Merry Christmas

Today is my last day before the Christmas break. I'm off to the osteopath in a bit, so hopefully that and a few days rest will put me in fighting form for next Monday (Monday and Tuesday next week are bank holidays but that doesn't mean anything to the self employed).

I've been working on the website for the last couple of days. It's all been sent off to the web developer to be built and should be ready to launch with product in the shop at the end of January.

I specialised in design for print at university and get asked every now and again if I can build a website. My brain can't handle the coding side of web design and if you want a really fast and functional website it's best to have a professional build it and a designer put the look together.

Even my business advisor couldn't understand why as a designer I was getting someone else to build it for me when I could just use a template. I don't think he has particularly high standards or understands how fussy I am!

I'm picking t-shirt colours and styles tonight so I can send off for samples. Once I receive the samples I'll be using my new pantone book to pick the print colours for the t-shirts (hopefully the pantone book won't get lost in the Christmas post madness; my brother's a postman and you really don't want to know how messed up the Royal Mail is).

On that note: Merry Christmas

Nearly there

My back is on the mend and the cold I got just as it was getting better has cleared up. After all the set backs I'm now about 1 month behind the schedule I'd set. Which isn't the end of the world but paying the rent has to come first so some form of part-time work is a must.

In more exciting news: all three artist designs are in and can be seen below. The decision whether to have a logo t-shirt now has to made along with colour choices. I'll be sending off for samples of the blank t-shirts next week so I can work out final artwork sizes and colours. I managed to get hold of a pantone book on ebay so the colours can be picked and specified more accurately.

The final design is by Keaton Henson check out his website

Logo

It's finished, stickers have been ordered and I've picked three colours but these aren't final yet. I really need some pantone books so every time I send something to print I know it will come back the right colour.

Pantone is a colour matching system that uses a set of individual inks so you can pick an exact colour. Normal full-colour printing uses Cyan Magenta Yellow Key (Black) which can't produce certain colours and doesn't print lovely and flat.

I'm happy with the way the logo has turned out; all of the influences I drew upon seem to have subconsciously slipped in and I can imagine it sitting happily on the front of a Foden FG eight wheeler from the 1950's or a Soundcity guitar amp from the 60's.

I'm dosed up on painkillers and have the cat sitting on my shoulders to make sure I keep working (don't worry, I'm not hallucinating, she is actually sitting on my shoulders).

Arrgghhh

My back is now really causing problems. I'm bed bound today under orders from the missus. I need to go to the post office so I'll have to sneak out!

I can now do better than show you past work from the illustrators I'm working with as I have initial ideas/roughs in. I've also been contacted by another illustrator who was taking ages to get back to me. He's just released an album and was a bit snowed under, see what I did there (it's snowing in London). So there will now be three artist tees in the first collection plus one or maybe two logo/type based tees.

The first design is by Mr Gauky www.mrgauky.com



The second design is by Nate Holmes Trapnell www.thesouthpaw.com.au



More on the third design and illustrator when the roughs are in.

It's an interesting process commissioning illustration and works differently depending on the artist you're working with. As you can see above Mr Gauky has delivered a finished idea that just needs the finishing touches whereas Nate has given three options (the one above being the one we're going for but minus the skulls).

The process of picking which illustrators to work with started by collecting a load of website links to artists I like and thought would fit the brand. This is a mixture of people I was already aware of and people I've found recently.

Having decided I wanted to have three artist tees I picked the three illustrators/designers I wanted to work with. One never replied, one was too busy and the third was Mr Gauky. Only having one illustrator on board I had to start from scratch, looking at my list and picking another two who would work well with Gauky's style while keeping things diverse. Luckily the next two people I contacted were both free and able.

All going to plan I should have the finished designs in on December 10th, ready to go to print for samples.

With my back being so bad, needing money and my deadlines slipping as I struggle to work I need the DJ work I've been chasing to pay-off. I knew this would never be easy; I suppose that's half the fun!

Logo progression

My back is still bad and has made sitting at my desk and concentrating difficult. I've booked an appointment to see a Craniosacral Therapist which has in the past worked wonders. One advantage of working for yourself is definitely being able to work around other commitments.

I've now commissioned two illustrators; I'll give you a sneak peak of some of their past work later in the week.

I'm getting there with some solid ideas for the logo, plenty more to go though. One of these is likely to spring up on the twitter and facebook pages soon. Any feedback is always welcome.

Logo

Below is the typeface I will be using for the logo which is called Mircrogramma. It was designed by Aldo Novarese and Alessandro Butti for the type foundry Nebiolo in 1952. My inspiration for using it comes from various album covers and Sound City guitar amps.

I'm working on an icon to go with the type today. Various ideas came up including, a spade, trowel, treasure chest and metal detector but gem stones seem to make the best icon, get the message across and aren't too obvious. What do you think?

While working on this project ideas evolve and change and something I've never wanted to do is be too specific or obvious with the inspiration for the brand. The name 'The Diggers' comes from 'Digging' the act of hunting for records. I assume this name comes from the action of flicking through records in a box which looks like digging with your hands. This idea of digging can be applied to all the inspirations for the brand whether it's hunting for new skate spots or a fresh wall to paint.

The gem stone idea works for me because they are undoubtedly the most precious thing you can dig for.

Bloody backs

I've just done my back in, laying down. Of all the stupid ways to hurt yourself this has to be the dumbest.

I've got a meeting with Leroy at NatWest Hackney about setting up a business bank account in a bit and I think I'm going to struggle getting down the road. I was also planning on going into central London tomorrow on a research trip but that might have to wait.

I found the picture below while hunting for skateparks in London to photograph for The Diggers website. Ingenious.

