A Chat With Brandstack Founder Wes Wilson

Wes Wilson is a former banker and entrepreneur whose vision for cutting the cost of "briefing" in brand development, gave birth to Brandstack. Launched in early 2008, Brandstack [formerly known as Incspring] is a brand marketplace where designers from all around the world offer unused brand concepts or specially researched and developed brands for sale to small and medium businesses. It is a first of its kind brand shop where designers set their own price and can interact one-on-one with buyers, having designed logos with complete creative freedom and not having dealt with client obstacles and numerous revisions. In just a few months, Wes’s vision caught on like wildfire on the internet and Brandstack saw a surge of growth on both levels, the designers and the buyers. Wes recently rebranded, changing the name of the start-up from Incspring to Brandstack, to encompass a nuclear set of services and add-ons that would compliment the brand buying and selling process.

As Brandstack grew in size and popularity, first came the accolades and then as expected, the controversies. Over the months, there have been loyal patrons of the website, designers who understand what Brandstack offers and then there are the hecklers on the sidelines. Wes, a family man through and through takes it all in his stride, the glory and the boos. In my numerous interactions with him over the months, I find that he always has time to address concerns, he listens and evolves. That is an admirable trait in my opinion. With Brandstack, he has opened up a new chapter in how we perceive buying brand designs. Quite frankly I am amazed that such a concept was not done sooner, extremely interesting and different; but it has now and we have Wes Wilson to thank for it. Today he answers some though provoking questions regarding Brandstack and its recent rebranding. He also gives us a sneak peek at what lies in store in Brandstack’s near future.

Wes Wilson With Family

Thank You for joining us today Wes and taking the time to talk about Brandstack and your personal life.

Who is Wes Wilson for people that don’t know him? Share with us his personal side.
I’m a homebody for the most part. I have three kids (Hunter, 6; Parker, 4; and Hadley, 3) that keep me entertained and occupied. We spend a lot of time playing Wii and watching movies. They’re big into swing sets, trampolines, bikes, scooters and anything with wheels, so we’re always busy. I am happily married, getting ready to hit our 8-year anniversary. Something most people don’t know about me… I used to compete internationally as a speed skater. I probably couldn’t skate a mile in the shape I’m in today, but I did set a national record in ‘95. I used to race against a lot of the Olympic athletes out there now, but can’t say I remember beating any of them.

Who is Wes Wilson, the entrepreneur? The businessman?
Ha! You might be the first person that’s asked me that.  I never really see myself as a businessman, but I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit and I always thought design would be involved. I graduated with a degree in entrepreneurship and have started several businesses in the past. I actually taught myself design because I couldn’t afford to hire anyone to design my logos and websites for those businesses. I fell into banking about 10 years ago, which paid the bills but it didn’t necessarily fulfill my creative side. So I took my design “skills” and freelanced during that time. I always thought being a freelance designer was my calling. Unfortunately, I’ve come to realize I’m not very good at it!

Tootie Logo Designed By Wes Wilson

Where did the idea for Brandstack originate?
The one thing I always recognized when doing freelance work was how much of my time was wasted on clients. I know that sounds bad, but stay with me. Obviously they were paying so they should get what they wanted. Like most other designers, though, I was usually left with concepts that I liked better and it frustrated me. One day I was reading the paper at the bank about a husband and wife trying to sell premade identities that they created and the idea hit me like a ton of bricks. Why not put the two together?

Brandstack was originally Incspring. Tell us a bit about Incspring and the theory behind the rebranding. It was a bold move having established yourself on the internet. Were you not worried about losing out with a name change?
This one is tough to swallow, honestly. First, I’ll tell you why the name was changed. I was always a fan of the name IncSpring and it made perfect sense for the short-term. For the long-term the name was flawed. I found myself constantly saying “I…N…C, not INK” when people asked about the site. Some will debate me on this, but the name also wasn’t descriptive enough. If we were a pure social network or consumer based product I think it would be ok, but we’re trying to reach small businesses and freelancers all over the world. A descriptive name is vital when trying to reach that market. There’s also the fact that we’re so close in name to CrowdSpring and since we entered a similar market around the same time, I wanted to avoid the comparison. Was I worried about the name change? Of course! Every once in a while I get a bug in my stomach that makes me think twice, but I’m glad Brandstack is here now. It’s a solid, recognizable name that has plenty of room to grow.

