SWOT and PEST analysis

After the last task where we completed a Sot analysis of ourselves today we looked at Mcdonalds. I found it a lot easier to complete this analysis and be objective as the subject wasn't me and I have no personal investment in the company. I want to have a look at the official SWOT analysis that was carried out on Mcdonalds in 2013. We completed a SWOT analysis with 3 points for each of the criteria.

mcdonalds is a worldwide established brand with branding that is instantly recognisable to a huge percentage of the world population. Most people know that Mcdonalds is unhealthy and quite possibly unethical in their practcices but choose to ignore these factors and still eat at their restaurants. There have been a number of documentaries and studies about the food at Mcdonalds that could easily have destroyed smaller companies. Mcdonalds has tried in recent years to make their food more healthy or at least appear as though it is. i think there has been a swing in trend towards healthy food in the last couple of years as there has been with exercise and Mcdonalds could do more to try and match this trend through their products. Mcdonalds has stores all over the world which provides income and promotes their brand, however a big change in political or economic structures could turn this expansion into a problem for them. This leads me on to the PEST analysis.

PEST analysis looks at current events and uses them to plan for the future. PEST stands for political, economic, technological and social. Political changes can have huge implications for business. We are currently in the middle of a huge change in government regulations with the recent Brexit vote. Trade negotiations could have a huge impact on businesses that import and export goods. I work for a small shop that mainly sells imported goods, so far we have had 3 price rises before and after the vote due to economic uncertainty. The PEST analysis is more complex than the SWOT analysis because the 4 criteria overlap a lot more. Political changes can have an impact on the economy, social factors and to a possibly lesser extent technology.
Social changes can have a huge impact on a business  and it is important to understand not only the society we exist in but also how we are viewed by it to make the most of our position within it. We have to take account a huge number of aspects such as population size, religion, age ranges, lifestyle trends and consumer needs.
For many companies and practitioners it is important to keep up with technology. I work quite a lot digitally and have to keep up with the latest software and have to have equipment that can operate it. For practitioners that use more expensive equipment making the wrong choice could have huge implications. A company will have to try and  forecast the lifecycle of a technology to know whether it will be profitable in the long run.

SWOT

SWOT analysis of myself

Strengths

• I have broad range of skills including digital illustration, spray paint murals and logo design.
• I am technically proficient using digital media commonly used in the industry such as Adobe illustrator and Photoshop.
• I think my main strength is finding new ways to interpret subject matter, approaching ideas from a different perspective.

Weaknesses

• Lack of experience using traditional media such as painting and printing.
• Lack of confidence.
• I am not confident in my ability to step back and critically evaluate my work effectively, once I get wrapped up in a piece I find it hard to view it from an outside perspective to see if I have communicated the subject matter clearly/intriguingly.
• Managing to maintain the movement from my original sketches through to my finished pieces.
• Creating tone in my images that is appropriate for set briefs.

Opportunities

• Collaborating with children's book authors.
• Widening my range of skills designing clothing and other merchandise to go alongside my illustrations.
• Trying to get work experience with publishers or illustrators.
• Enter competitions and take part in live events such as thought bubble to raise awareness of my work.
• Approach creative professionals for feedback and advice.

Threats

• Not being able to break into a competitive market competing with established illustrators.
• Not having the confidence to pitch ideas successfully.
• Struggling to communicate/collaborate successfully with other industry professionals and clients.
• Not being able to tailor my work to fit a clients needs.
• failing to be responsive to ever changing trends and processes.
• Not adapting to cultural differences and expectations is a global market.
• taking professional criticism personally.

Creative Industries

I want to review my practice to see where it fits within the creative industries:

Publishing and Book Design

I think this is the sector of the industry that that I am most suited to at this time and the one I am most interested in. I would like to write and illustrate children's books. I am currently working on competition briefs based in publishing and want to develop my knowledge of it. I have been working on simplifying my work, concentrating on narrative and communication which I think make my work more suited to this sector of the industry.

Editorial & Reportage

As I said in the previous section I have been concentrating on communication and narrative which I think would make my work suitable for this sector. I need to further refine my work as I still struggle to find ways to communicate information in a single image without it becoming overcomplicated. I think finding interesting and intriguing ways to present information and engage with the viewer is very important.

Character & Narrative

Character and narrative are extremely important to my practice. I have spent quite a few years drawing characters with little to no thought about the emotion they are conveying or the narrative they are part of. for the last year and a half I have been learning to use characters to tell a story. I have struggled at times trying to match characters and my style of illustration with subject matter. I think its important that the illustration is appropriate to the subject matter and helps communicate the tone and emotion of the piece.

Product & Packaging

I think it is important to have a good understanding of this sector as it is a part of lots of different avenues I want to explore. if I illustrate books it is possible I will also be working on products and packaging to go with them. Packaging is not something I have worked on before and I would like to learn how create interesting packaging that is clear and easy to understand while also being appealing. I have made small clothing runs in the past designing screen printed items, printed fabrics, labels and some basic packaging and advertising. My experience is very limited but I did gain some understanding of how to create images for advertising purposes and some of the processes involved in producing clothing.