The end of the experiment

Hello!

After posting a few dozen posts for the last year, I've decided to stop updating this blog.

This blog has been a great tool for me to express my thoughts, and to have my studio's first years documented. However, running essentially 3 different businesses (the studio, etsy shop, and licensing and wholesale business) has pulled me to so many different directions that I feel I need to really focus on these 3 things. Sacrifice has to be made, and this blog is it.  I hope you have enjoyed reading as much as I have written it. This blog won't be closed, so you can look back on my musings.

My facebook page and tweets are the places where you can find latest news, findings and thoughts. These will be updated more frequently now.

Thank you and, for the last time, happy friday!
-sharon

what's your worth?

Ahh... running a studio...

As a business owner, pricing decision is really important. As a right-brain-operated business owner (me), pricing is as confusing (and at times painful) as trying to solve rubik's cube. In the movie Spanglish, Téa Leoni's character said something to the effect that pricing too low shows how much you didn't value yourself or if it's too high then you just took advantage. Well, but really there's no winning in this situation, isn't it? Unless you can read mind and know exactly how much your customer/clients/buyer would like to pay.

And this is how I feel about pricing.

For products, the decision can be reached a little bit easier. Do the research, look into expenses, find a formula out there to calculate how much you are supposed to charge, and then  compare the pricing to the competitor. Even then, there will be people who will question your pricing just because they are comparing what you have to the same products with different factors (where its made, quantity, quality, etc etc). What about as a designer when your time and talent is the product? How do you determine? How do you justified the meticulous work that you do behind the scene?

Negotiating seems to work for me for now. And repeating "it's business not personal" seems to have keep me sane (for the time being). This is the only solution I have for now. I'll write more once I learnt more. I do, however, have found the solution for the rubik's cube. So may be ... may be ...  that one of those business for designer books can help me (... may be).

img source can be found here.


Happy Friday!

Trade show or not?

Above image is a glimpse of my booth with the last 2 items being new products (that were very well received!) coming up soon. The 2010 NSS (National Stationery Show) was ended last week, and now I have enough time to look back and reflect. I don't want to write up report on what's going on at the NSS, for there are plenty of other blogs that you can read about that. However, I want to share what I have learnt and hopefully this shed a different light and point of view on the trade show.

Well, the NSS is really where the buyers and manufacturers meet up to find out latest trend and products. For me, a lot of work went into the show (not only physical work, but also emotionally and mentally). after all this is my first trade show. Here are some points that I'd like to share:
1. Give yourself enough time. I had 6 months to prepare just for the show, which is plenty of time. However, I should have been more decisive, and early decisions can save money. Every single details of the booth should be scrutinized. This may be a given, but trust me, there's always something that's missing or wish you have done. For me is lighting. I wish I had some light spotlighting my booth!
2. Meet your expectation with the reality of the world. The economy is not very good right now. That should be in your mind. However, that's not the only thing. For me being a new comer in the world of stationery with limited amount of exposure is my reality. So I consider this show as a good show since there are many people responding to my designs (which I consider as my strength). I didn't make a million dollars worth of orders, however, the contacts that I get are really priceless. The contacts are the ones that is hard to come by, and no matter how much you pay, getting that targeted customer is really important. That leads to...
3. Be nice! I'm glad I get to talk to people. Not only the buyers, but also designers, my booth neighbor, and suppliers. It's unnecessary to be rude to anyone (and there are some rude people at the show). I believe that you never know who you run into, or at the very least, how karma will get back to you.
4. Support group! If you can bring someone with you, it'll be much better than being alone. Not only during set up, but having someone to talk to during the show that's on the same side as you is nice. I had my sister helped me during set up and the first day. We had a good time. The next 3 days I was alone, so I had the chance to compare and contrast the situation.
5. Have fun! I was nervous on the first day, but the next days, I was able to relax and had fun. It's hard specially with the thought of how much was spent on this show. But after I was relaxing and having fun, I was able to enjoy the process. I met so many people that otherwise I won't be able to, I learnt so many tricks of the trades, and much more other things that otherwise I won't be able to learn sitting in front of computer in my own little world. All of these I did while I lost my voice on the day of set up until the end of the show.
Lastly, realized that the real work happens after the show. Following up.. orders.. new items.. and the cycle goes on.

