STUDY TASK 4

WORKING ONLINE

Social media is a bit part of being a creative in the current industry. A problem with social media, especially instagram is the lack of awareness audiences have of copyright and ownership of art. When posts are reshared/screenshotted credit to artists is lost, and work can be circulated with no link back to the author. A good way to avoid this is watermarks or signatures hidden in work. Work can be very easily made into merchandise by other parties, and copyright can be infringed upon easily so making sure your work is recognisably yours, marked as so, and easy to prove as yours is important. 

COMPETITION BRIEFS

Competition briefs are very popular at the moment with new illustrators, but in terms of copyright can be dangerous. The recent GAP illustration competition shows this well. In the T&Cs GAP reserved the right to own any artwork that was submitted, regardless of whether it won or not. Also the payment for winning the competition was far too low for GAPs audience/brand size/ect. The usage and copyright was not fair. Entering competitions can be good for exposure and other benefits, as long as you retain all ownership of your work and as long as use is paid for correctly.

WORKING WITH TEXT

I recently worked with text in my 504 module. Doing this, I became aware of copyright in text and working with authors. I chose work that was written in the 1800s so there were definitely out of copyright, but you should also be aware of recent retellings/revamps/inspired by series as to avoid infringement. Also working with authors/publishers/other parties means that the work can be planned to become more merchandise or franchises (e.g. The Gruffalos sequels, online branding, toys, ect) so it is important to keep your own copyright safe and read contracts.

COLLAGE

When using found imagery/other content to collage with similar copyright laws apply. if I intend to work with collage, I plan to only use imagery I can source myself and know it out of copyright/public domain or use my own photography/content to collage with.

STUDY TASK 3

LORD WHITNEY

SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTH: 

fun, inventive, quirky, not like their competition.

very one of a kind and inventive. definitely have a trademark look and feel.

playful, high detail, multi media.

3D, crafty, specialise in set design as well as general production and styling.

team, have people to bounce ideas off, multiple helping hands, many ideas.

varied and successful high profile portfolio. range of clients already.

WEAKNESS:

niche and maybe too oddball for some clients.

very fun and big ideas, does this make them expensive to work with? 

teams, many people to pay and manage.

still a small business compared to others, competition may be bigger/have more resources.
based in leeds, to work internationally travel/expenses occur. could be expensive.

OPPORTUNITY:

photoshoots and use of 3D play/craft. very tactile and hands on, could place their work in almost any setting as it is so versatile and exciting.

definitely could cater to a children's industry, e.g. children's illustration or parties.

events managing? 

THREAT:

move towards more moving image/VR technology. LW is very hand made, artistic, real life and 3D. could they miss out because of demand for digital animation/digital effects/a more tech aesthetic?
their work takes time, is highly crafted. hard to reproduce. how would a consumerist market sell this? 

PEST ANALYSIS

POLITICAL:

don't make political work. 

political climate could affect economics/feel their work is very commercial and there will always be a demand for this. brexit could cause a loss in international customers/clients as they move to work with creatives not in the UK

ECONOMICAL:

austerity could cause smaller budgets and their work seems expensive (big, grand, high detail), could be seen as a too expensive choice? move towards online shopping could mean their focus on real life hand made could be a negative. they do a lot of window displays, these may be seen as less in demand.

SOCIAL:

not sure of social, maybe 

high craft could go out of style, could be too expensive. 
as technology becomes more prevalent, there is growth in a counter culture of craft and real life arts skills, people want real life interaction and objects they can see/feel/hold.

work with schools/in education so have social ties to young creatives. good networking base, good new people to hire ect.

TECHNOLOGICAL:

ad campaigns could become more digital, less posters in shops, more moving image and tech experiences.

handmade work takes more resources/time/effort sometimes than digital.
however, their work transformed into interactive online experiences could work well as they have high detail and lots of fun/play.