Digital Derry SeedComp 2011 Submission Kilderrypress.com

1. [Type text]
Kilderrypress.com
Prepared by Andrew Hepburn
andrew.hepburn@nwrc.ac.uk

2. Please describe your business idea (300 words max):
Kilderrypress.com Fine Art Press
is an e-commerce venture designed to promote and capitalise on the fine art publishing
sector based in Derry and the Northwest region of Ireland.
The idea for the company is born out of the existing Derry Print Workshop.Ltd (DPW) formed
in 2000. DPW is a recognised non-profit organisation founded with the aim of providing
facilities for artists to make handmade limited edition original fine art prints; intaglio, etching
and relief woodblock and also to promote print making as an art form in this region of Ireland.
DPW have recently been successful in the City of Culture Capital fund bid investment for a
full blown gyclee fine art digital print system and expansion of the existing workshop to
accommodate a high demand from local artists. There is a definite opportunity in establishing
an e-business in promoting, growing and selling fine art prints of local graphic artists and the
artists associated with the Derry City and Northwest region of Ireland in general.
Kilderrypress.com will act very much as a ‘brand’ indicating quality fine art print artwork, fine
art consultancy and as a promotional device to educate and encourage the development and
sales of the graphic visual arts in this region of Ireland and beyond.
Kilderrypress.com will be a totally private venture distinct from the DPW enabling it to fully
capitalise on other graphic fine art products to include works from quality galleries,
established artists such as Chris Wilson and Michael McGuiness and other printmakers who
have no connection to the DPW.
Existing strong links with the Gordon galleries and Studio 6ix in the centre of Derry City will
provide a further product stream of high quality artwork products that will be marketed, sold
and distributed through the site.
The Kilderrypress.com brand is drawn from an area known as Kilderry bordering Culmore in
Co Derry and Inishowen Co Donegal. The location is known as one of the very first areas of
human settlement in Ireland and definitely of Derry City. The marriage of one of the first
printing techniques, intaglio etching, used by artists such as Rembrandt and Picasso, digital
gyclee fine art printing and e-commerce provides a fitting product range for the brand.
How big is the market you hope to address? (100 words):
The local Market to include Derry City and NW of Ireland provides successful revenue
streams during key periods of Christmas and the tourism sector during the spring, summer
and halloween periods for the craft sectors; using the city craft fair as an example.
There is a definite ‘market’ for locally produced ‘products’ with intrinsic value and potential
investment potential. Kilderry.com will act as brand and an e-commerce outlet that will be
marketed during these events and become 24/7 accessible store for these clients.
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3. The potential market, though niche, is one focusing on a quality product and certainly has the
ability to reach an international market and distribution network through kilderry.com and in
establishing commercial relationships with galleries in Europe and North America. The
business will certainly benefit from the forthcoming exposure during the UK City of Culture
event in 2013.
Please describe your plans for developing this concept commercially and include a rough timescale for this
process (200 words):
Kilderry.com will become a recognised brand for quality fine art products synonymous with
this region of Ireland throughout the island of Ireland and UK through the network of local
collectors and their connections abroad. A time frame of 3 months will be required to
establish a fully functional e-commerce site with a suitable range of graphic fine art products.
The development of a quality brand and product is critical in promoting the business to private
and commercial clients. A key aspect in developing the business is to target business and
public sector building directors, managers and architectural practices. There are tax
incentives within the UK and ROI in providing fine art within buildings. This will be initiated
when the existing site is in operation.
Commercial targets will include hotels, restaurants and event venues such as theatres and
night clubs. Public sector targets will include hospitals, education centres and government
buildings.
Kilderry.com will initially seek local fine art print work from emerging and established artists.
In terms of scaling the business there is potential in establishing further categories of graphic
fine art products to include international contributions and to undertake bespoke large scale
installations for existing or new architectural projects. Once the infrastructure is established it
is possible further brands could be established to capitalise on different markets such as
cultural events and fine art photographic exhibitions and sales.
