As a crafts person it is most likely that you sell products and not a service. If you want to know how to cost your design service check out How to calculate my freelance design rate? which are based on billable hours. There are some financial disadvantages of being a maker and selling products (and [...] Read more »
How to avoid being a starving creative
Some of my creative coaching clients think that being poor makes them actually more creative. What do you think: does poverty make you more creative? Do you have this idea in your head ‘to suffer for your art’? Do you love ‘make and do’? That frugal attitude might help you to save money in the [...] Read more »
The Design Doctor: Help, a department store wants to place a bulk order
Dear Design Doctor I have a company wanting to take my products to a meeting with a very large department store, and they have requested information from me as below: prices per unit when ordered in batches 25/50/100/200/500/1000? to provide lead times on above amount? can i give Exclusivity? Is this product covered by your [...] Read more »
3 tips to price your crafts from designer silversmith Sidsel Dorph-Jensen
Sidsel Dorph-Jensen is a Danish award-winning designer-silversmith, who studied at the Royal College of London. She designs & makes unique silver tableware, and was awarded Silversmith of the Year 2011. Using her own experiences as a crafter and her love for marketing & running a business, she also [...] Read more »
The Design Doctor: How to write a design brief and design quote?
Dear Design Doctor I am a recent furniture design graduate and a client has approached me to work on a small design project designing and making an outdoor bench. I am really excited, but don’t really know how to go about this. Where do I start? The Design Doctor for this challenge is Patricia van [...] Read more »
The Design Doctor: How to calculate my freelance design rate?
Dear Design Doctor I am a new web designer and need to know how much I can charge for my daily or hourly rate. Do I just charge what others are charging, or is there another way? The Design Doctor is Patricia van den Akker, Director of The Design Trust: “Web design is a [...] Read more »
The Design Doctor: How to make terms & conditions for my graphic design business?
Dear Design Doctor I am a graphic designer and I need to make my terms and conditions. Can I just use somebody else’s or do I need to have this written up by a solicitor? The Design Doctor for this topic is Patricia van den Akker, Director of The Design Trust: “Terms and conditions [...] Read more »
How much should I spend on marketing? 8 questions to set your crafts or design marketing budget
A good question! But a difficult question … how long is a piece of string? Firstly I think it is much more important that you invest time in clarifying your marketing goals, and then spend time on doing marketing and selling to achieve these goals. But money obviously does help … so what should your [...] Read more »
The Design Doctor: Help, I have a dispute with my art consultant
I have got a couple of problems with my Art Consultant. I am a designer maker and sell through an art consultant who sell art and applied arts for offices and interiors. It has been a really grey area and very confusing when interior designers and architects in a project are promoting or selling my [...] Read more »
The Design Doctor: Can anyone give advice on Sale or Return?
I need some advice about ‘sale or return’. I currently have some of my bags on sale in an independent boutique who will be taking a commission on goods sold. They will not take any responsibility on any damages caused by customers viewing the goods. I was a bit uneasy about this but still went ahead. Yes, [...] Read more »