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Tuesday 16 January 2018

Back To My Roots: The Importance of Building a Strong Brand

Yesterday, I headed back to my old stomping ground to chat with the BA Textiles students of Cleveland College of Art & Design about building a strong brand and how to use social media to spread the word.
 I used to commute everyday from Newcastle to Hartlepool and it really is a journey I miss. So, this trip really indulged my nostalgia and the time on the train that used to seem so long, flew by. 





Arriving back somewhere you have spent some wonder years of your life is a special feeling and in the whirlwind of seeing old faces I almost forgot about the new ones I was going to see. A cup of tea, and a few lovely hugs later I was in full swing of my talk to the students. 





I spoke about my branding, starting with my minimal logo that has carried my brand through its journey up until now. I shared how my vision was more than just the logo and that branding should always be a continuous thread through any company to solidify the brand past just graphics. 




I moved onto the importance of branding and the consistency that it bares. My branding is like ivy and grows on everything Kayleigh Falcus related! My packaging, notebooks, ribbon, bags, boxes and such. 








I went on to share some amazing people I've had the chance of worked with, from couture designer, Helen Woollams (founder of Hellavagirl) to global dj, DJ Colin Francis. As designers, getting our work out there is important and having people wear your jewellery who also love it is equally as important! 





I also shared my experiences of being featured in print versus being featured online. It's easy to shout about ourselves but being approached by magazines is always a compliment to your brand. Engage Magazine were the first magazine to feature the brand and have most recently been covered in NE Love Magazine so took those to show and chat through the process of dealing with magazines. 





I then talked them through how I used social media to spread the word of the KF brand from very early on using social media. From Facebook to insta, we covered it! Stats, reach, going live, reaching out to peopl, building a community and so on. I took questions and a surprising amount of students stayed behind to pick my brains. It was nice sharing my experiences with people who are walking the exact journey I did. Well, maybe not the exact... we all need our own path. And besides all the regular stuff I'm supposed to say, I shared a message I think everyone starting off should hear: Be fearless, if something stands in your way figure out how to jump over it. This is your vision.




And just like that, I was saying my goodbyes and heading back for home turf. I'll be back soon thought to get creative but until then, you'll find me planning for something coming up!



Thursday 4 January 2018

Pre Launch Event: Gin Cocktails & Sneak Peeks

Over the Summer, we hosted a little pre-launch research event of the jewellery collection. Hosted at the gorgeous YOLO Townhouse in the heart of Newcastle, tucked away on High Bridge Street.




Guests flowed in, sipped gin cocktails among other gorgeous drinks and got seated in the warm air on the sun terrace.






Guests were then talked through the brand and the inspiration behind this collection and materials which take front and centre in these designs. We showed the mood boards & colour boards which pulled the vision together. 






Our lovely guests got the first insider look at the collection before it launches this month. They then filled out a feedback forms and gave us their honest opinions on the pieces. Honesty, that's all we asked. And that's what we got. Some insightful opinions and some very kind comments in there too! 









Everyone left with a KF bag full of goodies for their time. Thank you to everyone who came along and contributed! We'd love to host more of these events in the future, since this one was a great success. 







Monday 1 January 2018

Hello 2018: What's New

Hello 2018!

New year brings fresh beginnings and with that comes lots of newness. 2018 is no exception.
You probably all know me for my jewellery design, but since purchasing the laser cutter I have been working in gifts too (which you can see here.) The new laser cut jewellery collection is now designed, produced and we recently had our product shoot.

 We are excited to share the final edits from the shoot, but in the meantime we'll share some behind the scenes snaps of our 1st official product shoot!

But first, a cup of tea... (much needed with all these festivities recently)





Stunning marble backdrops courtesy of Onmer Stone




The shoot took 3 days in total as we wanted to get the shots perfect. I'm working closely with Paul Gulliford Photography for these images and it's been a delight to share our similar ideas and vision to create something beautiful! His perfectionism and my eye for detail has made the process a dream...




We have our final meeting this week to review the images and then once I have the edits back the collection will officially launch. The excitement is building because this collection truly has been a labour of love and represents new beginnings, challenges and how we overcome them.