The viability of expanding into further markets will be assessed based on commercial success
of the initial Kilderry.com and further investment sought if required.
Who’s involved in your team and why do you think they’re the right people (or person) to take this idea
forward? (300 words):
Andrew Hepburn is the principal and sought the following experienced people make up the
design and development team; highly skilled in their field and committed to making the project
work.
Andrew Hepburn, Director
A graduate of DunLaoghaire College of Art and Design, Andrew continued to complete a
Master's Degree at the University of Ulster in 1996 in Multimedia. In over twenty years of
commercial design, research and education experience he has worked as a designer for
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4. GEC, Ericsson and the Interactive Systems Centre; University of Ulster and as Director of
TVL Design Solutions Ltd. Project roles included senior designer on multimedia educational
products and Marketing for Deutsche Telecom, Telecom Portugal, BT and Telecom Eireann.
Other clients have the Cultural Traditions Group of the Community Relations Council
Northern Ireland, LMI Ericsson Ireland, The Abbey Theatre, BESOM Productions and many
smaller organisations and businesses.
Andrew completed a CEAD (Continuing Education in Art and Design) at the NCAD (National
College of Art and Design) in Intaglio printmaking in 1994 and co-founded the DPW IN 2000.
He is currently a lecturer in Design at the North West Regional College and Chairman of the
DPW.
John McDaid, Designer, Web Technical Consultant
John has over 12 years experience in design with a focus on strong layout and clear
typography, as well as hand coded CSS driven websites with an emphasis on visual appeal,
ease of navigation and usability, and standards based accessibility. John has worked as
creative director and developer on a range of projects including:
Verbal Magazine – Design and production of the literary magazine, with a circulation of over
100,000 across Ireland. Gilbert Ash – Two corporate websites for the award winning
construction company. Skillnets – Website and intranet design for the training network, who
have over 40,000 users. Northern Ireland Medical Committee – Branding, marketing material,
corporate website and intranet design. Heritage Lottery Fund – Video presentation design,
Heritage Matters 2010 creative direction and site design
Mike McCool – Networking / IT Consultant
Mike holds an honours degree in Computer Science and an MSc in Computing and Design.
Upon obtaining his first degree, Mike was employed as Research Assistant on the Ulysses
Project from 1990-93 University of Ulster. He was then employed by the Faculty of
Engineering as a Computer Officer and subsequently seconded to the Interactive Systems
Centre from 1993-97 as Research Officer on the TALENT Project. He was later seconded to
INCORE/ARK until 2007 when was offered the permanent post of ICT Manager. He has had
several publications over the years and his current roles include System Administration,
Database Administration, Web site design/development, Graphic/Multimedia design and
systems programming and general troubleshooting.
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5. Who will your customers be and why will this idea appeal to them? (200 words):
Present stakeholders and artists within the DPW. They will be satisfied with a dedicated and
proactive organisation marketing and selling their products
Private clients will have 24/7 access to a range quality fine art products. The brand is focused
on delivering a range of products that will enhance the living environment with quality artwork
and also provide clients with the opportunity to invest in Fine Art in the long term.
Professional artists not in the DPW will benefit commercially and be satisfied with a dedicated
site marketing their work. The company is profit driven though commission rates will be much
less for commercial artist than conventional gallery. The promotion of fine art as an
‘obtainable’ will encourage more people to buy and invest in prints.
Tourism sector will benefit from the cultural dividend from promotion of Derry as centre for
visual arts.
Corporate and public sector clients will have 24/7 access to the site and will be able to
customise searches for their requirements and avail of a bespoke fine art consultancy service
when required. There will be flexibility in commercial relationship allowing for the lease of
particular artworks over pre-determined time frames.
What are the main challenges you think you will need to overcome in making this idea a success? (200 words):
Initial product sourcing and curated artworks quality control. Establishing a range and variety
of prints without compromising on quality and maintaining brand integrity. Product storage
requirements and insurance implications. Establishing contractual relationships with potential
artists and equitable commission rates.
