Brand development

I’ve been ruminating on my brand. There’s nothing like a train journey to throw everything out the window and start completely fresh. 

Unravelled. 

This is what I referred to as my company when I worked on projects for people at university and also the namesake of this blog.

I like the idea of claiming the term which has negative connotations, it’s messy, undoing, falling apart. Applied to gender and the unravelling woman, not having control over her emotions or being deemed crazy. But I like the curiosity and positive spin of unravelling : unpicking, deconstructing, looking deeper, peeling back the layers, back to the core. 

I think Unravelled also works well with the Punk / WI concept of the brand, the Greenham Women, handmade community feel, sharing skills and knitting. In my mind it’s like a detective board with the post it notes, maps and photographs being linked together with string and pins, connecting the dots and creating webs.

And then I started writing out my brand ethos and elaborating on what I want it’s identity and audience to be, and it just felt disconnected. Unravelled feels a bit twee and granny, I want to create a brand that is smart and aspirational, making a positive impact for the planet and the future.  

There was a recurring theme in my brand commandments, it has simplicity and multiple meanings to me as a brand. 

Re-

Responsibility

React

Rethink

Reduce

Repurpose

Recycle

Reuse

Rework 

Repair

Redo

Recreate

Redesign

Rediscover

Repeat

Reply 

Rebel

Real

I could do some quite cool typographical stuff with ‘Re’, it’s got good letters.  

I looked into ‘Re’ which according to the Collins English Dictionary is Latin for ““again” or “again and again” to indicate repetition”, which sits nicely with the mission statement of my brand and the idea of creating this circular system. 

Res / Rei explain in their brand manifesto that “Res Rei means “The Thing” in latin. It means an existing object with substance and form; but it also means a concept, an idea.” I found this relevant as much as it is spelt differently, the idea that Rei means ‘thing’ as this ties in with my project which started with ‘The Story of Stuff’ (2009). The idea of ‘things’ ties in with consumer culture and the need to own things and I like this being The story of Re which is the story of things.

References : 

Collins English Dictionary – complete & unabridged 2012 digital edition. OTHER DEFINITIONS FOR RE- (6 OF 10) Dictionary.com. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/re-

Res / Rei. Our values res / rei manifesto. https://www.resrei.com/en/res-rei-manifesto/#:~:text=Res%20Rei%20means%20%E2%80%9CThe%20Thing,us%2C%20in%20all%20given%20forms.

Leonard, A (2009, April 22). The Story of Stuff [Video]. YouTube