CNL x JDR BRANDING.
As an artist, developing a strong personal brand can help you stand out from the crowd, attract new fans, and establish a lasting connection with your audience so you’re remembered. A well-defined brand can help you communicate your unique style, values, and creative vision to the world. All of this is very true and worth paying attention to, but, a bit heavy, right? When does a brand really become a brand? When it’s got ‘merch’ that’s when! So, I teamed up with JDR Branding and we made some merch!
JDR BRANDING.
Well, that’s not strictly true! JDR Branding and I actually made some prototype merch for Creative Nowhere Land. Why? I hear you ask. Well, a couple of years ago, I met the head honchos of JDR Branding, Dawn and Julie while networking. We instantly got on, and they opened my eyes to all of the possibilities available when it comes to merchandise. Its brilliance as a marketing tool, and the role it can play for any business or brand, including artists!
Dawn and Julie loved what I’m doing with Creative Nowhere Land, and they suggested creating some prototype design t-shirts so that I’ve got something I can wear, day to day. Something to help promote what I’m doing with CNL and establish it as a brand. The project also gave Dawn and Julie a chance to show me more of what JDR was capable of. Allowing me to work directly with them and see the process in action, firsthand.
THE PROCESS.
After sending Dawn over the Creative Nowhere Land logos, a prototype design was finalised and then transferred over to the screen printers ready to be printed. This was screen printing on another level. A huge factory that was full of machines that look like robotic spiders. All busy spinning, dropping, and rising in sync with one another. But, more important than the spiders, a fantastic team! All helping to bring the t-shirt designs to life. Check out the gallery of images below to see more.
It wasn’t long before the t-shirts were back from the factory. JDR Branding then perfectly pressed and packaged the prototype t-shirts ready to be shipped out to me. After a swift and excited unboxing, the t-shirts have now become part of my day-to-day wardrobe, as you can see from the video. And, it's at this point that I'd like to say a huge thank you to my friend, and long-time collaborator, Paul Stringer, for helping me out with the filming of the video. He didn't have a lot to work with I'm afraid, with me in front of the camera this time haha.
WHY USE JDR BRANDING?
The whole process has been incredible. I’m extremely grateful to JDR Branding for suggesting the collaboration and allowing me to capture it from start to finish. And I’ll be honest! Having now worked with Dawn and Julie, I’ve realised that t-shirts are just the very tip, of a very large iceberg. Their knowledge and the lists of the things that they can brand are seemingly endless. They have so many incredible and ingenious ways of promoting and branding that I can’t wait to expand on our prototype t-shirts into well… Who knows what next? As I said the list is endless.
More importantly than JDR Branding being great at what they do, they’re also fantastic people! And, they want to help! It’s all about you, your brand, and your business and the most effective ways of promoting it. They’re a UK-based, family-run company, not some faceless ‘megacorp’ churning out endless drop-shipped orders that you may have very little control over.
Dawn and Julie took the time and listened patiently when we met, as I explained Creative Nowhere Land, and what I was trying to do moving forward. They both instantly saw the potential for CNL to be much more than even I'd realised. They then proceeded to outline all of the interesting possible options that are available. Ideas that I’d never even considered in terms of CNL as a brand. Dawn and Julie believed in CNL and opened my eyes to its potential moving forward. And that’s exciting! I've got no doubt that they can do the same for you. If you’re interested in promoting your brand, large or small, then you should definitely consider getting in touch with them.
WHY MAKE ‘MERCH’ at all?
Honestly? Because as creatives, we’re always told that we have to consider ourselves as a brand. Remember the opening paragraph of this blog? Stand out from the crowd, attract new fans, etc. Well, it's all true and stuff to take seriously moving forward. And I’m really serious about Creative Nowhere Land! It's something I'd love to expand to be more than just a personal project or a story of just my journey, and transform it more into a brand and possibly a collective of creators.
So, when the opportunity arose, through meeting Dawn and Julie from JDR, I jumped at the chance to do something to elevate the CNL brand, however small it might be right now, and create some merchandise. Something I could wear that might help promote what I’m doing here in Creative Nowhere Land a little more, but also to have something that helps me to feel more connected with CNL. I know it might sound a bit strange, but it's sort of an artist's uniform and helps keep me inspired to take Creative Nowhere Land much further than even I'd thought.
FINAL THOUGHTS…
As I’ve already said, developing a strong personal brand as an artist is important for standing out from the crowd and connecting with your audience. Creating merchandise can be a great way to do it, in order to elevate your brand and promote it to the world. The collaboration between CNL and JDR Branding has been a great learning exercise, resulting in the creation of our first prototype t-shirts, which have not only helped promote the brand but also opened up new possibilities for future branding and promotion opportunities moving forward.
JDR Branding's expertise and passion for helping businesses and brands promote themselves in innovative ways make them a great choice for anyone looking to elevate their brand further. So make sure you get in touch with them and say hello if you have a project in mind. I can’t wait to do more with them in the future. So keep your eyes peeled for what's to come.
Thanks, as always, for taking the time to read the blog. If you haven’t already, then make sure you sign up for the newsletter below to stay up to date with all things Creative Nowhere Land. Until next time…