Personal Branding
How To Brand Myself
How can I develop a brand identity that expresses my story, services, and stands out to viewers? To develop branding material that aligns with me and my professional goals I must:
Create a logo
Determine a color palette
Choose typefaces
Discover my target audience
Decide how I want to be perceived.
Research, Ideation, Creation, & Critiques
With myself being the client, I realized I needed to be more self-aware if I wanted to truly find who I am. This meant more mindfulness and less screen time, reflecting on what my values are, and determining what Jodi Kaplan really represents. I recognized a pattern of being drawn to the 90’s aesthetic. It was a peak time for hip hop/R&B, grunge fashion trends, simple animation, and reality entertainment. This inspired me to start stretching cartoon versions of myself based on 90’s cartoons. I also looked at the color schemes of some of my favorite sneakers to integrate my sense of style into my design. I received a lot of positive feedback for the cartoon versions of myself over wordmarks. Additionally, peers and professionals suggested using a variety of graphics in my branding rather than deciding on one.
Stop Overthinking, Start Creating
I had put so much pressure on my branding making or breaking my career that it was blocking me from producing any work. After giving myself time to breathe and reflect I was able to stop comparing and start seeing I am my solution by:
Using multiple graphics/ logotypes instead of one to showcase my illustration skills
Developing one cartoon style to implement throughout my work to give my designs a cohesive look
Replacing heavy black text with more of my color palette, as the high contrast took away from my graphic elements
Fix graphics to have more rounded edges and give less of a static feel
Passion To Purpose
Through branding myself I learned I am my toughest critic, and that perfectionism is not attainable. Once I focused on my opinion rather than pleasing everyone else’s, I was able to determine my own values. I recognize I am a work in progress and so are my designs. Therefore, as much as I love the outcome of this work, I know it is just the beginning of all there is to come.