There's lots of chocolate to be found at u-ni-k

Did you know it's National Chocolate week (like we needed an excuse!). Well we celebrate chocolate every day at u-ni-k.

OK I could fill this page with lots of lovely chocolate recipes but I thought I'd take the opportunity to talk a little bit about branding. No no no... don't run off.. it's an important part of starting a business. I promise to add in a chocolate recipe as well.

Branding is important. You never get a second chance to make a first impression. So how you name and brand your company should mean that people understand who you are and exactly what your company is about in a first glance.

Now when starting out u-ni-k, Anna and I spent many months discussing names before coming up with u-ni-k. Not that we were sure about u-ni-k, we knew we wanted to incorporate Ida and Kathryn in the name somehow and I'd penciled in InK but InK didn't tell people who we were and what we were about in that first impression. [Sam of course was still a twinkle in the eyes of his parents so we didn't have to try for the S... or we could have been Sink!]

So here are the questions we asked ourselves [taken from our meeting minutes]:

Create a fictional bio for your brand / company. What are they like? What values does it have?

What does your brand want from life? What are their motivations? What bugs them? What’s important? 

Trigger the right connections, what words are going to trigger a response from your future customers?

What brands would our future customers already trust?

Is there anything we can “borrow” from these brands?

ABOVE ALL ELSE: Be focused and specific: a company or product that tries to satisfy everyone, satisfies no one.

So here we are, an online resource for unique children's gifts, called u-ni-k gifts. Did we succeed in naming our company correctly? Are you aware of who we are and what we do? Are our values clear? Do drop us a line and let us know how we did, we're always happy for some feedback.

What happened to the chocolate I promised you?! Oh yes, this is the more subtle part of our branding. We don't have the word 'Children' in our company name, OK so we have it as part of our strap line but we don't use our strap line very much. So where's the reference to children?

Instant chocolate mess?
Just add a grandparent!

Ever wondered where the u-ni-k chocolate hand is from? A lot of thought went into that colour. If a child mixes all the paints together – what colour is formed? If a child squeezes together all the play doh or plasticine? What colour do you get?

Anyone who has a little person in their life or has given a small child a square of chocolate will be more than familiar with the u-ni-k colour. Yes, those chocolate handprints would remind any parent or grandparent of a time when there were lots of brown handprints to be found all over the house!

So I used Kathryn's handprints & footprints from when she was 3months old and used photoshop to colour them that lovely chocolate brown!

To celebrate chocolate here's my favourite chocolate brownie recipe:

250g butter

200g dark chocolate

80g coco powder (or hot chocolate powder)

65g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

360g caster sugar

4 large eggs

Heat oven to 180C

Grease and line a baking tray

Melt the chocolate and butter (you can do this in a microwave or in a bowl over simmering water – results are the same).

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.

Add the chocolate / butter mix to the bowl and mix

Beat the eggs and add them to the bowl

Mix well – leave some lumps and bumps if you like.

Pour them into the tray and bake for about 25mins.

ENJOY!

PS

You can add nuts if you like but then they are not so baby friendly!

The Magical World of Grandparents....

Grandparents are made of chocolate. How else do you explain how your child is instantly covered in warm brown dribbly chocolate within minutes of seeing a grandparent?! Both then instantly become the centre of attention for every wasp within a 2 mile radius. Mum's have to magic up some wet wipes, a bin for used wet wipes and perhaps a change of clothes before more fun can be had. And boy, with Grandparents, there is definitely more fun to be had.

Grandparents are full of ideas and enthusiasm to keep their grandchild(ren) as happy (spoilt) as possible. “Oooh come and have a look at this, [insert name of grandchild/grandchildren here] will love this!” and off they totter to the nearest china shop with porcelain dolls /pet shop with puppies / Steiff bear shop with large teddies at 100s of bucks/euros/pounds a piece [delete choices as appropriate]. The chocolate covered [last wet wipe session has worn off] grandchild does indeed think it is great, as sticky handprints provide a gingerbread trail for the Mummy to follow.

So imagine my trepidation yesterday when Oompa Grampa said 'I've phoned my friend Markus and he'll open up his wood workshop for us, you'll like this”. I had several images flash before my eyes, most of which were of beautiful carvings all covered in little chocolate handprints and a stern German man asking us to leave his farm before he lets out the dogs. GULP, did I pack enough wet wipes for this holiday?

We drove through the Teutoberg Forrest to a large farm building built in the 1800s and still looking very agricultural. The authentic cobblestones leading to the barn doors were a handful for the toddling DangerBaby but holding on to Oompa's hand we were able to step over the old fashioned threshold into a brightly lit modern workshop.

We were warmly welcomed by a lovely lady who spoke some of our language (not that strange OompaLand one) and she opened up a small stable to the side for DangerBaby to go and have a look. This small stable resembled an elven workshop preparing for Christmas... it was the place of dreams! Rocking horses, xylophones, dolls prams, cookers, bikes, decorations... A world of wooden play heaven for one little girl. Toys on shelves and on the floor, all lovingly handmade in wood and waiting to be played with.

We were trying to take it all in, when in walks the grey haired Markus – complete with spectacles to complete the 'Father Christmas' look of his workshop (minus the beard as it is Summer!). Within 5 minutes my daughter was sat on the floor playing with a wooden horse making purring sounds. Much to the amusement of Markus and Britta.

Both Markus and Britta believe strongly that wood enriches peoples lives. They try to preserve the wood's original character in each and every product they craft, thus each piece gains a distinctive uniqueness. They still use traditional methods to carve the wood and each piece is smooth and almost warm to the touch.  Each and every piece an instant delight with our newly appointed u-ni-k chief tester (DangerBaby) and her financier (Daddy DayCare). 

Thankfully this workshop nestled in deepest darkest OompaLand has kindly agreed to supply u-ni-k gifts,  so we will be able to share some of the magical joy that these pieces have brought to our family. As Daddy DayCare said "This is what I dreamed Santa's workshop was like when I was little!". 

So dreams can come true for young and old alike, a world with Grandparents in it is truly magical indeed.