The Lousypoet

Life changes, shifts, and moves in an unpredictable manner. Looking back on it, we see patterns and shapes that cause us pause to wonder, is there a plan?

A funny story. My mom is thinking about selling her house. Now that my dad has passed, she feels isolated in her retirement community, not to mention it is set out in the country, which makes night driving (especially in winter) at times treacherous. She wants to be closer to us, avoid the country roads at night, and generally be closer to the shops and services that she uses. So, about two weeks ago, a friend of hers in the area says a lady is looking to buy a house on their street and maybe my mom might want to contact her. My mom takes this as a sign that maybe her decision to move is right, and that now is the time. She goes about cleaning the house. One of the areas she goes to clean is the basement. While she’s down there, she notices an odd smell. She thinks that maybe it’s gas, so she calls enbridge to come take a look. Sure enough, her gas fireplace is leaking! They fix the problem, the lady comes to see the house, and she’s not interested. Now here’s the thing. If this lady hadn’t come over, my mom could be gone, along with her house and part of her neighbourhood. Makes me think, the lady wasn’t sent to initialise the move, she was there to save my mom’s life! Coincidence? Some form of universal push to keep lives on a certain course? Dumb luck? Or desperate human attempts to find order and meaning in chaos?

So this is a test to see if I can make this blog from my new iPhone work.

So I sat down and started working on Carolyn’s business logo.  She really likes the whole teal/orange colour combination, so I worked with that palette.  I decided this time around to go with the monogram style logo.  Here’s the variations I came up with.

So initially I figured I would do the classic monogram contained in border box look.  To keep it a little fresh and slightly funkier, I skewed the box so it didn’t contain the full monogram and was slightly of kilter.  The next version was the monogram just on its own above the text, but pulled and warped so that it was the full length of the name.  The next two versions are the monogram set at the front of the name, in the case of the first, the M in the monogram is actually used as the first letter in the last name.  The next one separates the monogram from the name, but leaves it at the front still.  Finally, the last two were melding the monogram and name together so that it was actually the monogram itself that separated the name from the word photography.  The only difference between the last two designs is that I trimmed the tail of the M in the last one.  I actually like the trimmed look best of these two, and I think this design is my preferred of the bunch.  Problem being, it just looks so pedestrian and common.  It says nothing of the photographer, her business, nor is there anything iconic about it.  In fact, it looks just like what it is, amateurish.  Given these designs, I think I like my original kick at the can better than all of these.  I’m just trying to plot it out in my head what I can do that will be professional, funky, and maybe kind of fresh, so people don’t feel like it’s the same thing they’ve seen dozens of times before.  Also, I don’t think these colour combinations work that well in a logo.  Maybe in larger doses in images or designs, but in a simple logo they just seem to get lost.

So it’s back to the drawing board on these.  I’m just not sure what direction to take.  I’m wondering if I should do the remodel on the website and see if that gives me any direction.  That was how I designed the original logo, it came about while I was designing the website.

Not so much because I’m a superstar, it’s just it’s something I really enjoy. Graphic design is something I could spend hours looking at, studying, and then putting my own spin on things. Maybe when Carolyn’s done school I’ll see if I can pick up some part time courses.

Anyway, I’m in this frame of mind because I’m thinking Carolyn’s website needs a makeover. It looks really amateurish, and her logo isn’t something impactful that would look good on a business card or letterhead. I’m doing my research, and marketing is a huge part of surviving this photography thing. Looking better than your competition can sometime be more important than your images. I suppose that’s a sad statement on the attention spans of our society, but sometimes you just have to roll with it if you want to make it.

Carolyn’s a big fan of the grunge look, which seems to be having a huge surge in popularity. I can understand why, I feel pretty drawn to it myself. The conundrum is how to making something professional first, and then kind of grungy and funky at the same time.

I’ve spent hours looking at logos that existing photographers are using, and they almost all use their monogram in some manner. Thing is, I was told by someone that if you are going to be a professional photographer, you should market yourself, not some random made up business name. Because the goal is to become big enough that you are what people demand. I mean, look at Joe Mcnally, Chase Jarvis, or Zack Arias. These guys are doing it under their name and are a huge success. So really, the business should be Carolyn Macpherson Photography. Just what to do with that….

The existing logo looks like this,

It has that grunge factor, but there’s no real pop to it.  It lacks colour, which I think it could use, and I suppose the whole Photography backwards is a kind of lame attempt at being original.  I’m giving it some thought.  I’ll need to look at the fonts we have.  Maybe play around with Carolyn’s signature.

I’m also left with what to do about her website.  I’m leaning toward a clean design.  She might not like the lack of serious grunge, but we need to start thinking about this as a potential business, not to mention that an online portfolio is part of her final course marks, and I want to make sure we have this thing nailed down before that deadline gets anywhere close.