SAMI REHMAN INTRODUCTION CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 2. COMPANY PROFILE 3. DESIGN PROCESS 4. PRICING 5. COMPANY STRUCTURE 6. PROJECT MANAGEMENT 7. PORTFOLIO 8. CASE STUDY 9. CLIENTS 10. MARKETING 11. EVALUATION For this project, I have chosen to use Elavete Design and Print graphics Agency located in Cardiff to assist my analysis report. They currently have a small team performing various tasks in the office on Wodville roads Cathays and Cardiff. This is mostly designers developers and 3 directors, as the business works on development, and in particular on branding, printing and T-Shirt printing. I had decided to meet Matt Silver, who is the Senior Grapher Project Manager and a Director of my selected agency, Elevated Design. They take pride in making personalised, creative work and meeting the strategic goals for their clients that are their main priority. (Elavate Design and print located in Cardiff, Wales, 2019). I first met Matt Silver he and his team launched their new design studio in Cardiff as I felt that I might need to reconnect to this industry link that would be helpful. COMPANY PROFILE Elevate design and print have a powerful and partnership-based ethos Clients are their primary concern and think about them at all stages of their design process. It helps them to see whether their work is of good use to them. They believe communication is essential, especially among their team and clients. also bring more affordable design services to the high street. they belive that they found in their time in Newport local business’ were almost too nervous to go to Cardiff Bay or office building like design studios for fear of looking silly in front of professionals. Where on the other end of the spectrum other local printshops offered very little design flair in their services favouring template design services or minimal effort design. We seek to bridge that gap and delivery studio quality design at high street print shop design prices with design and print under one roof. The heart and meaning behind the company is to devolep brands. I discovered that These brands are devoleped on integral research carried out in the first step of the design process, I have learnt that It would be pointless trying to design without research, You need that as the foundation, because at the end of the day you will design something, and first and foremost something must be tested before published. Elavate Design is a design company located in Cathays, Cardiff, that originates from Newport and has produced and published T-shirts from a company called Ceetees, as they designed and printed t-shirts. Then the three partners moved t-shirt printing equipment to the Newport Studio, and they decided to look for Cardiff properties to start our own printing shop. And as expanding from Tee printing to all prints Ceetees became Elevate design and Print. they wished to establish this design company with leading customers and treat them more like friends than customers. I also found out that the Brand name Elevate and ’Elevate your’ which was chosen from a brainstorm. Although the name has been linked to a few other print services. DESIGN PROCESS With all the various tasks they manage on a daily basis, the company’s design process varies. But they always try to implement their fundamental principles, in keeping for their briefs, in a simple formal process. Elavate Design recognises the importance of the design process during a task, because you can work into various timescales in each segment and handle them to best suit the staff and your clients. Design companies and effective designers normally follow similar processes with small changes or factors, based on what has already been observed and what has done well for them in the past. Of example, the working environment of development is a very fast pace so that the design process is still clear, but rather streamlined relative to what I’m used to as a beginner. I learned that understanding this brief is much more a vocal task between the client and the designer and clarifies all questions and limits as regards the creation of ideas. Sometimes the customer has a very simple and specific vision about what he or she wants to achieve and they are the paying client, so it is best to listen to them. The design team must use their communication skills in input and acceptance sections in the design process when they feel that they are able to achieve a better solution. Throughout industry life, the path from the brief to the finished product development is considerably faster because deadlines need to be. Be continuously reached. I’ve learned that development teams are working to meet deadlines at such a fast pace. In order to survive in the competitive design industry, new designers like myself need to get used to it. Other companies are engaged in a standard design process in the industry. Whether it’s billboard ads or mobile app construction, real goods are produced; other teams and businesses should be involved in the printing, finalisation and legalisation of the product by copyright. It takes more time, and this must therefore be taken into account when communicating with a customer and be logistic on monetary terms. COMPANY STRUCTURE PRICING Usually, at the start of each project, this company holds consultations with clients where they negotiate what is required to create a specific brand or adapt it. A price and payment plan is developed inside this document. The price is usually stated and the customer is explained. If you are pleased, the plan will proceed but if it is not, negotiations will take place or customers will be able to be informed that they might be opting for a cheaper priced agency if they are unwilling to pay the price by Elavate Design. they tend to talk through the brief and project, as well as desired outcome. Most being the same goal of making the client profit. they then offer 3 approaches a low, middle or high or Budget, Middle and Premium. For example Sweet Drops, a sweet delivery service wanted full branding, business stationary, social media set-up and content as well as a few other projects like a photoshoot. We quoted all based on time at £29.99 p/h rather than charging for individual jobs, this ends up saving the client money and portraits a high saving but from our prospective it ensures we secure a lot of work from the client. This instance we offer working 5-6 Hours, for basic branding. 