HEMO Apparel Brand
The HEMO apparel brand is an emerging streetwear company where 10% of all proceeds go towards the National Hemophilia Foundation. This foundation is what it states, the national foundation for Hemophilia, however it benefits all people who have different types of bleeding disorders. The Hemophilia disorder is "a medical condition in which the ability of the blood to clot is severely reduced, causing the sufferer to bleed severely from even a slight injury." - Mayo Clinic.
People who have Hemophilia have a high need for the right medicine, care, insurance, and many other things that affect their daily lives. For the two creators of this brand, Nitya Bhattarai and Tyler Jones, they have been living with Hemophilia all their lives. The two met in 2020 at a National Hemophilia Foundation conference, and upon meeting had the idea for a clothing brand to benefit their foundation. This would not be any clothing brand, it would be a streetwear brand, targeting younger members of the Hemophilia community that could have the most impact on young people who are not aware of this serious disorder.
Through this project, I was hoping to capture the nature of Hemophilia, and at the same time create a line of clothes that can appeal to the younger generation, and help produce support for the National Hemophilia foundation. Keep on scrolling to watch this brand unfold.
HEMO x The National Hemophilia Foundation
Watch this video for more background on the National Hemophilia foundation, and the creation of HEMO!
Early Stages of Development
Branding a nonexistent company begins with the lowest of the low, the drafts.
The early stages of this brand involved numerous sketches, and drafts of logos until we decided which direction would best target the audience that was needed for the brand. During this process we also worked on finalizing a color scheme to go with the logos.
Finalizing Logos
In choosing a final logo, Nitya and Tyler were looking for something that would pop, and look good on clothing. Dropping the basic look, and text, a hand-drawn approach was taken that left Nitya and Tyler in love with the outcome. This hand-drawn look was thought
Branding the Clothing Line
Following the logos, designing the clothing line was the next challenge. Sticking with our color palette, we went through different types of clothing to decide what we wanted for the first clothing drop.
HEMO Drop Tee
HEMO Drop Crew Neck Sweatshirt
HEMO Drop Hoodie Sweatshirt
Website Design
The clothing choice, along with the designs all followed the modern, trendy look we decided on after finalizing our logos. This look needed to continue on the website, in order to make the brand seem continuous, and have a certain feel. Being basic at web design with no CSS skills, I used a free online website store builder(WIX.com) to create our first mockup of the site that will host HEMO.
An attempt at simple and clean, the main page of our website is targeted at putting the information in front of the user, and showing them the about section. By showing the user this important section, they can get the idea that this is not just a clothing brand, but a clothing brand that is aimed for a good cause, and one that was created by young people, just like the people viewing the site!
Product Page
This page is to function the same way for each product we have. It lays out all the information easily, and lists the options for the user.
About Page
Our about page first lists the bio about the HEMO company. The informational video is embedded right above it too, so viewers can get an educational view of what the company and it's goals are.
Secondly, our about page hosts a short about the two creators for anyone who does not watch the video, and encourages the user to view the products page.
Final Notes
This branding project is far from over yet. The envisioned future for this brand has not even been fulfilled yet since the site, or apparel have yet to actually launch. Over the next few months I will be continuing work with Nitya and Tyler to figure out the social media presence of the company, and situate how the clothing line will come to fruition. The special meaning behind the creators, and the clothing itself, I hope will be shown to others through the media presence being created. The work to perfect these aspects of the brand will further market the line, and hopefully gain attention to the brand we are promoting.
As for the website, the loose ends to tie up will be complete when a domain name is purchased, and the social media account has been developed to a good enough standard. The shopping page will be connected to payments, and the business will be able to start up.
This was a very insightful project to work through the issues faced with a startup company. The branding, drafting, and redrafting are a continuing process that will not end even once the company has hit the ground running. I hope my presentation of the material was able to help you visualize the components of this lengthy project that is far from over.
Check out the HEMO Site here: https://beltzja54.wixsite.com/website
Credits to Urban Outfitters for the clothing models!
