while dedicating most of the time and energy to producing desirable products.My target audience is basically everyone interested in illustration and who enjoys the images I produce. That could be children, young people and adults interested in art. That would also be publishing houses and bookshops which I aim to get interested in the product I offer.

PricingI am planning to operate on affordable prices at first, as I know it is difficult to sell products which are not widely known to the market. So I will use low price strategy to gain the market share and try to increase prices little by little as the company grows stronger. Moreover, competition on the market is so high, that competing on product price is as effective as competing on originality of the images.

Promotion50% of promotion will be realized on the web resources. Once I establish my own website page, I will be able to place my portfolio and my CV online, which will promote me as an illustrator and talented person. I also plan to advertise myself on different social networks, such as facebook, twitter, etc. and blogs. I know that the best promotion strategy is word of month. Once I add all my friends to my home page, they gonna add their friends and their friends invite their friends, and the more people will be viewing my images, the more chances I will be noticed and promoted to the audience.Moreover, I will try to find and contact book shops, small design shops and publishing houses in London and London area and offer them selling my images and books at a small price, which will give them the opportunity to add as much profit to it as they want.Participation in different art fairs, festivals, exhibitions, workshops is essential. It is a good chance for a young designer to get to know the market, competitors and potential buyers as well as promote oneself by making new contacts. Hanging out the leaflets, flyers and business cards will be effective, once they look attractive and tempting.Thinking of the younger target audience, I plan to create a joyful and original poster advertising my illustration studio and hang it in secondary schools and different youth clubs. I think in case of promotion people play a big role, so I will try to get in touch with as much people as possible to promote my company.

The 8 PsPlaceMainly, I plan to sell my illustration on the internet, on my own website www.furrytail.co.uk, where I am going to create an online shop, through which people can view and order products they liked. I also websites such as etsy.com, aoi.co.uk, ebay.co.uk, etc. Also I will try to cooperate with publishing houses and book shops in order to offer them to sell my products at a small price, so they can add as much as they want to my price to get profit.

PositioningFor the first year, I plan to position myself as a very young and small, but very promising and talented freelance studio. Also I want the studio to be people and environment oriented, rather than profit and money oriented. I created the list of adjectives which would best characterize and position the studio: informal. friendly. positive. cosy. small. cute. young. promising. committed. dedicated. happy. warm. relaxed. natural. childish. imaginative

ProfitsI am not expecting to earn a lot of money for the first 2-3 years, however, I would focus on getting a good client base and developing my creative experience rather than making a lot of money.

PremisesBecause I am just starting my business and I can`t afford buying or renting premises in design areas like Farrington or Barbican, in London, my studio will be based in Luton, UK at my home address, in a flat, part of which I turn into studio and workshop. Moreover, I do not see a big need to rent separate space, as the scale of the business is still very small. I plan to create a cosy and inspiring atmosphere at my work station and try to avoid factors which can disturb or slow down my productivity. These factors would be different household duties like cooking and cleaning and also friends I live with. Thus I try to separate my work of house life, by creating a schedule, and working mainly at the times all my friends are not at home. I will be operating from my home most of the time, however I am not limiting myself territorially and that is why I am planning to seek clients and enthusiasts all around the world. I plan to use my computer with internet access and telephone as communication channels.

CV

Personal Information

Name: Nadia Date of Birth: 13 Oct 1986Place of Birth: Russia, KrasnoyarskMarital Status: Single

Contact Information

331 Hitchin Road LU2 7SW Luton07756130447furrytail@gmail.com

Education 2010-2011 MA Design for Communication, Westminster University, UK, London2007 Arts and Crafts Exchange Course, Volda College, Norway, Volda2005-2009 BA Business Administration, LCC University, Lithuania, Klaipeda1994-2005 Secondary education, Zaliakalnio Gymnasium, Lithuania, Klaipeda

Professional Work Experience

2010-2011 PSA, Servisair, UK, Luton2009-2010 HR Manager, Petropol Recruitment, Russia, Saint Petersburg2008-2009 University Photographer/Designer, LCC University, Lithuania, Klaipeda2005-2008 Receptionist, LCC University, Lithuania, Klaipeda

Freelance Work

Feb, 2010 Promotional material for Dentistry, Russia, Saint PetersburgJan, 2010 Promotional material for Dog Shelter, Russia, Saint PetersburgMar, 2009 Selling handmade jewelry at Kaziuko Artfair, Lithuania, KlaipedaAug, 2009 Selling handmade jewelry at Satta OUTSIDE festival, Lithuania, KlaipedaJun, 2009 Screen Printing for Marjinal Community, Indonesia, JakartaApr, 2009 Exhibiting hand made jewelry at ARTLAB gallery, KlaipedaMar, 2008 Selling handmade jewelry at Kaziuko Artfair, Lithuania, KlaipedaSep, 2007 Photo exhibition at LCC University, Lithuania, Klaipeda

Skills

Good drawing skills; creativity; Use of software: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Indesign, Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw

Recent Activity

StudentIllustrator/DesignerAvailable for freelance

www.furrytail.co.uk

www.furrytail.co.uk

Hello!

