blaNGk

 In my last AP for this class I mentioned that there had been no commentary on what exactly social entrepreneurs do or what one is. Since then we have managed to define one and declare ourselves such in a hypothetical setting that could very well become realistic. A social entrepreneur is a person that is able to identify a pressing issue and provide a service or product to sate the matter. Most students have decided on non profit organizations as it is much easier to provide solutions as one. However, I wanted to take a slightly greedier approach in trying to turn a profit in my merrymaking. I want to solve the artists dilemma, the problem that holds back many artist from being a creator full time. There are plenty of artists out there with the talent, skill, and diligence to succeed. However these efforts are wasted with few opportunities to display them. I want to create a centralized platform, similar to "LinkedIn", to link with artists and/or clients for commissions, jobs, or help/ advission. I want artists to have an easier time advocating for themselves and a place to display their work to those that would admire it. Having such a platform also makes it easier for consumers to find the right artist for a job. 

Originally I had planned to be a co-op advertising company but as I fleshed out my ideas and talked to a few artist co-workers and friends of mine, I settled on this. It would be hard to be a total co-op as it is an online app/ website more than a storefront business. I also found it funny to have started as the advertising company to being a place mainly funded by advertisement/ monetization. 

"blaNGk social media post" CDH, 2022

If you haven't realized the reason I titled this blog post "blaNGk" its because it is the name of my platform. It is the pronunciation for the word "Blank" on google and I decided on this because as artists we all start with nothing but an idea; "there is no paint on the canvas". As time goes on the canvas will fill and the logo will evolve. 

"blaNGk logo" CDH, 2022

On the issue of launching and maintaining such a program it would take an initial investment to get off the ground. Enough to get the hardware, server space, and software operational as well as enough to pay operators wages for maintaining functionality. Once it has been put together and has been launched with any success, money would come from ad revenue and a small percent from commissions made online.

Speaking solely about customer/ user interaction, the program looks like a quick search where sliders you can find types of artists, location, price range, styles, scale, and number of people with those qualities. For users who plan on being producers, a second set of information will be needed for qualification and then each account page will have a default look but will be changeable to have a separate look from everyone else; account customization. When launched art types will be restricted to visual art but in the future I would hope to expand in to other styles like culinary, dance, music, and acting, to list a few.  

You may be thinking, how I can tell that THIS is what should happen solve the problem. Truth is I cant say with 100% certainty it is the magic bullet but I know it will help individuals deal with the lack of projects to start or be involved in. To double down on this statement we will be collecting data on the numbers of commissions and job opportunities made available; as well as the ones confirmed between artist and client. "One mutual agreement on the completion of a project = one more stream of income for a creator."  

"Before and after blangk" CDH, 2022

Wanting to know if I am making up an issue to solve, I went to ask several artists in different positions what their thoughts are on my proposition. I asked a high school student who does commissions and creates personally (NL), a college student who doesn't personally sell art but knows about doing so(AL), and I asked a worker who makes and sells art as a side hustle(D). They are all independent artists and their opinions painted similar pictures. When I explained my class and my current project for a business proposition, I explained my idea was to help new and veteran artists get them selves out there while still being able to reach out to other artists I then asked for their thoughts on any changes or if it was a valid program to have at all as they were my target audience. They liked the idea of coming in to the space at any skill or experience level to leave with new clientele. Actually the idea for culinary arts to be added eventually was a suggestion from (D). 

To sign off I would like to leave you with my vision and mission statements:

Mission:

Working simplify the connection between artist and client.

Vision:

The lack of need for any single online program or source to advocate ones self as an artist as well as the finding of those with any needed artistic talent. 

Thank you for reading, I hope you have had a good day, night, or any time you are reading this. 

-CDH

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