Thread: Looking for a new designer to take the company forward!

The amount of magazine print quotes we get asked for is unbelievable, usually people who think they will sell some advertising space to local businesses to pay for it all, in reality only a very small % come to anything, very difficult to get off the ground without a good budget behind you from the start.

Thank you to all those taking part in my thread.

I am a firm believer in giving others with a talent opportunities. The whole point in my magazine & business is to give those trying to find a great job, the opportunity to get real life experience and build their portfolios, it is just as much their project as it is mine. All too often we hear "over qualified/under qualified" or "not enough experience" but how about giving young people the opportunity to gain both? Work on a working portfolio while gaining a qualification? Or gaining valuable work experience after newly qualifying? Employers want to see evidence of work and I am hoping my business can become a catalyst for helping young people get what they need in order to get ahead in their careers. I don't see how someone’s age and experience can dictate how good they are at design? I don’t believe you can learn to be a designer, you’ve either got it in your blood or not. It is all a learning curve and we all have to start somewhere. Full support and guidance will be available to all my staff. This is an opportunity for them to embrace what they are good at and push boundaries.

I am fully aware of the financial implication and investment opportunities and having been in business for a number of years, am in full control of my business venture. Just because I have set a target to achieve something from nothing does not make me stupid or set me up from failure, it is called being an entrepreneur. Also, if you have not already read, the magazine is going to be an online magazine. I am not entering into this with my eyes shut, I have spent a year conducting market research and with my years of experience working in media, I am confident that my venture will be a real success.

Thank you once again for all your comments... please keep them coming good or bad because it really does all help and makes me even more determined! :) To those that have private messaged me, I will get back to you today.

Emily

While you're right that creativity isnt something that can be taught, the point you're missing is that inexperienced or newly graduated designers often don't have the knowledge or understanding of the industry required to implement their creativity correctly. The only way you can learn that is through spending time working alongside other desigers with industry experience. You say that your staff will have full support and guidance but who's going to give that guidance if the person needing it is the most senior designer in the business?

I commend your business idea. As I'm sure we'll all agree talented youngsters need a foot up sometimes and anything that can help promote or encourage personal development is a good thing. However, giving someone who essentially doesn't know what they're doing absolute responsibility is fool hardy to say the least.

Another quick question (actually it's the same one but it is genuine): where is the money coming from that will turn this into a proper business that rewards the input of your design partner? I think someone entering into this as an equal partner would be interested in the answer to that one as a priority.

Originally Posted by Dave L

Another quick question (actually it's the same one but it is genuine): where is the money coming from that will turn this into a proper business that rewards the input of your design partner? I think someone entering into this as an equal partner would be interested in the answer to that one as a priority.

Hi Dave,
As I've said
before, funding will initially be coming from sponsors and turnover will be generated (like all magazines) through advertisement and paid editorial. I am also running a number of events and festivals and again, sponsorship will be involved. I hope this makes things clear.

For those of you that are genuinely interested in getting involved in this venture, I am happy to go into further details. I am and have been receiving mentorship from the best in the industry in including past editors of the Times, Telegraph and many high end media groups that produce the countries top glossy mags. I am not going in with my eyes shut but as you can appreciate (for those sceptics out there) I am not prepaid to openly discuss my business ides to anyone and everyone. I am looking to build a team and a close team at that to build something great. Those involved will be told the ins and outs.
Thanks.

Thanks for taking the time to reply, Emily. I know we're only really scratching the surface here in terms of detail but it all sounds to me like an altruistic enterprise which, although laudible, is something I'd imagine is going to be difficult to shift into the 'lucrative' territory you're targetting.

I wish you luck and hope you can build something useful and meaningful but I struggle to foresee a going-rate financial pay-off for your design partner any time soon; you'll hopefully get a decent response from start-up designers who are interested in the experience (and this looks to be the key platform of your pitch) but the carrot of future riches sounds - on the available evidence - speculative at best.