Summer project: Make a Reggie!
How cool is this: Sue Halliday (a CWC member who is also behind the scenes at Melbourne's CAE) has instigated a new project called Reginald – The CAE Portrait Prize for Softies 2014.
It's like the Archibald portrait prize, but for soft-toy likenesses of famous folk. Brilliant!
So the challenge for you, creative ladies, is to make a Softie (soft toy) that resembles someone you admire/appreciate/quite like, and submit photographs of your creation along with a photo of the person that the portrait represents. Ten finalists will be selected and asked to send in their actual Softies. An exhibition of the finalists work will occur in the CAE Info Shop in the heart of Melbourne.
The judges are nationally and internationally revered Soft Sculpture / Textile Artist Cat Rabbit, and Pip Lincolne, crafter, and author of many books and the Meet me at Mikes blog (we interviewed her in Conversations Volume One, remember?).
There are a few prizes up for grabs, which you can find out more about here.
Reginald encourages professional makers and novice crafters to enter. Perhaps it is a good project for your local craft group or circle of friends? Kids could enter too! The deadline is 7 March 2014.
More information can be found on the Reginald website including full entry details. Also, be sure to pop over to Instagram and look up @reginald_cae, #Reginald and #makingareggie to see other people's entries.
3 ways to make your Instagram feed POP!
By Susan Goodwin
Instagram is such a fun and visual way to share sneak peaks into your work and life. But it can get kind of same same if you always take the same type of picture (morning tea, your shoes) and use the same filters.
So here are three ways to mix it up a bit and make your Instagram feed POP!
Try out Instagram video! Find a process you do all the time in your work: it could be priming a canvas, stretching out an embroidered piece, sketching your ideas and make a little video. People love a 'behind the scenes' or glimpse into the creative process.
Tip: If you turn the sound off on your phone, it will help eliminate that bad muffled sound that you often hear on Instagram videos.
Don't have a steady hand and your videos are looking a little bit more Blair witch project than you'd like? A tripod will help maintain a steady shot on any kind of surface. There are lots of smart phone tripods out there (google it!) and even some handy DIY options!
Get some new photo filters If you aren't ready for video then perhaps it's just a matter of making your regular photos a bit more interesting? There are loads of free and low-cost apps out there to make your photos a little more interesting by adding text, compiling images into a collage and more.
I recommend:
- Muzy for photo editing, collages, and more
- Insta picframes, another option for photo collages & picture frames
Add some text
Followers will always be drawn to photos that contain text - it's just the way the human brain works. Luckily there are some lovely apps out there that assist you to add text to your images in beautiful fonts, with just a couple of clicks.
Try:
- A Beautiful Mess for adding hand drawn borders and text
- Piclab for dreamy filters and bold contemporary text
Filters, compilations and text can all add a bit more dimension and interest to your photos. There are thousands more photo editing smartphone apps available, it's just a matter of finding the right ones for you.
And one last thing!
For those of you who have a Wordpress blog or website, don't let your Instagram photos stay inside Instagram. Try:
- Simply Instagram For importing the pics into your sidebar
- DsgnWrks Instagram importer for making your pics into blog posts
- IFTTT also has a myriad of recipes that can turn your Instagram feed into so much more.
So get snapping and make your Instagram feed POP!
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Susan Goodwin is the designer, sewer and creator of Rocket Fuel, ensuring you are decked out in style while cycling. Read her blog or follow her on Twitter @rocketfuelstyle.
Keeping your social media looking fresh
By Susan Goodwin Your blog and website are still your best tools in your social media arsenal as they are the ones that often inform your customer the most about your business and encourage enquiries and sales. So keeping your website or blog looking fresh and working correctly is vital.
Every so often I like to do a bit of a check of the following things on my own website and social media platforms:
Broken website links
I go back into the archives and choose posts at random to ensure they are still working and links are directing readers to appropriate and active content.
Social media icons and widgets are up to date and importing correctly
This is vitally important if you have changed your handle or use a different name on every type of social media e.g. business on the blog, personal name for Facebook, nickname on twitter etc. Consider streamlining your social media by only using one name or variations of your name to avoid confusing your customer. Or if that's not a possibility, ensure all links are directing customers from your website to your social media and vice versa.
