Why / Recognition
May became a busy month as I focused more on my visual design ambitions. I continued to network, educate, and put my skills to practice. Like the responsible adult that I am, I actually tried to understand the design culture within my current organization before I consider looking externally. Which got me in contact with a couple of marketing, customer experience, and design colleagues. I also started a new visual design-related project for a friend of mine who has his own business. However, the more I act as a visual designer, the more distance develops between me and my current job. I’m starting to live a double identity…
How / Practicing
Some exciting stuff that I have been doing is this side project for a friend of mine and his business. Last month, I showed him my portfolio, and he was impressed with my rice pot logo project. He has a business teaching music and coaching musicians, so naturally, he asked: “Hey, can you make a logo for me?” Since I’m more comfortable with graphic design, I recommended getting one of our marketing friends to join the project. As she is more knowledgeable on branding and how to promote brands. Though, after some brainstorming and negotiation, I was actually asked to design the branding elements. This is a new concept for me, and when it comes to new concepts, I try to educate and inform myself. So of course, I went into the theory of Brand Identity design.
This month I picked up some visual design books. My goal was not to read them front to back, but to get some practical knowledge that I can apply. The first book I picked up was Practical Typography by Matthew Butterick. As the name implies, the book goes into the practical use of typography, and I hoped to gain more knowledge on how to use typography for branding. While I read through the sections, i.e., type composition and text formatting, I realized the book is more focused on editorials and document design. This might be useful for my personal projects, but for branding, especially logo and emblem design, I might look into some different sources.
The next book I picked up was Designing Brand Identity by Alina Wheeler. And I must admit this book is pretty concise and easy to follow. It gives a nice introduction about what branding is and the impact of brand design. After the intro comes the actual designing and creation, which is exactly what I needed. And that is where I left off, but I know for sure there is some practical and industry information that will aid me in reaching more desired designs for future clients.
On a personal note, I actually made a mini zine about everyday objects that provide a layout for their consumers. Which is just a nice nerdy way to show my observations and studies on layout design. See the zine here →
What / Conclusion
At the moment, I am still working on the side project, and I’ll definitely have it up on my portfolio. I hope to deliver the bare minimum branding elements that I can hand over to the next designer or marketing person. And I’m still networking to find the next possible space for me to learn and grow as a designer. With time, I know it will come.
As I meet more design and creative peers, I notice how well I already fit in the design community. But this comes at the cost of a growing disconnect between my current job and the designer that I am on the inside (and anything outside of my job). This makes it both mentally and physically exhausting to switch between my designer identity and consultant identity.