Odd Animal Corals & Critters
http://www.oddanimalcorals.com
During the pandemic of 2020, I started a blog about my one of my greatest passions, reef keeping. The blog evolved over the course of a year from live interview with industry experts to my very own live coral shop. I did everything from the graphic/web design, social media content creation/management as well as the actual business side of things mainly by myself, all while growing and maintaining live animals from the ocean.
As you can see from the image above this is a brand that means business. To start I needed a foundation, a website, so I developed a WordPress website from the ground up. This site included but was not limited to functioning gift cards, multiple product categories, easy to navigate UI, functioning coupon codes, Mail Chimp integration and best of all, I made it easy to use so my partners who have no web experience at all could easily log on and manage products, shipments and payments.
However strong my online model was, I also wanted to create an awesome in person presence. My shop is a little 200 square foot room in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara so what better way to market it then a “speak easy” of coral. I created a sticker campaign and plastered the streets leaving tales of intrigue and mystery around town. Then when people would go to the other pets stores in town asking what is Odd Animal they were then presented with a card that aloud them to make an appointment and obtain the address.
As my customer validation and data collection continued I soon discovered a need for more physical products to accompany my coral. Above to the left is an anemone box made in collaboration with PNW Customs and to the right are 3M reflective American Apparel tees that I conceptualized and designed.
After 6 months we became profitable and gained a lot of attention from local media. I was featured on NPR, The Sentinel, Casa Magazine and The Voice. What we were doing I was doing was revolutionary and after a year I needed to upgrade our space. I rented a new retail location in Goleta, an upgrade to 1000sq feet in which I did ground up remodel. From design to construction the whole thing was completed by me with help only from two of my business partners.
Article from the Sentinel
Grand opening of our new location. Video by the Aquatic Reef Guru.
My absolute favorite project I did was in partnership with Make-A-Wish. In which we worked with a young cancer survivor to donate a $13k aquarium to the Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara. The picture above was the night we put the first fish in and did a clinic for all the kids, teaching them all about the importance of coral and fish in the world.
rmhdesigns.com 