We interviewed Karl Shaw about his eponymous clothing brand Mr Shaw. Karl runs two businesses – he’s the owner of graphic design agency Silver Birch and has been building the Mr Shaw clothing brand steadily over the past five years. As a graphic designer, Karl has a passion for a brand’s visual identity which is instantly apparent in the Mr Shaw branding, but we caught up with him to find out what tone of voice, brand values and personality mean to him too.
Where did Mr Shaw begin?
The idea started when I was in hospital back in 2014. I was thinking a lot about what I wanted to create in the world. I love branding and fashion offers the opportunity to use it on something tactile and tangible, when so much of the world is digital now.
My wife bought me a sketchpad and I started sketching out a logo for Mr Shaw from my hospital bed!
What’s the ethos of the brand?
I knew I wanted to create a brand called Mr Shaw, as that’s me! I included the “Mr” part as I think respect and tradition is something we don’t see as often as we should nowadays and it brings a gentlemanly touch to the brand. That formality isn’t because the brand is about suits and ties though!
Our strapline is ‘Influence and Pride’. We’re incredibly proud of our roots and proud to be a Derby brand, trying to do good things in Derby and influence others in a positive way. The Mr Shaw ambassadors really show what influence means to us. They are Shane Nicholson, Owen Bradley and Paul Pashley. These men are influential and inspiring and, importantly, absolutely share the values of the brand.
Mr Shaw has such a strong visual identity, can you talk us through your process for creating it?
I believe that good design needs rationale, otherwise it’s just decoration. The S logo has a lot of meaning to me, with three strands that symbolise the three ages of the Mr Shaw man and bringing the generations together. The bar through the middle represents the line between the past and future, bringing traditional values into today.
Being a designer, I wanted a logo that is versatile and can be used in lots of different ways, which is why the S is clean and simple, so it can be adapted.
I’ve got a lot of attachment to the S because it’s got so much meaning. We have a list of words beginning with S that describe Mr Shaw too and all help build the brand, so it goes beyond being just a visual.
What are those words?
Social, skills, statement, sexy, songs, simplicity, sophisticated, smart, stylistic, symbolic, smooth, seamless, smile, super, strong, seasons, spontaneous and soul.
Do you look to any other brands for branding or tone of voice inspiration?
I always look to brands I respect to see what kind of thing to align to visually. I’d say Fred Perry, Lacoste and Adidas Originals. I want our clothes to epitomise casual sophistication, which is something we share with those brands. The Fred Perry logo is powerful, pure and totally timeless, which is something I’ve tried to do with the Mr Shaw logo.
Do you have a clearly defined set of brand values?
Yes! The Mr Shaw brand values are the same as my own. They are influence, pride, loyalty, heritage, social, family, style, kindness and happiness.
How are these values expressed at Mr Shaw?
Mr Shaw is about more than just the clothes, for me it brings a lot of elements together. For all our photography, we use local models, who are all friends and family, and we shoot at locations around Derby, which demonstrates pride, heritage and the family side of things. I think our values of pride and style come through the styling of our photos and what we say about Derby and our range. Kindness and happiness are central in everything we do and we hope that comes through our tone too! My favourite pictures from any shoot are always the ones where the models are smiling.
We’ve got the Reminisce club nights now, which bring together a real community around house music and the heritage of Derby’s best nights in the 90s. It feels like a family and is definitely another expression of what we’re about as a brand.
Can you sum up your tone of voice in a few words?
Approachable, real, friendly and stylish.
How did you develop your tone of voice?
It’s not something we’ve sat down and put together. I put a lot of myself in the brand, so the tone of voice is very much how I speak – it’s a natural thing. It wasn’t a conscious choice to do that at first, but now, it’s very much our brand tone of voice. I think the tone has been kept pretty consistent because the Mr Shaw team is small and I’m an open book, so people get me and know how to put things. My wife Emma knows me pretty well so can write for Mr Shaw without a problem! When we’ve had interns in the past, I’d always check it and make sure it’s written in a way that I’d say something. That’s the yardstick – if I’d say it then it’s the right tone.
We don’t like to do pretentious fashion product descriptions, I prefer to keep it real when we can.
Who is your target audience?
It’s definitely Derby focused. We’ll send ripples out from there if possible.
We’re an everyman brand, for every generation. We want to appeal to people who our values resonate with. We do have a customer persona, which I try to keep at the back of my mind. He’s a family man with traditional values, who has integrity and style.
I’ve been delivering some orders locally over lockdown and that’s been interesting seeing the kind of guys who are ordering. The brand seems to be popular with guys who are a bit older, but who feel young at heart and take pride in their appearance still.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve got for other people starting out in business?
My mantra is ‘keep it real’.
Always be true to yourself and your brand. Stay true to yourself rather than trying to emulate something else and know what your personal values and traits are and to make sure those values come across through everything you do. In fashion there are loads of copycat street brands, which aren’t rooted in any meaning, but I’m building Mr Shaw slowly and based on strong values, which hopefully means longevity.
I think quality is important too – we get customers saying our stuff washes really well and lasts, which is great. We pay fair prices to our suppliers and we’re not a discount brand, which again, I hope means the brand’s got integrity and will last.
What’s in the future for Mr Shaw?
We’d love a shop, or more than that, a communal space, where we’d sell the clothes but also have a somewhere people can sit down and have a Mr Shaw coffee or beer. We’d bring the Reminisce music into it too. I see Mr Shaw as more than just clothing, it’s a lifestyle.