Look what I just found

In one of the books I'm looking at for design inspiration; Street Jewellery, A History Of Enamel Advertising Signs. A sign for the same company as the one in a shed window while on holiday.

Design Research

Design research starts properly next week but I'll be looking at the books below over the weekend to make a start.

The two main sources of inspiration I'll be taking from are construction and haulage companies as well as guitar and amp manufacturers. I'll be looking at design predominantly from the 60's and 70's.

I'll also be looking at tractor manufacturers, poster art and sign writing. A lot of East London still has sign written shop advertising and signage so I'll be going for a little walk around with my camera.

I came across a printing company last week who use Risograph printers. Riso is a technique which gives an affect similar to screen printing but can do finer detail and is much cheaper. It only works for printing onto paper but is an option for the flyers I will be getting printed for launching the brand.

Find out more about Ditto Press here.



A selection of books I'll be looking at for inspiration

Business Gas

When you start a business you get to enjoy everyday activities and objects with a fresh new perspective, like Business Breakfast and Business Shoes.

You are also entitled to Business Gas & Business Electricity!

Sammy over at The Underdog Art Co. let me know about Business Gas and how much cheaper it is. I assume it's Government subsidised as it is a lot cheaper, pretty much half the price of what I was paying with normal residential gas and electricity.

You can even get business gas if you work at home.

I now have a direct land line, perfect if you get free calls to land lines with your mobile contract, to Nick at British Gas. So no more talking to a computer for five minutes just so I can talk to a person who may or may not be able to help me.

Find out more here: www.businessgas.co.uk

Late Introductions

I probably should have done this first but better late than never.

Hi, my name's Chris Hewitt, I also go by the name Chris Airplays. I originally come from Watford but now live in Hackney. I studied Graphic Design in Leeds and since then have worked for a friend's fashion label and sold curry on a market.

I DJ a whole range of different music and have an on-line radio show broadcasting from brap.fm and hosted on pfradio.com and itunes.

I paint and draw when I get the time and sell arts-and-crafty bits-and-pieces from my on-line shop http://airplays.bigcartel.com/.

You can see my artwork and download my radio show @ www.airplaysemporium.co.uk

I have a cat called LC (Little Cat) and a girlfriend who I live with called Ruby 'Poo Shoes' Wilgrove.

Myself and Ruby went to Aldeburgh over the weekend for a little getaway. We left early on Friday morning and came back Sunday afternoon so we could go to the Roundhouse to see trentemøller.

Back to work today. Posts on business planning, starting design research and which illustrators I'm hoping to work with coming up this week.



Walking Monty in Sainsbury's car park Ipswich on the way to Aldeburgh.



A sign in a shed next to Ruby's grand parents cottage. Great type!



Possibly the smallest seaside house ever.



Trentemøller LIVE.

Financial Projections

I knew the numbers side of the business wasn't going to be fun but I never realised it would be quite so boring.

I attended my first Hackney Enterprise Network seminar on Friday. I overslept and ended up 10 minutes late but still managed to get most of the info I need for filling out a financial projection. From what I can tell this is how you prove to the bank that they'll get their money back; despite the fact that the most important part, sales, can't be worked out beforehand.

Sales are worked out on assumptions. The assumption I'm working to is that 30 shops will take the collection twice (each t-shirt in each size) or 60 shops will take it once. I'm hoping this is a conservative estimate!

To back up this assumption I have to show that I'll be promoting the range properly, that I'll be approaching a lot more stockists than I require and that the amount I hope to sell is a relatively small share of the market (I need financial reports on other company's to show this, which are available from companies house for a price or free from the British library).

As well as proving to the bank that I should be able to pay back their loan it will enable me to budget for the business as well as my personal life.

Things seem to take longer than I'd hoped, plus I took the last two weeks easy. The real work starts NOW!

Tax

The end of last week was taken up with finding business advise and looking into how my tax will work.

I currently work one day a week PAYE (the English employment tax system) but will also be looking to find freelance work as a DJ and take on the odd piece of design work alongside running ‘The Diggers’.

After speaking to the Inland Revenue (the English tax authority) I was advised to become self-employed. This will mean that the tax on my earnings will be the same even though my income will be coming from different sources. When you have more than one job this can be a problem as you get taxed differently depending which is classed as your first job (which is generally the one you do the most hours at).

This means that the one day a week I do PAYE will become freelance. I will have to fill out a self-assessment every year, which you receive at the beginning of the tax year (April) and has to be returned by January.

You can find out all you need to know about tax from: www.hmrc.gov.uk/ and the relevant phone help lines associated with the different forms of tax.

I’ve also looked into business advise offered by both Business Link and The Hackney Enterprise Network.

Business Link is a government organisation that can help with all aspects of business support from writing a business plan to finding finance. They offer free advise which I was hoping for today but their representative never got back to me. I’m still waiting a week later.

The Hackney Enterprise Network is membership based organisation (£25 a year for your first year of trading £50 then on). They offer one-on-one business advise (I’ve already had a one hour session), grants and seminars. I’m signed up for ‘How to create professional financial projections’ and ‘How to structure a finance ready business proposal’. Fun stuff!

LC the office cat taken on the new office phone

Day 1

Today is the first day of my new venture 'The Diggers': a t-shirt brand with a musical theme with designs inspired by street art and skate graphics.

I'll be using this blog to document the process of building a company from day one until the launch of the first collection some time early next year.

In the first two weeks I'll be writing a business plan & a detailed plan & time scale for the next four months, setting up internet banking to keep track of my finances, talking to a business advisor, contacting printers to arrange meetings, working out which illustrators I'd like to work with as well as contacting them to see if they're available and how much they charge.

Below is my work space which will be transformed in a few weeks by a new work bench which is being built by a friend.

Keep track of what's going on by following The Diggers on Twitter https://twitter.com/chris_digger