SERVICES

We provide a full spectrum of business services including strategy, consultancy, mentoring, automation, brand development and design.

We have produced solutions for fashion houses, film, galleries, tech and sports giants through to tv channels and national museums.

Experience

Over the last 25 years, the founders of Institute, have worked on thousands of projects that includes work for the following brands:

Adidas, Barclays, BBC, Bench, The Body Shop, Boots, The British Museum, The Carphone Warehouse, Cartoon Network, Cath Kidston, Clarins, Conde Naste, Daks, The Design Museum, Diesel, Disney Stores, EMI, Esquire Sport Magazine, Exposure, Fate Face, Fred Perry, Givenchy, Gieves & Hawkes, Godiva, Habitat, Halifax, Haribo, Harrods, House of Fraser, Hedkayse, HMV, The Independent, Kookai, Levis, Marks & Spencer, MGA, National Gallery,  Procter and Gamble, Royal Court Theatre, Selfridges, Schuh, Sony, Superdry, TATE Enterprises, Ted Baker, Three Mobile, Tower Records, TKMaxx, UNIQLO, United International Pictures, Virgin, Vodaphone and Zoological Society of London.

We bring this experience of the design and delivery of a diversity of projects to Institute.

Business Development

We provide mentoring in business practice and development. We cover the progression of practice, the nuts and bolts of running a business through to brand strategy and development. We provide consultancy and think-tank style services for creative businesses, organisations and initiatives. We cover strategy, identity frameworks and business development. We are used to thinking outside the box and asking the right questions that result in the right frameworks for success. 

Consultancy

We provide mentoring in business practice and development. We cover the progression of practice, the nuts and bolts of running a business through to brand strategy and development. We provide consultancy and think-tank style services for creative businesses, organisations and initiatives. We cover strategy, identity frameworks and business development. We are used to thinking outside the box and asking the right questions that result in the right frameworks for success. We often work locally and provide additional support with our co-working studio facilities at Institute in Loughborough UK.

We tend to focus on SMEs, as they are the collective powerhouse of the UK Economy and often do not receive the support they require. An external support structure characterised by objective analysis and targeted support is often a key mechanism for the success for businesses of all shapes and sizes.  

Our business consultancy is run by Steve Barradell. Steve is an approved business mentor for Enterprise Nation on the Help to Grow initiative. 

Enterprise Nation exists to shortcut the route to trusted business support. Founded by Emma Jones CBE in 2005, Enterprise Nation has grown to a community of over 120,000 people. They support people to start and grow their own successful businesses and represent their views to the government and media: www.enterprisenation.com.

Steve is also a member of The Association of Business Mentors: www.associationofbusinessmentors.org and a Creative Business Mentor on the EMC2 Create Growth Programme: www.eastmidlandscreategrowth.co.uk

Our recent work includes the running of an incubator Course for Phoenix Arts (the REAL Initiative). We supported 25 Digital Artists and Documentary Film Makers in getting them business ready, providing them with strategic advice, support and mentoring and to create a platform for growth. We are about to start a short series of courses for East Midlands Creative Consortium: Conversations with a Machine

We have extensive experience in Branding , Business Planning , E-commerce, Communication, Freelancing, B2B Marketing, Data & Analysis, Problem solving, Strategy - both business and creative, Sales. 

The Benefits of Mentoring

Gaining new perspectives

Since mentors, by definition, have more experience than their mentees, they look at the world with a different perspective. As each decision is considered, the mentor will bring an informed opinion to bear as it is likely that they have seen the pros and cons of this situation before.

Improved leadership abilities

A mentor often performs many leadership duties, such as inspiring their mentees, providing guidance, and even solving taxing problems. They may also give constructive feedback to their mentees. Developing these skills will help you become a better leader in the future.

Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurs tend to like ‘going alone’.  Business owners will often state that If I had their time again, they would have worked with several mentors to learn valuable lessons from each. From not making certain business decisions to fostering certain partnerships, a mentor can help guide you through your entrepreneurial journey.

Networks and contacts

Your mentor has already acquired a variety of valuable contacts that could be out of reach to you. Your mentor can facilitate access and open doors, giving you the opportunity to develop your business and grow your network. Networking opportunities are often the key to business growth.