Refresh avatar
I've recently made my avatar more professional and relevant to my work. I love my cat, but a photo of her big furry belly in the sun is not necessarily the best way for me to advertise my business to all my Facebook and Twitter customers.
Refresh headers and backgrounds
While I'm refreshing my avatar, I often add a new header to my Facebook page, a new background to my Twitter page and freshen up the header on the top of my blog. Think of these items like the front windows of the big department stores. Sometimes a new and interesting front window is all it takes to entice a customer in the door and make a purchase.
Check SEO (search engine optimisation) words and make sure every word in there is relevant
If your work and focus has changed dramatically since you last updated your website, then consider resubmitting your website to Google. This is a super simple process and can help bump up the way people find you via searches.
By regularly maintaining your online presence and social media platforms, your website will always be working for you and your social media will evoke a consistent and professional look and feel. That doesn't mean it has to be strait laced and boring - it can be full of personality - but your main goal should be making it easy for your fans to find and interact with you with ease. The benefits will be endless!
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Susan Goodwin is the designer, sewer and creator of Rocket Fuel, ensuring you are decked out in style while cycling. Read her blog or follow her on Twitter @rocketfuelstyle.
Organise Me: 7 Tips for Keeping Your Creativity Flowing Through Winter
Winter is creeping into its third month, and for many of us, the Winter blues are starting to take their toll. Whilst I’m beginning to embrace Winter, the long cloudy days seem to drain my creativity. So I am determined to overcome this with a little bit of organising.
Here are my top tips for keeping the creativity flowing:
- Schedule Down Time - Get out that calendar and mark out blocks of time where you will stop working on current projects and do something different that’s fun for you. You could try a self-directed project or even give yourself permission to see that movie you really want to see in the middle of a 'work day'.
- Rug Up and Get Outside - This is important for everyone, but especially for those who work from home. Get out your coat, warm boots, grab a scarf and some gloves and go for a walk. It doesn’t matter if it’s around the block or to a cafe. The fresh air will clear your head and give you time to brainstorm.
- Take Time Out to Read a Book in a Coffee Shop - The book could be fiction or something related to your field. I find that it’s hard to justify reading when you’re surrounded by work, so leave the space, warm up with a hot drink and escape into that book that you’ve not had time to read.
- Visit a Gallery - Pick an exhibition that isn’t about your line of work and allow yourself to be inspired by how other creatives work. It may bring you some perspective on your own work, or it might just be a fun day out.
- Dance It Out - The blues come easily this time of year, so when you get the chance (maybe at home) - crank up your favourite songs and dance like no one’s watching.
- Try a New Craft - Winter is a great time to learn something new that keeps your chilly hands busy. It could be crochet, knitting or even drawing. Just something that’s been on your to-try list. You don’t have to be amazing at it for it to be fun.
- Catch up with Friends - Winter is for hibernating, but it can be great to make a point to catch up with friends that you don’t see too often. Go out for dinner or invite them over for a night of laughter and catching up on the couch. If you’re feeling really adventurous you could all organise a fun weekend away.
I hope these will help keep the winter blues at bay and keep the creativity flowing. Thankfully Spring is not too far off now and the warmer weather will (hopefully) return soon!
Dannielle is a blogger, serial organiser and passionate traveller. She has a secret love of 90s teen movies and can often be found on Twitter. In 2013, Dannielle packed up her life in Melbourne into one suitcase and moved to Canada to make her crazy dream of a more adventurous life happen. But she quickly found the inspiration she was searching for was in Melbourne and has returned home. She’s recently started a new project on creating a happy (organised) home which you can see here.
5 tips for landing your dream creative job
This Saturday CWC is heading to Sydney for our next event and the ladies at Shillington College have generously donated their space to us for the talk.
It's also getting to the time of year when students begin preparing their portfolios and job applications for work after their courses end. As someone who has been there I can attest to the fact that it is a daunting prospect, and any advice in that area is always appreciated!
So I asked Thea Powell and Tanya Ruxton at Shillington what they suggest students (and indeed anyone looking for a new position or career change) do to increase their chances of landing that dream role. "Getting that dream job can be hard." says Thea, "and to be honest, there's not one single thing that alone will ensure you get that job you've always wanted. But we do have a few tips for design graduates that'll help get a foot in the door."
