Partnerships between small businesses are a great way to boost brand awareness. During a time when retail conglomerates have enough marketing power to get their name on every billboard in the country, utilizing the influence of local retailers in your area can help you enter the competition.
Ashley Ann, an Illinois artist, does just this to get her name out there. She partners with independent coffee shops and small businesses, creating hand-drawn hometown mugs to sell in their shops.
Currently, Ann only works with shops in select states, but she is open to creating mugs for communities in additional states, as well as Canada.
Each design starts with a question: which places and details would people in this community recognize as their own? Conversations with shop owners help shape the artwork, then individual drawings become a wraparound mug design. Conscious Cup’s five-community Illinois collection and Bakehouse Chicago’s neighborhood designs are two examples of those relationships in practice.
Bringing Local Communities to Life
What started as a Christmas gift idea for friends and family turned into a full-on business. When Ann’s family was living in a remote First Nations community in northwest Ontario, she drew the places that were part of her life there and put them on a mug. Later, while she was staying in Sioux Lookout waiting for her fourth daughter to be born, she also drew that community.
“I brought a mock-up into a local coffee shop, and the first run of 72 mugs sold out in 24 hours,” she says. “That was when I began to see how naturally the artwork and a local shop could fit together. Coffee shops are already places where people gather and feel connected to their community.”
Following the success of her first mock-up, Ann began walking into other shops with mock-ups and asking whether they would be interested. As the collection grew, email became another way for Ann to introduce herself, share the artwork and explain why she thought a particular shop would be a good home for it.
“It helps to have something visual for the owner to respond to, rather than asking them to imagine the whole idea,” she notes. “I also try to make the conversation specific to their business and community. Some partnerships are wholesale, and in some cases, I have offered consignment, where I cover the initial inventory and the shop keeps a percentage of sales. That can make it easier to try something new.”
Ultimately, Ann’s goal is to find an owner who is excited about the artwork and can see their customers enjoying it.
Thoughtful Hometown Inspiration
Each design that Ann creates is inspired by landmarks, local shops, familiar signs, popular bridges or places where many families like to spend time together.
“My inspiration comes from paying attention to the places people love,” she says. “Living in Illinois, Texas and Canada has given me a lot of personal connections to draw from, and I research places and listen to local suggestions, too.”
In some cases, shop owners will reach out to Ann and ask her to create something for their town or neighborhood. This usually works in Ann’s favor, since they bring helpful suggestions to the table on what to include on the mugs.
“The owners at Ethereal, for example, reached out about a Woodstock mug and helped with local input,” she notes. “My collaboration with Coffee Waves on the Corpus Christi mug later led to a separate design for their Port Aransas location. I enjoy those conversations because the owner might point out something I would never have known to look for on my own.”
Once Ann has the idea in mind, she draws individual elements by hand, bringing them together into a design that wraps around the mug.
“I want someone to turn it in their hands and keep finding things they recognize,” she says. “A small detail can bring back a very specific memory for someone, and that is a big part of what makes this work meaningful to me.”
Empowering Local Communities
Working with local shops in different states not only helps Ann’s art business, but also the small shops themselves.
“Small shops give a community so much of its personality,” she explains. “They are places where people meet friends, know the owner and make everyday memories. A mug celebrating a town feels very much at home in that setting.”
The partnership also gives the artwork a local connection beyond what is printed on it, according to Ann. The shop can help shape the design, tell its story and offer customers something distinctive.
“I get to support the shop through my own website and social media, too,” she says. “I love when someone discovers a mug through my artwork and then visits a local business to find it.”
If you are a small shop interested in partnering with another independent business, she suggests looking at work you already enjoy in your community. Visit an art market, notice who is exhibiting in local shops or look through local artists’ Instagram pages.
“When you reach out, explain what you love about the artist’s work and what you have in mind for your shop,” Ann suggests. “You do not need to arrive with every detail decided, but it helps to talk early about the product, budget, quantities, timing and how the artwork will be used. Give the artist room to bring their own ideas. The best part of a collaboration is often the detail or direction neither person would have thought of alone.”
