#featheredfolk

You can now find my store at FeatheredFolkCo on Etsy, and my TikTok and Instagram pages @/featheredfolkco.

As you know, I've been working on setting up a small etsy shop where I can sell cards featuring my own illustrations of Australian native birds. As per my last post, I've actually finished setting up the shop, and have begun to work on some social media marketing. Though I'll be taking a break, this project has been quite the personal learning experience. This project has shown me just how much work is actually involved in setting up even a very small online store like this.

Before making my last update, I had been experimenting with prototypes for the cards. by getting samples printed at Officeworks.

Above is an image of my two samples. Both are printed on 200 gsm paper, with the left being on off-white with a glossy coat, and the right on uncoated plain white paper. I ultimately wasn't happy with either print. I liked the look of the illustration on the left print, with the gloss coat and off-white tone, but the coating also made it so that the inside was difficult to write in. Ink didn't dry properly, and it was difficult to use pencil. I felt that this really just defeated the purpose of a greeting card. The right hand card didn't have this problem, but it was also too flimsy.

I decided eventually to print at 300 gsm, with uncoated white paper, even though the cost of printing was slightly higher. I also reformatted the information on the back, as I felt there was something off about the design.

In the end, this is what I ended up with:

Below is my initial etsy store listing, with the description, which I made at the end of last week after I received my final prints. There were some additional, unexpected costs, such as a $20 store fee and a 30 cent listing fee that I had to pay, on top of the cost of printing the cards. It also took a little while to find the time to process the identity checks when updating the shop.

I had only uploaded images of the digital designs, and eventually felt that this was an inadequate representation of the product, especially for a public-facing post. I later took the product photos that can be seen previously, and added them to the listing, including an image of the cards in their packaging.

I also went on to create some social media marketing for the listing.

Though I had plans to create and upload a number of TikToks and instagram reels, the prospects of creating multiple short-form videos, in addition to the work of designing and prototyping the cards, became a little strenuous. I had a lot of time constraints between juggling work and three other uni assignments - two of which were due on the same date as this one will be. I was also limited in what I could do, by the wait times for all of the print orders. Though I will consider this short-form video content, and will hold onto the TikTok account, I decided to try to work with what I had just for this assignment. I created two slideshow posts for instagram using the product photos I had taken. One announced the release of the cards on etsy, and the other listed the designs featured in the pack. I also added the posts to my instagram story.

Additionally, I made an announcement on this tumblr account here, making use of more widely-seen hashtags that would allow me to not only organise my post in my blog archive, but also let the post be seen more widely. I tried to do that on this post as well. I also uploaded a notice on the BCM discord to reach a more local audience.

Though I didn't make any sales in this time span, I did manage to get some engagement with my store in the form of shop visits and views. I believe most of these came from word of mouth. I also gained two 'admirers' in the short time I had the shop up and running, who are people on etsy that follow my shop for updates.

I've finally set up my shop! You can find my cards available for purchase here, @/featheredfolkco!

The cards feature four unique illustrations of Australian Native birds, including the Laughing Kookaburra, Willie Wagtail, Red-Browed Finch, and Cockatiel.

The cards are also Christmas themed, and available just in time for the holidays, making them perfect to send to friends and family overseas.

There are two of each design in a pack, totalling a pack of eight cards and envelopes. One pack is $15 AUD excluding shipping costs.

Just another update on my FeatheredFolk store project!

Scope

At the start of the week I gave an update on discord which expressed a desire to shift my focus that I outlined in the pitch away from creating cards for a variety of holidays to creating cards that could be used for any occasion. However, I have since shifted this again to sit in a comfortable middle ground. For the project I will create a ten pack of Christmas cards, with 5 different designs, in preparation for the approaching Christmas season. This allows me to do slightly more creative things with posing of the bird characters, as well as hopefully being able to appeal to a more specific target demographic. It also sets up the possibility for more occasion-themed packs of cards, such as those for birthdays, valentines day, or anniversaries, without creating too great of a workload for the project specifically.

An Idea for Facts

When creating the below sketch, I expressed a brief concern to some classmates about how I was unsure which species of bird I wanted to portray in the image. One classmate suggested a local finch they’d seen in the area, which I was also familiar with. When I looked up the species, the thought occurred to me that some customers might not recognise all of the species of birds portrayed on the cards, depending on how well-known they are. As a result, I thought it might be interesting if on the back of the cards, I were to put the name of the species and a small fact about them. This would make the cards have a kind of semi-educational purpose beyond supposed visual appeal. This is something I might consider including going forward.

