So I’m the Annie behind the indie yarn-dyeing company Annie Yarn. I thought it might be fun to write about the history of the branding I’ve created since the company started in 2011 under the name Annie & Co.

I named it that because I didn’t dye my own yarn back then. A friend of mine with her own small indie company dyed my yarn for me — and we called my brand Annie Yarn. When she got out of the business, she gave me a lesson in dyeing, gave me some dyes, and sent me off with her blessing into the shadowy world of dyeing yarn. I tried to find additional info on the Internet, but I quickly found that dyers keep their trade secrets, well, secret. I had to come up with my own.

And I did. That’s when I decided I needed to rename my company. I tossed around a lot of different ideas but eventually decided to stick with something very simple that everyone would recognize and remember: Annie Yarn. So it went from being a brand to being my online shop as well.

After I don’t know how long, I enlisted the help of my amazing artist sister, who was just really starting to grow into her artistic abilities. She sketched a new logo and I imported it to Adobe Illustrator and vectorized it so I could easily edit it.

It’s funny because a lot of people asked me what kind of bird that was — and what was it doing anyway? So we rebranded to make the chickadee much more easy to recognize.

But then after a couple of years and a lot of change, I felt that we needed something that really captured the way Annie Yarn is going now — it’s growing up, finding its wings, and establishing its style and presence in the yarn community. We needed a new logo that would bring all of that to life. This is what my sister came up with…

…and it’s perfect. She hand-sketched the bird using pencil and Copic markers. We then imported it to Adobe Photoshop and added the watercolor background. Then I created the blend of fonts. I wanted a handmade feel but with simplicity, class, and a bit of vintage chic tossed in. I’m thrilled with the result, and I think this little birdie is going to stick around for a long, long time.