Week 16 : Last Class

HOMEWORK : All of the following must be done to complete this course:

- Turn in a CD with minimum 3 images of project as 300dpi JPEGs. Please label your files FirstName_ Last Name_LabF09. Please label the CD with your name and course name.

- Post final project to the class blog. The following student need to post images of their product. This must be done this coming Tuesday IN CLASS as part of your work for The Lab:

Nargol Arefi, Stephanie Devino, Cody Griffith, Celine Loup, Andrew Morgan, Colin O'Connor, Erica Scheff, John Ward, Jillian Yoffe

- Creative Brief including:

Name of your project

Type of ownership [sole proprietor]

Your contact information : Website/blog, email address

Company Mission statement : This is written to describe your creative and business goals. It’s a pledge of sorts to the public and yourself.

Project Brief : [250 max] This should be descriptive and explain your brand. It should give the reader an idea of the material quality, the underlying intentions [educational, for fun, etc] and simply explain how it does this. It should make a visual impression in the readers mind by using appropriate words to describe your project [tactile, plush, etc]

Unit cost [actual] : List a breakdown of the following in this order:

1] total hours spent on the developing project x an hourly rate [your pay]

2] prototype materials

3] studio overhead [cost of your rent+ utilities] divided by number of prototypes.

4] Add these together to get the actual unit cost

5] Add profit mark-up [normally 20%] on to the unit cost. This may end up being much higher than your sale cost, but it will give you a basis for rethinking materials, manufacturing methods, venue for sale, etc. If you can recuperate costs by making more then this can potentially be viable.

Note: In an initial prototype run, your product price may be less than actual cost. Determine a cost you think people would spend, ask friends if they would buy it for that price. If the product sells out, you will find the next batch will be less expensive to make because there is not research time involved. In the case of commercially made products, there is no additional crafting time, thus lowering the cost of each piece.

Start-Up summary : List costs needed to begin your business. Make this bullet points or a list as follows:

Studio rent : A percent of your apartment used to create your project x you rent: example $500/mo rent x 20% = $100.

Utilities : Use the same percent of your gas & electric and phone as the studio: example $60/mo G&E + $40 phone + $100.

Materials costs

Equipment to purchase : Computer, copier, etc.

Advertising : Participation in festivals? Ads? Website? You blog? Who will you link to?

Product Distribution : Based on crits and your experience at Art Market, reassess where you think your product should be sold.

Sourcing : Where are your items produced?

Promotion : How will the product be promoted? Please be descriptive.

REMEMBER this entire Brief would be read by an investor. They would want to know you are committed to this project.