We recently connected with Travis Bird and have shared our conversation below.

Travis, appreciate you joining us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

Discovering a name that fits just right is a very difficult task. There are many things you must take into consideration and plan for the future of how you present yourself or want to be seen. In our case we wanted something personal for our business that is why my wife and I settled on “The Laughing Crow”. We wanted something playful and creative but with a pinch of us in it. We settled on something of an anagram or palindrome made from our last names Bird and Kackley so the Cackling Bird becomes The Laughing Crow.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Becoming an artist was something that seemed second nature to me since a very young age, it was something that I enjoyed and felt I could be truly great at. I practiced nearly my entire life to achieve the skills I needed to bring my creations to life. I got started making stickers and prints for a very simple reason. I didn’t set out to make money or become popular but because I wanted something no one else had to offer. I found myself staring at products online that were good but never quite hit the mark and I found myself wanting more. I also wasn’t complacent with just giving up either so I set out to make my own products and designs.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

No one is born an artist it is something that is learned just like any other skill. Exploration, Practice, and Resilience are key to being successful. You must explore everything, all mediums and techniques, finding the right ones takes time and practice. Practice helps you figure out which ones are easy and which are difficult, not all journeys are with out road bumps. Which is why you need to be resilient, making art is difficult and not easy. An athlete hones a skill to perfection through training for countless hours so do artist just in different ways.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Finding your niche is very important and without the support of your community you will struggle to find your voice. I found mine in a very unlikely place but they shared the same needs as myself. There was no one making art that we wanted and that was something said often, so I started listening. I talked with our friend group about what was available to us currently and who provided it, what were they doing right and wrong. In one case our pet meet up group wanted stickers of various dog breeds but nothing was available except generic or very simplistic designs of low or poor quality. I had the skills needed so I set out to make a product that we wanted with the quality that was necessary to our needs. My designs were meet with overwhelming support and enthusiasm because I had taken the time to build bonds with my community and listen to what they wanted.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.travisallenbird.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.laughing.crow/
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/travisallenbird
• Other: https://thelaughingcrow13.etsy.com

Image Credits
Mason Potter