Let’s talk a little bit about branding.

I’ve been meaning to write a post about mine for a while now. It’s not completely complete, but I’d say I’m well on my way to having an established look to myself & my work. In a sense, branding is in my bones. I’ve always been a sucker for a pretty package, & although good packaging doesn’t necessarily mean a good product, I’ve learned that the wise invest in their look.  Quality products should, & usually do, come in well-designed packages. So, if you ask me, you can judge a book by its cover.

For that reason, I’ve been working for a while now on establishing a sort of “cover” to what it is that I do. What does that mean? Consistent style – coloring, cropping, content – in my work, & a way of presenting that work that says a little something about me, the creator of it. To me, branding is the bridge between who you are & what you produce. It showcases your style & preferences, which will likely also be reflected in your work, while telling, in colors & type, how, & why, you do this thing that you do.

I recruited the help of my oh-so talented college roommate, now grownup graphic designer, Kate Allen, to build mine. Below, I’m listing the core principles of it & why my type & muted tones mean more than just that. These may not be the direct reasons behind our choosing what we did to display my work, but in some form, I believe these reasons played a part in the process.

Chunky fonts. I like outrageous tennis shoe platforms & pumping up the contrast in my images. Why wouldn’t that be reflected by a bold type?

Muted colors. If you know me, you know the colors on my business cards pretty much make up the colors in my closet & the tone to my work. I don’t turn up the saturation when I’m editing photos – I don’t even look at moments bursting with color & feel enticed to capture them. I like beige. And I always, always will.

Stylish, but hopefully not fashionable. I don’t subscribe to Vogue. Instead, I’m inspired by 50-year-old photos, the colors of a 6 a.m. sunrise &, really, pretty much everything around me. I’m not interested in the must-have of the moment, because that changes. That’s not satisfying. Sometimes I might be cutting edge. That’s not on purpose. I choose what I choose because I’m drawn to it. And if it happens to be the it-trend, great. If it’s not yet, or not anymore, that’s good too. I like the roughness of cardboard & the way it takes to ink pressed into its fibers, the sound that it makes as I pull that stamp away. I like the look of vintage media equipment, because I like the way things looked in that day. I don’t like technology. I use it, but with as much ignorance as possible. I like grid design. I use a lot of lines in my photography & film. I’m a little bit girly. So I really enjoy getting-ready shots, & I use pink as one of my core colors.

This isn’t textbook theory of design. Clearly. But it’s something of the theory behind mine. Big thanks to the talented Kate Allen & my stamp maker, Tyr. Oh, & my sweet friend Amanda for modeling with her wedding dvd packages that I finally stamped & sent out today! So happy for those sweeties.