Now I want a piece of cupcake and a nap. Happy friday! and enjoy the long weekend for you state side readers!

sometime a break is definately needed.

i'm in the middle of product development right now. at times i wish i have a little creative spirit next to me and not only feed me with inspiration after inspiration, but also helping me with execution part of it. what to do when you have all the inspirations in the world, but it haven't been executed or produced as well as you want?

that's the case last weekend. i have been working -almost- non stop since october of last year with very little rest. last week was my breaking point, i experienced the worst block of my designing experience and now still trying to work through it this week. usually when i get blocked, i plowed through it. this time, it was so bad, i rather work on spread sheets than designing! then, i decided to go to bazaar bizzare at the new people building in san francisco, to help my creative juices running. the event was really good, and the new people building didn't dissapoint. i just had to get 2 most adorable things there, a cuddly fat frog from wool buddy and mini figurine from mrdeadfish (picture above) to add to the nick nack i have on my working table.  i specially enjoy the art in between the floor when you take the stairs, as well as mikito ozeki, a japanese paper cut out artist with installation at the superfrog gallery.

well, this should get me going and craving to design, as looking at different artists usually make me do. but this time it didn't. then i found my source of my block. it's the endless lists that i made in my head. even after i wrote them down, they lingered and added on. so knowing that, i'm taking a break for a few days and be back to the grind on monday. 'there's no glory in working oneself to death, sometime a little break and pampering for oneself is needed.' i repeat this sentence over and over so i don't feel guilty of not getting everything on my todo list done. and another saying that i love 'when feeling overwhelmed, diligently do what's in front of you. after a while, things will be done before you realize it. of course, take a meal break once an a while and enjoy it.'

so have a good weekend all! hope you get your rest!

thinking about products

product maker can be found here. and here is where i get the info.

it's been a while since i'm blogging about the progress i've made with the studio. the reason for that is seemingly there's been very little of it. there are a couple of products i've added to my collection i've launched, while at the back end if things, i've experimented with different products possibilities, thought myself to sew, thinking about style, brand and packaging, setting up site, and the list goes on. within this list, my products have been in my mind a lot. the questions are about its goodness, its function and its contribution.

paper printing world has been what i believe a shrinking world, and now print designer become survival of the fittest. i guess in design world (or any world for that matter) has always been so. this the reason for my desire to create well thought out products for my next big launch. in the world of things and items, i'd like to contribute a better products. this means slower products launch, and may be a slow studio growth a the beginning. the product above is a perfect example of a well thought out product, not to mention it's eco friendly (bamboo based material that's reusable in a country where wooden chopsticks are constantly thrown out). i'd love to be able to create something that has that many layers like this example.

so in the meantime, i'll keep push through the mental and other hurdles.

linen paper and thread

this book can be purchased here.

first 3 (in what hopefully to be many) successful pouches that i did on thursday.

sewing has always intrigued me, but i have no skills on it. when i was young, i broke so many sewing machine that i thought i was jinxed. however, i love the process of sewing, from the idea, pattern, and to sewing. so a few months ago, on weekends, i would learn how to use my computerized sewing machine. so, i was very happy when i successfully sewn these 3 type of pouches! how do i define success? well it's very simple, i've sewn it straight! (ha!) in my studio, there were many many fabric wasted because i couldn't sew straight. and when i finally was able, i was joyous. i wonder if this is how toddler feel when they were able to walk 2 or 3 steps?

hopefully eventually i will be able to create something more elaborate with my sewing machine. in the meantime, my house will be filled with these pouches as i'm trying to better myself with the skill.

so here are some of the books that helps me motivated (and inspired) to dwell in the world of sewing and crafting:

lotta jansdotter's simple sewing

printing by hand (sewing AND printing!)

bend the rules sewing.

last minute patchwork and quilted gifts

have a great weekend!