Logos For Sale On Brandstack

What happens at Brandstack on a regular manic Monday? Take us through some of the workings of The Stack and how the gears move behind the scenes.
On Monday morning there’s usually a lot of goofing around! We seem to ease into the week by catching up on the weekend and chatting about random tv shows. Once that’s out of our system we tackle the daily customer inquiries, design upload approvals, and the like. We’re working on some new features and trying to improve existing ones so a lot of time is spent brainstorming, planning, writing, and wire framing.  Throughout the day we hit up Mario Cart on the office Wii (I’m undefeated if anyone asks.)

Every now and again Brandstack pops up in a heated twitter discussion or on a blog or some forum for all the wrong reasons. Being the creator of this unique website, it must be hard on you. How do you deal with it? What would you tell people who only find flaws and overlook some of the finer and positive attributes of the website?
I used to get really hurt by critiques since Brandstack and the concept is my “baby”, but over time I’ve learned to get a lot of positive out of them. The concept is disruptive, there’s no doubt about that, so there will always be detractors. Now I just try to find ways we can improve on what were doing to turn the negative comments into positives.

Being constantly compared with Crowd sourcing websites can be tiresome. How fine do you think the line is between one of those websites and Brandstack? What makes Brandstack different? And what do you strive at to make that gap wider everyday?
The biggest difference with crowd sourcing models and Brandstack is that all participating designers can benefit from Brandstack’s model. With most crowd sourcing efforts there is one “client” and several “contributors”. That normally leads to one “winner” and several “losers”. With Brandstack there isn’t an open or close date, so your work can be purchased at anytime. If it works as planned, everyone’s designs will sell and everyone will “win”.

Domains For Sale On Brandstack

What new things are happening at Brandstack? Can you give us a sneak peek at what is store for all patrons of the website? Plans? Ideas?
Of course! We have a ton of new features in the works. The first of these will come very soon! We’re in the process of rebuilding our Community section to try and create a place for designers to meet, mingle and learn from each other. We are completely remaking our blog, forums and chat rooms so they are more stable. We’re also working on a couple of cool online events, a unique brand management tool and a few other goodies I’ll save for later.

What is your driving force in all of this? What is the single most thing you love about Brandstack?
The thing I love the most? On my personal side, it has to be the relationships I’ve built. I’ve been able to meet a ton of cool people through Brandstack and hope that part continues! My driving force for the site itself is that Brandstack will one day be seen as the catalyst behind building prominent brands. When you let designers truly be creative, without client restrictions, and combine that with Brandstack’s buying process, we will see some incredible identities in the near future.

What kind of logos do you like the most? Can you share with us your all time favorite logo?
I’m a sucker for designs that look simple to people not in the design industry, even though we all know how difficult it is to create something clean and creative. Those designs give me the impression they will stand the test of time. For example, I’m a fan of FedEx and its use of negative space. I’m ashamed to say I just recently became a fan of the Amazon logo. Their ability to convey so many messages in one mark is astounding to me!

"Selling" On Brandstack

5 websites that you visit every single day.
Wall Street Journal, Twitter, Logopond, Smashing Magazine, and TechCrunch. If you twisted my arm for a sixth, I would throw in Brandstack.

If you weren’t at work or doing more work at home, what would we find you doing?
If I had more time in the day you could find me on the golf course, but I usually don’t have 4 hours to kill. Free time is family time for me.

"Buying" On Brandstack

In what place do you find inspiration? Where do you do all your thinking?
Almost all of my thinking time takes place in the middle of the night. I usually get a flash of an idea as I’m falling asleep. Then I spend hours trying to hash it out or I can’t go back to sleep. The true test is whether or not it makes sense in the morning!

Tell us 10 things you want to achieve personally and professionally in the coming 10 years.
If I can do the things needed so that my family is comfortable and my kids are loved, then I’ll call the next 10 years a success.

Thanks for the interview Sneh!

And Thank You Wes, we wish you the very best with Brandstack and all your future endeavors. It was great to have you on the blog!

Visit Brandstack for all your branding needs, whether you are a designer looking to make an extra buck or a business owner in need for an identity or just plain curious. Wes Wilson can also be found on Twitter @Brandstack