When looking at the question 'what do you need to communicate and how does it match the clients need?' it involves asking myself many other questions about my ambitions as a designer - Who do I want to work for? Who are their clients? Who's the competition? At this time I feel I want to stay based in the Leeds area and my ambition is to work for a company/ as part of a team designing work for magazine publications. There are many different client groups within the design industry that, no matter how bad a recession we are in, will always need graphic designers to get themselves noticed. Potential client groups could be anyone from local businesses, supermarkets, fashion shops to publishers, magazines, companies that need packaging design, logo design, nightclubs/bars who need promotional material to survive, or even the music and TV industry to advertise. With this being said, I have researched into a client group that interests me as a potential direction to aim towards: magazine publishers. I have found examples when researching on a local, Leeds Guide Ltd, national, Forward, National Magazine Company, european and transnational scale, Condé Nast, August Media etc. but have narrowed it down for further investigation and chosen to look at Women's magazine publishers, such as National Magazine Company, on a national scale.
In terms of approaching this client I would need to consider what I would communicate and how, such as showing them I understand the magazine publishing market and know their client base, that my practice is national, which also means local to them as I am willing to travel to discuss work in person, and that my services include what they are looking for in terms of design skills. However, magazine publishers also have considerations towards their client base, so that they understand how to be successful within their market. Obviously publishers in the UK have various 'types' of clients e.g. women gossip readers, teenagers, men's health, older home living readers, creatives, business people. However, according to Nat Mag publishers, who publish over 20 various magazines, 61% of their readers are women aged anywhere between 15-55 so I decided to look at Women's UK Magazines in more detail for my analysis.
When analysing the clients' needs I looked at a few consumer types and used the segmentation template to compare two, before choosing one to look at more closely. Demographically my chosen customer type is the working class woman reader, aged 22-40 on an average income. They commute to the city centre for work, are professional, but relaxed, and a fashion/gossip magazine lover. On a geographic national scale, these clients could be found anywhere in cities around the country so magazines would be found in newsagents everywhere or could be promoted/sold on public transport to be seen on their commute to work. Because these clients read fashion/gossip magazines they have a need to fit into society and be up-to-date with trends/news which means magazines, as products, are important for their esteem and love & belonging needs.
In my PEST analysis I have shown that UK Women's Magazine publishers should consider political issues, such as the environment in that they can gain green credentials by supporting and raising campaigns with editorial coverage and ad campaigns, for example, or printing on recycled paper. Economically they would have to consider distribution trends - is the magazine published monthly to allow them more of a thorough and valuable content that reflects in the price or weekly and make it cheaper for the target market? Options to subscribe for a year/2 years etc makes it cheaper for the reader instead of paying weekly high street prices. The home economy situation is also a factor as economically in times during a recession like we're in now, the target audience may cut back on buying luxury products like magazines if the recession has affected their living standards. Their security and physiological needs become more important than their esteem and needs for self actualisation. On a social level the demographics and lifestyle trends of the clients also come into consideration. City centre working class women on an average income leading busy lives commuting to work should be targetted differently than 55+ women that are retired and receiving their magazines via the post, for example (see segmentation table). Technological development, such as online magazines, are forming competition for the traditional, newsagent based printed magazine. Women (in my chosen example of publishers client base) can now browse through them on lunch breaks online at work for free without even having to go outside. Innovation potential factors like this e-mag idea, or fashion/gossip websites could be used to improve the success in this market. The idea of different ways of printing to bring the price down e.g. using recycled paper/ non glossy etc or using a brand extension of a well established brand are all technological issues that is/could be brought into the market.
Friday 30 October 2009
Saturday 10 October 2009
Who am I - Who are they?
Based on what I have learned from the first introductory lecture, I have thought about who I am as a designer and whether my skills relate to what is needed in the industry and what other skills I am going to need to develop.
As a designer, I consider myself to have good basic knowledge and skills in a number of areas, all of which have much room for development. These include; concept research and development, layout, typography, photography. My research, idea generation, software skills and knowledge of print process are improving and I think my strongest are my organisational skills.
