“I CAN’T BELIEVE I MADE THIS”

That’s how Sallie Dale, founder of The Urban Acres, wants you to feel after crafting with one of her custom punch needle or embroidery kits. Sallie describes herself as a “Mama and a maker living in Tulsa, Oklahoma with my husband and two children. The Urban Acres is a creative outlet that enables me to do two things that I love: make things and stay home with my babies!”

The Urban Acres

“The Urban Acres” started as a blog in 2016, and was originally inspired by the fact that Sallie had chickens and a garden, but lived in the middle of a city. Sallie has always been crafty, and she even worked as an art teacher for a season. In 2019, Sallie discovered a new artistic endeavor: Punch Needle.

Punch needle is similar to embroidery as it involves a needle and yarn, but the method of “punching” is more approachable for a beginner. After sharing about punch needle on her Instagram account, Sallie saw an opportunity to innovate and be one of the very first people to the Party that is Punch Needle Kits.

Around this time, Sallie and her husband, Andrew, were expecting their first child and wanted to find a way for Sallie to be a stay at home Mom. Sallie was no stranger to being an entrepreneur (her first business was selling homemade dog sweaters on Etsy as a teenager). She dusted off her Etsy account and hatched a plan.

Sallie created her first product: a beginner’s punch needle kit with everything the customer would need to learn a new hobby and create something special. Sallie said,

“My client is not a DIY-er, but rather the person who feels like they need help being creative. My products bridge the gap by helping you do something fun and creative without having to do all the heavy lifting.”

The Goal

In 2019, The Urban Acres sold an impressive number of punch needle kits on Etsy. Sallie began to realize that this could be her opportunity to make an income while staying home with her daughter, Dot. And she was right.

Sallie reached out to Avery in May of 2020. Her goals for her business were clear, and she was ready to invest in the future of The Urban Acres through professional, custom branding design.

When asked what she hoped her new branding would accomplish, Sallie said, “I want it to be memorable and have a cohesion so that people can tell it's my brand. I also want it to take a step towards a professionalism I haven't had, while remaining fun and playful. I want it to feel really well put together and polished.”

The Urban Acres was a perfect fit for my signature branding package, The Works. So, I got to work.

The Discovery

Every Brand Identity package begins with the crucial Discovery Phase. I firmly believe that your business or organization already has a unique brand, and it’s my job to ask the right questions to discover it. I work with you to discover, verbalize, and visualize your one-of-a-kind identity.

When asked about what makes The Urban Acres unique, Sallie said,

“I think I come across as personable. There's a simplicity about what I do that I think is appealing to people who live in a fast-paced world. My inspiration comes from when I was a kid at home making things with my mom. We had so much fun together! I try to channel that in everything I do. There's something so fun about making things TOGETHER! I don't want to disconnect my business from my personality because I think that's part of what makes it feel homey and fun.

My design philosophy goes far beyond creating beautiful designs. I put intentional effort into making sure your branding is strategic, personal, and targets your ideal customer.

The Design

When asked what adjectives represented The Urban Acres Brand, Sallie said, “Warm. Cheerful. Fun. Nostalgic. Like a warm summer’s day when you were a kid.”

Most brand identities feature between two and four main colors, but four was simply not enough to represent Sallie’s vibrant punch needle kits. I created a main palette of nine colors, with the very most prominent being Navy, Emerald, and Berry.

I rarely begin the creative process with the color palette, but for Sallie’s colorful brand it just made sense. We knew we wanted to keep the main logo simple and clean to allow the punch needle kits and their illustrated counterparts to shine in The Urban Acres world.

-Avery Michaels, Lead Designer

The main logo for The Urban Acres is simple, but full of personality. The peony illustrations and stitched hand lettering nod to Sallie’s kit designs, and the subtle arc of “acres” reminds you of a cheerful smile (the way you’ll feel while punching away with a kit from The Urban Acres).

The Finished Brand Identity

The Urban Acres is a colorful, happy brand, and it needed colorful, happy patterns to echo the kit designs. I illustrated Sallie’s original designs with a new, whimsical style that brings the warm, cozy feeling of yarn and textiles into the digital space.

Sallie made the most of her branding by upgrading her kit packaging and shipping supplies. I created a box template that can be updated with photography of new patterns.

The Urban Acres packaging and shipping supplies were printed through a variety of trusted vendors.

Adobe InDesign templates and custom illustrations allow Sallie to create new pattern guides as needed.

theUrbanAcres.com

Sallie used a Shopify template and her branding guidelines to create a new website. The design is mobile-first, and also looks beautiful on a desktop or tablet. The assets from her branding provided clear boundaries for color and web-friendly fonts.

The Feedback

“I HIGHLY recommend working with Avery if you are looking for a branding package. It was so important to me that my branding feel like me, and I think she nailed it. I think I will turn this into wallpaper and redesign my home to be Urban Acres themed!” -Sallie

Sallie visiting her kits at Paper Crown in Waco, Texas in April, 2021.

In 2020, The Urban Acres had punch needle kits in four retail locations. At the time of writing in November, 2021, Sallie’s kits can be found in 40 businesses! That’s a testimony to the power of Sallie’s hard work and dedication paired with professional, custom branding.

I loved working with Sallie Dale to design The Urban Acres brand, and continue to provide occasional brand support as The Urban Acres grows.

Be sure to follow @theurbanacres on Instagram, and purchase a punch needle or embroidery kit for yourself at The Urban Acres website!

Is your current (or lack of) branding serving your organization to the fullest? Does your nonprofit organization, business, or ministry need a custom brand identity to increase your influence in your community? I would love to partner with you to advance your mission and empower your work for good.

Please email averyreedmichaels@gmail.com to begin your custom brand design experience today!