My name is Nadia. I am was born on 13 of October, 1986 in small town in Russia. Most of my life I have been living in Lithuania, Klaipeda, where I finished my high school and got my first degree in Business Administration. I also got a chance to go and study art in Volda University in Norway and live and work in USA, Portland, ME and Saint Petersburg, Russia.

I now moved to UK, Luton, where I started my own illustration studio and named it Furry Tail. I focus on drawing images for children books and magazines and you can find most of my illustrations cheerful, humorous and simple. I am getting my inspiration from nature, forests and trees, animals and birds, insects and plants. I like making up new characters with their own personalities and place them in fairy tales.

I am open for freelance work and joint projects with people like me.

Thank you.

Website

SWOT AnalysisStrengthsŸstrong commitment to business idea, each product was dedicated certain amount of time

and effort, once you get the product you will get a memorable experience bringing it home or giving it as a present

Ÿ individual and friendly approach to each customer interested in purchasing the desired product or getting advice on how to make one

Ÿcompetitive pricing strategy, offering qualitative hand made products at a cheaper priceŸunique and original signature style and design of products, which might be difficult to find

somewhere else on the marketŸwide range of products created in different techniquesŸFurry tail is the only illustration studio in Luton, which differentiates it from all the other

illustration companies in the area

WeaknessesŸ immaturity on the market, which results in lack of an established reputation on the

market, thus poor client baseŸ limited financial resources and inability to purchase premises in a more centralized

location or get a better equipped studioŸ limited number of staff, because it is me operating the business from administrative side

of it, there is no chance I can dedicate more time and efforts to developing creative ideas and products with a faster speed

OpportunitiesŸcheap internet technologies (skype, email, etc) and telephone services may allow to work

with clients and partners all over the world, maintaining everyday contact without being present in the place they are located

Ÿ improved technological services and software programs are being introduced which speeds up the process of the product development

Ÿcost of production for hand made products is really cheap: paper, fabrics, clay, stationary in larger quantities can be found in online shops around UK at a very cheap price

Ÿopportunity to collaborate with other more experienced illustrators and designer at the market

Ÿ illustration becomes a fashionable trend on the market, you can see it more often being used for creating advertising and corporate identity for different kinds of business companies

ThreatsŸa lot of images and illustrations nowadays are available for free download from the

internet, which stops people from paying even a small amount of money for themŸmore sophisticated, attractive or cheaper versions of your serviceŸnew legislation introduced to the market might increase the cost of maintaining a

businessŸa downturn in the economy may reduce the demand of the products I offer, as they are

not the necessity for a general public

Market AnalysisThe design and illustration market is growing rapidly, especially in England. According to Childrens Authors and Illustrators Market book being an illustrator is quite profitable, fashionable and interesting. Almost every University in England now offers Illustration course and lots of illustration graduates are there in the market searching for a place under the sun. London is a paradise for illustrators.

Target AudienceThe studio I am establishing has a wide range of products for the wide audience. I defined three market segments, which are Ÿpublishing industries ŸpeopleŸcorporate customers

Publishing and book storesBecause I am focusing on illustration, and book illustration in particular, I would like to attract publishing houses and book shops, which would agree to publish and sell my books. Because, so many books are being published and sold, that the competition is quite high. However, once a book has an interesting story and is illustrated in original way, there will be a high demand on it. I have researched the market of publishers, and found out two attractive options. These are two publishing companies Walker Books, children book publisher and a range of Penguins branches of Children Books, Lady Bird, Puffin, Peter Rabbit, Flower Fairies, and BBC Children Books. According to their website, all accept manuscripts and illustrations, however ones should really be impressive and powerful to win the competition. Moreover, there are organizations like Book Trust, Thesaurus, Author Link and many others, who do give legal advice and help editing the book to make it more appealing and of a high demand. I also will try to involve bookshops, such as bookshops of different galleries and small design shops like Nobrow, Kemistry Gallery, and other places around Shoreditch, as I am going to create books of similar style. I probably will not target big book chains such as Waterstones or Foyles, as they are of bigger scale and the book range there is too wide, as their target audience varies as well.

People.I also will target different kinds of individuals, households, families, people of different age, nationality and gender, who likes creative and original small things, buys them for collection or as gifts. Due to mass production which led to excessive consumerism (or vise versa), people forgot how to turn on imagination and create things themselves or at least buy something of a better quality and “softer” production. They use to buy cheap objects on sales and in supermarkets, objects they do not really use. Thus I believe, there is a strong need for hand made products, which can be used as souvenirs and collections, such as paintings, jewelry, toys, key chains, etc., but they should be marketed differently and differently brought up to people.

