OUHD502 - Studio Brief 01 - Shy Bairns #1 Social Media

As a collective that has its members based in multiple different cities across the UK, the most effective way to promote the project is through social media. A range of social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram were utilised throughout the production and promotion of Shy Bairns #1.

Over the course of the project, we gained 500 instagram followers, 175 twitter followers, and 275 facebook likes.

Shy Bairns Instagram account

Shy Bairns Twitter account

Shy Bairns Instagram account

Each of the platforms took on a different role during the project. The Instagram was exclusively used to post updates on production and promote the first issue. Both the Facebook and Twitter accounts were used to repost the Instagram content and also share a range of news articles, political posts and opportunities from other artists and institutions that were relevant to this project and the wider arts community. These social media pages were vital to the promotion and reach of the project as it began to find an audience, and by the time we reached the distribution phase of the project our posts were reaching an average of 300 people.

OUGD502 - Studio Brief 01 - NEST Issue 10 Submission Selection

Once all of the submission had been collected the content was sorted and then finalised. There was no strict procedure for selecting works but content was chosen based loosely on skill, aesthetic, colour, and whether the work could be combined with other pieces to create a cohesive collection. The majority of the submissions could be clearly separated into two distinct groups - roughly half of the work featured bright colours and a coincidental beach/holiday theme, and the other half heavily featured black, white and grey photography, illustration and gifs.

A range of works from both groups were selected to be included in the magazine. The works that were finalised demonstrated a broad range of practices, including photography, traditional print, performance art and design. Contributing artists included students that ranged from Fine Art and Graphic Design to Surface Pattern Design and the FE Access Course.

Alex Miller

Amelia Baron

Ami Vadi

Ciaran Davies

El Riordan

El Riordan

George Wilson

Hilda Quick

Holly Braithwaite

Add caption

James Brook

Jay Bex

Joseph Cox

Laura Sifi

Mia Silvio-Styles

Richard Taylor

Rob Harper

Sian Cole

Dan Pipe

OUGD502 - Studio Brief 01 - Crowdfunding Workshop

A workshop on crowdfunding projects through the website Indiegogo, an international crowdfunding website that allows people to solicit funds for an idea, charity, or start-up business. The session was led by Joel Hughes, a member of the UK and Europe Outreach Team for Indiegogo. The session covered the basics of how to utilise Indiegogo to gain the required funding and audience reach for a project, whether it's a new product, an artistic endeavour, or a life experience:


The most effective form of crowdfunding available through Indiegogo is the Reward System, which allows individuals to pledge money to fund a project and also receive a range of exclusive rewards in return for supporting the campaign. This system is generally used to validate an idea and seek out what kind of audience (age, gender, location) might make use of the product or service. Rewards should be exclusive to the people who donate money, as exclusivity is a key motivator for large donations, and the rewards don't even have to be costly to the project, for example an invite to an existing launch of the product will not cost the campaign but ensures that backers are involved directly with the project.


In order to effectively crowd fund a project it is important to package the idea correctly in order to target a specific audience. Using Indiegogo, you can create a campaign page to display information, a campaign video, progress updates and rewards. Correctly packaging an idea is the key to success as capturing an audiences attention makes the difference between backing or not backing a project. On average, internet users decide within 3 seconds whether or not to stay on a web page, and when watching a video decide within the first 30 seconds. Therefore, a project that is succinct and streamlined in the relay of information will have a higher chance of success.


Considerations into the funding of a project are also crucial. In setting a limit for funding it is important to consider all costs of design, production, advertising, postage, travel etc. It is also recommended to factor in a buffer to accomodate for unforeseen costs, alterations or extensions. However, predicted funding should not be overestimated, and instead should be set as low as possible in order to continue to appeal to the audience and sustain it's success. Indiegogo advises that in order for a project to reach full funding, the campaign must reach 30% of it's target funding in the first few days. If so, statistically the project has a 90% chance of reaching completion.


To reach the required audience it is important to tap into the many different available networks. Friends and family are usually the closest circle who volunteer to donate money, then the local community and then the general public. There are many ways to reach an audience, including word of mouth, but the most effective method has been proved to be through social media - over 50% of Indiegogo's traffic comes from social media sites (facebook, twitter, instagram etc). In terms of funding however, email is the effective and has been shown to bring in 20% more funding than other sources, leading to contributions that are 34% higher.

