Lesson 1: Define Your Project
Introduction
Welcome to Course 001
This course is a four part programme designed to help bring your ideas to life. Using simple and effective techniques, our introductory course will help you define and structure your project, identify suitable partners, and create a project plan and budget. Whether you’re an individual or a small organisation, this course will help you learn from our tried and tested approaches to creating successful projects of all sizes.
Before you begin, download your Working Document
Lesson 1: Define Your Project
In Lesson 1, you'll start to think about how to define your idea and turn it into a project.
To do this, you must first outline 5 key points:
What
Why
Who
Where
When
To get started, read this short guide by Sabrina Mahfouz Applying for Arts Funding.
Once done, watch the video below by Rachel Dobbs to get a good overview of starting a project.
This video is designed for people applying for arts funding in the UK, however, even if you are not considering this (or didn't live in the UK), it's still a useful introduction to project planning.
Some of the topics mentioned here will be covered in our modules too.
Module 1: What
Let’s start simple.
What discipline will your project focus on?
Is it your own practice? Or are you perhaps working with a group?
Will your project focus on a specific discipline, such as photography, or will it include a combination of lots of different disciplines?
Here, it is important to outline exactly what you are hoping to do.
Example
Let's say you're a performance artist and you're bringing together a performance that includes yourself and your peers. Here, your discipline will focus on performance art.
Lingo
Discipline: A discipline is a branch of knowledge, typically one studied in higher education.
Your Turn
Q1. What is your discipline?
(answer on your downloaded Working Document)
Module 1: What (cont.)
You’ve established your discipline, great! Now what are you going to do with it?
Do you want to exhibit an artwork / others' in an exhibition? Or install a sculpture in a public space?
Will it be a showcase? Or interactive with the public, such as a workshop or talk? Or, is it to develop your own practice without a final "product"?
These are all important to think about as you define your project.
Example
Continuing with the idea of a performance artist putting together a performance, now's the time to think about how to deliver the project.
You could think about having a traditional performance in a local theatre, or filming it to deliver the performance as an online screening - or both!
The main thing is to have a clear idea of what you are going to do with your project as you define your idea.
Your Turn
Q2. What is your project type?
(answer on your downloaded Working Document)
Module 2: Why
One of the most important aspects of project planning is to outline the need for your project. This will be crucial if you decide to secure partners or funding which we'll discuss later in a later course.
Think about questions like:
Why me? Why now? Why this discipline? Why this type of project?
If you’re an individual, think about why you want to do your project now. If you are creating a project to develop your practice, why is it important for your career at this time?
If you’re a practitioner or small organisation, think about your project in its wider context - why is it important? What will happen if it doesn’t take place? What impact will it have if it does? How will you engage the public?
At this point, it's a good idea to do some research and gather some facts, stats, and context for your idea.
Example
Back to the performance artist example.
Let's say you now want to develop your performance around the concept of mental health issues during the Covid-19 lockdowns.
Here, you might start by looking into the impact of Covid-19 on mental health in the UK and pull some statistics that help you make your case. Such as, the fact that 2/3 of young people have described worsened mental health since the beginning of the pandemic.
In turn, you could find a few reliable sources that look into the benefits of performance art in starting conversations on mental health.
Finally, you might research other examples of other performances / arts projects that also tackle mental health.
In doing so, ask yourself; what did they do right? What could they have done better? How can I make my own project stand out against them?
Now, you've defined why you want to do your project and the impact you hope to have.
Your Turn
Take some time to think about the above.
Q3. Why me?
Q4. Why now?
Q5. Why this type of project?
(answer on your downloaded Working Document)
Module 3: Who
As important as underlining the purpose of your project, defining who your project is for is just as important. This is known as your target audience.
You could be creating a project to develop your own skills and therefore it is for your own career advancement. Or, you could be planning a workshop directed at getting young children engaged with the arts.
It could be anything.
What’s important is that you think about your project with a clear and honest idea about who it is for.
Lingo
Target Audience: A target audience refers to the group of people that are most likely to be interested in your project. Members of a target audience will often share common traits such as age, background, etc.
To figure out who your target audience, consider the following questions:
Who is my audience?
Sounds obvious, but who are the people you'd like to reach with your project.
Where are they?
Where are they based and how might you reach them.
What are their needs?
How might your project appeal to their needs, interests, and beliefs.
Example
Let's go back to our previous example of a performance artist wanting to develop a performance around mental health due to Covid-19 lockdowns.
In reference to the three questions above, ask yourself:
Who are they?
Given that research suggests Covid-19 lockdowns had a particularly detrimental effect on young people's mental health, you could consider focusing on young people between the ages of 14 - 25.
Where are they?
You might think about focusing on young people within your local community, city, or region. Or, you might want your project to reach all young people across the country.
What are their interests / needs?
Now that you know who and where they are, put yourself in a young person's shoes. Have conversations with young people and do a bit of research behind what specifically affected them during the pandemic and how this has impacted their mental health.
This will be important when developing the project and reaching your audience at a later stage.
Your Turn
Q6. Who is my audience?
Q7. Where are they?
Q8. What are their interests / needs?
(answer on your downloaded Working Document)
Module 4: Where
So, you've figured out your What, Why & Who - great! Now it's time to think about where your project is going to take place.
If the project aims to develop your practice, where do you develop your practice? At home? In the studio?
If it’s a project that takes place in a public space, which space?
Do you have one in mind already? If so, where?
Example
Continuing with our example of a performance artist wanting to develop a performance around mental health due to Covid-19 lockdowns.
Let's say you want to hold your performance in an intimate and accesible setting, so you might think about having it at your local community centre or theatre. However, you may also want it to reach a wider audience who can connect with the performance.
To do so, you could arrange for it to be livestreamed on your social media, or filmed and broadcast on your website.
Module 4: When
Finally, what is the duration of your project?
Is it a month? A year? Longer?
And, when is the best time to present your project? Consider the importance of seasons, public holidays, major events, weather, times of day, etc. and plan your project accordingly.
In Lesson 2 we will put together a timeline that will you help you think more about how to give yourself enough time to plan for a project.
For now, think about time, how long do you think you need to plan and execute your project?
When is the best time to present your project? Why?
Do you need to raise money? If so, how long will it take to apply for funding and receive answers?
If you want to do it in a venue - how long in advance will you need to secure the venue?
As you start to define your project, make sure you give yourself enough time to plan it well.
Your Turn
Take some time to think about the above.
Q9. Where will your project take place?
Q10. How long do you want your project to happen for?
Q11. When do you want your project to happen?
Q12. Write down the duration of your project and a few potential dates / date ranges.
(answer on your downloaded Working Document)
Congratulations!
You've now completed Lesson 1 and have defined 5 key aspects of your project:
What
Why
Who
Where
When