Here's what Thea and Tanya recommend:
1. Read the job description. Carefully. Don't presume you know what your potential employer wants. What they really want to see is that you can follow direction. What file type are they after? How many samples of your work do they want to see? They might specify you put "Happy Green Tree-Frog" as the email subject. Who knows. Check and double check what's required.
2. Personalise your application. Your grandma might have told you a fair few times how important it is to make a good first impression. And your grandma would be right. Your application is the first thing an employer sees, and it should make an impact. Don't hold back - remember, studios want to see your personality.
3. Sweat the small stuff. A spelling or grammar error can make or break an application. Sure, you're not being hired to be a copywriter. But you are being hired as a designer who has excellent attention to detail.
4. Know your portfolio inside out. You've won that prized first interview. Congratulations! Now to talk through your portfolio. Employers love seeing what you can do, but what they really want to hear is your reasoning behind each project. If it would make you feel more prepared, write down key points about each piece, and read over them the night before your interview.
5. Be passionate. Show them who you are. Let's face it - you'll spend a lot of time with your co-workers. They'll be looking for someone who will work well in their studio. Be friendly, be passionate - and at the risk of sounding like Oprah, be you.
Tanya adds, "Overall, the most important thing is to never, ever give up. If you really want to work with a certain studio, keep trying. Determination pays off."
Great advice, thanks ladies!
If you'd like to chat to Tanya and Thea a bit more about folio preparation, they will be at our talk on Saturday. Or you can find out more about Shillington at their website.
Think before you type: by Sharon Givoni
Today, Intellectual Property Lawyer Sharon Givoni (our speaker at the most recent CWC) shares in more detail one of the cases she referenced in her presentation, as well as offers some tips for using social media as a creative business owner. She has written another excellent article about using your own name as a business name for Full Members to access. Thanks, Sharon!
By Sharon Givoni*
In the creative field people are always getting inspiration from other sources.
But what happens when you think someone has taken a little too much inspiration from you and is actually copying you? What can you do?
Well, one thing that you probably should not do is talk about it online on Facebook or other social media outlets, as a recent case between two fashion designers has demonstrated.
What happened in the case?
Leah Madden owns a swimwear brand some of you might be familiar with called White Sands.
She discovered in the marketplace what she thought to be a “rip off” of some items in her 2009 “Shipwrecked” swimwear collection.
Thinking that well-known swimwear company Seafolly had copied from her, she posted an album on her Facebook page entitled “The most sincere form of flattery?”.
She then posted several side-by-side comparison shots of models wearing White Sands and Seafolly swimwear, and below each image Madden wrote descriptions such as: “White Sands 2009 / Seafolly 2010”.
She also added comments such as:
- “Seriously, almost an entire line-line ripoff of my Shipwrecked collection.”
- “I know, the buyer from ‘sunburn’ (who, as it turns out, works for seafolly) Came to my suite at RAFW and photographed every one of these styles.”
- “Ripping off is always going to happen, but sending in a dummy ‘buyer’ to get photos is super sneaky!”
What happened next?
The Facebook statements were read by many people, and received quite the response. People said:
“Nasty! Shame on 'em! Won't be buying Seafolly. WHITESANDS all the way. X”
“seafolly own everything! sunburn, miraclesuit and gottex and they used to own jets but sold it recently! and unfortunately they do rip off everyone, they have copied a design 2 chillies has been doing for years! a little frilly triangle, its so bad!”
“Disgusting! How people look at themselves in the mirror is beyond me.”
Media Attention – hungry for more…
Madden then sent emails to media outlets also, using the same words “The most sincere form of flattery?” in the subject line of each email.
Responses from readers included:
“This sort of thing is happening ALL the time. Large corporations no longer have ‘designers’ but ‘product developers’ that source indie designs, copy and mass produce them.”.
“Yeah right Seafolly – you really expect us to believe this garbage?...”
How did Seafolly respond?
In response, Seafolly circulated a press release of their own saying they DID NOT copy at all.
Even though White Sands said that they had never specifically accused Seafolly of plagiarism, the damage had been done by what she had said and Seafolly sued her for misleading and deceptive conduct and other things.