OUGD502 - Studio Brief 01 - NEST Issue 10 Closing Submissions

After extending the deadline I received an influx of submissions. Within the extra 7 days NEST received another 50 submissions, containing a more varied mix of photography, illustration, screenprint, monoprint, fashion photography, animation, performance art and sculpture. This equalled roughly 80 submissions in total, significantly more than had been received for previous issues of the magazine. Extending the deadline proved to be successful for the magazine as these new submissions would provide a more accurate cross section of the students and the talent at LCA, and ultimately fulfil the aims set out for the new issue.

OUGD502 - Studio Brief 01 - What I've Learnt So Far

5 things you have learnt so far on the programme

• Adobe Illustrator
• Adobe After Effects
• Perfect binding books (manually)
• Foiling and flocking
• Embossing and debossing

5 things you want to know more about

• Design for commercial publication
• Curating exhibitions
• Traditional bookbinding (industry)
• Presenting myself within the industry
• Interface design

5 things you think are your strengths

• Idea generation
• Coordination (between projects)
• Organisation (of projects, people etc)
• Traditional production methods
• Writing

5 things you want to improve

• Illustration skills
• Theory 
• Working as part of a multi-disciplinary group
• Networking with other levels and courses
• Networking with local practitioners and businesses

5 practitioners that demonstrate your interest in graphic design

• Martin Parr
• Erwin Wurm
• Luke Evans
• William Knight
• Yoko Ono

5 websites that show your interests within the industries

• It's Nice That
• People of Print
• Grafik
• Kohlberger.net
• Shybairns.co.uk

OUGD502 - Studio Brief 01 - Shy Bairns #1 Crowdfunding

As a collective, we had no prior funding for this project. To raise funds for this publication the collective set up an online shop to take pre-orders, which included a bonus reward system, so that buyers could pledge money for the printing in return for a copy of the book, plus extra items such as posters and stickers.

There were many discussions within the group as to the price of the zine. As a collective one of our major concerns is accessibility to the arts, and therefore the price of our product should be cheap enough so that as large an audience as possible could purchase a copy. However we also would have to price the publication high enough in order to raise enough money to cover printing without having making a loss at the end of the project. As a compromise we priced the publication at £6, with optional £2 postage for those that could not collect their publications in person from one of the members of the group.

With this system we raised roughly £500, enough money to cover the printing costs and potentially have enough spare to prepare for a book launch or a follow up exhibition.

Working without a budget but also having to plan financially around the cost of production is an important, if unfortunate, skill many young and professional creatives have to learn without the appropriate backing and funding for artistic projects.

OUGD502 - Studio Brief 01 - NEST Issue 10 Extending the Deadline

After the initial deadline for submission to NEST Issue 10 I had received 32 submissions from students. However, all but four of these were photography. As the aim of the magazine is to provide a platform for students and showcase a broad range of talent within the college, I felt that these submissions did not represent a true cross section of LCA. I also understood that at the beginning of the academic year, particularly for the new students, the adjustment to a new workload would mean that the production of new work would be limited, and therefore many would feel they could not submit anything. In order to rectify this, I chose to extend the deadline for submission a further ten days and re-advertised in the same spaces, both around the college and through email.

OUGD502 - Studio Brief 01 - Shy Bairns #1 Printing and Binding

Once the publication was created we looked for where it could be printed and bound. To stay true to the Northern community we were keen to source all of out materials and printing and binding services from the North of England.

Due to the large number of submissions we had received the number of pages for the book also increased. Initially, with a 30 page estimate, we had intended to saddle stitch the publication for both the ease and the low cost. However, working with an increased 66 pages the next most viable method was to perfect bind. Perfect binding has a great cost but also a great durability, and moved the book's quality up from a handmade zine to a professional publication.

One of the first decision we made as a collective was to print the publication on a Risograph, as it gave both a texture and feel that we wanted and was also more economical than using a professional printers. We researched and then contacted a selection of Risograph studios from across the region, one of which was Footprint Workers Cooperative, based in Leeds. Our run would be small, at only 100 copies, and they came back to us with an initial quote of £335 to print and bind the books, but then contacted us again saying it would actually cost £500+.

As a collective of students without funding this was a huge set back, on both time and budget, and was something that we could not afford. We contacted a variety of other Risograph studios and found Northern Printmakers, again based just outside of Leeds. Their initial estimate was much lower, at £110 for printing, and so after a discussion with their printers we finalised our print slot at their studio.