May Makers Month round-up

Wow, what a month hey!  We have had so much fun sharing some really fun stuff with you this month, from tutorials to advice, we have certainly had it all hey!  We thought for those who might be catching up this bank holiday Monday, a round up post would be just what you need to make sure you don't miss a thing!

Makers Month: Branding Q&A with HAM

Way back at the beginning of our Makers Month we had a brand Q&A with Kim from Finest Imaginery and now we thought we should share another great perspective on branding with Jo from HAM.  So let's hear what insights she can give us to making your brand work for you.

Hello Jo, Could you tell our readers a little about yourself and your business?

Hi! I am the illustrator behind HAM and spend my time capturing moments from the contented life of Rabbit on a range of ceramics, wall art and paper goods. We sell direct online at hammade.com and through our family of stockists around the world.

Where/when did you decide that you wanted your own business?

I started working on HAM in 2010 after making the tough decision to leave the job I loved at the brand consultancy Wolff Olins. A lot of factors got me to this point: I’d always been hungry to start a business having grown up surrounded by people doing their own thing - both my parents and brother run companies. I’d also studied fine art at university and although I was working at a creative agency, I was a strategist and longed to be physically designing and making. The final push was getting ill in my mid 20s, which came a bit out the blue, and stopped me in my tracks for a year. I had to take some time off and whilst I was away I started filling up my sketchbook again and the HAM idea was born. Returning to work was definitely the best thing for me but my outlook on life had changed and I was now very much focused on living for the moment, so I took the plunge, left work and launched HAM in 2011.

Who do you design for?

HAM has quite a broad reach. I always hope to create things that all ages can enjoy. And I try and keep the themes and humour universal so language or culture isn’t a barrier.

Do you think you need a brand identity?

Absolutely! Brand is often mistaken as just a logo or the look of a business but it can do so much more. Think of your brand as an idea, something that defines what makes you special, then use it as a guiding principle or a blueprint for all that you do. Staying true to what you stand for will help keep your offer authentic and consistent and it’s a really powerful tool for helping make decisions about opportunities that come your way.

Does using social media help to build your customers?

Social media has revolutionized the way we do business, cutting out the middleman and enabling us to have a

direct conversation with a ton of potential customers all over the world. It’s a big part of our marketing strategy and best of all it’s free! It is evolving so quickly it’s tricky to keep up. We have a presence on Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook and Instagram (my fave) and I’m keen to get to grips with the next wave of apps… Snapchat is next on my list!

Top tips to building your brand.

- Really think about what you stand for as a designer, the idea driving your work and how that makes you different.

- Use brand as brief for all areas of your business: from the development of collections and deciding which events to show at, to planning collaborations and figuring out your tone of voice.

- Get family and friends involved. There are always ups and downs so share concerns with those around you and gauge feedback wherever possible.

- With time and experience your brand will naturally evolve so don’t be worried if the offer or brand idea changes and needs a refresh.

- Invest time in thinking about your customer experience. Use your brand to help make packaging, web content, newsletters and social media really unique.

- Keep striving to think how can I make this better? And don’t forget to celebrate the good times!

Time to share the love, name some of your favourite designers.

There is a gang of us that all started around the same time – we see each other regularly at trade shows and we’ve become pals, something that’s important when you work in such an insular way. It’s been amazing to watch their collections flourish and their following grow. Aside from loving and respecting what they do they are all ace people.  Highly recommend checking out…

Tom Pigeon, Tori Murphy, Lisa King London, Chase and Wonder, Not Another Bill, Kangan Arora, Lindsey Lang, Wrap Magazine and Richard Brendon.

Thanks so much Jo for having a chat with us about her brand and that super cute rabbit!  Some great new people to stalk (We mean check out) on social media too!

Hope you have found it useful and it may have given you some inspiration into making your brand work for you more!

H & Sammy, xxx

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Simple Styling: Dining Room with Parrot Uncle

This month's Simple Styling post is Sponsored by Parrot Uncle, who are a lighting company based in the US, but they ship to the UK, so it's all ok people, we are not sending you somewhere you can't get something for yourself.

They asked us to take a look at some of their products and see what we thought.  As you already know by now, H is organising her place, so some new Interior ideas can never go unnoticed.

As you may already know by now Sammy and I met at Art College and we were part of a course which had Interior Design as a big part of it and so laying out ideas and planning what we could do, was the really fun part of it.

So, I thought a little room set-up would be good for this post, as my dining area is also my desk and so you have seen my set-up.  But if I had an area to myself, then this is what I would do with it.

The Geometric shaped Light is from the Parrot Uncle selection of discount wooden light fixtures and there are so many fun designs to choose from, I went with this Converse Diamond Design, as I think it goes with my favourite style of Interiors.  It's Modern but has that Retro edge to it.  I also really love the industrial look and so the Cement Shades are great too.

As for all the rest of the room: Print from HAM, Dining Table and Chair from Made.com, Crockery from Anthropologie.  Also did you know you can get anything matched by the guys at Valspar for your paint colour at B&Q, this is my new favourite thing to play with!

Which light would you pick from Parrot Uncle?

H, xxx

Please note: This post was sponsored by Parrot Uncle, but they did not ask us to review any particular product.  We have not bought anything from this company and so are unable to give any recommendations.



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Makers Month: Tea and Biscuits

We all know by now that we love a bit of Tea and biscuits over here at Live it. Love it. Make it HQ.  Not excluding cake and generally all kind of lovely treats of course!

So what better way to celebrate Makers month for another post, than with our kind of tea and biscuits!

First up we have a very lovely pig on a mug, from HAM, H got to hear about this company at the last Crafty Fox Talk and has been obsessing over the British company ever since!  They also make stationary and so you can get the cute little pigs or rabbits there too, aren't they cute?  They make every mug in one of the last remaining potteries in Stoke on Trent and so are truly British.

With your mug of tea, you want to settle down in a cosy sofa surely and so these amazing cushions from Nikki McWilliams are a must.  We have been loving these cute biscuit cushions since we first saw them on Instagram.  You can choose between custard creams, fondant fancies and of course these Tunnocks teacakes which are just basically brilliant!  Perfect for tucking your feet under, leaning back and having a brew.  Which one would be your favourite?

Then, of course for the real tea lovers, there is the staple of a teapot and these designs from Hannah Turner are just so cute.  It might also help that she has some amazing owl designs, but that just happens to be coincidental, honest!  So this Owl teapot is a must for me, but you can also find Peacock, Birdlife or Hedgerow designs too.

Last, but not least is the tea itself.  I have tried some pretty brilliant tea in my life, but always come back to a usual brew and these ones from Teapigs have so many flavours to choose from.  I do love the everyday brew, but the green teas and peppermint teas are pretty good too.  You can pick up a good variety too, so that you can pick and mix your own favourite flavours.  Which ones would you choose?

So there are my slightly different choices for a tea and biscuits afternoon, what do you think?  What would be your favourite flavours and treats to have?

Let us know in the comments below and we can get some serious food envy!

H

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