What I have saw from the bookshelves of an average book shop, children publishing is now turning to be brutal, and violent. Most of the books sold for children illustrate cosmic wars, cars, monsters, supermen, etc, which I think is not very health and has a bad influence of children minds. Thus, I think there is a place for kinder books about animals, plants, nature, fairy tales, etc on the shelf of the book shop.

Corporate.After I am more or less established at the market, I plan to start targeting corporate business companies. These would include banks, shops, supermarkets, restaurants, bars and other consumeristic institutions. I think that sometimes their advertising is too strict and formal and thus boring. I think there is a need to diversify and make the way corporations advertise themselves more original and informal, using illustration and character design.

Sales ChannelsThe communications channels I would use for reaching my target audience will include direct selling, trade shows and exhibitions and direct mail.

Direct Selling.Once the product is ready for sale, I plan to contact the organization and offer it. In case of publishing houses, I would contact them after I have created and edited the book. I would send the samples and present the ideas directly to the company. Once they like it and are able to agree printing it and I like working with them, I would stay and work with them further on. However, if I fail I try another publishing houses. Also, I plan to come to small shops and design studios offering my products to be on their shelves. Sometimes approaching a person directly is the best way to reach your audience, because people can see what kind of person you are and what kind of intentions and offerings you come with. Moreover, it is a good way of advertising yourself, even though you might risk to be rejected, but you for sure will be noticed and recognized later, or maybe get some advice and try different places and people..In case of people I want to target, I would approach mostly my friends and friends` friends with offering the product and advertising it to them and their families. I would not use direct marketing with corporate organization and businesses of a bigger scale.

I would gladly participate in different kinds of art fairs, trade shows, exhibitions and show room with all my products. I try to participate in them as much as possible, as that is a good way of not only demonstrating the product, but also reaching a large number of potential customers at one time... Direct mail.I think direct mail is the most ineffective channel, because usually people tend to throw away the leaflets as soon as the get them, as well as send all the junk mail to trash. However, that is cost effective and easy to do, so I will not exclude that channel with addressing all my target audience.

CompetitionI would compete with freelance designer and illustrators like me. There are a lot of portfolios and beautiful images available online for free download, which I will have to compete with.My man competition would be experienced design and illustration studios from Association of Illustration and those who are already in a market for a long time.

Trade shows and exhibitions.

FinanceFurry Tail is a startup company and has limited resources to fund itself. However, there is a chance to get help from different funding organization, which include bank and private loans, overdrafts. In my case, I plan to contact an accountant or a small business advisor, or my bank manager, who would help me to calculate my profits and loses.

Financial Information

Total Start up Costs (1 year) 5 800Own Contribution (1 year)

Costs Breakdown

ŸRent of premises (studio flat) ŸEquipment (laptop, printer, scanner, telephone, digital camera, software) ŸCompany/Name Registration Ÿ Internet/TelephoneBills ŸMaterial (paints, clay, paper, brushes, canvas, glue, etc) ŸStationary/Print (business cards, letterheads, envelops, leaflets, flyers ) Ÿ

£ £ 5 000

Travel Costs (going to London or other destinations to meet with clients) ŸStudio Maintenance (keeping tidy, maybe new furniture, shelves, curtains, lamp)

Income projections for the next 3 years

Estimated total revenue

Year 1 £ 15 000Year 2 £ 20 000 Year 3 £ 30 000

Annual gross profit (total costs - total revenues)

Year 1 £ 4 200Year 2 £ 9 200Year 3 £ 19 200

£ 3 000£ 3 000 £ 2 000£ 1 000£ 500

£ 500

£ 500

£ 300

Portfolio

I am including my portfolio as well. These are the samples of the products I am planing to produce and distribute among my target audience. They were all done by myself at my home studio using home equipment and imagination. I have included hand drawn, scanned and edited in Photoshop digital illustrations, acrylic painting on canvas, hand made postcards, jewelry and accessories. After the product is ready, I photograph what I have done, name it, describe it, price it and put it on the web, available for sale.

welcome to my home, 2009pen on paper, scanner, PHOTOSHOP

lets get some fish, 2009pen on paper, scanner, PHOTOSHOP

we are odd, but we are friends, 2009pen on paper, scanner, PHOTOSHOP

strange thought of white stranger, 2009pen on paper, scanner, PHOTOSHOP

It is warmer with Heinz, 2010pen on paper, scanner, PHOTOSHOP

I am almost like you, 2010pen on paper, scanner, PHOTOSHOP

I am not sleeping, 2011pen on paper, scanner, PHOTOSHOP

for any occassion, 2011papercut handmade postcard