We’re a basis, not a brand

Substrate, the word, and its derivatives refer to an underlying substance, layer or surface that is acted upon - a foundation, a basis. We’d like to serve in this manner by making items for others to interpret, alter and experiment with. We’re a basis, not a brand.

Branding and the process of ‘building brand identity’ feels overbearing and prescriptive. It’s often wasteful and impersonal. Alternatively, small businesses can usually sidestep these perils with less convention and more personality. Small businesses have the potential to move us away from reductive, formulaic approaches towards kinder and more generative forms of commerce.

Retreating from the orthodoxy of branding allows for more experimentation. It’s a less-fixed path and process - less predictable, at times unstable. More who knows, let’s find out. It’s not being threatened by ‘competition’ but instead regarding all as community. Let us not be ‘in competition’ but ‘in support’ (a synonym for which is substratum).

So for us, this changes a couple of things. We’re made locally and we don’t create collections. We’re interested in making fewer goods of higher quality. Fabrics for a particular piece are liable to be limited and change. We’re not in favor of ‘scaling up’/‘going to scale’ since that’s when a product’s appeal can get lost. Instead by remaining local, customized, individualized and diversified, small businesses can sustain integrity and a unique point of view. Small is beautiful (to name one of our favorite books by E.F Schumacher). Maintaining a modest, diverse, flexible but densely connected enterprise seems lovely.