I need to know more about what is out there in the industry today so to do this I aim to continue researching into designers, design agencies, and look at editorial layouts and creative type in particularly in more depth to find their range of clients to give me a wider understanding in my interests.
After learning about the 4 P's - Price, Product, Placement, Promotion - I have put into place a version of the marketing mix about me as a designer (as realistic as possible) and relating that to what the customer would be looking for:
Product
Service as a graphic designer - idea generation, conceptual thinking, typography based, packaging or editorial and layouts are what currently drive me, so hopefully my current skills and all those that I am yet to learn will match the customers needs and wants. It is obviously going to be better to have skills that people are looking for, than trying to find people that want your skills.
Place
Northern based - hope to be based in Leeds, with wider based contacts allowing me to travel to anywhere in the UK. I would obviously need to research competition in the area and be flexible, as a client would expect face to face contact to show them that you professionally care and give them that 'try before you buy' meeting to seal the deal. They would also prefer to have convenience instead of adding delivery costs onto the overall price.
Price
The cost of living exercise showed I spend around £11,000 per year, based on last year's living. I would probably aim to set up a studio in my home to cut costs down, but there will of course be additional costs, equipment costs etc, all part and parcel of being a graphic designer. So with that in mind, I want to be aiming at starting on a £20,000 salary to be comfortable. As for what I charge clients for my work, it would depend on whether I worked at a fixed salary rate for a design company, or solely relied on freelance (something I don't particularly wish to do). Customers want to get value for their money, but for it to be reassuringly expensive to know you are better than competition in your field.
Promotion
At this point, I am still finding my way, but I think the best way to promote myself would surely depend on what specialist area I choose to work in, or whether I promote myself as a general, broad graphic designer. Also, what type of clients my work is aimed at, and where they are based. If they are web based, I will obviously advertise digitally, or a small business would perhaps appreciate a more direct print advertising approach. There are many vital things you would need to take into consideration; what the people read, where they go, what messages they hear etc.
As a designer, I consider myself to have good basic knowledge and skills in a number of areas, all of which have much room for development. These include; concept research and development, layout, typography, photography. My research, idea generation, software skills and knowledge of print process are improving and I think my strongest are my organisational skills.
I need to know more about what is out there in the industry today so to do this I aim to continue researching into designers, design agencies, and look at editorial layouts and creative type in particularly in more depth to find their range of clients to give me a wider understanding in my interests.
After learning about the 4 P's - Price, Product, Placement, Promotion - I have put into place a version of the marketing mix about me as a designer (as realistic as possible) and relating that to what the customer would be looking for:
Product
Service as a graphic designer - idea generation, conceptual thinking, typography based, packaging or editorial and layouts are what currently drive me, so hopefully my current skills and all those that I am yet to learn will match the customers needs and wants. It is obviously going to be better to have skills that people are looking for, than trying to find people that want your skills.
Place
Northern based - hope to be based in Leeds, with wider based contacts allowing me to travel to anywhere in the UK. I would obviously need to research competition in the area and be flexible, as a client would expect face to face contact to show them that you professionally care and give them that 'try before you buy' meeting to seal the deal. They would also prefer to have convenience instead of adding delivery costs onto the overall price.
Price
The cost of living exercise showed I spend around £11,000 per year, based on last year's living. I would probably aim to set up a studio in my home to cut costs down, but there will of course be additional costs, equipment costs etc, all part and parcel of being a graphic designer. So with that in mind, I want to be aiming at starting on a £20,000 salary to be comfortable. As for what I charge clients for my work, it would depend on whether I worked at a fixed salary rate for a design company, or solely relied on freelance (something I don't particularly wish to do). Customers want to get value for their money, but for it to be reassuringly expensive to know you are better than competition in your field.
Promotion
At this point, I am still finding my way, but I think the best way to promote myself would surely depend on what specialist area I choose to work in, or whether I promote myself as a general, broad graphic designer. Also, what type of clients my work is aimed at, and where they are based. If they are web based, I will obviously advertise digitally, or a small business would perhaps appreciate a more direct print advertising approach. There are many vital things you would need to take into consideration; what the people read, where they go, what messages they hear etc.
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