Shaunread

I've been fiddling with my logo for a while now and I really dont want to 'overdo' the icon on my items so ive decided upon this: (Not the best quality image) but do you think this is a reasonable sized/designed icon I could use on my wallets/smaller items? I want to keep it small but like you said I definitely need to have it clear somewhere. I feel that wallets are often over-branded by using huge stamps which seem to take some of the charm away from the piece. I think this stamp/position/size looks alright so Im going to transfer it over to the rest of my products as long as feedback is the same as my thoughts!

The reason I actually chose the name is because the name "magpie" is heavily associated with and is nickname for a huge football team from my home city - of which the demographic is mostly males 18+ so I would disagree with that personally. I stuck with the text alone as a logo as its simple and keeps with my minimalist thoughts on design but I do have a Magpie image I am not thinking of adding to have an 'icon' which people could associate my products to rather than just text. Im in the process of sorting out some people to photograph with my products so hopefully that can be an improvement I can do over the next few weeks/month! Ill get right on adding photos of my processes and tools and hopefully will personalise the website a bit more. Im hoping to add more female-aimed items to my collection so hopefully that wont be a huge issue when I get them online too Thank you for all your comments.

Thank you Monica, weirdly enough at this very moment im cutting parts for some bifolds, clutches and some skinny belts. Slowly but surely adding pieces! Dopp Kits and bigger things are in the works for summer also

Dwight, You are an inspiration! I will definitely take your advice and use it to improve my products and website. At this very moment im drawing up a plan of action for myself to improve I can only hope that when I am older I can understand the business as much as you and the other people on this forum. Hopefully I can return in a short while with something bigger and better than what I have now, thank you all for your guidance.

I see what you're getting at. The fact is that the majority of the world are either too busy or cant be bothered to do it themselves. For that, I'm thankful though. Its people like that who buy our leather items - for better or for worse. Everybody sees quality differently and although out products arent as unique as some, the individuality of the designer and the subtle differences we make in our products by stitching a different way and burnishing or not burnishing. I personally love minimalist, simple stuff and thats why I started to make it. "Keep it simple stupid" I was always told. I've always wanted to get into carving and the like but it just isnt my style sadly! Luckily, we life in a world thats very materialistic. Some people will pay £5 for a wallet, some will pay £500. Without these different people we wouldnt be doing anything more than a hobby! Despite the fact we all make similar stuff in one way or another, we're not that much in competition with our fellow leather workers because everybody has their own twist or style that attracts the people we want to buy our stuff

Can I ask if you can screenshot what you saw regarding legal mumbo-jumbo on my home page? The website should be laid out as it is on the picture ive uploaded below. If not then I can only assume its a website malfunction and will sort that out. As for the pricing, my belts are handmade out of premium Italian leather which reflects in the price as well as including delivery so I think I offer a fair price in comparison with the significant amount of British leather goods companies which expect upwards of £80 for something similar. However, that being said I am planning on adjusting my prices somewhat downward as I do agree expecting something that high at such an early stage isnt the most attractive price for a new consumer. What do you mean by products looking unfinished? Could you elaborate on anything in particular I could improve? I have added featured products to the main page below the initial banner, in my stupidity I hid that collection meaning it didnt appear, woops! I'm going to revamp my 'about' section to make it a bit more personal as you suggested, thank you!

In the past ive been able to make a few sales via etsy and in person with people but im struggling to attract significant traffic to my own website to make sales. At the moment im using Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to promote my products/website as well as adwords with specific search keywords and have alright SEO (Dont have a huge amount of experience though in all honesty) but am barely managing 25-30 views a day (most of them UK though which is atleast something - as this is my preferred market). Has anybody else had this struggle with gaining traffic? Can you recommend a way in which I can improve it? Despite being a marketing student and having done everything I know to attract people im still just unable to improve and its getting frustrating as you can imagine. Any help would be thoroughly appreciated!

I like the key rob and business card idea! It may serve as a better replacement as marking on a product can be offputting for some people... I already stamp my logo on packaging too so hopefully that will be enough! I just hate the idea of making the centre of attention on my products my logo rather than the actual product. Do you mark all of your pieces King's X or do you rely on the business card/keyfob and the customers memory to remember you?

At the moment im trying to finish a few simple products I hope to sell in the future but I look at them and think they look better without my logo on it. The leather and the quality of my pieces should do all the talking but im worried that if I dont 'brand' my products then people will struggle to remember who made their item and wont be able to pass on through word of mouth as easily, among other things. I only have this struggle in my mind with my smaller pieces (e.g. Phone cases, card wallets etc...) as with my larger pieces (e.g. Belts and Clutches) I can stamp my pieces in less obvious place than right in the middle which I feel would put people off my products... What are your views on marking your products as your own with a logo? What are the pros and cons of having/not having branding on the items? Do any of you brand or not brand your items and why? Any helpful opinion on this would be great

Im looking into getting a Brother S-1110A-5 (Heavy Duty version) and wondered if a heavy duty machine would be suitable for upto 6mm leather as well as Fabrics such as Felt, thin leather, Canvas etc... Can anybody advise me? Reason im looking at this machine is as it is on sale and my budget is pretty thin! Any help would be great! Much Thanks!

Thanks, ive looked it through and it seems to be a reasonable machine for me to use. However, once again ive become stuck at which size needle the Singer 66K Uses. I checked the manual and anything else I could get my hands on but nothing... Could anybody help me out?

I've decided to get into sewing with a machine for certain aspects of my leather craft, so I looked into buying a used Singer 66K. Ive looked around the internet and struggled to find the manuals for the machine aswell as information on Thread/needle sizes. Im hoping to sew upto 3mm leather with the machine and im curious as to your opinions on the machine, will it be suitable for the job? (Images of the machine im looking at below) http://da1urhpfd469z.cloudfront.net/uploads/advertphotos/14/0815/16942362-320-640x480.jpg http://da1urhpfd469z.cloudfront.net/uploads/advertphotos/14/0815/16942377-621-640x480.jpg One thing ive noticed is that there is not a thread size piece on this machine (I cant see it atleast...) Does it look good, or am I on totally the wrong track for a first machine? Oh, and is £130 a reasonable price for such a machine? Any help would be appreciated so much!

Ive been looking for a specific style of belt buckle for a while now to no avail, it looks exactly like this: http://img.ebest24.net/w21/x1/p30/c967_6.jpg but for the life of me I cant find out the real name for the buckle or where to buy them in the UK. Would anybody be able to shed some light on this for me please? :D

That's a gorgeous bag! What weight is the leather you used?

I've been looking into making ladies tote bags (Like this: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/175056863/brown-leather-tote-bag-distressed-brown and this: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/194927661/brown-leather-tote-bag-distressed-brown?ref=related-4 ) and for the life of me I can't find any information online on what kind of thicknesses these bags usually are. Would anybody be able to enlighten me? I assumed 1.5-2mm but before making a leather order I thought it'd be best to ask the experts (you)! Much Appreciated!