Quick Response (QR) Codes

These funny looking chessboard-like squares are popping up everywhere – magazines, business cards, airports…even on cupcakes!

What is a QR Code you ask? They are really pretty cool. QR Codes are similar to barcodes. They’re two-dimensional codes, that when scanned by a QR reader (usually in the form of an app on your phone) they can display text to the user, add a vCard to the user’s address book, compose a text message, play a video or audio recording, or direct a user to a website.

QR Codes have been around since the mid 1990’s and are common in Japan but have just recently become more popular in the US. This technology is being used in many ways allowing for creative and engaging connections between the physical and digital worlds.

FYI - The act of linking from real world objects is called “hardlink” or “physical world hyperlinks”.

(Rachel took these photos in Denver International Airport. These are great examples of how CLEAR and 1^St Bank are using QR Codes.)

At Driftwood we plan to use QR Codes in a big way. We’ve designed t-shirts, stickers and our business cards to link to our website when scanned with a QR reader.  

(Scan these and go to our website!!)

TapMedia makes a very functional QR Code reader. Download if free on iTunes here.

Scan it with your new QR Reader!

Look for tweets and Facebook updates announcing scavenger hunt contests where by scanning QR Codes in “top-secret” locations you can receive discounts on our products and maybe even a free handbag!

Driftwood and social media

It’s undeniable that social media and social marketing are more than fads. There are more than 500 million Facebook users and 190 million twitterers.  Companies of all shapes and sizes have profiles on every social site. In 2009 American Apparel and others were among the adventurous few from the fashion industry to embrace social marketing. After encouraging results, many other companies have followed.

Rachel and I are becoming self-proclaimed social gurus in order to grow Driftwood Designs. We plan to share every step of creating our company, selling awesome handbags, and anything else. Keep up with our musings on the blog. You can check out our website, follow us on Twitter, be fans on Facebook. We’re on YouTube, Etsy…really everywhere.

Check out this video on how HUGE social media has become.

We want to hear from you. Input from our friends and family will be essential to the company’s growth. So please keep in touch. Let us know how we’re doing and how we can improve and in the mean time if anyone has any advice on how social media can help us, we’re all ears. Please leave a comment.

From Calligraphy to Logo

The name “driftwood” was a creation from staying up way too late, looking at magazines, browsing the internet and looking at my favorites on etsy.com.  We knew the logo may take more than one late night especially if we wanted to do it right.  I started sketching the word “driftwood” in different ways and didn’t quite fall in love with anything.

That’s when I stumbled on PerchPapiers on etsy.com.  Heather is a calligrapher and I fell in love with her work and handwritings within moments of seeing her samples on picasa.  So we placed an order as quickly as we could.  She started by writing driftwood and some other motto words over 40 different ways.  Only a week or so later I received a beautifully wrapped collection of “driftwoods” along with a sweet note from Heather herself.

In Heather’s note she recommended cutting words and letters from the pages and using them as puzzle pieces.  I couldn’t believe she would suggest cutting up her work, but she was the expert so I got to snipping….and it was kind of fun! Sure enough I came up with a “driftwood” that I fell in love with!

PerchPapiers…well Heather to be specific… helped us take this handwriting and develop a digital image that is now the logo, look, feel and essence behind Driftwood Designs.  We couldn’t be more satisfied and excited about the logo.  We think it has a sense of playfulness, artsy, edgy but elegant look that we were going for. Tell us what you think!

Quality Control: Meet Lola

  

Well it was going to happen sooner or later…you were going to have to meet Lola at some point.  Might as well get it out of the way.  This is Lola.  She is my 1 year-old Miniature English Bulldog and best friend in the entire world.  You will often hear me refer to her as a number of different nicknames including but not limited to:  Lola Grace, Lola Bear, Crinkle Butt, Crinkle, Crinks, Chunker, Butterball and Fat Kid.  I know most of these names we wouldn’t be fond of having ourselves, but she doesn’t mind.

Lola has served as an integral part of this design process.  When we first showed our samples to friends and family there was a recurring question…”these horns are so beautiful…how do you know they are real?”.  The funds haven’t allowed us to make the trip to India yet, so we couldn’t say for certain they were.  At least not until Lola got a hold of a horn. 

