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On the blog ...
Fear and Worry in Missouri
Here’s my little secret. I’m an awesome designer and I do great work for my clients, but the fonts and color swatches hide a fiction writer. I have stories upon stories stacked in my head. But everyday I look at my to do list and I don’t see time for writing. I worry about the stories that I’m not going to have time to write. Characters and plots circle around and I’m afraid to let them go. What if they aren’t good enough? What if there are no more stories behind those? What if, after I put them down on paper, I’m empty?
I’m working on eliminating that worry and fear. I’ve decided I don’t need hours each day to write, that I must find bits of time in my days and weeks to put my stories down on paper where they can breathe. I’m giving them the chance to be good or bad. They have that right, I think.
###I’m participating in #Reverb10 because I’m tired of hiding my writing from the world. #Reverb10’s daily prompts help me write and I’ll take all the help I can get. Today’s #Reverb10 prompt is: Writing. What do you do each day that doesn’t contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it? (Author: Leo Babauta)
Here are my questions for you: What secret passions are you hiding from the world? What are you getting out of hiding? If you came out of hiding now, what is the worst thing that could happen?
Read MoreOne Word for 2010
One Word for 2010: Adventure
In 2010 I gave up inertia. I gave up isolation. I gave up {some} fear.
I chose action. I chose reaching out to complete strangers for advice. I chose not to listen to the negative voice in my head.
I put up my website. I started my blog. I made my first video. I tweeted to people I’ve never met and may never meet.
I took a class to learn about business and met amazing, strong, fearless women who inspire me everyday to share my gifts.
I expanded my world. And I did all this without leaving my house.
My word for 2011 is: SHINE
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine!
I am participating in #Reverb10, an annual event and online initiative to reflect on your year and manifest what’s next. You should too.
Read MoreHow Visualization & Dreaming Influence Design
Case Study: Shine Creative Wellness
This is easily one of my favorite projects of the past year because the process of working with this client was just lovely.
I got to sit down with my client face-to-face and listen as she described her plans for her business in awesome detail. Then, we worked side-by-side (literally she was sitting right next to me in my office) to make that vision a reality in her branding.
Since she is a very artistic and visual person, she wanted to create a bit of her brand presence to provide inspiration while working through all the bureaucratic details of starting her business.
Prior to meeting with me, she’d spent time visualizing her wellness practice. She knew her business would be called Shine Creative Wellness. She described the type of clients she wants to serve, the colors of paint on the walls, the way the receptionist would greet clients, the smell of clary sage and the sound of the door chime. She talked about brightness, balance, connection, sunflowers, joy, royalty, growth, and simplicity.
As she was describing her business to me I could see the space coming together in my mind and feel the softness and care that would surround anyone who entered.
Because she had already put so much thought into her brand, we had a solid foundation to build upon in creating her logo and brochure.
Logo Design:
To create the logo, I scanned a sketch she had drawn of sunflower petals, then traced, refined and colorized the petals in Illustrator.
We tried several different font combinations and settled on Quicksand because it felt modern, open, clean and simple.
The color palette reflected the recurring sunflower theme with bright yellow and rich, lush purple.
Brochure Design:
I chose a stock illustration to emphasize growth and add some texture and depth to the basic tri-fold layout. I customized the illustration in Illustrator by removing the original background and adjusting the colors. We tweaked the copy she had written to make it easy to navigate and read, then added it to the InDesign layout.
Here are the results:
My client dreamed for her businesses. She visualized the future. Her dreams, her visions for her business and her willingness to share them with me all contributed to the creation of a logo that shines.
What are you dreaming of for your business? Please share in the comments or send me a tweet. @jewelsbranch
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