I love the real deal. Authentic vintage. Locally grown produce. Honest people. Handmade. The smell of real leather. Home cooked. Freshly squeezed.
But when it came to branding myself, and the new 'work' that I do, I hit a brick wall. Everything I came up with didn't sit right for me. It didn't portray what I did, what I wanted to do, and what I wanted to offer the world. To me, it wasn't the 'real deal', it wasn't authentic, it didn't smell like me and certainly didn't look like me. I had become so 'inspired' by all the research into what I thought my brand should look like, so distracted by trends that I couldn't settle on a particular style, and my mind was jam packed with logos, type, stamps, fonts, images. I'd go to sleep with vintage bottle logos flashing through my head. And I have scores of designs on paper and computer that just went NO. My creative thinking process was completely cluttered. I needed time out, and a fresh, free of outside influences, approach.
I mean as a designer and business coach, I basically preach branding. I know branding. And I know branding is not as simple as a logo. It's your message to the world.
Branding is what people say about you when you're not in the room.
Your brand is your story, your style, your voice, and every element of your business should reflect the truth about your brand. And I just couldn't find a way to bring all that together, well not in the way that I was going about it anyway. I really am my own worst client. The same goes for interior design as well. Three years later and I've finally settled on a front door colour. But when I do interior design jobs, I put together colour schemes in a jiffy based on the brief and the clients style, the client loves, everyone's happy....and my front door still isn't painted.
Alright stop. Collaborate and listen. Christall's back with a brand new invention.
Funny how a rap from the nineties can show up and cause you to do just that. So I stopped for a while, had a breather, and realised what I needed to do. Off to visit John Brebner at his printing (and everything else) studio, Homeprint, here in little old Feilding. His entire former home has been transformed into a printing, book binding, paper making (the list goes on) and art studio, available for hire, classes, tutorials....it's a makers paradise. It houses an amazing collection of working presses, all over a hundred years old, wood type, lead type, inks, furniture and everything else needed to produce the most incredible prints. I had been amping to get back into the studio for a few years, to start on a new range of limited edition prints, and I made the time amongst sick kids and hectic schedules to get in and do my thing.
I've known John since forever. We always have a load to talk about. Here's me, possibly explaining the crazy scenario with the hail and my broken garage roof that morning, or putting one of my new ideas past him. Who knows, because we both love a good natter. And yeah I'm wearing a hot pink hoodie. I could've worn my well used painting/making shirt, so I looked like a real legit artist and what not, but damn it was freezing. By that time we'd had four downpours of hail - yes in the middle of November! Besides, I like hoodies and sweatshirts. SO comfy. But with the heat pump blasting in this very amazing studio, it was very cosy warm. Oh man, my eyes are puffy from not a lot of sleep this week - sick kids the culprits mainly. Anyway, here I am in my happy place :-)
Oh the smell of ink and old wood and oil and paper and metal....it's something I can't describe in words, but it immediately enlivens your senses and gets your creative juices pumping. I changed into a black hoodie, I didn't want to get ink all over my pink. I set out to select my type. Trays and trays to choose from, all vintage, all incredible, waiting for my hands to land on 'the one'.
![]()
I found the one for me. I've always been attracted to inline fonts and this one had me all over it. Clean, san serif, slightly sophisticated yet maintaining the classic style of the 1930 typeface that it is. Perfect. Here I had been trying to emulate a 'vintage inspired' look with my branding....but wow, I'd rather have the real deal. Behold, the process....
I select my type. I set my type in the galley, upside down and back to front, using furniture, spacers, magnets, and other specialised tools to make it immovable. Then ink up 'Pearl', the 105 year old press, what a beauty. I lock in my galley, and set the pins to hold my card - I've selected a sublime, slightly textured sugar paper, which will emboss beautifully. I pop a card in place and do a test run....spin spin click click....take the card out, beautiful print, but not where I want it. So I realign, and try again. Repeat five times until perfect. Then get cranking! I crank out one card every 5 seconds this way, quickly reaching in to grab my printed card with my right hand, replacing with a new card, before the press closes again....all the while spinning the heavy wheel with my left hand. It's a MARVELOUS process. I could do this all day.
So here I have my logo, the face of my brand, if you like. Produced with a 105 year old press, 80 year old type, beautifully made sugar paper, and my own eyes and hands. It really is the epitome of what Lowe & Co is all about.
Free range. Authentic. Made by hand. Made with heart.
And the 'Co'? These are all the amazing people I collaborate with, my family who contribute their creative talents along the way, and the beautiful people who surround me - past, present and future - who support, nurture and guide. My influences, my experiences, my story.
Every piece I produce has a story, and is made by a person shaped by her own stories.
And this is why I love being a maker.
Christall x
A special thank you to John once again for the use of his workshop, and to my lovely friend Ange for the beautiful photos x
Labels: ARTWORK, BUSINESS
