Matt Collins would spend hours staring at his wall hoping the thousands of sticky notes would start to form a clear picture.
It must’ve been like staring at a Magic Eye puzzle from the 90s hoping he’d get to see the image in the middle for the 21-year-old Corner Brook native.
The Post-Its were meant to help Collins narrow the vision he had for his burgeoning clothing company. There were names, design concepts, marketing ideas and a host of other aspects all waiting for something to click.
“I must’ve had hundreds (of notes) on the walls of my apartment,” the Memorial University business student said. “I always had the idea in the back of my mind.”
Eventually the sticky notes started making sense and he came up with what would be Rocked Clothing, an apparel company to be based in Corner Brook.
I can understand the struggle coming up with a concept for a product. While at J-school, a group of friends and I were tasked with coming up with the name and design for a magazine.
There were a number of questions, similar to what Collins experienced, like name, content, who would edit, who would take pictures, etc. before we were able to get things going.
After some heated back-and-forth, we came up with Guff Magazine and settled on a product that would focus on music and its lifestyle.
We had put together interviews, scheduled photo shoots, did album reviews, show reviews and produced a guide to it’s a late night in Halifax and you’re looking for a scoff.
It even had a tagline and everything — if it rocks, we’ll find it.
It wasn’t an easy process at all. Collins had an idea of the work that goes into creating something, and he has a better understanding of it now.
As it stands, Rocked launched its website Sunday and is focused on pre-sales for hoodies, sweaters and various hats, but there are sure to be plans for an expanded line.
If he comes up with a woods jacket concept, Collins will be laughing.
There is symmetry between what Collins is attempting to do and what Alex MacLean did when he started East Coast Lifestyle while at Acadia University a couple of years ago.
“What (MacLean) did was brilliant,” said Collins. “I take a lot of inspiration from what he did.”
Seeing a hole in the market for a clothing brand that represents what Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are all about — similar to what East Coast Lifestyle has done for, well, the east coats — Collins made the leap seven months ago.
That is where Rocked comes from. Its one of a 100 he jotted down before settling on something he felt truly represented where he comes from.
It has been a learning process for the young entrepreneur. He bought a sketchbook and jotted down pages of logo designs, nailed down what he wanted the website to look like.
He sent those sketches to a designer friend in Alberta who helped him nail down the design.
The Trophy Shop in Corner Brook is helping with the first order and getting the quantities together.
Looked for to be Rocked in the very near future.
“It’s exciting,” said Collins.
Nicholas Mercer is the online editor with The Western Star. He lives in Corner Brook and can be reached at [email protected]
