Converse
During my character designs and also in one of the key scenes in the novel, an interesting thing came up. The character was wearing a pair of converse, this is based on some aesthetic reasoning but also because it works well in the scene I just referred to. I wondered if I should change it to a similar looking trainer or stick with a branded product. I decided to stick with my initial sketches, mainly because I knew that if I needed reference material it would be no problem! Also, it will change how some people read it, because of brand associations and within the context of the story I knew that would work to my advantage. Anyway, I contacted Converse just to see what their policy was and was told that it was fine to go ahead. Hurrah.