-sharon

what's in your closet?

i'm working on getting my branding straighten up today. all of these due to the feedback i received for my etsy store's banner. then i re-evaluated my brand. it is very difficult for me to design for myself due to several reasons, but mostly because i change my mind all the time. (this is also the reason why it takes me a long time to design for my own products.) then i realized, i've learnt all of this in school! the first step to branding is how you present it. the first second of someone look at your brand, they (viewer, customer) judge you. just like when you meet someone. no matter how nice you are, everybody snap judges. whether you stick with it or not that's a different story. whether your company can give people deeper impression or not that's when packaging, customer service and all the other stuffs coming in. the combination of these what create a company's brand.

so i forced myself to look at my branding mirror, and now my facebook pages main picture, then go to to my twitter page and then my store have some continuity. this is a start, then there will be more continuity on my packaging, and on and on. now i'm getting hyped up!

oh yeah, the image above was taken from anthropologie. such cute dress and shoes. so when you see someone dresses like this, what's your snap judgement?

-sharon

design vs function

image via spoon-tamago via co-lab

the beauty of starting a business is this rather slow economy is that i have plenty of time to develop. the ugly part is that it's hard to develop when business is slow. so balancing the two has been interesting. i 'm working on new designs this week, and heavily thinking of design vs function. how much can i push stationery design without it being totally ridiculous while still maintaining the company's principles. so with this spirit, i'm looking at different designs, from paper to architecture, not only for inspiration, but also for encouragement.

this is when i say, thank god for bloggers! the image above is of a library. not a big surprise, but i love libraries. ^^ this image is my source of inspiration and encouragement this week.

-sharon

modern bridal faire

my table layout. the ceramics were all from my friends at montes doggett.

while i also had the portfolio binder, this table was meant that the attendees could pick up and felt the invitations, just like how invitations were supposed to be enjoyed.

honestly, i didn't know what to expect for the faire. it did somewhat meet my expectation to meet other vendors, event planners, as well the brides themselves. the faire was slower than i anticipated, so that part was disappointing. i guess the faire was supposed to be for select few since this was taunted as high-end bridal faire by modern bridal.

what really great was the many positive feedbacks and they're absolutely appreciated and encouraging. being holed up in my little studio, i think it's nice to see the faces of people who seems really excited seeing the work.

so, on to the next thing...

-sharon

i decided to be stubborn... or tenacious.

what i find since my business started is that challenges is always at ready. part of it is the self doubt that's creeping in when least expected. to combat this, i started to listen at different TED talks, or read up on people I admired. from this research, i've found the thread that have made them in that special category (and they're pretty obvious) is that they all have worked really hard and had a great tenacity in what they're doing.

however, when designing, a lot of times i find myself on the verge of giving up (ideas) because it hasn't turned out how i want it to. usually this happens when i realize that i spend so much more time on the design than i ought to. then my questions become, when should i give up? or should i at all? if i give up, then does that mean i'm lacking in tenaciousness? is there a time limit in creating? because it's not business smart to sit on a project for a long time, right?

yesterday, i decided to embrace my designer self, to be stubborn... or tenacious. i've stuck to an idea that i was ready to scrap in the morning, and the result, i'm glad i did. i think i should trust my designer self more often. i'm not 100% happy with the result yet, but it's getting there.

but i know, there will be time when i need to scrap ideas totally because it's simply not the right time for me. usually i write down (or sketch it) any ideas that i have so it's "out" then a new one can form. and then, when the time is right, then like a good wine, i can start working on it and it'll happen ... or not. i'm still learning to balance my business sense and my designer needs. a long the way, we'll see if i have enough tenaciousness.

^^
-sharon