My Artistic Branding Of My Site
My creative journey into the artistic branding of my site has been something I have been wanting to do for a long time.
I have been fantasizing for years about doing something with my artistic talents and photography.
Self Doubt
This journey did happen sooner because I had self doubt in my abilities. As a result I kept putting it off.
For years I kept telling myself
- That I wasn’t talented enough.
- I need a niche before I can get going.
- How can I compete against all those talented artists
Then I read an article about another creative’s success story. They mentioned that you should never compare yourself to others. If you want to follow your passion then just do it. Talking about it will not accomplish anything. That got me to thinking. I have been telling my children that they can do anything if they set their minds to it. Well, that same advice applies to me, right? Yes it does! I might as well do something about it. Two years ago (August 2012) is when I decided to quit talking about it and actually do something about it.
The First Attempt at my Artistic Branding of My Site
First, I searched around for a hosting site. Settled on BlueHost using WordPress.org. Purchased the domain name BeckyTPhotography along with my first WordPress template. Felt good to be on my way! Secondly, I attended a Small Business workshop. Proceeded to develop my website & blogging site. Started out strong (for a month). It became apparent early on I had no idea what I was doing.
My initial plan was to do portraiture and possibly weddings. In addition to nature, travel and sports photography on the side. I knew I wanted my site to be different and to reflect me somehow. What I came up with was not appealing. After a month of working on my site I quit working on it. Kept saying I would and need to get back to it. Below is what I had come up with before I stopped working on it December 2012. The background was a photo I took of my great-Gramma’s bible that she received when she was a little girl. The logo was so unappealing.
Resurgence of my Artistic Branding Of My Site
Joined ClickinMoms
August 2013 rolled around and I still hadn’t worked on my site. One day while reading a photography magazine I came across ClickinMoms (renamed to The Click Community). This was a site where women all over the world come together to share their passion for photography. It was a place where women were helping other women develop their artistic talents. To help them grow and to give technical support freely. I joined for a year figuring this might be what I needed. To be honest I did not visit the site that much until it was time to renew again in August 2014. After that, I decided I really need to make a concentrated effort to get more involved if I wanted to make my dream a reality.
Signed up for Click workshop
On ClickinMoms they offer a wide variety of photography workshops. I had been toying for months on signing up for one. Eventually, I signed up for the 3 week workshop “Business 102: Basic WordPress and Website Creation”. Due to the cost of the workshop I signed up as a Study Along. However, the day before the class was to begin I upgraded to Full Participation. Because I wanted to be able to ask questions and have my site critiqued. That was the best decision I made. I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop. The instructor Beth Wade was awesome. Above all, the support and camaraderie of the other participants was phenomenal.
Pre-assignment
Pre-assignment was a bit intimidating at first. The instructor wanted us to create a Pinterest account and start pinning anything and everything that we liked. Once I got going it ended it up being a lot of fun.
My First Assignment submission:
For our first assignment we were asked to post :
- 3 goals you want your website to accomplish for you
- Link + screen grab of your Pinterest board
- 4 colors (hex codes) that represents your brand with association
- Description of your specialty and target client
3 Goals I wanted my website to accomplish for me
- Showcase my photography and artistic creations
- Welcoming unique site to share my creative passion and hopefully inspire others
- Make it easy for my customers to purchase my work
Link + screen grab of my Pinterest board
4 colors (hex codes) that represents my brand with association
990000 – Red Berry (Red) Pop
- action, power, energy, speed
- passion, desire, lust
- strength, courage
- attention-getting, motivating, stimulating, energizing
- driven and determined
- exciting, warm, spontaneous, assertive and confident
717F41 – Dingley (green) Neutral
- growth and vitality, renewal and restoration
- self-reliance, reliability and dependability
- being tactful, emotionally balanced and calm
- nature lover and family oriented
- practical and down to earth
CCFF66 – Canary (Yellow) Light
- cheerful, happy, playful, fun
- optimistic, uplifting, illuminating
- logical, mental clarity, aids decision-making
- confidence, originality, creativity
- challenging, academic and analytical
- wisdom and logic
- communication of new ideas
330033 – Barossa (Purple) Dark
- unusual and individual, creative and inventive
- psychic and intuitive
- humanitarian, selfless and unlimited
- mystery, fantasy and the future
URL http://www.beckytphotography.com (now owned by someone else)
Description of my specialty
Fine Art Photography
- Travel
- B/W
- Abstract
- Macro
- Nature
Digital Art Photography
- Fantasy
- surrealism
Artistic Epiphany
During this assignment, I had an artistic epiphany. It occurred to me that I do not have the passion to do portraiture or wedding photography like the other women in this workshop. Maybe someday but not right now. While I love photography I also love doing creative image manipulations with my photographs.
The Birth of ArtistNamedBec (re-branding)
Based on what I submitted the instructor suggested that I may want to consider a different name. A name that would represent my creative artistic side. After a week of trying to come up with something creative I finally settled on ArtistNamedBec. Verified availability of the domain name and purchased it.
I am very happy with the look of my portfolio and blog. At the time of this post I still have to work on my galleries and pricing. Lastly, I am looking forward to signing up for ClickinMoms workshop “Business 202: Internet Marketing, SEO & online presence”.
My new look & domain
Your journey is inspiring! You are starting to live your dream and that can only be good! I, like you have an overwhelming desire to create. My time is limited now, but I know I will break out when the time is right.
I wish you all the best and much success!!!!!!