Put B.O.U.N.C.E into your branding Steps! FREE Tips for Business Start-ups!

Well, it's been nearly a month since my last post!  Whoops, I really must get back on track with my weekly blogging.  So I have just been away for a week to Cornwall,  I LOVE being by the sea, it feels like home to me.  Not only was it a holiday, it was also a chance to me to re-boot and reflect on everything I am pursuing in my life.  While I was away I read a book that was given to me by a friend, customer and business buddy Paul Warner from When I Was A Kid.  I would highly reccommend 'Delivering Happiness' by Tony Hsieh (CEO of Zappos).  It was a real eye-opener for me and has given me the push I have needed to really focus on the 'why' of my 2 businesses.  I was starting to lack confidence with pursuing certain gut feelings I have about my long term goals for both, but this book has really helped me to see things with more clarity.

There are alot of exciting things coming up for Deer oh deer, including a 3 Friday run at Old Spitalfields Market, commencing on May 18th.  Lottey and I are working on some new designs and busy prepping for our 'live sales' action!  Back stage we are getting to grips with all the important things involved in running a successful business like Sales, Marketing, PR and Operations.  Alot to think about and work on, but we have a great team and some very good business advisors on board, so I am confident we will make some huge steps in 2012!

This last month I have been trying to work more on how I present my graphic design business Jelli.  In particular I want to focus more on making my social media presence more effective and useful for my customers.  I have updated the site and done some work on the Facebook page, as well as introduce some cool freebies specifially for Facebook.  I am very lucky to have a talented husband who is a photographer, so I have been creating some 'inspirarional' Timeline Cover images for anyone to download and use for FREE!

I am going to attempt to post some useful guides and tips at least once a month via my blog that directly relate to the Jelli side of my life.  So I thought I would kick off with some tips about Branding for businesses.  I am not an 'expert', but I do know that the experience I have gained through my Jelli work over the last 4 years has taught me some valuable lessons, so I want to share those with you :)

Check back for my next installment... in the meantime here are my

6 KEY TIPS FOR BUILDING YOUR BRAND!

Bold.Open.Useful.New.Consistent.Expandable

Bold

Think BIG when you are building your brand.  Even if you have a product or service that needs more subtle, gentle imagery; keep things as simple and striking as possible.  A strong colour identity and confident fonts and shapes will immediately give your brand edge and instil trust in your customers/clients.

Open

Be open and honest about what your product is.  The clearer the message your branding gives, the more likely you are to gain customers/clients, because they will know exactly what you are offering.  Think about your message and visualise it as an image. For example; if you sell insurance, how do you want to make your customers feel and what picture does that conjure up in your mind?  Perhaps, the feeling of security and therefore a smiling face.  This can really help to identify the overall ‘look’ of your branding and give your customers instant access to what you are all about.

Useful

This may seem rather obvious, but it can often be overlooked!  Think about your target audience; if you gear your branding towards them you will have ‘useful’ branding!  If the majority of your customers are young people, think about what they would like to see.  There is no point having a beautiful logo designed, if it is simply not going to appeal to the people you want to engage!

New

Whatever you do, DON’T copy someone else!  It is inevitable that someone else somewhere on the globe may have a similar idea to you, but try to keep yours as fresh and unique as possible.  Think outside the box; don’t be afraid to challenge the ‘norm’.  For example, if other businesses in your field commonly use very ‘corporate’ branding, why not make a change and give yourself a real chance to stand out from the rest!

Consistent

This is probably one of the most important aspects of creating and maintaining a strong brand.  Your logo and colour scheme is essentially the face of your business and you want people to remember and recognise it.  So, once you have created yours, USE IT!  Adopt your ‘colour’ across all your marketing materials, even perhaps in your office or shop décor.  Make sure all your staff have your ‘font’ available to use for headers on documents and use it for signage where possible.  Your branding should tell a story and become synonymous with everything you do, so don’t let that slip once you have established it! 

Expandable

This one is another important consideration that is often overlooked.  When you are brainstorming your brands purpose, think about any services or products you may want to introduce in the future.  If you currently sell apples, but may want to sell another type of fruit next year, you may want to think twice about having an apple as your logo!  (Pretty sure that one is taken anyway!)  Think on a broader scale, perhaps a fruit basket would be better!  You never know how your business will expand, so the wider the capacity you give your branding at the off-set, the better!

HAPPY BOUNCING!

Hyper Hyper!

So still recovering after an amazing but tiring weekend at Earls Court for Hyper Japan!  We met some lovely new people and sold alot of pieces, so it was a fantastic and well needed experience.  This one is best described in pictures!

 

Stitchin & Bitchin :)

Snow aint gonna stop us!

This weekend was amazing!  Lottey and I ventured over to Holloway to spend day 2 days with the gorgeous and talented Andy Piccos of the Stitchin Business.  We had loads of fun with fabric and trimmings and made up some of the first pieces for the upcoming Carnivale Collection, and the launch items for our new 'doe so lovely' line; both of which which will be available exclusively at Hyper Japan later this month!  

The whole Carnivale theme is really coming together and we feel confident that this is will be our best seasonal collection to date!  We LOVED last seasons Heritage Collection, so that will be hard to beat, but we think we've done it!  Expect semi-precious stones and brushed brass jewellery,  Lamé-esque fabrics, animal prints and tassles!  Lux meets mystic in a passionate love affair!

Check out a couple of 'behind the scenes at the studio' pics and some sneaky peeks from the new collections.  Be sure we will be revealing more very soon!

SIDENOTE:  If you haven't already, watch the TV series Carnivale.. incredibly shot and amazing scenery and costumes.. Lottey introduced me to it this weekend... inspired!