It started at night when she would jump off the bed and whine at my dresser.  It took me a few days to figure out she was wining at my purse I put there each evening.   Sure enough I mindlessly threw my bag on the floor the other evening and discovered Lola sniffing and licking it like it was the best bone she’d ever found.  

It was official.  The horn was “Lola tested”…100% organic and Lola chew toy material.  

She left me a little slobber as she licked her lips

Working with foreign manufacturers…over the Internet

Note: typing s l o w e r and in ALL CAPS does not help.

Rachel and I scoured the Internet for our manufactures. We have spent at ton of time on G Chat and emailing with dozens of people across the globe. (the World Wide Web is pretty amazing!) I’m not sure exactly how we settled on our handbag and horn manufacturers… As newbies to the manufacturing process, Rachel and I have been skeptical of everything.  I guess after several days conversing with our handbag and horn manufactures we felt comfortable moving forward with the design process and ultimately ordering our first samples. 

The design process initially has consisted of emailing pictures, sketches, and written descriptions of our designs to our manufactures, decoding their cryptic half English responses, and then corroboratively working toward the production of a sample to be mailed to us. Check out this email…haha!

We have finally found that Photoshop is the best tool for communication. Pictures with arrows, circles, and descriptions like “same”, “just like this”, and “NOT LIKE THIS” have helped curb misunderstandings due to language barriers.

My dad will politely remind me that I can always work on my patience. Well Dad, this has been a good exercise…

At Driftwood Designs we want to design and produce the best product possible. Our handbags are made of high quality cowhide and expertly assembled in Guangzhou, China. In the late 1600’s Guangzhou emerged as one of China’s most successful ports for international trade and has remained so today.

Our horns and hardware are polished and then assembled by artisans near Moradabad, India. Moradabad is famously known as “Brass City” because of its huge export of the metal.

We just received our 3^rd horn sample and the 3^rd iteration of our 2nd handbag sample!!  We’ve been glued to our iPhones the past week… Trackthis is an awesome app that sends push messages as your packages travels through various checkpoints on its journey to you…simply thrilling.  

The process of designing and redesigning sample after sample has not been easy and inexpensive (and we still have to make our full first production order!!!) but these handbags are going to be freakin’ awesome (Rachel has been getting TONS of complements when she wears the samples) and I can’t wait to share them with everyone…we can’t afford this otherwise… :)

The Genesis of a Handbag Company

Whew! Where to begin… It feels like a year but really the idea for Driftwood Designs (driftw.com) was born only couple months ago.  So much has happened in such a short time that remembering what I ate for breakfast is sometimes difficult. Anyway, this is the story of me (Rachel) and Blake (my bf) and our quest to make the best handbag line ever! We’ve never designed fashion before and have never started a company. This is it! Not sure if we’re crazy or not but at least its been a fun ride.

A little about me: I grew up in Kansas. The rustic romantic feel that Anthropologie and Free People pull off so well has always appealed to me. There’s just something I love about natural beauty and organic materials. Sunflowers, rolling hills, ranches…burry me in a pair of cowboy boots.

Anyway, so sometime in early October, as I dragged Blake through the “promise this is the last one” store, I turned to him and said, “Ughh…I wish I could just find a bag that’s unique and still functional”.  I guess I must have repeated myself a few times because Blake finally suggested that we check out how difficult it would be to get something started.

I started sketching (with a little help from Blake…he’s great at shading and staying in the lines) and Blake mastered the logistics and number crunching.    After a few short weeks I was wearing our very first Driftwood sample.  Although I wasn’t feeling 100% about the bags, I continually received compliments.  People loved everything from the quality of leather to the statement that was made when I walked in… like any girl, I was eating it up ;) And it didn’t stop there…

LLC…check, EIN…check, logo…check, business card…check. My life has become a series of to-do lists.

We’re everywhere on the internet, seeking legal advice and creating a board of directors. A few adventurous family members and friends are offering their financial support, advice, time, and connections to help us succeed. Even my bulldog, Lola, has been a tremendous help! Thanks y’all!

Check back for blog posts to keep updated on EVERYTHING.  Blake and I will include you on all aspects of creating a company along with designing, producing, and selling our handbags.

We want to be as connected with our customer community as possible. Leave comments. Suggestions and advice are always welcome. Let us know how we’re doing…good or bad…we have tough skin :)