I’ve been laboring under the name ‘Illustration etc’ for years now and although I spent what I thought was a long time on my branding, I’ve been wanting to kick start it for ages. Partly I want the look of my site and social media feeds to better reflect my work, but I’m also shifting from precise ink and flat digital colour to more expressive pencil and watercolour.
It feels like I’ve moved a long way in the last decade, but not so far that I have to change everything.
I’ve bored pals talking about it, talked to creative peers, looked at what other folk are doing, but I still felt like I needed more guidance. A big catalyst was attending an online branding workshop by Liz Mosley. It gave me the confidence to start thinking about redesigning my ‘brand’ again but to not completely abandon what I was already working with.
So here it is. My website is somewhat refreshed and the wee person I’ve always had as my logo is now more clearly me. I also eventually decided to keep the name ILLUSTRATION ETC as I believe it still suits what I do – I did remove the comma and full stop from it though – they have always got in the way!
I wanted to keep the azure blue I’ve always had because it speaks to me of bold blue skies, open seas and fresh thinking.
The new orange complements the blue, but even better, it’s bright, optimistic and the colour combination reminds me of ludicrous 1980s colour palettes – which I love. Obviously. I drew all the elements of the branding using colouring pencils and the wee lines and patterns you might see around the site contain elements of the new logo; blue stripes from the jumper and wee orange triangles from the earrings.
It’s been quite the undertaking – rewriting copy, moving things around, trying to ensure I’ve changed my logo and branding on EVERYTHING. It’ll be some time before everything is completely in alignment, but
I feel so much more optimistic and positive about my work and my brand.
It’s been a long time coming.
