Branding

Brief: To create a personal brand including a monogram, visual marque, wordmark and a set of brand guidelines.

The Process

Spider diagrams

The first step in creating my personal brand was 'Getting to Know myself'. This was an essential part of the process because I needed to know what kind of personal brand I wanted to make, and in order to create a successful and reliable brand I needed to know who I am as a person. I strarted with some spider diagrams and strategy questions on my strengths and weaknesses.

I also figured out who I want to be and what I want my brand to be through work banks. This was very helpful and aided me in understanding key words that I will include in this personal brand.

Brand Values

Monogram



To begin thinking about my monogram I decided to sketch out 55 different monograms. This was very helpful and a great way to get my initial ideas down on paper. I came up with these ideas fairly quickly because I wanted to create as many as possible. In doing this I was able to then select my favourite ones.
Creating my Monogram

I still hadn't found my perfect monogram, so I tried experiemtneing with circles. I chose circles because I liked the meaning behind the shape - the infinite, never-ending, reliable conotations. I was playing around with circles and placed them in an interesting position, traced it and then that made my monogram. I was pleasantly surprised at how this turned out and love the continuous line.
Iterations

When I finally found the perfect shape I then created lots of iterations, to see if I could achieve something better to something different. Iterations were very helpful in this project because it let me see my monogram in a new light each time. These sketches helped me get my desired shape and made me aware that the method of circles works best.

The Method

This is the method I came up with using circles in Adobe Illustrator. I wanted an easy form to follow and trace, so my monogram would look slick and clean. I think this method works really well and had been trailed many times before the final one was made. I like the idea that there is a process to making my monogram and that there is a reason behind it.
Final Monogram


My final monogram would be produced in red or white. I chose these colours because they are the colours of my brand and I personally think that the red, in particular, really brings my monogram to life. I love how my monogram turned out and believe that without the method it would not have been possible. I crafted this in Adobe Illustrator.

Wordmark

Sketching ideas
‍
The next step was to create a word mark to go along side of my monogram. My goal was to create a word mark that reflected my monogram nicely, continuing that un-broken line. So I took to paper to sketch out my ideas. I felt that sketching on dotted paper allowed me to be very precise and get the feel for the letter shapes, the rounded edges were easier to create with the help of the dots.

Digitising Wordmark

Colour

Choosing a colour was tricky but I finally found the perfect combination. The red and white perfectly sums up my brand, bold, fun and creativity.

The red reflects the words I chose to describe my brand and I think that I

Brand in Use

To see how my brand would look like on merchandise I had to test it out. I found some mockup items that I could use, I varied the colour of my monogram between red and white to see the difference. In my opion the red on white works better but it was very fun to experiment with items and colours of my monogram. It was also fun to see my own brand on everyday items!

Imagery

The next step was to create imagery for my brand. I wanted to create a fun and creative alternative for imagery, using circles and everyday objects. I chose bright objects that I could mold into my monogram.

I began by sketching out ideas of what this imagery would look like, this was helpful with positioning. I wanted to create my monogram with interesting and innovative objects so I could use the images for external things for my brand, for example business cards.

Putting It All Together

Challenges

The hardest part for me when creating my own brand was trying to get my monogram right. I feel that the monogram is such a vital bard of any brand, because normally it is the first thing someone sees. I wanted it to be eye-catching, unique and also reflect my own personal values. Once I got the technical shape right then I feel the rest fell into place. Another challenge I faced was crafting my wordmark, it had to be similar to my monogram and have the same feel to it. It was hard to cut out the letters precisely on Adobe Illustrator but in the end the result was worth it.
Reflection

Overall, this project was a longer process than any other one I have completed. I think it is because it is for myself - my own personal brand. So it had to be perfect, I also feel that this is something that I will always continue to work on and change, because as a person I will grow and change too. My favourite part of making my brand was creating my monogram in objects like sweets and paperclips, this was a fun and innovative part of the project and something that reflects my creative side. I liked seeing this all come together because there was lots of iterations, set backs and trials within this project but in the end I am happy with each part of my brand.