Case Study: Smithmade Essentials
Branding for Makers
I have always been a DIY enthusiast through-and-through. Usually, I see something and I think, “I can probably do that.” It’s part of my inherent creative nature, but it’s also part of my keenness to learn. It was no different when I first came across handmade bath and body products. These were cute little soaps and bath bombs sold by small vendors at craft fairs. They smelled better and looked better than anything I had ever bought at a regular drugstore. I hadn’t ever thought about how soap was made or considered that it was something I would be able to do myself. This new found interest soon turned into a slight obsession as I dove headlong into the world of handmade soaps.
For months I talked about soap. Sharing random soapy facts with friends and family, checking out the soap section in every store I visited and absorbing all the information I could find about how soap was made. Finally, I decided to go ahead and give soap making a try for myself and found it to be pretty fun. Very soon after soap making became a hobby I started exploring turning it into a new business venture and the idea for Smithmade Essentials began to bud.
The thing about being a brand designer is that I get to create beautiful designs for other people’s products. After a while, it’s easy to want a product of your own. I love running KSC which is a service based business. I work directly with other business owners who often provide B2B services. Product based businesses are usually B2C. Operating a product based business presented a whole new challenge for me which I found intriguing.
The moment I decided I wanted to sell my soap I started strategizing. I did all my usual brand research and development and quickly came up with my brand positioning which was to create fun and fragrant soaps with quality ingredients. Creating the supporting brand assets proved to be more difficult than I anticipated.
It felt like the sky was the limit as to what my brand and packaging could look like. I went through concept after concept and found it really hard to choose one. I thought I knew what general style I wanted, but as I got into designing I realized that there were a lot of options I liked.
Here are a few of the packaging variations I played around with while also trying to decide on product names and my logo design.
After designing so many different packages (even more than pictured here) I realized that I needed to step back and think practically about my design approach. I came up with some guidelines to help me make my decisions.
The requirements were:
1. The packaging needed to be affordable. I calculated the cost of producing each bar of soap and researched the market's price range for artisan soap. I chose a realistic retail price that aligned with my brand positioning and future growth goals. This allowed me to create a budget that included packaging costs.
2. I wanted my soap design to be visible, as I use colorful lines of gold mica, swirls, and layers. Initially, I encased the soap completely in the package but realized that people should be able to choose based on design and fragrance. So, I needed packaging that allowed for visibility and scent.
3. While cigar bands are a popular packaging choice, they tend to come off when handling, which makes it difficult to tell which soap is which. So, I needed packaging that could endure handling, soap shrinkage, and remain distinguishable no matter where the soap was stocked.
4. I wanted to have the ability to create the packaging myself to ensure a backup plan in case of delayed or insufficient printing. This also allowed me the freedom to make changes without incurring additional expenses.
5. The packaging needed to be simple enough for me to complete 100 times while balancing my time between running the soap business, working with KSC clients, and managing other non-business obligations.
With these requirements guiding my decisions, I began eliminating design concepts.
Soon I had one design that suited all the parameters. After some tweaks and refinement, it was done!
Smithmade Essentials is born
This past December, Smithmade Essentials officially launched. I appeared at a holiday craft fair and nearly sold out of all my soaps! At the start of the fair, one customer asked which soap was a bestseller. I replied saying that none of them were as it was my first time selling at a market. “Could’ve fooled me,” she said. I was ecstatic!
The Smithmade logo and package design were the most important brand assets that I needed to launch my business. They truly established the look and feel of my soap brand and I attribute my success at my first market appearance with the strength of my brand design.
This past year has been quite the journey. Creating this new business and brand has been exciting. The amount of support from friends, family and the wonderful locals here in CT has been amazing. In 2019 I hope to grow my little soap shop and expand my product line.