Turning Japanese!

I am so excited to announce that deer oh deer will be taking part in the spectacular that is Hyper Japan 2012 at Earls Court from 24th - 26th February!  We will be selling a range of pieces from our current collections as well as debuting our brand hew line 'doe so lovely', which we are sure will be a hit with anyone who loves Japanese 'Lolita' style.  We will also be premiering some items from the up-coming Spring/Summer collection, so make sure you grab your tickets now before they sell out!

Last year was incredible and we had the opportunity to sell some one off pieces at the 'Lolita' bring and buy stand, which went down a treat.  This year with our own stand, we hope to impress the crowds with our British twist on Japanese Kawaii and get ourselves firmly seated in the ever growing Japanese UK Sub-culture.

Japanese street style and Kawaii has always inspired deer oh deer designs, so the opportunity to be part of such an amazing event, which celebrates Japanese culture in all its diversity, has definately landed a top spot in our journey so far!

Keep your eyes peeled on our Facebook page and Twitter for all the latest updates about the event and let us know if you are coming, so we can say hello!

Spring is in the air... well almost!

My first few weeks of 2012 have been very productive!  I have managed to set up a work timetable... whether I stick to it is a whole other story, but the intention is there and so far, so good!  I have a lot of personal and work goals this year, so I have started as I mean to go on as they say.

Lottey and I have started work on designing the Spring/Summer collection for deerohdeer and we are VERY excited to say the least!  You may have seen the 'teaser' we have put out to give you a hint of what's in store, if not here it is again! >>>>>

So, as you may have probably guessed, the 'theme' is going to be all around the 'carnivale/circus' motif, but of course with that deerohdeer twist!  We have been building our mood board, sketching ideas and 'window shopping' for beads and fabrics to give us the inspiration we need.  I thought I'd share a few little titbits with you on here, so you can feel part of the process :)

We have both got a huge love of all things wierd and wonderful and adore the imagery of the vintage 'freak shows' and circus tableau; so much to inspire us in our quest to better the last collection and bring you something fresh.  We have pretty much decided on the colour palette we will be working with and it's LUSH!  We are working muted pastels this season with some punchy accents and rather than the colour blocking of last summer's 'Vivid' collection, we are going for a mix and match look; combining different fabric patterns and uniting a variety of different materials in the jewellery... So expect the unexpected!  I don't want to give too much away yet, but here are a few images we have on our mood board.  Would LOVE to hear your thoughts, so do leave me a comment in the box below!

A Bargain... not always a good deal

Like most girls, I love a bargain, but it is becoming increasingly apparent to me that a bargain is not always a good deal.  There is a definite culture of ‘more is more’ these days, where we are encouraged by rigorous and sometimes aggressive advertising, to believe that we NEED certain things in our lives.  I have been guilty of falling for this, in particular when it comes to shoes, bags, and clothes.  I have often ended up spending way more on lots of ‘bargains’ that I wear only once or never at all, than if I had bought a couple of items for the same money that I actually loved and wore.

What I have learned, especially over the last 2 years, with the birth and growth of my boutique brand deerohdeer, is that it is actually much more satisfying to value quality over quantity.

I am not talking about spending hundreds of pounds on top designer fashion, as for most of us that is simply not feasible.  What I mean is that it ‘feels’ so much better to think about what you really want and be willing to save and spend a little more or look beyond the high-street for your clothes and accessories, so that they last and are loved.  We all remember that brooch or necklace that Granny always wore, or that tailored suit Gramps always wore for Sunday best.  Those are items that were not purchased ‘on a whim’ or because they were ‘a bargain’; they were saved for, loved and looked good for a lifetime.  That generation might not have been rich in monetary terms, but the money they did have was spent wisely and with thought.

We are privileged in this generation in this country, to have not lived through a war, where rationing and saving are essential.  However, we are living in a difficult financial climate, so perhaps we should adopt some of the basic principles that our parents and grandparents grew up with and learn to value what we buy, so that we have something to hand down to our children that has been loved and treasured.  They in turn, might also learn to adopt the same values.

We also have a responsibility to encourage and support the immense talent and hard work of Britain’s manufacturers and hand-makers, so that trade in this country can continue.  There have been a number of ethical issues raised in the media about slave labour and how out-sourcing cheap manufacture from abroad, without properly researching how workers are treated and paid, can have a negative impact on our own economy and simply line the pockets of ‘big wigs’ rather than those who actually make the product.  For this very reason, it is a fundamental philosophy of my brand, deerohdeer, to work with other British companies to produce the pieces we don’t make ourselves.  If we were to source abroad, it would be done ethically and with thorough research.  I know a very good British African designer who does just this and in fact supports charity there, check out her beautiful work, http://kenemasays.blogspot.com/

Finally, I would like to highlight one of the key reasons why adopting this old-fashioned standard could increase confidence in young people, rather than squeezing out every ounce of ‘self’ by following the ‘masses’ with ‘fast fashion’ buying.  There is increased pressure on young people to meet the common ‘success paradigm’; with celebrity role models seen ‘splashing their cash’ in order to be popular and more beautiful.  This is, as we know, very dangerous and has seen a huge rise in personal debt in Britain, with store cards and credit cards being the biggest bugbears.  There will always be pressure to conform, but if enough people can openly celebrate individuality, show confidence in expressing their own style and really think about how and where they spend their money, perhaps we will begin to witness retaliation against this destructive culture.

I leave you with a quote from the wonderful Vivienne Westwood, who has proved success can come from NOT following the masses; “What I’m really saying is, buy less and choose well… concentrate on quality clothing and accessories that are worth having.”