Inn the Beginning
When I was a boy, my friends and I would hang out in my parents’ garage. We played games, we sang inordinate amounts of Bruce Springsteen, we generally had lots of good, clean fun. It was all very “That 70s Show”, with legal alcohol playing the part of less-legal weed, and no foreign exchange students. They weren’t a thing where I grew up.
We named the garage “Mark’s Inn” (as if my family were stupid enough to give 19-year-old me any kind of ownership of a part of their home), which gave us the air of being an establishment. Phrases like “Are we going back to The Inn?” became part of everyday vernacular. Facebook events were created and innvites were sent out. We really started to go overboard with inn-related wordplay. It was inncredibly inntertaining to us.
You get the gist.
When I grew up and became a designer, it felt natural to carry on the Inn’s legacy.
I’d already been using the title as a username for various things over the years, so it made sense. Mark’s Inn had always been where I had the most fun, where we made memories, where we tried to make cocktails following dodgy, early-internet recipes.
So, without asking my friends’ permission, I turned it into a brand and started designing, making and trading under it. The Inn was always a safe space, a place of freedom, where anything goes. Sure, that used to mean there was no judgement in hearing The Strokes, Kelly Clarkson and the Predator soundtrack all in one night, but now it means I can draw daft pictures, design cool logos and build fun animations.
It’s all pretty innspirational, really.
