Wild-goose Chase Anyone? Entrepreneurship for Creatives Online at Central Saint Martins

Here’s a snap of some of the exciting artists,
designers and professional creatives who attended this years summer school, at Central Saint Martins,
which is now also available online.

Apologies for the continual generally poor format of this blog, which I plan to sort out in the next couple of days. Contrary to public opinion Alison  Branagan is not an large plush office staffed with loads of slightly plump ginger haired ladies and gentlemen continually nibbling biscuits and making cups of herbal tea for one another, though one hopes it is only a matter of time.

The trouble with wild goose chases is no one really wants to go on one, its not really top of anyone’s list of desirable activities. You don’t wake up and think hell what I really want to do today is waste a load of time, money and energy. Alas at the moment we are in difficult times and extraordinary changes are occurring daily to the way we not only run our art practices or design businesses but in our personal lives.

It’s really difficult to know if you are just starting out or have been going awhile and find a brick wall has been hit or you find you’ve been talking to one for sometime. Often its a matter of persisting with something until a break through occurs or you just have to realise…look this isn’t going anywhere any more is it? Change is never easy, but shoving yourself in another direction might prove more fruitful.

My course ‘Entrepreneurship for Creatives Online‘ hosted by Central Saint Martins, is designed to help you think differently about where you are now and what other options there might be out there for you. The course is broadcast live, but if you miss a class they are all recorded so you can catch up during the week. Handouts are provided and the course includes a special course extra in the form of a probono UK/EU business and trade mark search by city law firm Silverman & Sherliker

For more information about the course and enrolment please visit the new Central Saint Martins website.

Cheerio for now…working on a blog post for Arts Thread at the moment…so stay tuned!

Business Start-up for Creatives Online

Business Start-up for Creatives
Central Saint Martins, Live and Online

Ahoy there shipmates! This is my second post, please excuse the formatting, its early days in these uncharted virtual seas of the blogosphere!

So why not launch yourself and set sail with the winds of good fortune in blowing in your sails this month?

If you’ve recently graduated from a visual or applied arts degree, or perhaps you have just started your business as a freelancer, design business or arts practice and feel very confused about what is going on, then this online course will help you formulate a plan, understanding some marketing basics,  networks, business planning, money management, costing and pricing, fund raising, legal matters and tax. A very useful course for anyone based in the UK, EU or elsewhere in the world who seek to trade with or in Europe.

Its very easy to make mistakes in business, and making too many can drain you of time, funds and resources. Often its about spotting problems and putting them right that will aid  your route to success, leading to financial stability or a profitable enterprise.

This course is broadcast live, but its recorded so if you miss a class you can catch up during the week, there will also be time to discuss your plans and extensive handouts are also provided along with these exclusive course extras:

As part of the course students have a free one hour consultation with specialist design accountant Dean Shepherd of Tax By Design and a Business name and  a free UK/EU trade mark search undertaken by city the law firm SIlverman Sherliker LLP.

For more information and to enrol please view the new Central Saint Martins website.

A 7 Step Guide to Protecting Your Brand: Asos Market Sellers Blog

An illustration by Tim Bradford from
‘The Essential Guide to Business for Artists & Designers’ Revised and Updated.
All Rights Reserved.

I venture out into the blogosphere with tentative tiny steps, please excuse the formatting, as I’ve just set up this account!

I launch with a recent post I wrote for Asos…just out 25th September 2013

A 7 Step Guide to Protecting Your Brand

When you start out as a fashion designer, maker or seller like all other creative enterprises you have to decide on what to call yourself. You might for example use your own personal name or trade under a business name. Some of you may have started trading using an eye-catching name, phrase or motif but what you might not realise is that without sufficient checks and seeking to register a trade mark, your brand isn’t safe in the commercial marketplace.

When you officially register as a sole-trader (aka self-employed) a partnership or a company, the following seven step guide helps you to avoid costly mistakes with your label name or logo often referred to in legalese as your ‘mark’.

When you see the â next to your favourite label or store name it means they have registered their name, possibly the graphic representation of their mark and logo as a registered trade mark. When you see ä this means that the business founders are stating this is our ‘trademark’ either before or whist waiting for official registration to come through. Trademarks are registered by ‘territory’ which usually means by country.

1.     Go out and check the world
You might not be aware but it is now a legal requirement for anyone setting up as self-employed, partnership or a limited company to make sure they’re not using the same business name as another enterprise. You might not have officially registered yourself as a business, by-the-way if you haven’t and you have started to make sales you need to get this done. So even if you’re using a name and you haven’t officially registered as a business you can still run into problems. The best thing to do is….(To read more please visit Asos)