As our last Project this semester, we were asked to make branding for ourselves, e.g. A personal brand!
I began by answering a few questions that were being said during class, writing down who I am, What interests me, what my brand values were going to be, etc. This practice gave me more ideas on what to focus on and build my own brand from there.
After I had written down all this information that would help me shape my brand, I wrote down the tone of voice that I wanted to have.
Whenever I was done writing down the necessary information, I did the hardest part of the project, the wordmark and the Monogram logo.
I’ve never really considered my name to be aesthetically pleasing, especially my initials. I saw this as a challenge to make my initials look better than ever.
I made a few sketches trying to make my initials unique and fit the brand, I quickly fell in love with the number 6, which I ended up making the logo with. At the same time, I was working on the wordmark, which wasn’t as hard. I wanted the Wordmark and the Monogram to have the same typeface and the same style.
I quickly transferred my idea onto illustrator and began making the logo. I used the typeface I found called Adobe Caslon Pro which had the serifs and shapes I wanted in my design, to make it the way I wanted it to.
I also chose to add extra elements to make the monogram feel more like a logo, so I began by adding a dot since I wanted to play with the idea in the wordmark, I added the dot after the initials and lined it up perfectly with the f, making it look like it’s dripping. When I had added that element I chose to add another element to the brand, eg. the circle making the logo circular. I had been thinking about making another brand with a pattern, but I settled with this instead, since I felt the most comfortable with it.
I also chose my colour scheme based on my favourite colour, flower and scent, which is lavender. Lavender has an interesting use to it as well, proven to reduce stress, anxiety and depression, as well as help you sleep and relax.
I also chose my second typeface, which compliments the main typeface. It was planned in the future to have the main Font as a header whilst the secondary font is the body of the text, which I included in the brand guideline book I made.
After I had finished picking colours, making the graphics and choosing my guidelines, I went on to put my brand into action by making a few photoshop mockups on several potential touchpoints to which it could have been applied.
Whenever I had my assets I continued on by making my brand guidelines in InDesign.
The finished product is included in this document right below this text.
Personal brand – Michelle Flinkfelt