My project for course: Creative Freelance Fundamentals: Building Your Business

My project for course: Creative Freelance Fundamentals: Building Your Business

Hi all! My business will be Lina Nou Studio - an art and illustration freelance business with just myself as the sole trader in London. My proposal is sort of a de-brand, as I have been building up a presence on social media as @autumn.onion with www.autumnonion.com as my website and online store. However, after a year and a half I feel that I have grown out of this name and would prefer my art studio to share my personal name instead, as well as make it official and turn it into something profitable.

My goals for the business are to design artworks and illustration that can be sold as originals and also put on products. My main projects I would like to work on for clients would be designs for marketing ilustration or graphic design, patterns for packaging and/or fabrics, and children's illustration. This would be with companies that share my values of sustainability and community as well as a love for nature and cities coming together. On a smaller scale I would also love working with cafes and libraries to provide art for their walls and have people enjoy / buy my art in a cosy environment in the city.

Other income streams of mine would be private commissions as well as applications to open calls or grants that speak to me and hopefully kick-start a project if accepted. This would include curating exhibitions with other artists to build a network and selling items in art / craft fairs as well. This, along with a consistent social media strategy, would help grow my network. So far I've sent out the cold outreach emails mostly to cafes so that I can have a few more sales under my belt before actually setting up at a fair to sell to customers. I've also reached out to a museum to potentially sell products with my designs on them in their gift shop, and would love to work with them in terms of designing their marketing imagery in the future if that takes off!

The financial goal of £19,200 per annum I've set for myself is kind of the bare minimum for now (as I am still at the beginning of my artistic / illustrative career). My budget per month would be £1,600 - meaning that taking on 1 client a month would make my project mimimum land at £1,600.