At court, even though Madden argued that she had only expressed an “opinion” – not a statement of fact – the judge disagreed.
Seafolly’s CEO said that:
“This day of internet, where things go viral, once things are released into the public space, no amount of logical reasoning actually matters… Once she put that up there, I was finished anyway… the damage had been done.”
No winners
Ultimately Seafolly succeeded in its arguments concerning misleading and deceptive conduct. White Sands was ordered by the court to pay Seafolly damages in the sum of $25,000 AND Seafolly’s costs of the court application.
Did anyone win though? I would say no. The public airing of their 'catfight' led to both companies attracting some level of negative publicity.
Lessons to learn from this example
- Think before you speak (or at least think before you type, especially when it comes to social media).
- Just because you do not expressly say something, if you imply it, that can be just as bad, legally speaking.
- Always get legal advice!
DISCLAIMER: This article is of a general nature only and must not be relied upon as a substitute for tailored legal advice.
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CWC Full Members can log in and access another article by Sharon entitled 'Protecting your own name as a trademark' over here.
*Sharon Givoni is an intellectual property lawyer. She assists many creative businesses Australia-wide including members of Creative Women’s Circle. She can be contacted by email (sharon@iplegal.com.au) and her website is located at www.sharongivoni.com.au. She has a reputation being very approachable and for giving legal advice using plain English. Call her on 0410 557 907.
Stress & Wellness: Tips for a well workspace
By Emily Harrison With spring time comes the phrase ‘spring clean’ …where we turf out wardrobes, dust off exercise equipment and create space for all the exciting projects and ideas ahead.
Well in an ideal world that is what would happen.
I myself was lucky to find the keyboard to write this column under what I would like to defend as a “system of organised chaos” …but really is just a cluttered workspace.
And so with some spring-time vigour I took a look at what aides a healthy workspace. To help me I had a chat with a lady who knows more about feng shui than I and with her French accent and full hand gestures, Christiane taught me a lot more than just tips for workspace wellness.
“You know Emilleee, clutter on ze desk means clutter in ze mind” (hmm clearly she wasn’t aware of my extraordinary touch typing abilities under forests of paper…but she could be on to something).
“To be able to create, you have to be organised in life,” she continued. Lucky the CWC have a columnist dedicated to ‘Organise Me’.
So what practical steps could one take to help bring a sense of harmony and balance to a workspace?
- Step 1 is to de-clutter. Clutter is stale energy so start moving it, literally. Clutter or mess adds a heavy weight to your environment so when you de-clutter you create space for positive energy to flow in. Place everything into its own spot (and if it doesn’t have one then do you need it?).
- Create time to clear…regularly. We know what it’s like to become absorbed in a piece or find “the zone” … but we can forget to create time to clear and find we’ve become covered in piles of thread, material cut-offs, or in my case…a forest of paper. Give yourself 30mins to refocus and create space to allow the creative genius to flourish.
- Let’s talk lighting. Aim for natural lighting where possible and consider supporting lights and/or using a magnifying glass for fine tasks such as needlework.
- Cleanliness – it goes without saying. We’ve all heard the revealing reports on keyboard hygiene. Pick up the tea-bags, clear off the crumbs. Stat.
- Work in nature - while I was tempted to move my office to the park, Christiane was referring to incorporating natural elements in to your office or home– or in her words “humans cannot be at peace unless nature is present” (think earth, water, stone, wood, metal elements etc). Which is why plants or flowers in a vase of water are great to have around. Plants, while also looking good, help to absorb negative energy. They also seem more manageable than goldfish for me.
- Work in inspiration – someone once said to surround yourself only with things that are useful, beautiful or that uplift. Wise words whether you apply it to the home or the office.
So with that in mind, I am armed with helpful tips (and no more excuses) for tweaking my workspace to let the energy and creativity flow to its best potential.
I’d love to hear your tips or ideas?
With thanks to landscape architect and feng shui expert Christiane Seletto for sharing her wisdom.
Emily Harrison is a writer and yoga teacher with an interest in what makes us healthy, thriving creative beings. She also finds herself stuck under piles of paper at times. You can read more at iamem.com