The initial distribution and packaging requirements and packaging implications. This will be an
initial challenge that will be quickly resolved.
Marketing the site and brand in order to establishing a client base with a focus on corporate
clients and serious investors.
Marketing and establishing a client base within the public sector to include hospitals,
retirement homes, and public sector buildings.
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6. There are no challenges that cannot be resolved and the design and development team are
highly capable and will deliver a scalable site according to schedule.
What is the competition like? What other similar products or services are there in the marketplace? (200 words)
The only comparable printmaking facilities are available in Belfast (Belfast Print
Workshop) and Bangor (Seacourt Print Workshop). Considering the success of
Belfast and Seacourt Print Workshops in the east of the province and the
catchment area in the northwest the success and sustainability of
Kilderrypress.com is very realistic.
The success of the Glasgow Print Workshop has had a considerable impact in
establishing this city as one of the leading visual arts centres in the world. This
success certainly indicates the positive long term potential DPW and
Kilderrypress.com could achieve. http://www.gpsart.co.uk
CEL in Scotland is a collaborative initiative between Dundee Contemporary Arts, Edinburgh
Printmakers, Glasgow Print Studio and Peacock Visual Arts, Aberdeen. A key driving factor is
promoting the sales of Scottish Print and the collaboration has been highly successful in
events such as the London art fair http://www.londonartfair.co.uk
The competition to the DPW could contribute to the success of Kilderrypress.com as it will be
able to market, sell and distribute work from all the workshops based in Ireland.
There are many businesses in the marketplace printing and distributing artwork such as
http://www.redbubble.com/. The key emphasis is on volume rather than the niche mid and
high level premium collectors market. Many galleries in Ireland have websites and
ecommerce facilities but are again limited to the artists they represent and charge high
commission rates.
The only other private fine art press that has a similar profile to Kilderrypress.com is
Stoneyroadpress in Dublin. The product range is limited, very specific and certainly leaves
plenty of room in the market for emerging and mid-range artists working in the medium of
print. http://stoneyroadpress.com/index.php
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7. How much do you think it will cost to bring this idea to market and how would you hope to fund this? (100
words):
The domain kilderrypress.com is now registered with http://www.123-reg.co.uk/
This hosting company provides ecommerce facilities from £8.99 to £39.99 per month. The
overheads for the maintaining the site once built should be very reasonable.
The key development costs will be in time, establishing relationships and researching
potential products and in marketing and targeting the site toward appropriate potential clients.
The cost implications in designing and building the ecommerce site will be scalable and it is
possible to establish an initial site within a two to three thousand pounds budget.
The success of site may encourage the purchase of a content management system but
commercially available eshops such as provided by 123-reg will certainly suffice in the
meantime.
How do you think your idea will change the world (or at least your part of it?) (300 words)
Kilderrypress.com will make a positive impact for local graphic arts community providing an
accessible ecommerce site to sell their work. The artists themselves will become
ambassadors for the site promoting it to friends, colleagues and potential clients.
The company will help raise profile of graphic art printmaking as an artform in this region of
Ireland and raise the profile of the visual arts in Derry City abroad.
The global access afforded by the site will encourage links with commercial arts organistions
across Europe the US and elsewhere in the world. This can only benefit the region, the artists
and ultimately the economy of the region.
There is a desire in people to own something different, have something that they can connect
with on a spiritual or intimate way. Mass produced prints don’t satisfy the human spirit in the
way handmade pieces of artwork do. The products will have a real impact in visual culture
and ultimately the well-being of the client.
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8. A key factor in establishing Kilderrypress.com is to improve economic well-being of local
artists and ultimately, as the business expands and develops in the different areas outlined in
the previous section; enhance economic activity and development in the Northwest Region of
Ireland with Derry City at its heart.
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