The JewelBritanniaHats Design Philosophy

How do you begin to start a business like JewelBritanniaHats?

Hi, my name is Jo Burton and I am the founder of JewelBritanniaHats, an exclusive designer of festival, hen party, DJ Set, drag & special/charity event hats. 

This blog is for all those wonderful creative people out there, who have an idea & dream of building a business and launching it onto an unsuspecting world, but are thinking where the heck do I start? I had the same dilemma a few years ago & by sharing my approach & philosophy in this blog, hopefully you will find some inspiration & impetus to simply crack on & just do it - I've loved every minute of it  & so will you! 

When I started my business, I had to think about what kind of Company I wanted to build. You have to start somewhere, so I began with the good ol' sales adage that you can either get big, get niche or just simply not bother and get out - I am a sole trader working from home and don't need to build a big conglomerate, so I chose to go "niche". 

So, in this age of global social reach, what does "niche" actually mean?

Well, you have to start by asking yourself some important questions - here were mine... 

Question 1 - Who is my target demographic (buyer)?

I decided from the get-go to design hats for the more "exclusive" individual, who wants to stand out from the crowd, and doesn't ever want to compromise on quality. Someone who wants to keep their amazing hat forever, as a memento of their special event, be it a Hen party, Festival, Pride or Drag performance or a Runway event and is flamboyant, gregarious and glamorous. Someone who can pay a bit more than the norm, but understands the difference between Swarovski and hobby craft crystals etc.

Question 2 - How can I stand out from the crowd?

Okay, so we now know who our customer is, how do I make sure I stand my creations apart from all the other wonderful designers out there in Social land, and make my hats truly unique? Whenever they are worn, I wanted people to know immediately that it's a Jewel Britannia Hat!

For this to happen, I chose to focus on the following 4 key elements

a) Branding and Logo 

b) Signature Look & Design,

c) Highest Quality Materials

d) A Statement Piece

All of which, I hope come through clearly in these description & images 

a) Name & Logo

Given these hats will be found at festivals, DJ sets, cool bride/hen party/weekends and on the designer runways of the world, I wanted a name and logo that reflects one of the coolest Cities in the world and my home - ultra cool "London". It also had to reflect a key aspect of the business e.g. jewels or crystals. Finally, it had to be memorable, so people can easily remember and refer to it in conversation with friends and acquaintances. 

I settled on JewelBritanniaHats, which I think incorporates all of these topics. For example, Jewel ("jewels" are a key aspect of the business andf it rhymes with cool). Britannia (because "Cool Britannia" evokes a time of spirit and real excitement in the UK, when we had awesome music from the likes of Oasis, Spice Girls, Stone Roses & Radiohead and of course fashion icons such as Diana etc.) and Hats (cos that's what I am making) - simple right...

Next, I needed a strap-line - I chose "Unique Hats for Unique People" - which reflects very much my target audience - I hope you'll agree from the designs that I have incorporated all of this into my hats...

Here is the logo and brand name I settled on xx

b) Signature Look & Design

You will note from the www.jewelbritanniahats.com website, that my logo and many of my hats have a Union Flag on the crown or tucked away somewhere less overt. Again, this is a both a signature and recognisable design theme. It's not for everyone however, so I can't be over pushy with it. I happen to love it and from the sales of these particular hats, so do my customers, so I think I chose well - let me know in the comments section what you think?

c) Materials

To stand apart at all of these events, the hats must bling bling bling like crazy! To that end, pretty much all of my hats are draped with top of the line, Swarovski Crystals, which are truly blinding under the sun or lights - I told you the hats were top end and for the discerning buyer right?

d) Statement Piece

To compliment the Swarovski crystals, each of my hats must also have the most beautiful statement piece. To that end, I chose to work with my favourite costume jeweller to the Stars, Royalty and Strictly, in the form of "Butler & Wilson". Simon Wilson is by far my favourite designer and each and every one of my hats feature at least one of his incredible designs. He even invited us to his 50th Birthday bash where we showed off some of the creations using his Jewellery this year. 

With these raw materials you really can't go wrong, right? WRONG!!!!

Question 3 - Where Next?

Okay... Logo, branding, style is all figured out, where next?

Believe me, you can easily get it wrong and waste tons of money and time trying to get your message out there!

In a future blog, I'll cover how to take your babies to market, gain big interest and ultimately sales.

I hope the above has given you an idea of what is behind my business and how I chose to appeal to a specific demographic. I'd love to hear from you if this content has proved useful to you and if you need any advice or would just like to check-sum your idea with someone who's been there and done it.

Good luck with your business and thanks so much for reading

Jo xx