8-10 for social media content and so on. The client then has a clear indication of what they can get for their money. This approach always secures more business for us other than pricing a business card job at £29.99, flyers at £39.99 as so on. Matt also works on freelance projects alongside his job full-time and believes that underselling yourself is amiss, as they will try to get you to work as low as possible if you’re dealing with a bad company which acknowledges that you have little confidence. “Money correlates with issues of self-worth sometimes, so before agreeing payments you have to trust yourself and your talents in order to achieve the best financial, imaginative result” (Stone, 2010) Robbie Snelling Projects manager Matt Silverand Owner Ross Llewylen Senior Graphic Designer Matt Silverand Owner Senior Graphic Designer Robbie Snelling Projects manager Ross Llewylen Senior Graphic Designer This diagram shows some of the principal roles I have been informed of during my interview with Matt Silverr within the company. The company was founded by Matt Silverr in 2006 and relocated in 2018 to Cardiff to render design a pioneer in business thinking in order to have a successful project that distinguishes your individual organisation. Matt Silverr takes care of all the day to day running, and has the final say on branding because he is the head designer, Robbie would help on any print focused job as per his expertise. For example should we have a large booklet print job that required a lot of finishing. We have monthly meetings with 3 sperate agendas and finalise things here. monitors each event and engages tremendously in its leadership and decision making. In order to hold conferences, discussions and time limits for the group, the project manager interacts to the staff and clients. The main roles of the Business Development Director include demand and trend analysis, interaction with potential customers, the creation of agreements and effective communication with businesses. Further designers ‘ and developers ‘ positions are required to achieve the best results for their clients in this design-oriented organisation than any other position in this small business. Certain positions in this business are also apparent, including accounts manager, receptionist and IT support. PROJECT MANAGEMENT Within the Elavate Design team Robbie Snelling is the project manager.. The roles and responsibilities include engaging with the client and maintaining the progress of all projects; ensuring that their team is aware of their expectations and positions in the project and that the entire project runs smoothly and efficiently. The project requires time and money, individuals must be hired as project managers, so that they can decide that costs are to be charged for the amount of time a group must operate on the task. Additional expenses can not be ignored, because this would distort the company’s income, as many other companies are involved in activities such as the printing process. This ensures that it is necessary to work efficiently, connect, obey the design process and work hard inside organisations, job roles and all ventures. Matt Silver said to me, “Working life is crazy and I’m doing a lot of projects at the same time, you just got to learn how to deal with your energy, I juggle my full-time work with the freelance employee and typically I’m working late in the day.” PORTFOLIO These are the examples of projects I recognize from the portfolio of Elevate Design. I find aesthetically appealing the graphics and design solutions as well as the simplicity of the rest of the design solutions. Elevate design focuses on detail and thinks it’s better for it. Without looking closer, errors would be made and more time would be wasted in the long run when something wrong, like a typo in a print job. Small mistakes like this can cost the company a bit, and all can be avoided by reading a proof or allowing other people to look at the job. I’ve found that when your work goes out into the real world, you can’t be afraid of criticism as this is inevitable. People will see it and judge it immediately, so it’s best to ask co-workers, just in case, before you send it to the printer or the client. The work of this company is well thought out and accurate in its presentation, brand identities are clearly defined and branding briefing solutions are solved in various, challenging ways. Personally, I like how Elevate Design defines their unique colour pallets differently in all the brand guidelines they give out, this may be an extra hint of speciality to leave a positive memory in the mind of the customer. CASE STUDY Matt and his team were told to rebrand ‘ Spice Box’s Handmade Spices ‘ to make “their increasing customer base appealing and helping to create a more visually desirable product.”.” (Elevate Design Branding agency based in Wales, 2019) Spice Box spices were distributed all over Britain and needed to produce a more consistent aesthetic to expand their fan base and inspire people to take up their brand. “I’m so proud of my brand and without Elavate Design’s assistance and expertise I couldn’t have done it.” while speaking to matt he mesntioned One of his Favourit project that he had worked on was Twoork. because he had been given the most freedom on the their brief. It also involved setting up our first KickStarter campaign and video. So had more than a few first for us. The client was really friendy that made it easier with the communication. In comparison a lot of other clients have briefs that can be a little frustrating that leads to work produced that isn’t always to the designers taste. — Matt Silver (Elevate Design, 2019) Elevated design LTD appears to be related to a broad range of customers and believes that this is the key element in a major design company. Conclusively, an increasing number of people will be interested in what you are selling without being polite and available. They won’t give up their time and money to consult and recruit you if you’re not responsible. CLIENTS Elevate Design have a majority of Welsh clients interacting with their business including their biggest Client: Cardiff City FC. They are exclusively for their hospitality department which they had over the last year and half printed all their promotional material, menus, Christmas cards, business stationary for both football and the events. With have several other business’ that we have created the brand for who contune to use our services such as Sweet Drops, Twoork, 1Spice and Altura Chiropractic Clinic The wide scope ranges from jobs for companies to schools. Nearly every work shown in the company’s portfolio develops online platform user usability, primarily Instagram, but these are designed in sensitive ways to allow them to work