Logo On Work

[Shaunread]

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

Edited February 24, 2015 by Shaunread

[King's X]

It will not matter about those copying your products, but marking your products should be done whenever possible. When I deliver a gift, I give them a business card and key fob for them to remember the giver. I have a friend to made a rubber stamp and wrapped the product with the stamped logo on the wrapping. If you have a small maker's mark, mark it!

Good luck and sell out!

[Shaunread]

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?

[Avgvstvs]

Just a thought:

You could put your maker's mark on the inside of some of your items (like in the bill compartment of a wallet), although some designs might not allow to do that.

Also, to complement the business card idea, I once bought an item from a prominent leathercrafter and it came with a hand written thank you note that really gave the transaction a nice personal touch (I actually kept it).

[Nuttish]

I hate obvious branding and agree on concealing it. But you have to mark your pieces somehow, especially since they're consistent with the EDC ethic — those people put up pictures on Instagram, forums, and show their pieces to anyone who will look. I don't see any identify branding on your site at all. That's a grave oversight. You're launching a fashion accessories brand! The typesetting for your brand name in the header is fine, but you've got to come up with a simple visual branding element that is distinctive and interesting to look at. People expect it.

I looked at some of your pieces. Your wallets and belts totally lend themselves to concealed branding like hot foil stamping the flesh side of interiors! It would make a strong statement that your work is about materials, construction, and simple functional design, not branding.

[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!

[Nuttish]

it's cool but you need to have your brand name somewhere on the piece, even if it's on the inside.

[Aidanforsyth0]

I brand my products with an ink stamp. I mainly sell wallets and it works great to stick my logo (1" x 2") on the flesh side of the leather. I figure it helps remind people where their product came from.

[MonicaJacobson]

I like the bird, I think it's cool.

I haven't really put anything on my work, so far. First, I didn't want to drop money on a stamp. Last month, two or three years later, my husband made one for me:

Nice of him, huh? I just finished a bag and completely forgot to use the stamp. Duh. If I can remember... I'm going to start stamping an inside pocket when I make a bag. I like the idea of an ink stamp on the flesh side of a wallet, though.

[Wicked Welts]

To keep it small and simple I'm working on something similar to Monica's, my initials stylized to be my basic brand mark. Larger pieces, stationary, signage etc would include this mark in the design along with the larger more identifiable trademark logo, which for you might include the bird. I think of it like McDonalds, at a glance all you need to see is the 'M' that is their 'golden arches' brand mark to know what you're looking at without even seeing their other identifiers such as their red/yellow color combo, or Ronald himself.

[TexasLady]

This is such a useful discussion. I'm so glad Shaunread started it. I'll begin creating for myself a small stamp for small items, and a more wordy logo for larger items, possibly incorporating the small stamp within the larger one. Also, that idea of using a rubber stamp with ink, like King's X said, in some applications sounds good. I'm glad you all chipped in with these suggestions.

Edited May 21, 2015 by TexasLady

[ConradPark]

Never underestimate the power of advertising and branding is just that! However, as you noticed everyone have their own opinions and you will never be able to please everyone so at least you should please yourself.

And don't worry about others copy your work. First of all, unless you have a world distribution of thousand of goods on an annual basis, I'm pretty sure that you will never be economically affected in a negative way if someone would copy your design.

Secondly, I'm sure you have noticed that most people and companies are actually using more or less the same designs anyway, what sets them apart is normally - you guessed it, branding. Then sometimes you have a difference in workmanship as well, but not as often as one as a consumer could hope for.

Anyway, you should brand all your items, but it doesn't have to be on the front if you don't want to. A makers mark stamped with ink on the flesh side inside a pocket would definitely be fine. Many brands do it this way already.

Good Luck and remember to have fun!

Edited May 22, 2015 by ConradPark

[TexasLady]

This question of mine should probably go somewhere else other than on this Thread, but here is where I started thinking about it, so I'll ask it here,...

Would a logo carved out of cow bone be strong enough to stamp onto leather with a mallet? Or would it just shatter or disentegrate when hammered? Is there any material other than metal that might hold up to reusing it, say, 20 times?

Edited June 5, 2015 by TexasLady

[ConradPark]

This will depend on so many factors, foremost depending on how detailed your design/carving will be. While I'm sure it can work if it's a simple design and the leather is veg tanned and damp enough, you should ask yourself if it's worth the work, considering how cheap it is to have an embossing plate made today.

A small square inch zinc, or magnesium plate will hardly cost you much more than a few dollars and will last you for hundreds of stamping sessions.

Another way, if you want to copy an existing pattern is to use Plasticine. Make a quarter inch thick square, press the pattern into the dough on one side and harden the plasticine in the oven. The pattern will be negative, so if you want a positive pattern you need to use the first mold as a master for a second imprint. If cured correctly the Plasticine will last surprisingly long, mind you that it's brittle, so smaller sizes (2 inch) and an arbor press, instead of pounding it with a hammer, works best.

Good Luck.

Edited June 5, 2015 by ConradPark

[TexasLady]

Do you think the Plasticine would last longer than cow bone?

Also, I have a dremel set. I've made Chinese seals in onyx, reverse image, using my dremel, but that was for stamping with red ink, not for pressure stamping as on leather. So, I know how to do the 'art' part. It would just be the matter of using a material that's sufficiently hard enough and durable enough to make a nice deep impression on veg tan.

Edited June 7, 2015 by TexasLady

[King's X]

I mark all of my work.