Confidence building

Confidence grows through the mentoring process. You will have a guide for the ups and downs of business and develop the ability to succeed.

The Benefits of Consultancy

You need an outside / objective opinion

Sometimes it’s difficult to solve your own problems because you’re just too involved. You might just be so close to the problem that you’re missing an obvious solution. When there are tough decisions to be made, sometimes it’s easier to leave it to an expert who isn’t personally involved or emotionally invested.

Business consultants are experts in their field. They’ve helped numerous other companies to work through similar issues and they know what’s worked in the past. This experience means that they can bring new and innovative ideas that you might not have thought of yourself.

When you hire a business consultant, you’ll get a new perspective on whatever problems you’re facing, from an outsider’s point of view.


You lack time or resources

No matter how important the problem is, sometimes you just don’t have the time to dedicate to solving it. You’ve still got your day-to-day business to focus on and finding the time to resolve your challenges just feels impossible.

You could hire a new employee to give you the time to focus on the issue at hand, but you know it’ll only be temporary and training a new employee can be time-consuming.

Hiring a business consultant is a great way to outsource your problems to a professional. They’re used to moving around different companies, which means they’ll get to know your business quickly with minimal training required. And most importantly – you can continue with your day-to-day operations so your business doesn’t suffer either.

You have a tactical project you are struggling to complete our to resource or expertise.

Design

We help creatives, brands and organisations to develop their ideas and to design solutions that communicate these ideas to their chosen audiences. 

We believe in the maxim, Form follows function. The solutions that we produce should look, feel and essentially, be, the answer to your problem. Each problem requires a unique solution that emerges out of the design process. By going through the discovery stage to define the core problems to solve, we are then free to develop a solution that solves these unique problems and is fit for your purpose. This is a formula for success. It encourages clarity in the way we think about the project objectives. That aids communication with each other. This clarity allows us to get from A to B in an understandable way but allows us the freedom to produce  dynamic solutions. 

Projects Portfolio

BEHIND THE SCENES Graffio Arts BEHIND THE SCENES Graffio Arts

Gallery Without Walls 02

The second Gallery Without Walls project took a look behind the graffiti scene with guest curators, Graffwerk.

Gallery Without Walls Project Two launched at the LCB Depot in Leicester on 28th September. Bigger and better than before. The collaboration with Graffwerk was a documentary style look behind the graffiti scene at the relationship between graffiti and public transportation.

Make it stand out

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

AN INTERVIEW WITH GRAFFWERK


Tell me about Graffwerk

Graffwerk is a team with the aim of supporting artists whilst developing the visual landscape of our home city of Leicester. We work on various projects. Working with clients and artists to create artworks is a big part of what we do.


GWW02 the exhibition was behind the scene with Graffwerk- a documentary spin on things- lots of photography- what's is like working with the guys?

It was a really cool project for us to work on. We felt the GWW team really cared about what they were doing. It was important to them that the artists had a sense of ownership on the project and that was key.

Make it stand out

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

What were the main goals for the exhibition?

We wanted to involve genuine grassroots graffiti writers. We’ve found that there are a lot of projects that claim ‘graffiti’ that have no authenticity. By giving writers the ability to submit anonymously we could support a great project with some great images.


Will Graffwerk stay local to Leicester or do you have plans to branch out?

Graffwerk has worked on a number of projects outside of Leicester and we expect to continue this. It’s great to develop relationships both in and outside of the city. This way we can always push forward.

Make it stand out

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.


How do you feel about the way the the government treats writers -The fortunate are increasingly earning commissions to help gentrify towns and city's whilst the unfortunate are imprisoned for criminal damage?

We find the whole situation riddled with hypocrisy. Writers are celebrated and demonised in equal measure. It’s great when a city recognises the value of supporting artworks and offers up their walls. But it’s important to understand that graffiti comes in many forms. The term literature covers a vast array of genres, standards and styles.  It’s the same with graffiti. To me there is a lot of value in a handstyle. There is a real skill there. And just because something isn’t your thing doesn’t mean it’s no good.

A graffiti writer will serve more time than a paedophile. A prime example was when Stuart Hall was convicted of the sexual assault of 13 girls. He was sentenced to just 15 months. On the same day the writer VAMP was sentenced to 3 years for vandalism. That is just disgusting.


