visual identity/brand/portfolio assigned reading response.

Craft, Inc.: Turn Your Creative Hobby Into a Business. Meg Mateo Ilasco. Chronicle Books LLC: 2007. pg. 86-101
Chapter 5: "Marketing and Publicity Strategies"

I’ve been reading Craft, Inc. but I skipped ahead to chapter 5 for this assigned reading. Everything in this chapter is exactly what we’re doing right now. It was a great read.
As far as printed material, brand should be stressed, but overall, everything should project professionalism. I liked this statement about catalogs of work. “What you lack in resources, you can make up for with ingenuity and simplicity, so focus on making an uncomplicated, businesslike catalog that retains your style and displays some creativity.” I think that can apply to almost everything that is a part of your brand/business/marketing items.

There was a whole section on getting professional-looking photographs. I liked that it was “professional-looking” rather than “professional.” After reading the first few chapters of this book, it’s clear that she is writing this to a range of individuals pursuing crafts. Including the stay-at-home mom who decided to knit scarves (sorry, Grandma). I’d like to think that whatever I pursue after graduation will be self-made but at a higher-skill, more professional level. If that makes any sense.

In the section about photos she said to find a photography student that may be willing to photograph your work as a cheaper option. Last weekend, Lizzy, Jo, and I met with Cole, a graduate student in the photography department here at Towson. He took some amazing photos, I’ll have to post some to my honors thesis blog when I get a chance. Her advice to learn photoshop is so true. I’m taking the intro to computer media class this semester (I know, talk about last minute), and I love it. I am learning so much, and it could not have come at a better time. I’ve already photoshopped all the images Cole took for me, so now I have at least two or three options per shot he took. So great.

Online presence, the next section in this chapter. So excited when I read about it because I recently purchased a domain name. karenkerno.com. It’s not really in existence yet, but I own it, which is super exciting. I’ll keep you posted. My sister and her husband have their own website and they recommended namecheap.com. So great. It’s only $9.96 a year. I bought one year and you just renew each year if you want. I can’t wait to start.

She then went on to talk about blogs, which I obviously already have experience with. This blog definitely acts just as my “digital sketchbook” for the studio class I take each semester. But I intend to include a link to my honors thesis blog on my new website. Blogs are great. I don’t think I even realize how much I check people’s blogs each day. And it’s true what she said in this chapter, you really have to update it each week if not each day. As this chapter says, “your blog can help keep your audience interested in you and returning to you on a daily basis.”

I liked the quote from Port2Port Press about how their blog turned into a successful way to generate business, “I never intended to use the blog to sell things, but it has become my vehicle for showing my latest inspirations and my latest work, and announcing some business news.”
There was a part about “being your own publicist,” which I’d like to think is the way I would go if I were to start my own business. Seemed like the idea of going to a bookstore and making a list of newspapers and magazines that fit your brand or might be interested in your product was perfect for the mailing list we are compiling this semester for senior project. Could be a fun way to spend a Saturday or Sunday afternoon.

Final advice I got from reading this chapter:
“be comfortable, concise, and interesting.”
“Dare to be imaginative, so that your press kit stands out rather than gets tossed out.”
“An interplay between creativity and simplicity is always good.”
“In order to be effective, your advertisements need to be well-designed with an emphasis on your brand.”

Awesome.

websites/blogs i like.

Gravitatedesign.com a design firm, with a nice, clean, consistant website. Something I can appreciate.

somainc.com Another design firm with nice intro that starts with a sketch and evolves into a product. I love their simple logo too.