on mobile applications and other phones. In this respect, elevated development is a forward-thinking company and because of it has attracted customers. Most of their customers are also in the private sector, “Private sector is the part of a national economy held, regulated or operated by private individuals or businesses,” implying that there is a greater likelihood of compensation and a wider range of positions in this industry, while there is fewer job security in this competitive marketplace. Elevate design also offer their clients experience beyond their expectations by giving themsocial media posts. It works very well for us and for clients that may be having second thoughts or need convincing into a job. For example, they offer Social Media post services from £15. If a client orders a flyer/poster design we also offer the design formatted a social media post and send a digital copy. From our end, it’s a case of adjusting an artboard and a few minute job but from the clients prospective they get extra freebies. This will not doubt end up on the clients social media with our company tag so we also get free marketing. MARKETING Elevate Designis Across various different platforms this business is supported. Elevate Design and Print is easy to find on social media and is fairly popular. We try to post as much as they can, including the content they have produced for design, marketing and publishing, as well as posting some development material that they hope their followers might find interesting and/or funny. They have portfolios and use blogs to connect quickly and efficiently with their customers. Such social media websites make their company available across a number of platforms, increasing their ‘ searchability ‘ and generating more footprints which reach and follow viewers. The company has also its own website, which promotes its brand and raises awareness of what the company stands for, why it was founded and why it has been operating. Elevate Design is aware of the importance of social media and of the accounts that it chooses to use actively in this day and age. You know that it’s a proven fact that you get more interest if you’re active in social media. The company knows potential supporters and even clients want to see how you function and how you interact with people online. “Talks and direct client contributions are important to creating and maintaining meaningful online follow-ups, as they inspire present followers to come back and help develop their reputation with potential new followers.” (Forbes.com, 2019) A professional yet playful online identity is developed by Elevate Design on websites such as Instagram and LinkedIn. They believe that it is important to have the right consistency in the amount we publish, and to always double check that it is true. You must be seen to have a finger on your heart, but not to post so much, as to demand how much time you have on your hands. They show great enthusiasm for what they do by sharing design ideas and articles relating to businesses, which build trust among consumers who are eager to look for a brand. They have business-oriented content on their social media sites, including job vacations and showing consumer interest and marketing work. they can also share humorous experiences by posting congratulations and holiday occasions, building a warm, positive online ethic. They also make sure they are amusing and involved, so humorous they want to be, so that people are attracted to their company. EVALIUATION Elevate design and printing have a strong ethos that integrates partnership creativity. Customers are the first priority and speak of them at all stages of their design process. It allows them to see whether they are best served by their jobs. You believe that communication is key, especially between your teams and customers, and they feel that it slices through every predisposition customers can find difficult company employees. The company’s heart and purpose is to build brands. I discovered that it would be pointless to try and model without study; you need it to be a foundation because you must, in the end, design something and something must be tested first. It was focused upon crucial research carried out in the first phases of the design process. Elevate Design and Print are situated in Cathays, Cardiff Wales. And love to interact with welsh businesses as their forefront in business. Dealing with a majority of welsh clients means they are easily accessible regarding meetings and working things out. Elevate Design Studio was established when Matt Silver and his Partners saw a gap in the market in the form of the implementation of a design In this specific region of Wales, oriented business. He wanted to establish this design company with customers at the top and treat them like friends rather than customers. In general, this task did not begin in the efficient way in relation with other experiences. That’s because my chosen company didn’t return to or answer my email in the beginning and so I figured it was just a two-week venture. I probably should have made contact again earlier than I wanted to because, rather than just planning and getting to it, I spent too much time trying to develop the courage to talk on the phone or meeting them in person. When reflecting, I found that all of this was part of the experience, so I definitely learned to get in touch more easily in the future. Furthermore, this experience has shown some weaknesses that I have time to practise and correct in the reality of working life, rather than in an environment in which I need to find employment. I am also pleased to see this lesson in an educational setting. I think this project taught me to use one statement: just make sure that I’m always approachable, elusive and willing to learn. Such qualities are warming up and I hope that people will keep in touch and possibly offer me opportunities. THANK YOU! REFERENCES https://www.elevateprint.co.uk/copy-of-print https://www.instagram.com/elevatedesignprint/ Stone, T. (2010). Managing the design process. Beverly, Mass: Rockport Publishers, p.15. https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=en&pb=!1s0x486e1d95a151236f%3A0x2803e89175977876!3m1!7e115!4s https%3A%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMZg362TWLrx0JTuSXUv3avmTh2Ay-8raxKuSlC%3Dw240-h320-k-no!5selevate%20print%20design%20cardiff%20-%20Google%20Search!15sCAQ&imagekey=!1e10!2sAF1QipMZg362TWLrx0JTuSXUv3avmTh2Ay-8raxKuSlC&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwinh6PM9MblAhWeSBUIHSf0CzUQoiowCnoECA4QBg https://www.facebook.com/ElevateDesignPrint/
