When it came to my personal brand's visual identity, I knew I wanted something versatile, sleek, and that would prove to be relatively timeless. I also wanted my personal brand to reflect who I am as a designer and an individual, so that everyone from clients, business partners, employers, and other designers could get some sense of who I am and what makes me different. I wanted it to be approachable, I didn't want to conform to many of the personal branding trends I came across, such as hyper sophistication, serif typefaces, and a feeling of "exclusivity" being in a line of business that is supposed to serve diverse people and needs. To complete this project, I played around with many possibilities, iterating on the logos I found interesting and even turned to my Instagram following for some feedback. In this project, I played the role of the client and the lead designer.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/4450f1cf-6595-4b70-84d3-6131d5431a1b/de1173b1-c4c0-4b9d-86ef-b3aa758ba9d4_rw_1920.png?h=70e4b7dc7ad9ab3dd2063efb4b180199)
I started with a mind-mapping session. I put my assumed business name in the center and wrote down words that I associated with my values, interests, emotions, and style and corresponding associations to those words. Once I felt like I had written down all I could, I circled the words I felt most drawn to. This exercise helped me understand who I am as a designer and thus how I want to present myself to the world.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/4450f1cf-6595-4b70-84d3-6131d5431a1b/0a8a3882-73ad-4f45-ae64-c8dc4765421e_rw_1920.png?h=fcaf0ef043648eb3e8700a6964ad1c5d)
After exploring how other designers went about developing their brand, I couldn't resist playing around with some concepts that were bouncing around my head. I had to ground myself with some basic questions: where will this logo appear? In big places or small spaces, or both? Will it be worn on a t-shirt? How do I carefully communicate my values visually?
I knew I wanted something dynamic and made you look at it for a moment. I also fell in love with the idea of being able to develop a logo that could also serve as a pattern for business cards, website backgrounds, and clothing.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/4450f1cf-6595-4b70-84d3-6131d5431a1b/57e74ad3-f584-465d-8477-0af3f6a889e8_rw_1920.png?h=088aa1f12befb260e4a425488bdadf0f)
After playing around with the logo personally, I decided to lean on my Instagram following to get some feedback on a few concepts I would be willing to explore further. Within a few hours, it was obvious which concept people liked more.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/4450f1cf-6595-4b70-84d3-6131d5431a1b/88f4a353-2eaa-4ceb-9616-c90323a8c6f1_rw_3840.png?h=19dd23ccb8242292f8065a499e17f41a)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/4450f1cf-6595-4b70-84d3-6131d5431a1b/00e19ab7-6892-4f60-a48a-252e9878f24d_rw_1920.png?h=6c9e077676302e4e7b98d36c7bc025d5)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/4450f1cf-6595-4b70-84d3-6131d5431a1b/e354da1a-d5de-424c-8777-0981abd754ba_rw_3840.png?h=5f5e3089863eda0f4990a43beb5c4f1a)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/4450f1cf-6595-4b70-84d3-6131d5431a1b/9a413c7c-cc00-496e-abd3-78a7693e746b_rw_1920.png?h=f1a2ec28f0470967bf624386b3d05aad)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/4450f1cf-6595-4b70-84d3-6131d5431a1b/cf87010e-3ece-4f22-bee5-88f7d75973e3_rw_3840.png?h=1063a64ee29f8d6838125f9671154ae5)