INU | MARKETPLACE

Apparel

Branding

ROLE

Brand Designer, Illustrator, Marketer, Apparel Designer

Illustration

TEAM

Solo

YEAR

2019-Cont.

TOOLS

Illustrator, Photoshop, Fabric, Pen & Paper

ACHIEVEMENT

Was profitable with my designs and T-shirts selling stickers and gaining valuable insight into my target audience reacting positively to the niche concept.

DESCRIPTION

I always wanted a dog, and due to circumstances with the home, I could never have one. This drove me to draw dogs as a hobby. But the lightbulb moment was to combine my love for dogs and anime making a niche brand that I was passionate about.

THE PASSION

I always wanted a dog, and due to circumstances with the home, I could never have one. This drove me to draw dogs as a hobby. But the lightbulb moment was to combine my love for dogs and anime making a niche brand that I was passionate about.

TARGET MARKET

To my research, what makes this idea and desired brand special, was the lack of presence I saw. Sure, there's anime and dog merchandise out there, but rarely combined. The target audience is people of anime culture primarily

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THE CHALLENGE

One of the challenges I had was, what to name the brand. During my time trying to name it was coming to these two paths, I could be on the nose or completely not related.

KABUKI K-9

2019 - 2020

Kabuki K-9 was my attempt to have a part of Japan's culture within the name. And then playing on the homophone of K-9 to represent the dog elements within the brand.

The problem with this name was kabuki, I saw that part as a misconception about what I wanted the name to be.

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ONYX INU

2020 - 2021

Onyx Inu was my attempt to be more ambiguous with what my brand is. The kanji of inu meaning dog was something that still shows Japanese culture.

The problem I saw with this name was the kanji in the logo. If I was going to sell this to multiple cultures. I thought having a complex English logo and the kanji would make the understanding of the logo too much.

THE GOAL

Inu | Marketplace is all things anime and dogs rolled into one, to create truly unique merch and characters. I want to build characters that people will enjoy. I wish to build a brand that can be recognized not just by the name or logo. But by the characters and stories, I build around it. Some companies do this well and want to follow a similar formula in my development process.

THE MISSION

"To share bonds between companions, welcoming all into the marketplace."

WELCOME TO THE MARKETPLACE.

END RESULT

The project idea I'd say was a success in gaining the necessary sample size of people to pursue this brand. I hope to continue this and grow over the course of my design career, learning things along the way to help this brand grow.