Planning Strategy & Management
For my business plan and research I will focus on what I have experience in, what I‘m passionate about, and what gap/need I can fill in the market.
From my experience in the music industry I’ve noticed a gap with independent artists, festivals, and record labels having access to affordable options for custom design, branding & marketing materials, and opportunities to work with designers specializing in that space. Designers working in this industry often don’t offer transparency around pricing models and what materials you can expect for the price.
I would like to establish a design studio that offers accessible and affordable design through transparent package and tier options, specifically to independent musicians and record labels, locally and in the future, internationally.
Examples of tiers/packages could look like:
New release package: digital single (single artwork, social media graphics, spotify motion video)
New release package: physical (package design for physical media)
Brand package: logo, colour guides, look & feel, social media template
Giving Back
I’d also like to think of an arm of the studio that would focus on empowering artists from underrepresented communities who traditionally experience barriers accessing the industry, including indigenous, Black, 2SLGBTQIA, youth, etc. I could apply for funding to offer free or low-cost design services, or even a pay-it-forward program where a portion of all design services include an extra fee that will go toward this program.
Inspiration:
My inspiration is mainly from what I observed with designer Robert Beatty whose signature style became incredibly popular with the release of Tame Impala’s album Currents. Artists and record labels wanted to align themselves and their projects with his distinctive style, but as his designs take a huge amount of time there is a high wait time and high cost involved. Instead of working with him directly, sadly, some artists were replicating his style in a much lower quality knock-off, which also devalues his work. I thought about how you could make space in your practice to take on those big custom, high-profile jobs, but still fill a demand on a much smaller scale, perhaps using a sub-brand.
I’d like to develop a signature style that would allow artists to align themselves with my brand, instead of having to develop a style unique to each artist.