New "branding" -- POTBELLY ARTS

You may have noticed that I've recently changed the "branding" for POTBELLY BEARS to include my other craft ventures: Design, Dolls, and Beads.

I created an umbrella business, POTBELLY ARTS, under which my artistic endeavors of every kind can be listed and categorized, and I changed my logos and advertising and website structure (and color scheme!) to reflect this new paradigm. You can now type in any of my domains -- potbellybears.com; potbellydolls.com; potbellydesign.com; potbellybeads.com; potbellyarts.com -- and land at one, centralized, website.

Some of the reasoning for implementing these changes was philosophical. By using this "ARTS" concept very globally, I can simultaneously highlight all my artistic areas of interest and competency, and all my customer offerings. It's like one-stop shopping. This wouldn't be possible if I continued to define my creative pursuits separately and individually. So this philosophical switch from woman with one finger in each of many pots to woman with ALL her fingers in ONE pot really appeals to me. It's a more streamlined concept to grasp, I think, even from my end of things.

The second big reason I made these changes is that it's just soooooooo much much easier for me, mentally and financially, to handle my business affairs from one central location. As a sole proprietor -- owner & artist for each of these ventures -- I do everything by myself, from being my own legal counsel; marketing rep; advertising developer; and webmaster, to filing taxes with the state and federal government. On a practical level, these things are done so much more efficiently from ONE business (Potbelly Arts) than from a handful (Potbelly Bears, Dolls, Design, Beads, etc.) And this means I can host ONE website, rather than a few; that's a substantial cost savings per year. So it just made sense to make this change.


BRANDING has so many different, squishy explanations that it's hard to pin down precisely what it is and to define it specifically. But generally, I think a good descriptor of "branding" might be: the proprietary visual, emotional, rational, and cultural image associated with a company or a product. I found that definition on a page full of "branding" definitions, here -- just in case you'd like to read more.

I'm still me and my bears will still be offered and distributed and made in the same ways they always have been. Nothing about my approach or my intent or my motivation to create or my person has changed; just the way I represent myself visually, and the ways in which I hope people will come to recognize and remember me, have changed.

I hope it's a change you find attractive and acceptable!