Branding has arrived!

There is nothing more satisfying than feeling like you are truly part of a business. You can therefore imagine the feeling of abandonment when attached to a company with no name, no branding and therefore no identity. I felt like I was hovering in Purgatory unsure what my fate would be!

The good news however is that I definitely feel like I successfully reached heaven!

My business cards arrived today, check them out...

Don't they look beautiful :-D . I can safely say that I was more excited than a little kid at christmas when the delivery man turned up at my house! I owe James Huyton drinks for at least the next three years for all the effort and time he has put in to my branding. What a legend!!

What's more.. today my brochure will be finished so now when I go to London Edge Trade Show this weekend I will be armed with all things Bridge & Stitch, ready to begin my serious few months of marketing campaigns! AND I designed my website this week and although it is experiencing a few technical difficulties, click here and check it out! Just cross your fingers and pray it works!!!

Now I have my business card, website and brochure I feel like this business is real, like truly real! And boy does it scare the s.h.i.t out of me!!!! I'm broke and some how I now need to make some money!! BRING IT ON!

BIG LOVE

cycles and spoons

Buttons and Shit

So, it turns out that choosing a name for your company isn't as straight forward as you might think!

6 months after first beginning to consider names and I have only just finally agreed on something...

When first thinking of a name I was fixed on MADE or MAKE... I then however was introduced to the world where everything is branded and almost every name you can think of has already been taken. Even more impossible than that is finding a web address that has not been taken, or more annoyingly has not been bought by a web hosting site who then tries to sell the web address back to you at 50 times the price it should be!

I then decided I wanted a really cool wacky name and looked at things like 'Spirit' and 'Teabag'. But again with out meaning to I'd come up with a name which everyone sniggered at like immature school boys, and after several day's of introducing the idea of Teabag to a few people, one such person finally had the decency to make me aware of the sexual act known as Teabagging! It was then my turn to giggle nervously and instantly turn bright red in embarrassment at the idea that I had even considered to call my business Teabag! My god.. I've just looked back at a list of name ideas and I've even written down 'teabag.me' !!! I now however feel like I have finally hit puberty after being given a lesson about the 'real' mysteries of sex.

After the whole Teabag incident the idea of using a jazzy name was suddenly very unappealing and I had managed to scare myself enough to start looking at names suggested by my father. The names he suggested he first put to me at the beginning of this process, however I wrote them all off as boring and reflective of my father's age! After coming close to confusing people that my business was in fact a porn site or something of a similar nature these 'boring' names suddenly became a lot more plausible.

After another month of searching and not really coming up with anything better (I even considered BAD MAN - for British Apparel Design and MANufacture) I finally crumbled and agreed to the unexciting but very practical name of Connect Apparel. This did however grow on me as it is a name that says exactly what's on the tin!

Surprise, surprise though, nothing is ever simple and through all the stress and tears both my dad and I had to face the horrible fact that Connect Apparel was never going to work. Frustratingly there is no business called Connect Apparel however the websites have been taken and the first five pages of Google are taken up by a company called Connected Apparel, so realistically Connect Apparel was going to cause me more problems than it was worth.

At this point I felt like banging my head against a brick wall as I found myself in exactly the same situation as I was 6 months earlier with no idea for a name.

It is then that a good friend of mine came to the rescue and offered to help me out. James Huyton is a branding man who I have previously worked with and mentioned in an earlier blog. I owe James a lot of favours as he has spent several weeks now branding my business. Also, exactly a week ago James very patiently sat down with me for the whole day and we made it our mission to decide on a name for the business...

Map-parel
Interparel
Manuparel
Jungener (latin for 'to join')
Refacture
Fused Apparel
Compass Creative
Compass Connect
Apparel Connection
Together Apparel
Reel Connections
Reel Apparel
Reel Solutions
Reel Designs
Reel Sourcing
Reel Mapping
Bridging Reels
Bridge Connections
Bridge Apparel
Reel Development
Sew Reel
Sourcing Reel
Bridge Solutions
Draw Connections
Draw Apparel
Reel Pick Apparel
Reel Network
Drawbridge Apparel
Pick Solutions
Four Quarters
The Network
The Reel Network
The Reel Map
Mapping Connections
Sourcing Reel Network
Reel Apparel Network
Apparel Fusion
Connect Apparel Network (CAN)
Connect Apparel Manufacturing (CAM)
Mapped Apparel
Mapping Apparel

We then started looking at rock climbing and the support systems that are in place to help climbers:

Belay Apparel
Palomar
Bowline
Hitch
Prusik
Carabiner

We drifted off from this...

Needle in a Haystack
Bundle

Time for a break and a game of shithead. I promise you this is a card game and not another sexual act... I hope not anyway! It was now 4pm and my boyfriends suggestion of 'Button's and Shit' was suddenly becoming very appealing! Unbeknown to him though this did change our thought pattern to looking at using two words with an 'and'.

