EQ 7--Review this semester. What activities have you enjoyed and why? Why activities have you not enjoyed and why? Upload your favorite piece of work so far and explain why it is your favorite.

This semester, I have enjoyed coming up with different ideas for the company logo. I thoroughly enjoy art and found that this assignment came naturally to me. More-so than this, however, I enjoyed making the holiday/ abstract cards. In real life, I can have a picture in my head of what I want to create, however, sometimes my hands can't create exactly what I want. Now that I know how to use Photoshop and Illustrator, I can create whatever my mind comes up with and thats a good feeling. So far, I have not enjoyed doing the business plan at all. I don't like being expected to work on something that I haven't been taught how to do because I like to understand everything I do, and do it to the best of my ability. With the business plan, however, I feel as if I cannot work to my full potential, it isn't an area I am confident in or have been trained in.

This was my favorite thing that I created in this class. The abstract card was another favorite, but I am proud of this one and it turned out exactly how I envisioned it. It took more work than I thought it would but it was definitely worth it.

EQ 6--Upload your favorite logo. Explain how you made it. Explain why it is your favorite

                    
This would be my favorite logo, it is the first variation of the original like it. First I found the original font and created the same "K&M" with the same texture/ color. Then I created a new layer and found a different font for the summer shop, but a font that still flowed with the K&M but was more simple. Next i went to free transform and resized, tilted, and shifted it until it fit perfectly and still flowed readability-wise. I then created another layer for the "EST. 2014" and yet again found another font so it would stand out as well. I made it black because that isn't something that i wanted to pop out at the eye but it still makes it more complex. I tilted and resized it with free transform. Finally, i went to illustrator and selected the hat symbol and copied and pasted that back onto photoshop. I used free transform to resize and told it till it fit the "K" perfectly. Then i used the paint bucket to recolor it and edited to give it life and texture.

EQ 5-- What are the eight parts of the business plan you were assigned? Is that different then you thought? What are the issues you have had so far writing your plan? What has been easy?

The eight parts of the business plan are; Executive summary, Company description, Market analysis, Organization and management, Service or product line, Marketing and sales, Funding request, and Financial projections. It wasn't too different than what i thought, however, the details that had to go into it were crazy. I was assigned to the financial portion of it and if I actually had my own business i would cry. There is so many things to think about and get approved. What was difficult for me is that our product wasn't something that needed to get approved and also we hadn't started our business yet so i found myself not being able to write a whole lot about what i was supposed to. I did't understand how to write about our history, budget, and how to make the charts simply because it isn't real. Also, I didn't know what half of the things were so i had to research a lot of things in order to write about it. What has been easy was simply coming up with how we were gonna sell it and in what manner. The name of our company came almost instantly and our product flowed right along with it. It was fun thinking about how to actually create a sellable product and how to go about it, just writing about it wasn't fun.

EQ 4--What do you think goes in a business plan? What are the parts? Is research involved? What facts do you need to know, if any? Where could you find this information?

I think there are many parts and details to coming up with a business plan. It requires a lot of time, research and energy. First you need to establish what it is exactly what you want to sell and your purpose behind it. In accordance to this, you need to find out who your audience is. You need to research and figure out what type of people you're trying to sell to and what their interests are. You need to decide whether your product needs to be the next new thing, or a way to make their life easier. Next you need to decide how to modernize it and make it look irresistible, something they've never seen before and something that no one else has. Before all of that however, you need to make up a budget for yourself/ your company. You need to figure out how much money you need to invest in order to make a profit. Investments would be hiring help, making business cards, buying the actual supplies, paying for any sort of advertisement, renting a space for your company in a good location and environment, and of course paying yourself. You can find almost anything on the internet these days, another option would be asking a parent, elder, or someone that owns his own business. Figuring out the colors to use for your logo is up to you, whatever fits your personality and reflects what kind of business you're running. It's not an easy task, but if you're willing to work, it's possible.