This is how they profile some of their clients/work they've already done. I thought their layout was nice.

bcreativeinc.com

Nice into with a bunch of different b's. I liked how they split the page in two, you can click on the arrow in the middle to change the view to one. The b's just keep going. I took a shot of two.

two9design.com Awesome interior design site. I love their colors, clean lines, and everything is cohesive. They use sketches of the forms as the buttons that you press with your mouse.

below is the homepage, you click on the light to open.

houseoftearsdesign.com This design firm is a little cluttered, I like the aesthetic, everything was easy to navigate around, I like their font.

boldandnoble.com They do cute stationary and prints, I love their simple logo and the use of black and white to surround their colorful work.

nahcotta.com I love their opening page. I think their colors are awesome. Their logo is great. Their font is awesome. Overall great brand.

lisacongdon.com LOVE her color. And I love that the color is from her own work. Awesome. Very geometric which I think works. If anything I would like a different font. But I was immediately interested when I opened her page.

modernkaribou.ca A canadian site, I put a shot of their blog and their website. I like their logo, and I think all of their sites were cohesive and created a simple, clean, and modern brand.

bookhou.com Love their site. Not only are their products awesome, but the site is just nice. Super clean, and simply lovely. I think the font works with their aesthetic and I really like their layout.

This is the shot from their opening page. Love the photo. Simple and nice.

threepotatofourshop.com Cute. I like their logo, just a cool font. Their name is nice too. I think finding a name for your brand is tricky. Their's fits their work. Similar layout to bookhou.

meicvilleneuve.com Very clean, consistant, and modern. Black and white can be boring, but they did it well. It fits the whole site.

bellafigura.com Very nice letterprint shop. I love their scripted name in combination with a modern all-caps font throughout. The shot of their work is what drew me in. I love the layout and all the products they make.

moopshop.com Moop makes bags. I put a shot of their blog and their website up. Their logo is what ties everything together. I love the logo.

I like their layout on their website too. Great shot. Nice font. Very clean and easy to use.

obidesign.com Great logo. Their name is initials which I think is smart because letters make such good logos. I love the color and the simplicity of this website.

poppytalk! I go to this site regularly. I think its kind of overwhelming, but there's so much great stuff on here. They have a blog down the middle of the page, and links to artists on the right. Megan Aumen's new line was recently on poppytalk. I thought that was exciting.

thesartorialist.blogspot.com Another blog I frequent. Great photographs. And the simplicity in the overall site emphasizes the photos. It makes sense and I love it.

thekillersmusic.com Had to throw this in. Not only are the killers an awesome band, but their website is fun.

leonorhipolito.com This is the girl I wrote about in my last blog post. Her site is great. Very simple, clean with a slideshow running of images of her work. Very professional and fits her work.

leonor hipolito.

silver with rubber

silver with crocheted thread.

just looking.

Leonor Hipolito makes pretty awesome work. She's on Klimt02, designboom, velvetdavinci, and many many more. Above are a couple of her images I liked.

I also frequent the blog poppytalk. I found Suddenly, it's real! this morning. Very cute. Very fun stuff. Handmade things are nice.

I'm also taking an awesome bookmaking course this semester. Really really excited about that. I've been doing some research on artist's books. I feel like books are similar to what I've been pursuing in school/what I'm interested. The book is made to be used/handled/experienced. The viewer of a book does not just look for a few minutes, instead they pick it up, flip through the pages, become an active participant with the piece. I think that is what I have steered toward in the work I've been creating for my honors thesis, and I can honestly see a book fitting into my series in that sense. I love the idea of a peice made with a the maker's specific intent, and the viewer having access to that intent followed by a new interpretation/idea formed in response.

I liked this definition:

"In its broadest consideration a book can take any concrete form while containing some preceptible meaning available through some kind of reading, involving perception-in-sequence."

-"An Introduction to the Book Arts and Their Community" by Janet Maher

I think the idea of sequence is also important in my collection. The concept of impermanence is that everything is in a state of constant change. Nothing remains the same. These inevitable changes are in an order of some kind. Many times people keep memories as a way to backtrack in this sequence and personally experience again what happened or what was previously.

There is an interaction between viewer and book. Just as their is an interaction between wearer and jewelry. I don't think I even realized my fascination with this until recently. The work I've been creating has all be interactive. I think there should be a connection between maker and viewer/user. This connection is made simply through a peice that you can hold and experience personally.