Eleven + West

CREATIVE STUDIO

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Progress Work: Eleven and West Branding

letteringGina Paulson1 Comment

I want to talk about BRAND

I think coming from a creative yet business / marketing background - branding is the first thing that comes to mind with any good idea. It's the building blocks behind successful companies. It's the forefront of a mission and purpose. And most importantly, it's the face of what is trying to be done. How do you want to come across to viewers? What does your brand feel like? How does your business communicate this feeling? See.. this is INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT stuff. Unfortunately, I think its commonly overlooked. 

Why? Because it is so much easier to dive into something exciting than it is to really take the time to dig deeply in to what you're trying to accomplish. It takes effort and time, and it does not always give us that instant gratification that we get from submitting a blog post. I've done this... multiple times. I really wanted to start this venture off on the right foot, so I really dedicated myself to this process. So I  spent some solid hours (and by this I mean weeks) developing where I am at with my branding and where I want it to go. I read books, articles, and blog posts about the subject and worked through numerous workbooks on the topic. I'm still a work in progress but I want to share this progress as I finish certain phases along the way and continue to develop it. 

I first started with a vision board (or also commonly referred to as a mood board) What inspired me? What mood did I want for my brand? What textures and patterns spoke to me? What was aesthetically pleasing to me? How did these things make me feel? All I can say, is thank goodness for Pinterest. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Though a slow process, I began to save images that jumped out at me and reminded me of the brand I want. From there I realized I began to develop a theme and feel. Images started working well together and a color palette began to form. 

elevenandwestbrandingboard_Web.jpg

above photos curated via Pinterest

After the mood board, I dove into logo work which I will share my work and process on soon!


 

DIY Kraft Christmas Paper

letteringGina PaulsonComment

It's Christmas around here and let me tell you, things aren't taken lightly in regards to pretty wrapping and gorgeous gifts. I am naturally drawn to Kraft paper. Don't ask me why, I don't know. I love the color, I love the texture, I love the versatility of it. So this years gifts obviously are getting wrapped in some beautifully painted kraft paper with matching gift tags. Honestly, I had a lot of fun with this. I just bought some acrylic white paints and decorated the gifts with whatever my little heart desired. Designs ranged from polka dots to stripes to "Frost the Snowman" lyrics to quotes from the movie Elf.  The other benefit of kraft paper is just about any ribbon color will go with the wrapping. I personally liked the pop of red and green against the neutral tone of the kraft paper- but I did do some in black and white ribbon and some in gold. I hope your holidays are off to a beautiful and crafty start!