Claire Louise - Henries Finalist

2022 Henries finalist Claire Louise is using magazine placement to successfully grow the product distribution base and further drive brand awareness for her idyllic British-inspired collections.

Durham-based artist Claire Louise, whose designs include iconic city scenes, the British countryside, and popular animals, has seen her products featured in over 30 publications, from luxury lifestyle magazines to national newspapers and major industry magazines. Her homewares, apparel, and fashion and travel accessories can be seen in the pages of Red, Prima, and GoodHomes, as well as the Metro, Sunday Mirror and Mail Online, amongst others.

With a keen eye for trends, Claire Louise tailors her product range to upcoming events in the national calendar. In the run up to Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee, Claire Louise created her ‘All About the Bird’ range, featuring a royally-clad duck called Queenie. The collection received extensive magazine coverage from luxury lifestyle magazines J’aime, Affinity and Country Child through to women’s weekly Bella. By tapping into the national mood Claire was able to generate press coverage, enjoy an extended retail presence and expand her brand awareness across the magazines’ readership.

Claire is in tune with seasonal trends, releasing her ‘tourist’ collection of designs based on iconic city locations to create products for tourists and keen travellers alike, with items such as her London inspired washbag featured in Condé Nast’s Traveller magazine. In the run up to the Christmas boom, Claire saw her hairbrush range featured in Red’’s 2021 December Gift Guide.

Claire identified and targeted magazine placement as an important part of her consumer marketing plan to spread brand awareness to an extensive readership representing a broad selection of potential customers. Her media presence in consumer as well as industry magazines has also spread word of her brand across the licensing community, in turn helping Larkshead to generate partnership opportunities and further expand her distribution base.