The beginning: In my senior year of High School I started getting into streetwear, more specifically underground and smaller brands such as Black Scale, Stay Dirty, FTP and Foulplay. I was really influenced by the culture and decided to launch a brand with my buddy, I had some previous experience with Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator from school so I started designing and learning the industry every collection.
I handled every aspect of the brand, although overwhelming at times I loved it, below are just a few things:
Creative direction: From branding to design I made sure every aspect of our products and how they were represented fit the image of the brand we were trying to convey
Marketing: Used social media sites like Reddit, Instagram and forum pages to promote the brand. I also reached out to artists and influencers for promotions and collaborations
Ecommerce: Oversaw the entirety of our website, from product listing, shipping orders, customer service and touching up photos for the site
Talent scout: Scouted designers and photographers to work with to create both graphics/illustrations and lookbooks
Influencer/Model/Artist Marketing
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Whang!
Whang! Is a YouTuber with almost 1 million subscribers, as a fan myself I reached out to him because not only did I think he’d like our brand, but he fits the branding of it as well. I reached out to him and sent him a couple of items. One of our shirts ended up being in one of his videos that has almost 300k views.
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Mandee & Jason
This was very early on, but Mandee and Jason were both very popular models in the clothing scene with many ties to the industry. I remember reaching out to Jason and him telling me this was one of his favorite brands at the time. They later ended up creating and having great success with Broken Promises.
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Sadistik
I reached out to Sadistik because, similar to Whang! I was a big fan of his work, but also thought he’d like the brand. I sent him a package of items which he not only posted on his Instagram stories, but also had some great photos of him in the gear.
Packaging Design Direction
I used existing design assets to create custom packaging, from tissue paper, poly mailers, tape and stamp to print on boxes. I also made member cards that received exclusive access to products and discounts.