PROJECT: NEW BRAND (REBRAND)
CLIENT: MINISTRY OF MENDING

Ministry of Mending is a small business passionate about helping others discover the JOY in mending clothes, especially through the use of a darning loom. It is an online place to visit for advice and a curated selection of mending tools and haberdashery

Started by Becs McLaughlin, Ministry of Mending was born from a love of sewing and the desire to live more sustainably - repairing items and specifically the mending of textiles, to extend the item’s life and avoid unnecessary waste heading for landfill. A key product for the business is a small weaving loom called a Speedweve which can be used to create surface patches on clothing. (The Speedweve was invented in the late 1920s and was manufactured and sold in the U.K. up until the early 1960s when darning and general repair began to fall out of fashion. Other similar versions were also sold worldwide at that time.)

Ministry of Mending is one of a handful of stockists worldwide to sell vintage and modern replica looms based on the Speedweve, as well as their own Speedweve kits and a range of other high-quality, earth-friendly/sustainable, locally-produced/artisan and vintage/retro items. 

OBJECTIVE

Ministry of Mending had begun as a lockdown project, and had started with a logo created by the client herself.

Looking to get the business more seriously off the ground, Becs approached me to create a new brand for her business - something colourful, creative and fun which would convey the essence of mending and tie in with her specialism in the Speedweve loom.

The new brand is to be used on the Ministry of Mending website, social media and packaging - of kits and leaflets, thread and yarn cards etc

The design of the brand evolved very much from looking at stitching, how threads interweave when using the Speedweve loom and also making patches from left over fabric!

These are some images of the Speedweve in case you’re interested to see what it is, and also to help demonstrate some of the rationale behind the logo design. Images courtesy of Ministry of Mending

Through the process we looked at a wide variety of colour combinations, with the final version feeling right for the client and the slightly retro/vintage feel they were looking for.

One and two colour versions of the brand mark were created, specifically with packaging use in mind

Brand colour palette and typestyle…

CLIENT FEEDBACK

Once the project was complete, and the new brand had been implemented across the company website and products, I got back in touch with Becs to ask for some feedback. Here’s what she had to say, which I think you’ll agree is a pretty strong testimonial!

• How did you find the process - from initial briefing, through the development/feedback stage and to completion of the project. Also, was there anything that could have made the process smoother or more simple from your perspective?

From the initial contact I felt I was in safe hands and Carys truly understood the essence of my business. She was flexible with discussing what was possible with my limited budget and presented a very strong concept from the outset.

Often I felt as though she knew what was in my head and she could put my ideas into words better than me! We spoke over the phone at each stage of the process which I found very helpful and she was always very responsive to my emails.

Throughout the whole process it felt like a collaboration and what I truly valued was Carys' honesty; if she felt my ideas weren't quite right she would tell me, explain her reasoning for this and come up with an alternative idea.

I can't fault the process at all...Carys made it as easy as possible and always gave me the space and time I needed to make decisions.

• Are you happy with the final brand identity, did Carys deliver as you’d hoped/expected?

I'm super pleased with the final logo and brandmark. Carys delivered everything I needed to bring a fresh new look to the business: logo, simplified brandmark, social avatar, colour palette, fonts and some other extra artwork elements. It's made it easy and enjoyable to implement the new branding across our website, social channels and packaging. 

• You’ve only recently launched the new brand on your website, but so far how has the new brand been received, does it seem to resonate well with your customer base?

The new branding has completely transformed the business and given me a burst of energy and confidence. I already feel it's going to increase trust in our products and services with our existing customer base and help us attract more of our ideal customers too!

We've had many positive comments so far!

One customer has said "That logo is awesome, the design is stellar".

Another said: "Looks fabulous, colourful and fresh!".

- Becs McLaughlin, Founder, Ministry of Mending

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