For anyone interested I thought I'd go into further detail on why I decided to rebrand and what the rebranding stands for.

When I first had the idea for Twin x Flames, I had the idea of making streetwear essentials because of my love for the particular style. Pairing that with my love for the rave scene, it made sense to turn my wild ideas into art I could proudly wear. Being a textbook overthinker, I didn't think it made sense to limit the brand to just ravers so I approached everything with the idea it was going to be a brand for believers of the metaphysical with a specific focus in psychedelics.

Once I launched the brand, I received a ton of love and support from all of my friends and family. It was overwhelming, to say the least, but it gave me so much confidence in what I was doing! Naturally, most of my friends are in the rave scene and all of the support lead to me making the decision to rebrand as I felt it was the right thing to do.

It wasn't an easy decision to make however I'm very happy I went down this route and I'd love to share more about what lead to this decision and what the future entails.

 

So, why rebrand?

As mentioned above, Twin x Flames was meant to be a brand focused on bringing together the metaphysical and the world of psychedelics. Although this did work for a little while, it always felt limiting. It's like when you're not feeling super confident in being yourself at a new job because you're not sure how it'll be received...

I love the metaphysical and the relationship it has with psychedelics because they both involve deeper meaning, reflection, and discovering a world outside of the one we live in. However I never felt like it was where my passion truly lied. Naturally, I worked behind a mask that allowed me to be myself, but not really.

Once the brand was up and running, I received nothing but positive feedback, love for the product, and support for the future. It was the most amazing feeling ever! People actually liked the clothing, the artwork, and what the brand stood for. As great as it was, it still always felt limiting. 

Eventually getting the courage after a few weeks, I decided to just take the leap and slowly start marketing the brand as "rave-inspired streetwear." For myself, this instantly felt right. It might not have meant a lot to the people who were already supporting, but it felt right to me because I had a clearer idea of what I was doing and who I was doing it for. As the weeks go by, I decide that I have to take it further and that's where Trippy Heritage comes in.

What Does Trippy Heritage mean?

The dictionary defines "heritage" as the history, traditions, practices, etc. of a particular society or community.

If you've ever been to a rave, you understand what the rave community entails. The rave community is a society of its own with a huge variety of EDM (electronic dance music), traditions and practices, but most importantly, the most accepting and loving group of people you might ever meet. There's a whole world of traditions and unspoken rules that makes one feel welcome, safe and like a part of a larger whole.

This is why I was adamant about having the new name entail the word "heritage" because it symbolizes the culture that ravers live in when we're going to a local show or a huge music festival.

Most people assume the rave scene involves the use of psychedelics and other "extra curriculars" and honestly they would be right. There's a huge stigma around it but I'll get into that another day...

With this, that's where the "Trippy" in Trippy Heritage comes from. I wanted to define the brand in a way that wasn't too subtle to where people wouldn't recognize it, but in a way that emphasizes the culture while bringing attention to the psychedelic ideas I have for all of my designs.

 

What does the logo mean?

I've always had a love for marketing because marketing is in EVERYTHING! In business, it's how you help people understand your message. In art, it's how you help people understand your vision. In communication, it's how you help people understand you. 

Knowing this, I knew the logo had to properly portray what the rave community stands for and feels like to me. My biggest focus was in portraying the people and the feeling of community.

Starting with the skulls, I chose skulls because it's a classic symbol for a lot of different things. With the brand focused on selling streetwear essentials, a skull is a classic for the 80s/90s vintage and edgy streetwear theme. On top of that, there's no boundary between people, genders, and identities in the rave scene and the skull is a perfect unisex icon. My last reason would simply be... skulls are awesome.

Next, I needed to portray a sense of a crowd, a group, a community. Staggering skulls with one to the right and one to the left was a perfect way of doing this without being too chaotic.

Lastly, trippy elements are added to tie the whole thing together and add some personality. It ended up working out perfectly because changing the colors of the skulls not only makes the skulls more distinctive to symbolize a group of skulls, it makes it extra trippy with the 3d effect!

 

What Does This Mean For The Future?

With a clear understanding of who my audience is and what my brand stands for, I feel I have the freedom I was looking for to be able to continue designing with the right objectives in mind.

This also clears the path when it comes to the more technical parts of growing a business such as SEO (search engine optimization), brand awareness and brand identity, and copyright due to the common use of a term like "Twin Flames." I wanted to touch base on these topics but avoided diving too deep into it to prevent confusion. If anyone's ever curious about the technical side I'm happy to talk about it!

I'm super excited for what's next because this means I can dive into a whole new world of art, products, partnerships, and branding (Did someone say free duckies with every order?)

Thank you for reading, and I hope you stay for the journey!

-Kevin