Is there a question of legitimacy/recognition for some of the guys- some seemed really excited to be part of GWW - it was actually quite touching. 

A lot of the guys really enjoyed being part of it as they hadn’t exhibited in a formal exhibition before that. Others had but found this to be a bit more unique. I think a lot of the artists liked that the artwork was to be exhibited throughout the city.

Make it stand out

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

For people that are new to the graffiti scene & the festival, your mainstream agenda seems to be paying off? are you pleased with the way things are going? 

We are definitely pleased with how things are moving forward. We are confident we can push forward whilst staying true to ourselves and what we are about. We won’t compromise our values for the sake of a project.


What's next for Graffwerk?  

We’re working on a lot of projects. Bring The Paint 2019 is one of our priorities as is our new project: The Graffwerk Mill. We’ve recently signed the lease on a huge warehouse which we are converting into a multi-functioning arts centre. You can expect to see this open at the beginning of 2019. Besides that, more walls, more werks and more paint… 


The Graffwerk x GWW02 Series explores the transport heritage around graffiti. We created a series of art prints and made them available in an online shop.

Make it stand out

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Make it stand out

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Gallery Without Walls is a platform for the distribution of artworks across multiple traditional or untraditional spaces around Leicester. We curate exhibitions, collaborate on events and experiment with new ways of displaying art within the city. Our aim is to increase exposure to the arts for the benefit of creatives, venues and the wider community.

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BEHIND THE SCENES Graffio Arts BEHIND THE SCENES Graffio Arts

Alexander Jackson Collaboration

Alexander Jackson Interview talks to Graff.io Arts about his latest illustrated series, and what makes him tick.

Graffio Arts collaborated with Alexander to produce a series of art prints titled All Good Things, a selection of some of the most loved (or hated) characters from Game of Thrones. After the project launched, we sat him down for an interview.

GAME OF THRONES

All Good Things is a selection of some of the most loved (or hated) characters from Game of Thrones. Available exclusively on the Graffio Arts shop

You’re working in the Illustration field currently but originally studied art. I’d guess that there was a switch early on and the postgrad course helped you develop a way of working to respond to commercial briefs. Is that right or totally wrong? If that’s on the right track could you explain the change and how the courses helped you develop?

I started to become interested in illustration when I was still at school before going on to further education. I already knew that I wanted to pursue art and my background was more in fine art but I was looking for an outlet to use that in a more commercial context and illustration seemed like the most appealing way to go for me. However, back then I still didn’t feel like I’d really found my voice so I continued my further education in fine art, initially to broaden my skill set. I dabbled in sculpture, oil painting, textiles among other things before eventually going on to study illustration at Edinburgh College of Art. 


Your characters couldn’t work unless you get a recognisable likeness but that’s only a fraction of the story of a piece - it’s about drawing- the line, the composition and all the things that make a good drawing. How does that work out? Do you often have to alter a good drawing to get a likeness?

There’s probably more work that goes on behind the scenes that thankfully doesn’t get seen. Occasionally it’s comes together straight away but every now and again I have to doodle someone’s face over and over again until I feel that I’m getting the likeness. I have a few subjects that are yet to be finished because I don’t feel like I’m quite there yet. If it’s a commission though there’s normally a deadline on that and you occasionally have to make amendments to meet the clients expectations, but they normally have something very specific in mind so in those cases I’m interpreting their vision as well. 


How do you work? Is it all on a computer? Has that changed over time?

Most of the time my initial drawing work is done by hand and then scanned in. My colours are added digitally and a lot of the texture work (halftone effects, old paper, canvas etc) is created from a library hand-made textures that I’ve previously put together, which I digitally manipulate for the piece. I resisted digital stuff for a while because I like to get my hands dirty when I’m doing arty stuff and like keeping the human element in my work because I think that the way I draw is fairly expressive and is therefore the bread and butter of where most of the personality in my work comes from.That said I feel like way I’ve learnt to digitally process my images still allows me to keep that part of it still present. 


Could you tell us about the set up with your work in venues? It sounds interesting- is it something you’d recommend?

