Welcome: Rebranding

Welcome to my personal website where I plan to explore all things related to design, architecture, and my personal interests.  This site doesn’t have just one purpose but many: to be a place to share thoughts and ideas, to display my portfolio, and to offer design services to build a stronger portfolio and ultimately a career that I love.

Creating this website took quite a while and quite a bit of design. Obviously I’m still working on it, but I’m quite pleased with my progress. I wanted something professional, clean, and something that represented me.  I think I succeeded while learning a lot about web design and my personal limits.  Please comment on the website and share any thoughts you may have about its layout, ease of use, and information provided.  If there is something you’d like me to write about, please ask.  I am open to exploring new topics.

In addition to a website that conveys these ideas, I needed to redesign my personal logo to match these qualities as well.

Here is a version of my old logo:

Not very good, is it?  I liked it at the time, but now I realize how “horrible” it is.  Since designing that first logo, I have learned a little more about typefaces, personal branding, and logo design.  I started by sketching out ideas in my sketchbook.  I was also trying to come up with a business name, but decided that I will represent myself in any business I may do whether that is freelance design or in the field of Architecture. I wanted a logo that was simple yet versatile.  Something that I could add to and morph for any application I may need.  I believe the logo I designed does just this.

I found this website Saffron Avenue and used her style for inspiration.  Please visit her website and look around.  She does really great work. Below you will see my personal inspiration board (similar to Saffron Avenue’s process). I first designed my logo in black and white. This allows me to choose any color I want later down the road. I have two greens on my board because green is my favorite color, especially dark green. The rest of the colors are my color pallet that I intent to employ on my website and any other print materials related to my name brand. I found the fonts from Dafont and KG Fonts. Two of them are free to use for personal or commercial use, but KG Fonts requires a license for commercial use. I have purchased a license for her “Coming Home” font. She also has a ton more options that are quite fun.

I’m still working on the social icons and the inspiration patterns. However, I choose the bookeh as a pattern because I like its simplicity and it fits my personality. I also like clean, simple lines and am still searching for an image I like.

To wrap this up, below are some of my process sketches and final variations that can be used in many applications. Please let me know what you think. I am in the process of redesigning my business cards, letterhead, resume, etc, so let me know before I get too attached to this one! I’ll post a few of them once I am finished. Thanks for reading!

*All images are of my own creation. Please do not copy without permission. Thanks.

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