Behind The Logo

We all know that some of the most successful brands create a sense of belonging - a sense of values and purpose that people can relate to, identify and share. Here’s a great example.

Recently a friend of mine in the UK sent me a catalogue for a brand called howies. Based in a small village in Wales, howies designs and manufactures hip skate/surf/outdoorwear. The clothes are pretty cool, but what made that brand immediately impactful to me was its philosophy which came across in the story of how its summer catalogue was produced. Rather than spend money on flying off to a sunny country and shooting the catalogue on a real beach, the howies team spent the money on building their own eco-t.shirt print shop and used photographs from that project as the backdrop for their catalogue. A completely different and unexpected approach and totally in keeping with their environmental philosophy.

Rather than pay lip service to these ideals, they are truly living them, infusing them at every level of their business and reinforcing the beliefs that represent the core of their brand. Innovative design thoughts like the “car project” where they bought an old aluminum car, stamped 40,000 holes in it and used the metal for fastners on their jeans, speaks to a creative and uncompromising approach to business. Now that’s a brand that I want to be a part of.