Rewind to almost a year ago, May 2024. We had a pop up in Madrid, Spain. To be blunt I didn't really know what the f*ck I was doing but hey we learn, we grow. That said, my main takeaway from the whole experience was about what kind of eco-friendly branding/merchandise I wanted for The Artisan Lab - so when Valentina came up with the postcard idea, I thought: Yes. This makes total sense! The postcards were a hit at our first pop up event, despite some initial challenges.
Sustainable Swag: Breaking the Tote Bag Cycle
We want our customers to feel transported to faraway lands yet still have something tangible to connect them to the artisans. So how do we give our customers something physical without it being, god forbid, another tote bag.
I read Aja Barber's 'Consumed' back in February and I couldn't help but think about the merchandise critique - most of those branded t-shirts never get worn and either end up in a charity shop or are just sent straight to landfill. Her vivid image of Ghana's markets overflowing with discarded Western clothing really made a mark on me.
Before I go down the sustainable clothing rabbit hole - I want to bring it back to the 'postcard' idea. One of our best selling products are our unusual planters. When we first started, I thought, damn, it's niche - but then I realised nope, the plant party started back in 2020 and it's not going anywhere - but interesting plant pots are harder to find.
Plants are to speciality coffee shops what uncomfortable chairs and odd cutlery are to sharing plates restaurants. Clichéd, a bit predictable, but necessary for the 'vibe.'
Planting Seeds of Innovation: Our Brand Evolution
Leaning into 'unusual planters' as our main handcrafted products just made sense as a brand. So one fortuitous day in February (I was in Kigali so I was surrounded by plants lol) I thought to myself, how can we lean more into plants in our branding as part of a sustainable marketing strategy?
Step in Sheedo Studio (their Instagram page). It was an instant yes from me, I am pretty sure I wasn't very subtle when I gave a little victory dance in the bougie café I was sitting in! Their eco-friendly branding approach perfectly aligned with our value-based company ethos.
Meet Sheedo: Partners in Purpose-Driven Paper
So who is Sheedo Studio? This boutique marketing and branding agency with an eco-conscious approach to merchandise and sustainable advertising. I was instantly drawn to their branding - which is as cool as the young and inspiring entrepreneurs that founded it (props to you Gala Freixa and Gonzalo Mestre!). Needless to say, this is a brand that is fundamentally aligned with our core values as a value-based company- plus they are all holding planters and impeccably pruned plants on their website.
🔄 B Corp Values - Like us, they're committed to balancing purpose and profit.
♻️ Zero-Waste Approach - Their plantable paper transforms waste into new life, perfectly complementing our handcrafted products and unusual planters.
🌿 Biophilic Design - Both our companies recognise the profound human connection to nature and design products that strengthen this bond.
🧠 Dopamine Design - The joy of planting a postcard and watching it grow mirrors the happiness our customers feel when placing a handcrafted planter in their homes.
Paper That Grows: Beyond Ordinary Branding
Wait a minute Mr Postman? 🌸🍧
Cotton waste that's as cute as cotton candy. For The Artisan Lab, this isn't just about having cute branded materials (except we can all admit they're cute). When customers receive our Sheedo-made postcards, they're not just getting a pretty image - they're getting a piece of our values they can literally plant and grow. These sustainable branding alternatives perfectly represent our zero-waste philosophy.
Learning Through Growing Pains
We had a bit of a failure with our first 'planter postcards' in our first event- we realised it wasn't very clear to our audience that these postcards were in fact 'plantable'. Oh and another fail, we left them at a café when we did a little intro to our collab with Sheedostudio. We assumed they would keep them- they threw them out. So the ones you receive will be a new design and will also clearly state 'I am plantable'. Third time's a charm.
We want to build on this cool collab - it's tangible and it creates a living connection between our customers, our artisans, and the earth and hey isn't this what we need in this AI age? This eco-conscious approach to branding creates real social impact beyond just looking pretty.
The Future of Conscious Collaborations
Our first brand collab has set a precedent for what we want next for our collabs. We want conscious brands that are actively trying to do good in the world- that are conscious about social impact with soul. Our sustainable marketing strategy is to partner only with companies that share our vision.
We already have some more conscious collabs lined up- and we can't wait to share more.
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