As I’ve mentioned already in my first post, being brand-less was one of the big things keeping me from starting a public blog. But, my approach to life is sometimes to jump into the middle and then work outwards, so one of my new personal projects is to develop a brand, design a logo for myself, and redesign my web site, after already having started a new blog. I think it will be a longer process than I want it to be, but it should be rewarding.
I’m going into this as a complete amateur, without the benefit of a design degree, marketing classes, and the like. Thankfully, lots of smart people out there have written great articles that I can benefit from!
So, following Lea Alcantara’s suggestion to play amnesia, I shot off a quick email to a few friends and acquaintances, asking for the top three adjectives that they thought described me…
(Still inspired by Lea, here’s a table of responses so far… I may come back and add more as they trickle in.)
| Who | Context | Adjectives |
|---|---|---|
| Heather | Colleague – have worked closely for about the past 1-2 years but have never met in person | Bright Artistic Energetic |
| Bethany | Newish friend – we like each other but haven’t really gotten to hang out much | Sweet Diligent Thorough Conscientious Creative |
| Andrew | Great college friend – we keep in touch about twice a year, though we’ve now known each other for over ten years | Generous Creative Water-Buffalo-less (a silly reference to Veggie Tales) |
| Liz | New friend - part of the same church small group for past 6 months, future housemate | Creative Kind Generous Gentle |
| Angela | Older sister by 11 years – taught me how to type at age 5 and how to use Illustrator at age 13 | Creative Organized Good-natured Easy-going |
| Rebecca | New friend – part of the same church small group for past 6 months | Genuine Non-frivolous Creative |
| Paul | Great client for the past year and a half – online working relationship, never met in person | Subtle Elegant Efficient |
| Gilda | Friend for a couple years and new coworker – convinced her to do some part-time work with PixelMill | Creative Silly Introspective |
| Lucy | Close friend for seven years | Industrious |
| Scott | Pastor at church | Faithful Creative Caring |
| Jim | Pastor at church. Mostly task-oriented relationship, have created some fliers/brochures for him | Creative Innovative Dependable |
| Rich | New friend – part of the same church small group for past 6 months, future housemate | Musical Artistic |
| Paul J. | Another great client named Paul, have maintained his web site for the past year or so | Responsive Artsy Good at problem-solving |
I was surprised by how much “creative” came up, because it’s not a word I would have chosen to describe myself — maybe because I compare myself to other people who seem much more creative, or because I have this idea in my head that “creative” people make “real” art — paintings and the like. I’ve often explained to people that I feel more creative when I’m cooking, even when just following a recipe, than I do when I’m designing a web site. Perhaps that just means that I like to eat? In any case, this is forcing me to rethink what “creative” means to me, and why others would view me as “creative.”
So far feedback has been quite kind; I was hoping for at least a few challenging adjectives that I could wrestle with and work more with. (You may take this as your cue!)
Time to go to bed, so I will mull over this later!
4 Comments
Thanks for writing this up. I’m always so curious to see how other people applied the processes and suggestions I had in my series. I can’t wait to see the end result.
I already gave my three words (although I see Bethany cheated and gave more.. ha lol)… but I was wondering what kind of challenging adjectives you were thinking of/hoping for?… I’d be happy to rack my brain for more.
Oh and it’s really interesting how you don’t label yourself as creative when you compare yourself to other people who seem “more” creative… ha lol… because I would say for me you are one of those “more” creative people that when I compare myself to others and think I wouldn’t descirbe myself as creative. Interesting, eh? Maybe their are “kinds” of creative? Maybe “kinds” of designers? Maybe “kinds” of “talented execution of creative, artsy, crafty things” that is seen/considered creative? I’d put myself it high on the last one, ok in the middle one, and bad in the first category. What do you think? (or did that not make much sense?)
Lea – Thanks for visiting! I thought your series was a great, friendly primer to get started with and am having fun with the process.
Gilda – Still thinking about “creative,” so no answers yet!
It is really hard to try to find out what your personal brand is. That was a good idea to have your peers try to descirbe you in key terms. I have also found a great website for just this. It is called personavita.com it basically helps you create your personal brand through work, personal life, projects and thats just a glimpse. It has helped me to create myself.