Blackbird // Dark Matter Factory

DMF - & their prestige scent brand Blackbird - is an experiment in disruptive luxury. Imperfect, unflinching, weird and exceptional. Nicole Miller pushes branding and product in delightfully unconventional directions.

I have had the great fun of working with the DMF team on a variety of special projects involving new custom packaging and bespoke product manufacturing.

Nanu Electronics

Hanna and Andrew launched Nanu to create objects with permanence. Items intentionally designed for repairability, longevity, and mindfulness. Two successful Kickstarters later, they’re well on their way to building a fresh, new housewares brand

Nanu brought me in to run some special projects around customer service, third party logistics, operations and wholesale sales pipelines.

Outer Shell

Jim and Kyle make extraordinary bicycle gear by hand in the heart of San Francisco. Innovative designs fused with premium materials have built them a fiercely loyal fan base.

Outer Shell has a supercharged social media presence powered by remarkable in-house photo and video.

I’ve advise the team on branding, marketing, wholesale strategy, customer service, tradeshows, etc.

Juniper Ridge

Founded in 1998, Juniper Ridge pioneered the concept of wild-harvested botanicals. Now celebrating their 25th year in business, their early focus on sustainability is now de rigueur.

Like many companies during the pandemic, Juniper Ridge experienced a roller coaster of sales volume. I worked with VP of Operations, Tanya Campuzano on identifying and implementing strategies to stabilize wholesale revenue.

Formr

Formr employs prior incarcerated individuals to make beautiful objects for the home from recycled construction site waste. An incredible mission.

I work with Formr’s founder, Sasha, to dig deeply into the company’s operational efficiency & design a path for sustainability.

Together we’ve analyzed COG’s, labor hours performed per item, pricing structures, and run a myriad of budget scenarios. Currently we’re focusing on new product development.

Linea Coffee

Andrew Barnett is San Francisco’s pre-eminent coffee roasting expert. He’s been involved in building and crafting local coffee’s “third wave” since the very beginning.

His expertise and passion for coffee is immediately apparent when you visit one of his Linea Caffe locations in San Francisco.

I work with Andrew on branding, growth, sustainability, community engagement, and corporate culture.

L’Aromatica

Loreto Remsing founded L’Aromatica in 2011 & has recently launched an all-natural scent brand, LARO. Small-batch, non-gendered perfumes made with remarkable ingredients.

We reviewed her current branding efforts & worked out a number of ideas about how to differentiate her brands in a crowded market.

Packaging, labeling, the physical bottles themselves - we got into the details of how to make an impression at retail.

Concreteworks / Manos

With Concreteworks, Lauren, Miyoshi, and Patrick have built one of the world’s most innovative concrete fabrication studios. Recently they’ve been crafting a range of exquisite consumer products for the home.

I was asked to perform a brand and competition review for their new offshoot - Manos.

I created a product matrix & identified gaps in their SKU mix and pricing structure. I looked at competitive alignment and gave extensive suggestions on branding approach & media assets

Galanter & Jones

Aaron is running the most stylish outdoor heated furniture brand on the planet. G&J’s furniture and accessories are staples of fine outdoor settings.

With Coronovirus & the instant demand for outside home upgrades, Aaron’s issues had to do with scaling to meet demand.

We dug into his entire manufacturing and logistical chain to find areas that he could quickly optimize to help meet surging demand.

Mr. Dewey’s

Cashew nut ice cream made by Mr. Dewey’s is delicious. Ari and Andrew have taken their recipe for this creamy, insanely good, dessert and built a ravenous local fan base.

Their success has them thinking about their branding approach & together we’ve taken a deep look their retail, wholesale, online and social assets. I introduced them to an Oakland-based creative agency & am looking forward to their forthcoming brand update!

Aliya Wanek

Aliya designs, dyes, and manufactures all of her remarkable womenswear clothing in the East Bay. A proponent of sustainable slow fashion, she’s built a vibrant and enthusiastic following for her products.

The pace and pressures of social media marketing are of a concern to Ms. Wanek. Together we discussed and debated ways to approach these channels. We developed a suite of new ideas that were appealing to her & made the process feel less of a chore.

Skinny Ceramics

Susan McKinney crafts mesmerizing objects from clay, glass, leather, and rope. Her hand-made, individual pieces are normally found in galleries & high-end boutiques. But lately she’s been receiving volume orders from West Elm and other prestige retail accounts.

We reviewed work-life balance and how to plot a course for the career and business structure she wants. We looked at examples of how other designers built successful, non-traditional, business that embraced low volume production.