Week 2

Budget Models, Studios, Estimating, Invoicing and Budget Management

Lecture material

Kate Moross:

Kate explains how she has a design department and a video department, and tries to keep them separated for work to keep workload manageable. I find this useful to know as I’ve been wondering how studios approach the digital moving image briefs in comparison to regular design briefs e.g. 2d posters.

  • Bonus incentives to keep staff within the business can be really effective, and holiday as a bonus is a great thing. Also it’s fab to see a company that discourages overtime but does understand it’s not always possible, so ensures overtime is paid. This is important.
  • This is the part where I need to explore further, what are the benefits of paying staff hourly as opposed to salary?
  • How beneficial is networking?
  • Work is discussed before allocation to the client, which is important. Other work may be in play for some employees which means they’d need cover. This is why it’s beneficial to have more than one person in an area of expertise.
  • This process is interesting to me – ‘feedback, new round’ x4 and then a final. It’s always worried me how client feedback can be endless and I’m intrigued to see how this is prevented within design studios.
  • ‘Sustain our profit without the need for significant growth’ – I didn’t understand what it meant and I looked it up. I now know that it
As someone who is essentially a complete novice to how a creative studio works, I needed to see this. It’s great to see how the client is considered throughout the process and how employees are considered too. Essentially it’s all about balance – a balance of client and employees makes for good work.
Illustration for ‘Hometown’ agency as part of their postcard series

I personally love Kate Moross studio’s work, it’s vibrant, colourful and cheerful. It’s also massively inspirational for me as I’m learning how to create playful typography. This is why I’ve selected type based work above as they are the most creatively inspiring pieces of work for me. ‘Dream come true’ is a 3D influences piece of work which is actually on my list of skills to learn; so I will have to remember this piece when I want to use any inspirational references. I find lights and shadows really important; I honestly feel that if you know how to apply those correctly you can create anything three dimensional.

UsTwo:

Lush cosmetics mobile app rebrand
Google cardboard virtual reality experience

The main thing I have taken away from UsTwo’s discussion about the business was just how valuable critical feedback can be; and how far it will get you. From clients turning your work down it may result in you working for someone/something else. Don’t be afraid to send portfolio or work examples out – you never know what kind of exposure you will get from it.

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