Artists Building their Business Skills

Toronto’s creative community is vast and growing at an exceptional rate. The city is home to numerous artistic institutions and galleries, including The AGO, The Design Exchange, and The MOCCA. With so much creative influence in the city, it is no surprise that there is an abundance of art driven students and professionals. While these individuals are extremely talented in their artistic work, they may not be well informed on how to turn their creative abilities into a business. If artists want to become entrepreneurs they do need to be prepare themselves and have some background on business. This is what the “Business Skills for Your Art Career” Seminar aims to achieve.

The “Business Skills for Your Art Career” is being held by The Artist Health Alliance, and taking place at OCAD University. It is a weekend long event, starting at Friday June 12, from 6pm to 9 pm, and continuing on Saturday and Sunday from 9:00am to 4:00pm. Jack Cunningham, who has an array of experience in not only the art world but also the business world as well, is running the weekend long seminar. Jack has an impressive track record, being a Toronto based entrepreneur, workshop facilitator, curriculum designer, Collage Artist, to name a few occupations. He has also taught at a number of different schools, including Humber College and George Brown College. It is safe to say that with this experience and expertise, the attendees will be in good hands.

What Attendees Should Expect

The seminar has a number of different topics that are up for discussion. The first day will focus on Business Planning, the second on research and development, marketing, and social media, while the third day will focus on finance management and operations. Our junior graphic designer and OCAD Alumni, Lulu El-Atab, is excited to attend this seminar. “I am looking forward to learning more and expanding my skill set. MAKO has allowed me to explore the business side of things, and I want to continue to do so with this seminar. I think it is important for everyone, no matter what profession, to have an understanding of the business management.”

MAKO Design + Invent loves that there are events like this happening in our vibrant city of Toronto. We value and support the creative community and thank the Artist Health Alliance for fostering growth and innovation for individuals!

About: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Also, our founder Kevin Mako hosts The Product Startup Podcast, the industry's leading hardware podcast. Check it out for tips, interviews, and best practices for hardware startups, inventors, and product developers. Click HERE to learn more about MAKO Design + Invent!