The design in question and the suggested bird - Red-browed finch:

Prototype designs

I decided to scrap two of the prototype designs that I used in the pitch, as I felt that visually they would be inconsistent with the slight diversion that I’ve made in the illustrations. This came about since my last post when I created the profile picture I would use for my social media accounts. 

The beak was specifically where this variance became clear. In one of my original designs, I drew a rainbow lorikeet, and in my profile picture I drew a galah. Both the galah and lorikeet have beaks that are distinctive to them, but are quite similar to each other in shape. In my lorikeet design, I stuck with a simplistic triangle, whereas the galah had a more purposeful beak shape that appeared to portray more dimension. This aspect of dimension was something I liked about my initial kookaburra design as well. 

I decided that the lorikeet didn’t look as much like the species of bird as I would’ve liked, resulting from the design choices I made at the time. For this reason, I scrapped it, alongside the cockatoo/magpie design which I felt didn’t have enough ‘personality.’ I may revisit it and try to push the poses to fix this, but for now I won’t go ahead with it.

I decided to create a couple more sketches of potential card designs in response. Some of these have issues, but these are kinks I can still sort out.

In order: Willie wagtail, Superb fairy-wren, Cockatiel, Kookaburra

I also turned canvas time-lapse recording on for this particular document, so that I can capture some footage that I might be able to use soon for some process videos that I can use for marketing purposes.

I also purchased a couple of materials for packaging.

Just an update on what I've been considering for my Feathered Folk online store that I pitched a couple weeks ago!

Social Media Setup

One of the first things I did after pitching my project was to secure usernames for the different accounts I’d be using for the project. This included an Instagram and TikTok page, and an Etsy storefront, all under the matching name of FeatheredFolkCo.

Though I have the social media accounts secure and public, the Etsy storefront still hasn’t gone up fully. Etsy requires me to sort out a few odds and ends before they will allow me to make it public, such as at least one listing, and an identity check which I still need to complete. I plan to make the Etsy store available once I have actually made a final product, as I will want to be able to deliver on the advertised product as soon as I am able.

In the meantime, I have made a profile icon and a sample banner for the storefront. The icon is intended to be representative of the visual style of the products I wish to sell.

Cost Breakdown

Another thing I have considered since the pitch has been the potential cost breakdown. I plan to hand make the cards to minimise the costs of needing to bulk-buy cards which have been manufactured by an external party. My aim is to make a profit on the cost of a single card, even if it is only a small one. My biggest costs associated will be on the material that the cards are printed on.

One option I have considered is buying cardstock and printing them myself. The main issue with this option is that my home printer does not support paper thicker than the gsm of standard printer paper. This means that I would need to find an alternative location to have the cards printed. The uni might be a possibility, however I would need to confirm that the printers support the thickness I would require, and it may incur a printing cost. Regardless, if I were to choose this option, I would likely be purchasing cardstock to use from Kmart.

A 50 pack of 180 GSM, A4 cardstock from Kmart is $12. This comes out to approximately 25 cents a page. If I was to print two A6 cards on an A4 sheet of paper, this would come to about 13 cents worth of paper per card. This is a rather small cost.

Another option I have considered is printing them through Officeworks. If I was to go through this route, I would be able to choose from a greater selection of paper types, including gloss finishes and a higher GSM than what the Kmart option offers. I also have the ability to print them at an A5 size to start, meaning I would only need to score and fold each card, and they would have neat edges from the get go. The downside is the cost. Each card, at a baseline of 200 GSM uncoated A5 paper would cost 67 cents to print, which is about five times more expensive. I may try printing a sample in each of my possible options once I have a design available to do this with.

Another detail to consider when setting the prices is Etsy’s approximate 6.5% cut, as well as an attempt to keep costs down to appeal to customers. One of the details I mentioned in the pitch was the pricing of cards at stores like Woolworths and Coles, where prices for a single greeting card can range anywhere from $2 to $12 dollars. Due to the relatively low manufacturing costs of my items, I figured I could price the cards at $15 for a pack of ten. This would cost the consumer $1.50 per card.

After Etsy takes their cut, and the cost of the cards is considered (using the 67 cent Officeworks example), I would make a little under six dollars for a pack of cards.

Based on my experience in making cards as a part of gifts for friends and family, I've noticed an opportunity for myself to monetize an aspect of an existing hobby of mine. Therefore, my digital artefact will be an online etsy storefront which sells greeting cards centred around a consistent visual theme, utilising short-form video content as a means of advertising. The products will feature digital illustrations based on native Australian birds, including both regular and holiday-themed designs. The priority will be centred around delivering handmade packs of cards at an affordable price point, compared to the five to ten dollars one might spend on a single mass-produced greeting card from the supermarket.

Past examples and concepts:

Examples of social media content: