Top Tips Learnt at Liberty
On Saturday 30th August, Graphic Designer Jinny travelled to London to meet Buyers of Liberty at the British Design Open Call. It was a chance to pitch her products and her business, Jin Designs, in front of an expert panel of judges and a hope of a place on the renowned shelves of this world famous department store.
Jinny arrived at 6:30am which was an ideal time. The rain had stopped and the queue was minimal. There were only 25 people ahead and with doors set to open at 9am, it was only a 2.5 hour wait.
As time went on the queue grew and grew. In the end there were over 900 hopefuls from all over the country and a camera crew filming the event for Channel 4. It was obvious there would be a few disappointed people that day but hopes were high and people were remaining positive.
The back doors were opened at 8:30am and the queue weaved its way up to the top floor of the building. It was a great opportunity to meet other designers and share experiences and also a chance to admire the fine architecture of the Liberty building.
By 9:10am it was all over. The 3 minute pitch was literally 3 minutes. It was a fruitful conversation with one of the buyers from the Kitchen and Dining Department, but with 900 other designers to see, and only a handful chosen, it was disappointment for Jin Designs this time. However, it was a great experience and Jinny left with increased confidence after she received positive feedback, praise for the designs and a few top tips.
Jinny commented after the event "It wasn't my day today. But I'm not disheartened. I've learnt a lot from this experience and all is not lost."
She went on to say "The preparations that went into preparing my pitch and the experience on the day will be invaluable for the future. Being invited to Liberty to pitch to their buyers is an achievement in itself. So it's onwards and upwards. Learn from it and move on."