[lwm803]

I may be the only one, in which case my opinion does not matter, but a makers mark on the show side of any product is an immediate deal breaker for me. I do not want your mark displayed on my personal property regardless of the quality of work. The key fob idea is an excellent one, in fact come to think of it, I have a small stack of Tony Lama "coins" which come attached to the boots by a bead chain and are easily removed, but would never wear a boot with the brand name clearly displayed. But that is just me.

[AndersenLeather]

I may be the only one, in which case my opinion does not matter, but a makers mark on the show side of any product is an immediate deal breaker for me. I do not want your mark displayed on my personal property regardless of the quality of work. The key fob idea is an excellent one, in fact come to think of it, I have a small stack of Tony Lama "coins" which come attached to the boots by a bead chain and are easily removed, but would never wear a boot with the brand name clearly displayed. But that is just me.

So you dont have a car a tv a mobilephone or any power tools?

[lwm803]

So you dont have a car a tv a mobilephone or any power tools?

There is quite a difference between handmade leather goods and cars, tv's, and power tools. I do not get your comparison here.

I did not suggest that you not put your makers mark front and center on everything that you make. I only suggest that I, and probably at least a few other people, would choose a plain unmarked item over one that resembles an advertisement for the shop that made it. I have seen many nice items which were severely cheapened, TO MY EYE, by a prominent makers mark. I am simply not a customer for that item.

Edited June 11, 2015 by lwm803

[chriscraft]

I was approached a couple years ago by a motorized bicycle builder and ask if I was interested in building leather seats for him. He would supply the custom steel seat pan and these would be drop shipped to me and I would complete the rest of the seat build. In his initial deal he did not want me to mark or brand my name/ logo on his seats. They were to only have his logo visible on the top of the seat. I really thought hard about this any did not like his idea. If he was just simply looking for a worker to simply stitch two pieces of leather together and stamp his logo on it then I would understand his concept. This was clearly not the case and I was not supplied with any building materials, tools, molds, measurements or even instructions on how to accomplish this seat. I was given a simple vintage photograph of said seat to be built. I accepted this challenge on building this with the acception that they would bare my makers mark under each seat hidden away from view when mounted on his motorized builds. I also had no clue on how long it would take to construct one seat but we agreed on a price and began the build process. The first few seats were all different as each was too short or too wide and we finally got it proportioned and sized to his builds by the fourth prototype seat. I decided to serial number each seat to keep track of each build. After building 12 seats I quickly realized it wasn't working out for me an we parted out separate ways. No harm done and it was a great challenge to create something. The motorized bike builder used my plans and soon found another leather craftsman to continue building his seats.

A few days ago I received an email from one of his customers that was not happy with the current leather seat. He was able to track me down by my makers mark that was on his friends seat. He stated he was impressed by the quality of his friends seat that he finally decided to order one and was now disappointed in the lower quality. He was returning the seat for a refund but still wanted to purchase a quality leather seat. He informed me that his new said seat didn't have a makers mark on it. I was sorry to inform him that I did not build this seats and all of my previous seats had my makers mark along with serial number and also came with my warranty.

I nerver invisioned running into this situation but it was quickly resolved by my decision to include a makers mark.

[TexasLady]

Wow, chriscraft. That sounds like your makers mark really saved the day. It protected your reputation. I have a question, and I'm sorry if it sounds 'picky'. How did the man find your makers mark that was "under each seat hidden away from view when mounted on his motorized builds"? Did they remove the leather from the seat in order to search for a makers mark?

[chriscraft]

TexasLady, the 1920's replica Motor Cycle leather seats I was making had three mounting points underneath. Two near the rear outer sides and one bracket towards the front. This center bracket just barely covered my makers mark so it was exposed but not directly in view. One would have to flip the cycle upside down to see it. These seats were also special ordered as an upscale leather seat. If you already owned one of his motorized builds you could upgrade to a better seat. At this time you would clearly see my makers mark before installation.

The customer didn't explain how his friend was able to find my makers mark. He did say he search with the word "leather" attached to my name and was able to find my website.

I also stamped a small serial number to log these seat builds. Type of leather weight, dye combination and finish coating, thread size, SPI and color. Date is was completed. I did this for future reference incase I ever had to replicate this build or make repairs to the seat.

[TexasLady]

Beautiful work. That's the kind of product we all want as our legacy. ...Oh, okay. Finding your makers mark makes sense now.

I hope the fellow will think of something else he can order from you.

I'm paraplegic. Got this way last year. I'll keep your info on hand in case anyone is willing to pay for a quality leather item. Some people actually have money for things like what you make,...things that give pleasure to have and use for years to come. I would hope whoever orders something would send you the cheapie version of what they want you to make an improved version of. (I just got through slaughtering the English language in that last sentence. Foreign language speakers Beware!)

Edited June 18, 2015 by TexasLady

[snubbyfan]

I use an American Indian Pictograph of a Bear Paw. It's small, unobtrusive and marks it as one of mine.

I actually get enough work by word of mouth to keep me comfortably busy.

[BondoBobCustomSaddles]

Simply put, there are many opinions and ideas as to how to or not to mark your work. To each, here is pros and cons. For me, if it is too small to get my makers mark on it, it goes out of the shop "commando". If it is large enough, and the customer says he doesn't want it conspicuous, I mark it that way. As for my saddles, that is another story. I prominently mark each saddle in all the normal places, and then some. If the customer doesn't want it marked so, he will not be a customer.

Bob