Creating labels for the good folks at Good Joe

When we get the opportunity to create branding for a socially-conscious company that’s passionate about British manufacturing, we jump at the chance. We’ve been creating branding for Good Joe, a Leeds based start-up that makes everyday menswear essentials. The brand’s inspiration is the ‘Good Joes on the street’ right here in the UK.

Now here’s where it gets interesting: for every item sold, Good Joe donates an item of clothing to a person in need. We were fascinated by the ‘buy one, give one’ concept and enjoyed working closely with founder, Margaret Church to ensure every detail of her branding was perfect. 

Margaret has spent the last year setting the company up and with her website recently launching, was in the perfect position to start thinking about getting Good Joe some strong branding. That’s where we came in. Margaret says: “It was a huge relief to find GB labels. Working with Luke was great, he remained patient and responsive throughout the process and we always felt valued. It’s exactly the sort of company and people we want to work with. Kindred spirits.”

Every company is unique and that should be reflected in the branding. To get Margaret’s branding spot on, it was important for us to get to know Margaret and the Good Joe brand and find out how they got started. Margaret set up Good Joe after becoming disillusioned with big companies taking over the market place. She explains: “While large global companies have brought undeniable benefits for the consumer, it’s not without cost. They’ve grown too powerful and they don’t always operate ethically. There should be an alternative and bringing it back to local manufacturing and independent retailing is fundamental to that.”

It was also essential for us to learn about where the inspiration for Good Joe comes from. Margaret was inspired by all sorts, from people she’d met when volunteering abroad to family members such as her Dad and brothers (she’s even named her garments after them). Margaret says about the brand: “The aim is to create a range of comfortable wardrobe staples with the focus on quality. Our strapline is ‘wear a difference’.”

After learning about Margaret’s journey to setting up Good Joe, we were able to design branding that complimented their minimal aesthetic but still showed plenty of passion and personality. Our designer Luke explains: “Good Joe is a new start-up so we wanted to keep the branding clean, concise and simple. After learning about the Good Joe story, we worked with Margaret to create subtle yet distinct branding which really stands out against her products. We enjoyed working with Margaret and seeing her passion for her brand. Margaret provided us with some fantastic artwork for her logo, which we were able to create her branding from. We love the vibrant red.”

It’s an exciting time for Good Joe, the website has just launched and Margaret is looking into partnering with local artists and charities to produce limited edition prints. She’s also keen to collaborate with her local community and keep working with other British companies. Setting up Good Joe has been a whirlwind experience for Margaret and now she has her branding sorted she can take Good Joe to new heights. She says: “It honestly never crossed my mind to do anything other than set up a business that tries to do more than just make money. We’re excited about the future, but for now, we’re new, we’re small, and there’s a lot of hard work ahead.”

Have a browse of the Good Joe website and see if you can spot our woven labels!

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