Executive Summary
Working as at a publishing house and having strong ties to others, I am able to
Low start-up costs of working at home
For six months to a year, it will be up to 20 hours a week. Beyond ths 40 hours
With extensive experience in publishing, Anna Robinette budgets and schedule projects like a queen with many contacts with suppliers to negotiate on prices and
After a thorough grounding in typesetting and artworking, Anna Robinette embarked on an MA Graphic Design at Falmouth University that allows her to study and further her skills at the same time. She will finish her
She has taken on paid and pro bono personal projects as her schedule allowed, including packaging for a local drinks business that was featured in the Guardian, a sustainable living zine and . Setting
Objectives
The objectives for the first six months are:
- To establish myself and build clients through networking in my industry and local area
- To continue serving current clients beyond their expectations.
The objectives for the first year are:
- To further my skills in animation and kinetic typography
- To work on larger-scale projects for companies and institutions
- To create stunning graphics and typography that will surpass the clients’ briefs and expectations.
The objectives for the first three years are:
- To develop a start-up graphic design business that is profitable within the first three years
- To move from a home setting to a shared studio setting
- To provide an invaluable service to clients, whether in-house or remotely, and to give the studio work that is creative, fun and flexible
- To grow sustainably within the community to provide a service that is local as well as able to act further afield.
Mission
Sew My Type is a graphic design firm that specialises in typography and craft-based design across media, from print to mixed reality. From the inception of a project, SMT will provide services for typesetting books and printed matter, art direction, to project management of scheduling and budgeting and final delivery. Clients will come from small- and medium-sized companies, primarily from the publishing and theatre and arts industries. With extensive skills and wicked organisational skills, SMT will distinguish itself with its wide range of innovative projects, delivered within budget, on spec and on time.
Keys to Success
My keys to success are:
- Creative solutions
- Well-crafted execution
- Professional insight
- Playful attitude.
Background information
Owner details
Anna Robinette of Walthamstow, London, born in 1991
Education
- BA English at Queen’s University Belfast
- MA Graphic Design at Falmouth University.
Technical and Vocational Skills
- Mac and Windows operating systems
- Adobe Creative Cloud, including InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects, Dreamweaver, Lightroom
- Glyph and Processing
- Digital photography and photo editing
- Riso and screen printing
- Letterpress and bookbiniding
- Print production, budgeting and scheduling experience.
Professional Experience
- 5 years’ experience in project management in publishing for academic and children’s publishing houses
- 3 years as artworker/typesetter at Walker Books, a children’s publishing house
- Freelance design work including packaging, website, zine, photography and branding
- Screenprinting prints and cards for personal Etsy shop.
Services
Overview
Sew My Type provides graphic design and visual communication services to publishing and arts-based companies. Some of the services offered are typesetting, branding, and packaging.
The pricing of the projects are typically estimated as a project-based cost. The project cost will be estimated by the approximate number of hours needed to complete the project. SMT will charge an average of £50 per hour across the projects.
The majority of services will be provided remotely by SMT working in a home office or in-house at the clients’ place of work. This set-up will reduce the amount of overheads while the business is setting itself up and allow Anna Robinette to work flexibly where she chooses and where is convenient for a client. By year two, SMT aims to be working in a co-working space to network with other creatives and allow for more space.
Detailed services
The studio provides the following services:
- Typesetting books and printed matter
- Kinetic type and animation
- Art direction
- Logo and branding design
- Layout and book design
- Artworking and image processing
- Packaging and point of sale merchandise
- Pre-press and print production.
Clients
My client will initially be overall
Client One
Client one is starting a small business and needs
Client Two
Is from a cultural institution who wants branding for their exhibition and a record and interesting snazzy
Company Summary
Sew My Type is a start-up graphic design studio that serves the publishing and arts industries. The firm will be based in Walthamstow, London and will operate across the London area.
Start-up Summary
Sew My Type is a sole proprietorship owned and operated by Anna Robinette.
