Discovering an Identity
Project Overview
Project Brief
As a recent graduate, I wanted to create a distinct brand that would not only advertise my skills as a professional graphic designer and photographer but also capture my creative and whimsical nature.
For this project I needed to design a unique brand name that is not purely Alicia Brechin, and create a PDF with my full visual identity.
Tools & Skills:
Milanote for project organization, Illustrator and InDesign for project delieverables, and Wix for the implementing the new brand identity into a portfolio website.
Role:
Designer and Client
3 Weeks
Timeline:
#Graphic Design #Visual Identity #Personal Project
Discovery of Design Problem
This project came about through a LinkedIn Learning challenge. The design challenge was focused on creating an advertisement for yourself; however, in the process of answering the branding questions, I realized I could use this design for my step into the Graphic Design world.
I had come up with the brand Spark Photography; however, I had never designed a full brand before. The design problem was to create a full brand image, asking what the tone and mood of the brand was, the name of the brand, the logo for the brand, brand colors, imagery we would use, and the typography.
To start, I focused on creating a creative brief and a client moodboard before I began generating ideas.
Design Process
Testing Phases
Name Generation
This was extremely difficult because while I came up with several names such as Design Nova, there were companies of the same name doing similar things. I finally landed on the first name I generated which was Brechin Designs.
Color Testing
Next it was testing the color palette, and since I am a visual worker I focused on mood boards and testing on website wire frames. However, this color palette changed when I got feedback from friends and family.
Type Testing
This was by far the hardest thing to test and narrow, not only because I could only work with limited font options on Wix but also because I wanted to create a dynamic logo. I was looking for professional contemporary font that also hinted whimsy found on it's sister website of Spark Photography .
Mood, Tone, and Imagery
If type was the hardest thing to test, Mood, Tone and Imagery was the easiest. Mood and Tone would reflect myself and the imagery would come from the sister website Spark Photography (Macro shown to the right).
Final Design
The final color palette ended up being shades of blue, white and black, and I have loved the way the font came out. Through this process I figured out the mood of my personal brand, and how to incorporate that into type. This website is part of the final design because it incorporates all the elements laid out here.
Results
This website is the biggest result of this project, but to finish the design I created a style guide (click on the cover to check it out) that I can use on future projects. Overall I am hoping to see greater reception of my work now that I have a consistent brand image I plan on using.
