The Beava Blog
Inaugural Post!
Behind the Design: the Beava Divas.
Let's preface this with the name of our audacious enterprise. When Jessica and I were discussing our prospective brand, we knew we wanted to embrace our Canadian-ness. It is 2026, and our downstairs neighbour's place is in utter disarray -- politically. Both of us agree with our P.M., Mark Carney, that the world order and relationships are changing.
Just as we were as "elbows up" as we could reasonably be given our respective budgets, we hoped to steer away from American suppliers, etc., at least until this multi-year tantrum ends. We figured we'd have some Canadiana type products as well.
So began my "insert phrase into Google and see how much it's used" endeavour, and we chose "Beava Tales". "Beava" to rhyme with "Diva" (an old nickname of mine), and an "IYKYK" reference to "Beaver Tails", the delicious pastry we'd like to think is ours. "Tales" because we have stories to tell, as will our clothes.
Of course, as women, Jessica and I um, have, "beavers", so I decided we would be represented by two silly looking beavers. I hadn't thought of "us" as the logo until I finished. So here is a breakdown of our beavers...
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Jessica is vertically privileged. I am more attuned to gravity.
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Fur colours: Jessica is white; I am ethnically Chinese. I didn't want to make a yellow beaver, so I chose a darker version of the colour I turn when I tan. Apparently, according to my daughter, my skin turns a "McDonalds chick nuggie" colour. So, the taller beava is of a pinker hue.
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The black newsboy caps. Funnily enough, April has gotten more hand-me-downs (literally) from Jessica than anyone else in her lifetime. She has enthusiastically taken a few black and one grey newsboy cap because apparently Jessica's noggin was too big for them. During the winter, when we were walking Kya, best doggo ever, I noticed that we were "twinning" in our awesome hats pretty much every time the weather was cold. I figured the beavas should rock those trademark caps.
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My eyelashes are alleged. Barely discernible. I mean, I have armpit hair growth longer than my eyelashes. It's tragic. Jessica has pretty long ones. When we met in law school, if we had ever ended up stranded on a desert island with only one cosmetic each, hers would have been mascara. Mine would have been liquid eyeliner. My winged eyeliner had been legendary in my high school.
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Jessica doesn't smile "with teeth". April smiles a lot "with teeth".
I have to say, as I have been "dressing up" the logo for upcoming events (Pride, Canada Day), I have gotten quite attached to our little beavas. I think they are ridiculous, but accurately depict their real life counterparts.