Start-up Costs
Sew My Type will be located within the rented residential property to incur fewer start-up costs. Most start-up costs have already been covered through Anna Robinette’s personal practice, and the reminder will be covered by personal savings for the first year. Requirements for Sew My Type are:
- Licenses for the following software: Adobe Creative Cloud, Glyph, Font Explorer and Quick Books (a scheduling and billing software)
- Cloud based storage and offline backup hardware
- Portion of internet connection
- Subscriptions of requisite magazines and journals: Creative Review
- Website maintenance, domain renewal and Wix subscription
- Assorted office supplies
- Promotional materials: business cards
- Legal fees regarding business formation, creation of standard client contracts, and other general advice.
| Description | Quantity | Unit Price | Cost |
| Adobe Creative Cloud (yearly subscription) | 1 | £596.33 | £596.33 |
| Glyph app (one-off) | 1 | £230.00 | £230.00 |
| Font Explorer | 1 | £99.00 | £99.00 |
| QuickBooks Simple Start plan | 1 | £108.00 | £108.00 |
| GoogleOne 2TB (yearly subscription) | 1 | £79.99 | £79.99 |
| 2TB hard drive | 1 | £100.00 | £100.00 |
| Internet connection (share of) | 12 | £10.00 | £120.00 |
| Creative Review (yearly subscription) | 1 | £175.00 | £175.00 |
| Web domain | 1 | £12.00 | £12.00 |
| Wix subscription | 1 | £102.00 | £102.00 |
| Office supplies | 1 | £100.00 | £100.00 |
| Promotional materials | 1 | £80.00 | £80.00 |
| Start-up legal and accounting fees | 1 | £500.00 | £500.00 |
| Business insurance | 1 | £350.00 | £350.00 |
| Emergency I-didn’t-budget-for-this Fund | 1 | £2,000.00 | £2,000.00 |
| Total | £4,652.32 |
Market Analysis Summary
Sew My Type will target a range of business sizes so that
Target Market Segment Strategy
Publishers
Small business
Institutions
Networking.
Pricing Structure
Pricing will be priced by hour for some projects, whilst hours worked will be a tool used to estimate a total for a project where appropriate.
Typesetting
For typesetting, the rate will be £22/hour. This is 10% less than comparable freelancers in London (LM) and typesetting companies outside London (UD) so that I can win work and establish myself across companies.
- Kinetic type and animation
- Art direction
- Logo and branding design
- Layout and book design
- Artworking and image processing
- Packaging and point of sale merchandise
- Pre-press and print production.
Work breakdown
On any given week for the first six months, I will be doing the following work:
| Scope | Hourly Price | Hours | Total |
| Typesetting | £22.00 | 10 | £200.00 |
| Business insurance | £40.00 | £350.00 | £350.00 |
| Emergency I-didn’t-budget-for-this Fund | 1 | £2,000.00 | £2,000.00 |
| Total | £4,652.32 |
Strategy and Implementation Summary
Sew My Type’s marketing and sales strategy will utilize networking and referrals to develop visibility for the company. Prospective customers will be turned into qualified sales through a professional showing that displays Robinette’s portfolio of past work.
Marketing Strategy
As noted in the target market segment strategy, Sew My Type will rely on three activities in their marketing efforts. These include:
- Networking: leveraging relationships to build more relationships within London’s design and publishing community.
- Client referral: by providing outstanding customer attention, current customers are more likely to become a long-term customer and are more likely to refer their friends.
- Targeted customer acquisition: the first step of this process is to target who the ideal customer is, determine how Sew My Type can offer them value, and then network to come into contact with the decision maker at that company.
Sales Strategy
The sales strategy will be to utilise Anna Robinette’s portfolio of past work to qualify a sales lead. Using a portfolio is very common within the industry to show past examples of work.
Sales Forecast
The first months of operation will be used establish clients, negotiate projects with existing clients and maintain current projects. The business will be part-time for six-months to a year to establish clients that allow for a full work week of billable hours. By month twelve Sew My Type will have developed larger projects and will continue to grow steadily.
Milestones
Sew My Type will have several milestones early on:
- Business plan completion
- Establishment of the first major account
- Profitability
Competitive Edge
Web Summary
The website will be used as a way to show past examples of work, and provide potential clients with several ways of contacting Sew My Type. In today’s day and age, a website is a given, a standard source of information regarding the company. as are social media channels. Weekly posts on social media will showcase the studio’s work to encourage interaction and boost engagement with potential clients.
Website Marketing Strategy
The marketing strategy for the website will be based on inclusion of the Internet address in all materials that Sew My Type releases. Wix provides SEO services with its website plans to increase traffic from web searches.
Development Requirements
Anna Robinette already has a CMS-based website onto which she uploads her projects. This will be rebranded as Sew My Type for continued use and regularly updated.
Social Media
Channels on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and The Dots will be set-up under the company name with weekly posts on projects so that profiles are driven to the top of the algorithms. Engagement with other creatives and industry professional will increase name recognition and interested clients.
Anna Robinette 
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