Whilst brand strategy is all very intellectually rewarding (and still our proper job!) both Jonathan and I have (a not very well hidden) artistic streak. Both having been trained as designers we have over the years maintained a strong interest and practice in drawing, painting and illustration and have a deep love of letterpress printing, pattern paper and book design. We decided to dust off the printing press and create a brand offer combining the best of today's empowering technology with our love for the smell of ink, texture of paper and satisfaction of pattern. And bring to bear our branding expertise.

Starch Green is something we love doing and gets back to our roots as artist/designers - and is an excellent exercise in developing an authentic brand and seeing if we can grow it organically with a community of customers - we like the idea of 'viral' word-of-mouth growth, responding to what our customers like best and hoping they'll become advocates. A few key drivers that we have learned from developing brands are:

While Brand Guardians consultancy carries on from strength to strength, there's a thrilling excitement about creating a new brand that is all about doing things because we like them. Listening to Start the Week on Radio 4 this morning Katie Mitchell, opera director, asked Sir Peter Hall on what basis he put his repertoire in Bath together. His answer, "The basis is entirely egocentric based on the plays I want to do and the actors I can get." Which leads me nicely to the other ingredients of branding that we hope to exploit:

I think it's fantastic. It has tapped into the mood of a nation. It's reserved retro styling, soft, aertex-like appearance, and neat tailoring sums up beautifully the nostalgia-austerity-mend and make do era that we have now entered. Rather than the gaudy go-faster stripes, chavvish cut and wealth flaunting designs of the past this kit has introduced a bespoke reserve, requiring that, as Simon Mills says in the Guardian today, "every England player's ham-sized thigh and ripped chest was measured for size." Not only is this expression of Brand England hitting the crest of the national mood wave, it's also creating a level of interest and excitement way beyond that of just watching football (if that is possible!)

As a complete sense of Englishness oozes through every fibre the three lions look better than ever and the logo of Umbro proud and relevant. Established in 1924 this English brand has been tailoring kits for the England football team for 85 years. Their approach to this season's kit is refreshing and sensitive, involving the primary customers, the team, and distilling the essence of the brand beautifully. The website announces, "Once again, Umbro brings together the traditional values of classic tailoring with modern fabric technology and a revolutionary design philosophy. The new England kit is the proud result. Honoring the past, looking forward to the future. The right shirt at the right time. Tailored by Umbro. Tailored by England."

If the welling pride and ham-sized thighs and ripped chests haven't made you feel like a lie down, watch this...

Many brands succeed by their attachment to a tribe or their ability to "find a parade", as Marty Neumeier promotes in his excellent little book 'ZAG'. Reading Tom Heuerman's latest pamphlet 'The Cultural Creatives' I see that brand Obama's success was largely due to the wave of Cultural Creatives in the US nurturing the right climate for his optimistic leadership.

Cultural Creatives have a lot of resonance with the Brand Guardians leadership. The basic values of authenticity, engaged action, idealism, globalism and ecology, and the importance of women are close to our hearts and implicit in our work. We are also highly sympathetic to the less than perfect creative process. In the article Heuerman says, "Creativity is messy and inefficient. Mistakes will be made as we move beyond our knowledge. Not all will be done well. Such is the nature of transformational change."

The thought of influential tribes and cultural leaders reminded me of the extraordinary 'Exactitudes' project by Dutch photographer Ari Versluis and profiler Ellie Uyttenbroek. Their work brings a visual analysis to ideas of individualism and identity. They were featured in an episode of 'The Culture Show' last year (which incidentally briefly shows our eldest son as a 'bonkerboy').

Perceptiveness and sensitivity to cultural tides are heightened at the moment, and essential to chart our way to a better future.