Where the Colour Came From.
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For as long as I can remember, green and brown have been the colours I reach for. Not chosen deliberately, just what I end up wearing, over and over, without really thinking about it.
When my daughter was five months old, I dressed her in a green bodysuit with white flowers embroidered across it, and a brown cardigan over the top. I've worn these colours on myself for years without really noticing them. Seeing them on her, on someone who wasn't me, is when it actually landed. This had been the DEAR JOE palette all along. I just hadn't seen it clearly until it was on someone else.
I've mostly played it safe with colour, if I'm honest. When it felt like it mattered, a meeting, a first impression, I reached for black. It was the safest choice, a way to blend in, to not be noticed. The green and brown were what I wore when I wasn't thinking about it. Since becoming a mum, I've found myself wanting to branch out a little, still quiet, still considered, but less afraid of colour than I used to be.
As a brand designer, my instinct is almost always to reach for something neutral and safe, the same instinct that had me wearing black for years. DEAR JOE first launched in black and white for exactly that reason.
Before the relaunch, I walked through a few of the stores I hoped DEAR JOE might one day sit in. I wanted to see the shelves the way a customer would. Almost everything was neutral. Black, white, beige. Even dark brown, the colour I'd already chosen for the cover, blended straight into the rest.
That was the moment I knew neutral wasn't enough. If DEAR JOE was going to sit on those shelves, it needed something braver than I'd normally choose. I took it as a challenge to step outside my comfort zone, and the green found its home on the packaging.
The cover was always going to be brown. That part was never in question. But the green is what makes it DEAR JOE. I'm glad I let the black and white go.
If you ever spot that green somewhere, a shelf, a photo, I hope it's instantly familiar.
~ Erin