Vowels Suck

"a logo isn't a brand unless it's on a cow."

someone told me this in 2010. i was helping re-open 200 Peachtree Street, a former Macy's department store in downtown Atlanta turned event center and coworking space.

since then i've thought a lot about branding. what it means, how to build one. working later at Red Bull i recall a marketing exercise we did in Miami, hours before kicking off Flugtag. "if Red Bull were a teenager, he'd be the first one to try smoking and the first one to quit."

i can't describe TRMNL's brand in words. that is for you to determine. i can only influence it, communicating what we stand for between the lines of everyday interactions with customers, code, the universe.

but i can say that we plan to be here for awhile. too many people have told us how TRMNL makes their morning routine a bit less hectic. their kids' lunch planning a bit easier. their life a little bit better. our survival is therefore a moral imperative.

and what better way to demonstrate this conviction than with sacrifice? not composed of adjectives, new features, or a pledge. although those are nice too. but with cold, hard cash?

introducing trmnl.com

this Christmas season we gifted ourselves trmnl.com. previously operated by a wonderful logistics company, i kept this multi-month project a secret from everyone including the core team. though admittedly it was fun to taunt them with speculation. sorry dudes.

to make this a reality i want to thank our new friend and partner Rob Schutz from Snagged.com. couldn't have done it with you.

so what does this mean?

a domain isn't a brand

moving to trmnl.com has both immediate and long-term benefits.

• fewer keystrokes
• easier to find us

but most of all: it means there's only 1 Coca-Cola.

TRMNL is here to make a difference. committing to our brand means burning the boats. there is no plan B, there will be no company pivots. you will not find us on the shelves at Costco.

while we wait for a Pepsi to keep us on our toes, customers are already doing a great job. you let us know when we make a mistake. and i trust you'll keep us accountable going forward.

it's (still) all about you

to celebrate this brand upgrade, today we're introducing an easy way to upgrade your own branding.

introducing Tailor.

ever wanted to see your own splash screen or loading icon on your device? now you can.

announcement: https://trmnl.com/blog/introducing-tailor/
get started: https://tailor.trmnl.com

things to know

if you're a developer building on TRMNL, previous API endpoints should continue working. but we encourage you to switch your base URI to trmnl.com instead of usetrmnl.com.

if you're a happy customer sharing your referral link, that should also continue working. but it may be in your best interest to update usetrmnl.com?ref=jimmy to trmnl.com?ref=jimmy for aesthetics.

if you're reading this because you're curious how much it cost, i hear you barking big dog. but we don't kiss and tell.

thank you to everyone for making this possible.