Stitch and Loop
Connect and Network
Stitch and Bundle
Bundle and Compass
Bundle and Jump
Bridge and Compass
Stitch and Bridge

We'd now had enough, James and I were both going insane from thinking all day long so we put to the public vote (facebook) our favourite suggestions and waited for the response. The choices were:

Stitch and Bundle
Stitch and Bridge
Connect Apparel Network
Connect Apparel Manufacture

By the morning Stitch and Bridge was in the lead, just, and James gave me the deadline of that evening to finally decide on a name. We ended up discussing it throughout the day and although we liked Stitch and Bridge we then found out that years ago old grannies used to get together to knit and gossip. This got nicknamed 'Stitch and Bitch' - obviously we don't want any confusion about the name so by the end of the evening the decision had been made.

May I introduce to you my business:

Hold tight for all of James' branding and soon, very soon I will have a finished logo and fully branded and fully functioning business!! It is very exciting and I can not thank James enough for all his help!!

BIG LOVE
cycles and spoons

Banter at Bantum

Photoshoot on our roof top in the snow

Working with Simeon Hartwig at Bantum Clothing can be described as nothing more than an 'experience'. A stressful, infuriating and challenging experience!! But one that I would not change for the world and something which becomes strangely addictive that I find myself going back to for more and more.

For a little bit of background info... Bantum Clothing was set up by the one and only rude boy Simeon Hartwig who hit celebrity status when appearing on that cookery programme 'Come Dine With Me'. This is well worth a watch as you can have a good laugh at comments such as 'scallops... isn't that chicken?' and pointing at a picture of Queen Victoria, Simeon cluelessly asks the other contestant if it is a picture of his gran! We can however forgive the boy due to his dashing good looks and charming personality...

Yes this is my 'boss' - I know it is hard to believe..

Anyway... back to the background info... so Simeon set up Bantum a good 5 years ago.. possibly even 6 (he's getting on a bit now) and he did this through The Hive at Nottingham Trent University. The Hive is a hub for entrepreneurship that helps support people in setting up their own businesses. It is in fact the exact same course which I am currently doing in order to set up my business. Now Simeon is... well... he's not the biggest guy you've ever met. So with that in mind he set out to produce a line of clothing for the smaller guys of this world. However Bantum now caters for all shapes and sizes. It is a street-wear company producing brightly coloured and fun casualwear. Check out the website and click on 'Bantum What?!' to get a true understanding of the brand as I feel I can't do it the justice it deserves.

I've worked for Simeon for around 2 years now under the flattering title of 'Bantum Sewing Girl'. The reality is though that Bantum would not be as successful as it is if it wasn't for me.... naaaatttt :) I know though that Simeon has a lot of love for me, he just hides it all inside. I actually first started working for Simeon after a friend recommended me to him. This friend goes by the name of James Huyton. He in fact is another product of The Hive and works freelance as an Illustrator / Artist / Designer - a jack of all trades really. Jim is extremely talented, he's definitely someone to look up to, I love seeing his work and I always feel wowed (and slightly envious) by his sheer talent and drawing ability. So if you need any branding / illustration etc, he's your man! Check out his website for some examples of his work. He also got short listed for the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the Midlands Business Awards, so James Huyton is a name to watch out for as I believe he has a very promising future ahead of him!

Jimmy at work

So back to Bantum... we make clothes, go to trade shows and events, make videos and have a hell of a lot of fun whilst doing it. Simeon is a brilliant bloke, I've loved working for him, Bantum is a perfect reflection of his personality - fun, creative, mad, out-going, bouncy and playful and I wish him all the success for the future :)

Simeon thinking he's 'ard with a teddy down his trousers sporting a Big Pocket Jumper.
All big pockets are made by myself.

All jumpers worn are designed by Simeon and made by me
You can't see them properly but this is purposeful as they haven't gone in to production yet and we don't want you stealing our ideas!!

To see a video from this photoshoot click here.

Pattern Cutting in the studio

Another photoshoot of most recent collection

 To see a video of this photoshoot click here. All photoshoots are done by friends of Bantum - Sam Kirby and Anthony Hopwood. Both are brilliant photographers so make sure you check out their websites!

Bantum is all about Trade Shows and Events
Here I am at Pure Spirit Trade Show helping to sell Bantum!

Click here for the video of Pure Spirit Trade Show and the out takes of the trip are here.

If you have a spare few minutes make sure you take the time out to watch all the video's linked in - they are a good laugh and show the personality of the Bantum brand.

Check out my advent calendar jumper I made for a Christmas Social courtesy of Bantum!
In the month of December this jumper does not leave my body!

BIG LOVE

cycles and spoons