I get asked frequently where the name GrapeSeed Designs comes from, so here’s the story!

Have you ever tried eating a grape seed? Some people like them, but I find them hard, bitter, and even sharp to where they can cut your gums. But when you take that seed, plant it and nurture it, it can become something wonderful and honestly, quite agile and diverse.

With grapes, the product of a planted, nurtured grape seed, you can create jelly for a great peanut butter sandwich. Or you can get inexpensive, widely accessible wine. Or you can go all-out and develop wines worth hundreds of dollars a bottle.

The fact is, the product is all about what you want to make it and who you want to make it for.

I see branding the same way, especially when a business is first starting out. While my focus has shifted over the years, it still comes back to this basic concept – taking something small, hard, and even bitter, and transforming it into a wonderful gift for the world.