Middle Row Forge.
The Challenge
Tucked away amid the rugged, long-disputed border lands of rural Cumbria, you'll find Middle Row Forge, where, day and night, Richard Halbert toils making high-quality bespoke ironwork and tools the pre-industrial way.
Richard is just one link in a long chain that stretches back thousands of years into the past.
And as one of only a handful of traditional blacksmiths still plying their trade today, he’s determined to preserve its ancient history and traditions while giving it a distinctly 21st century twist.
When we partnered with Middle Row Forge, Richard (figuratively) threw the gauntlet thrown-down; he wanted to catapult the brand, and the business, from the iron age into the modern one.
1.0 Brand Strategy
Before we started, the life of a blacksmith was no more that a vague curiosity. So, what better way to immerse ourselves than by spending a day down at the forge? As day turned to dusk, we traipsed home, bedraggled and sore, but with an immense sense of pride in our day’s work.
It was clear we needed to draw inspiration from across the making process - the bit you often don’t see - and from the man himself.
You see, Richard is a larger-than-life character with a boundless love of his craft. Understand the him and you’ll understand the intrinsic beauty and integrity of the objects he makes.
2.1 Brand Design (colour & type)
From apprentice to master, blacksmiths learn to gauge the temperature of hot metal by eye. The names might vary, but it’s the colours don’t. That’s what counts, not the precise temperature.
With such an elemental colour palette baked into the art, we didn’t have too look far. From a beautiful Coal Blue through to Light Cherry (810°c, since you asked) and Brilliant White (1205°c, the hottest steel gets before burning), we adore this combination.
When searching for the perfect typeface, we needed something that closely represented Richard and Middle Row Forge. And while he wouldn’t entertain anything so ostentatious down at the forge, if he had a philosophy, it would be ‘made to last’.
So when we landed on ‘Sailors’, we knew we’d hit the bespoke typeface bullseye: honest, hard-wearing, and totally sound.
2.2 Brand Design (identity)
Building on Middle Row Forge’s much-loved ‘hammer and anvil’ logo, we wanted to refresh things while staying true to its history.
We replaced a faintly brittle-looking serif typeface with Sailors, which instantly elevated the mark, giving a hard-wearing, modern vintage vibe.
Finally, we brought it together by adding a gritty texture across the logo, creating a contemporary evolution that retains the heart and indomitable soul of the original.
3.0 Web Design
We identified four core pillars to unlock future growth and bring Middle Row Forge to the attention of a wider audience:
Attract private commissions we wanted to create a showcase for the pick of Richard’s seriously impressive portfolio, each accompanied with a compelling narrative from conception to installation.
Break from tradition by promoting and selling blacksmith classes direct-to-consumers (DTC) instead of relying on commission-based third-party ‘experience’ websites.
Classes had long acted as a ‘gateway’ for customers into the world of Middle Row Forge, and we decided to double-down, launching an online store for strictly limited edition products at more accessible price points.
Finally, and arguably most importantly, we were dead set on taking back ownership of customer data, free of the vagaries of social media platforms and start to nurture meaningful, unmediated relationships.
So, how did we do? Well, since launch, Middle Row Forge has been on quite the tear.
Class sales have taken off, with gift cards, in particular, going through the roof. What’s more, by raising the proportion of DTC sales from 20% to >65% (and climbing), Middle Row Forge retains roughly an extra quarter from each transaction. Pretty sweet.
Record-breaking private commissions have been secured from new clients across the UK & Europe and, save for an untimely axe-sharpening injury (blacksmiths, huh) causing stock shortages, online store trade continues to crank-up.
How much is down to us? It’s hard for us to say but, hold up, Richard can…
Client Testimonial ↗
… looks great, is easy to use, and allows me to put my best foot forward as a maker and creator.
I could not be happier with the website made for me by Qubit Creations.
From start to finish, the entire process was made easy by Dan's cheerful approach to his work, insightful observations and ideas in regards to everything from aesthetics, to content, to how the site should function.
Already the new site has helped to open my eyes to new ways about how to develop my business moving forward.
It looks great, is easy to use and allows me to put my best foot forward as a maker and creator.
