Starfall Branding: Part I
My camera has been taken from me to Des Moines for the week. You’ll have to excuse the lack of pictures. I’ve begun the process of branding my company. It’s actually really exciting to think about what the company means to me, what it will mean to my potential customers and my focus. I’ve been going through activities during this process, some great design blogs that are focused more on web-design and graphic design have been inspirational and incredibly helpful during this time. I’ve decided that my own branding process needed to feel really organic to me. There’s plenty of guides on creating a brand but I felt that I needed to combine a little bit of everything that I found.
One of my favorite references on the topic of branding at the moment is from Lealea.net her site is gorgeous and I’ve really enjoyed some of her tips in her blog. I read over her series; “The Art of Self-Branding” and utilized the worksheet at the end. One big trouble I’ll have is pretending to have amnesia. I’m going to try it tonight though on a friend I’ve known since Middle School. I know he’ll be honest but at the same time will use tact if there’s a negative adjective he thinks describes me.
I’ve also tried to think of this branding process as an opportunity in conceptual design. Before I even take the natural route through Lealea’s worksheet and process I started to think about inspiration concepts. Project Runway has been a huge influence on my design brain. The critique that is shown on the show is something I have not encountered in my life thus far. I think that I’ve become better at thinking about why I do something or why my fiance does something creative from a whole new viewpoint.
I asked Sal what he thinks of when he hears the term; “Starfall.”
- The intersection of sky and earth
- Color palette; browns, greens, blues, purples, pinks
- Not just about the sky, the star must “fall”
I’ve been thinking to myself what I see when I hear the term;
- Romance
- Purples, pinks, parchment (similar to the brown from Sal’s description)
- Shooting stars, horizontal rather than falling
I took my thoughts and his, realized that I hadn’t been properly thinking about the second half of my word all this time. I still haven’t come to a place with colors (more on this part later) but it made me really think conceptually about how I’d like my site to look and feel.
Always loving the grungy sites and sites with collage type work I’ve been focusing on combining those looks with a clean feel and I think I’m overdoing the process. Color wise, I’ve thought about dark backgrounds but then, I’d love to be able to check my site at work and a dark background is not as accessible as a lighter background.
Moving past the first concept, I’m also thinking of where I am now with Starfall and where I’d like to be in the future.
Now:
- Jewelry (Mostly earrings)
- Blog (not updated often)
Soon:
- Necklaces
- Earrings
- Bracelets
- Bags, purses
- Sewing
- Clothing!
- Blog updated often!
Part of what I’m looking to convey is “The whole look.” I want jewelry, a bag, accessories and maybe even to make some clothes. Not crazy designer clothes but I’m very interested in going through a complete process and designing a full outfit.
Some of the soon to come list will be easier than others. Clothing, sewing and purses; there’s a lot of technical skill that I’m not familiar with. I love learning though and what a better time to learn than the age of the internet. Want to know what a basting stitch is and be shown a video on how to do it? YouTube. Fantastic!
So, question of the day. If you’re interested, I’m curious what my readers think when they hear the word Starfall.