Paper Salad placement- week2

Another good week at Paper Salad; to start off with I put the shop that's located at the front of the studio  back together, as over the weekend they'd attended a school fair, so everything had to be put back in place and re-arranged. I was able to use they're die-cutter which is different from my own, but it was good to get a feel of a different machine and test it out. Once again I was working on orders; somethimes for big companies such as Paperchase, who is also one of Paper Salad's biggest customers, they have a particular liking for a certain "New Home" card as they keep ordering it- and in large quanities :) I was also cutting out gift vouchers, which will be sent out to clients. I was hand-finishing card ranges too and helped Emma send out Christmas cards to clients. Some day's in the afternoon I was able to work on my own designs; which was really good as I kept getting ideas throught the week.
Karen and Claire set me a mini project brief on Thursday; to come up with some design ideas for coaster, which had to include a cup, buscuits, name of person and a quote e.g. "cuppa". Once I was done they gave me their opinions and feedback; something helpful to add to my portfolio.
I finished for Christmas now but hopefully will be back in the new year.

Placement; Studio assistant- Paper Salad

Started placement at Paper Salad on the 5th; they're a small card and gift wrap design company based in Cheshire. Karen and Claire are the designers who own the business and Emma is the studio director who helps run it- organising the studio and card ranges, sorting out orders and overseeing to the packing of the card orders etc.
First day didn't go great due to the fact I was ill, but apart from that the first week was quite good. I got to work on a new range of cards that had just come in, hand-finishing sample sets to be sent out to buyers and clients. Made up a selection of cards for orders- one was over 500 of the same design!
I was able to see some of the designs Karen and Claire have been working on for a new range which will come out for next year; I feel privledged to see the designs in process :)
I even made a mock-up of a gift bag set of designs; ready to be photographed and sent off to the buyers and will be a range of Christmas gift bags brought out by Glick next year!

Paper Salad shop at front of the studio

Made in WA craft fair- 3rd Dec 2011

Last week was a none stop of designing and printing designs etc and it paid off. Today went really well- and being fully indoors made it even better. Made a good profit and lots of people interested in my work. Did a comission for an ordered piece. Defentally will be doing another one of WA's again next year.

Stall @ WA

Getting ready for xmas fair on 3rd Dec

Have a Christmas Craft fair coming up next week so been working on some more designs and printing all the xmas designs I've done so far. Been photographing everything to put onto my Loie&Co facebook page and printing more business cards out.

Frodsham Craft Market- 19th Nov 2011

Another Craft market at Frodsham today and I think the best so far. It was a really good day- dispite the chilly weather; I sold a lot of my designs and gifts which is a really great feeling :)

My stall

Check out my other blog: loieandco-crafts24.blogspot.com

Designing Away

I've got another Craft fair coming up in a few weeks and since I got back from London I've been working on new designs and gifts ideas in preparation for Christmas. I've done quite a few Christmas designs that I'm hoping will sell. Doing all this is defentally keeping my creative juices flowing.

Placement; Studio Assistant- Thornback & Peel

That was an experience; the accommodation situation was a bit of a nightmare but the placement was really good. Everyone was so nice and friendly, and made me feel welcome. It's one studio where everything happens- sometimes it's amazing what you can fit into one room. The first day I was making up boxes for cards that were required for an upcoming trade show and orders, which was quite a lot- luckily I had some help from another intern. After making up well over 100 lids and bases (sometimes twice in one day) I can tell you that by the end of the week I'm confident in saying I'm a pro. I was also folding and wrapping the tea towels, napkins etc and packaging them up for orders ready to be sent out.
It wasn't just all packing though; I was heat pressing and carrying out quality control checks on all the linen and prints and even did a bit of screen printing too. I also got to see how a small company like this is run and get a real feel for it.

Craft Fair- 15th Oct 2011

Another Craft Fair at Frodsham today; it went quite well- much better then the first one did. I sold a few of my gifts & designs and made a profit; which is always good :)
People seem to be quite interested in my designs and have given me quite a lot of possitive feedback.

Heading down to London tomorrow for week placement- so up early again!

Placement- Thornback & Peel

Thornback and Peel are a small company based in London that hand prints their designs onto homeware items such as napkins, tea towel and aprons etc. I have a weeks placement with them, their work is rather illustrated but it will be great experience for printing and seeing how a small design business is run.
www.thornbackandpeel.co.uk

I think this is defo my favourite design

Hankies

I'm lovin this deck chair

Freelance work

Since July I've been doing a bit of freelance work and selling my designs at craft fairs. The first one was a bit hetic- all the preparation (designing & printing etc) and then making sure I had everything sorted the night before. The day itself wasn't great weather wise and I had a few problems but it got me started.
I then had a few cancellations for the next ones due to the weather (rain- of course). The next few however were quite good and it was a great feeling when someone actually bought some of my designs :) 
I've got another one planned later this month and a Christmas fair booked for Dec- that should be good.

100% Design- London

Went down to London today for 100% Design Show- wow! A really good show again; it's only the second one I've been to but I defentally think it's a great trade show for designers (and students). There's just so much there and even if it's not your area of design, it's still so inspiring. Some of the lighting looked amazing; more like artwork than a simple ceiling light. I bumped into Sarah-Jayne-Guest who had a stand there; she's a Surface Designer I've been in touch with; who does her own range of printed interiors. I thought her work looked good on her website; but actually seeing it first hand- it's even better, the designs are bold, bright and really clear- would sertainally bring any dull room to life. Sarah herself is really lovely and was happy to talk about her designs and answer questions; giving me some advice about placements etc.
I also met up with Katja Behre, who is the designer of Elli Popp Wallpapers; she's lovely. I'm a big fan of her work and love her wallpaper and fabric designs.

www.100percentdesign.co.uk

Elli Popp wallpapers

www.sjguest.com
www.ellipopp.com

Elli Popp tea set

Lighting @ 100% Design

Lets get started

I'm a Surface Design student at Huddersfield University; currently on my placement year. This said I thought it would be the perfect time to start my design blog, which I've been meaning to do- now I can keep an online diary about my placements as well as my uni design work :)