I’ve exhibited work in various retail functions over the last few years. Some of them have been at public events that ran for a few days and others have a more permanent set up. I’ve just begun to display a range of prints at Dock Street Studios in Dundee. I’ve been displaying artwork to buy at the Scottish Design Exchange in Edinburgh for 3 years now and also in their Glasgow store since it opened last year. The Scottish Design Exchange is good because 100% of the sale goes to the artist (The artist just pays a monthly fee to exhibit there) so It’s quite helpful in supporting local up and coming creatives.There’s all kinds of handmade treasures in there too, jewellery, paintings, clothing, furniture, cosmetic/grooming products, photography and loads more.The good thing about it for me is the public engagement and seeing which of my designs are the most popular. It took me a few months to get a good grasp on what kinds of things people really want to buy and then to tailor my own products around that. But I’m still learning now.


We are always looking for better ways to help the creatives we work with- is there any advice you’d give to us?

For me personally, social media has played a substantial role in helping my work find an audience, even commissioned projects. Firstly, it’s a helpful way of receiving feedback and engaging with an audience but also it has proved helpful in motivating me to keep creating new work for the sake of maintaining people’s interests.As well as that, I follow mostly other artists on there and their work constantly inspires me to keep working. It can take time gain momentum though, not just on social media but generally, but it’s best just to keep working at it. 


Who are you itching to draw next? Or any amazing commissions that you’d like to land?

I have a few portraits that I’m in the process of working on, although it’s still in the early stages and I usually like to surprise people with new work. I’d like to do more stuff that isn’t portrait work as well though, and I have a lot of fun doing music themed artwork, i.e., drawing people playing live music so working within the music industry could be fun. 


Do you associate with social commentary illustrators like Skarf or even back to Hogarth? Have you ever had to make a tough decision in the way that you portrayed a person?

To an extent. That inspiration for me comes just as much from film, literature or comedy as it does from visual art. I occasionally create artwork that comes from a place of cynicism if I have something in particular to rant about but I wouldn’t necessarily say that it’s central to the work that I do, I just enjoy it. 


Can you tell us about your music? Is there a link between the two?

There’s probably a loose link between the two. At the moment my main focus is a project which is relatively new but is more driven by synths, where as the previous bands I’ve played in were traditionally rock based. I’d describe it as punk rock songs played on analogue synthesizers, with occasional 80’s style shred guitar.As far as there being a connection between that and my visual art I’d say that there is an underlying nod to nostalgia and pop-culture running throughout and I think both appear to be avoiding to appear too polished and clean. I would also say that I’m a very visual thinker, so when it comes to writing music I have specific shapes and colours in mind and I envision people moving in a certain way. It’s sort of like how I would create an oil painting, by filling the canvas with rough shapes straight away and just gradually adding layers until the important details pop through. But the composition and the overall mood and tone seems to manifest itself first. 


Were you influenced by album covers? Any key influences?

Album covers were an early influence. I remember going to local art exhibition themed on artwork in heavy metal when I was 12. I was a total metal head as a kid so it was definitely my thing. They had a lot of original paintings there that were used in classic metal album covers as well as stage props, famous guitars and costumes for arena shows. It was mostly just imagery of skulls, flames and motorbikes, which is pretty much the only thing you want to draw when you’re 12. As for influences in my current work, a few album covers spring to mind. I like the drawing on the cover for Beastie Boys’ To The 5 Boroughs, Baroness seem to always have lovely looking artwork on their album covers, Seals and Crofts – Summer Breeze, Melvins – Stag, Tool’s 10 000 days album has some really interesting accompanying artwork, Mastodon – Leviathan, the Dub Trio album Another Sound is Dying is a nice vibrant one. 

For me personally, social media has played a substantial role in helping my work find an audience, even commissioned projects.
— Alexander Jackson

Where do you want to get to on the future with your work?

I’d like to do more editorial illustration. I think mainly because it’s regular periodical work with the same client and you get to build up a relationship with them, plus it can be exciting anticipating what the next project with them will be. I’ve also written a couple of children’s books that I need to find the right publisher for although I originally put out a children’s book a few years ago and in my personal experience it’s a competitive market that’s tricky to break and can also be quite time consuming so lately it’s been a little bit less of a priority for me. I’ll hopefully get back to it soon enough though. 


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