Logo Challenge

    This time my monthly challenge post won't be about polymer clay. You know already - it will be about our logo! It truly was a challenging task to complete.

     Logo may seem and easy thing to do but it's not. It doesn't mean it can't be created quickly by professional but since we thought we would like to have our own input it took a lot of time and effort. It must have be over a year ago when we first tried to come up with logo for Valg Studio. So many ideas and attempts starting from round shapes, including birds and flowers but it just didn't feel right. Maybe we didn't have clear vision, maybe we just weren't ready, maybe we felt we are alright for a while without it, but I kept dreaming about a great logo one day we would have.

Very helpful task to describe your  logo vision. 

     Towards the end of the summer I knew that we will need to work on packaging and logo was the missing element. I started to visualise different ideas and I was very confident that the logo will include bird with crown I created almost two years ago in Printmaking Course in Carlow. But every time I touched the pencil my bird changed until it disappeared completely!

     Great ideas and advise I took home from PR & Branding workshop organised by Craft Council of Ireland, Kilkenny and Carlow CEBs for craft and design enterprises at the beginning of October. During the workshop we had to describe our own product in one word and list them. You can see in the picture what was on my mind and I hope we have managed to 'translate' these emotions in our brand new Valg Studio logo.

     Some logos have great hidden meaningful symbols. In our case Valg has itself become a pink-purple symbol, can you see it?!

Here is how it all started with pencil and little template.

     Branding is about continuity and united style  - colours, fonts, design, proportions and  so much more. We still have a lot to do to achieve great concept but it feels like a good start and I would like to thank a lot everyone who helped with opinion and pointed in right direction.

 

     It would be really great to hear you thoughts about our logo, feel free to comment or add any tips or ideas you may have.

 

     I also would like to share with you couple links I found useful during the designing process:
 

10 Tips for Designing Logos.
Branding, Paskaging & Opinion
The Whitney Museum's Logo Video

 

Thank you for stopping by, take care and talk again soon,
Liga

Photo Notes

    Since Christmas season is getting closer and closer it is almost impossible to manage my To Do List, certainly it's getting harder. I wanted to finish this blog post four days ago but  here I'm on Sunday afternoon. It has been busy time in studio and also emotional time for me too.

Week: October 4th - 10th.

New Earring Findings, October 4th.

I have been looking for a new earring findings for a while and was very happy to receive my parcel from Cinnamon Jewellery today. Cant wait to use them for my monthly challange project later this month.

Time To Myself, October 5th.

I had a lovely relaxing morning  and chated on skype to my sister. My hubby and the girls went to take some lovely pictures at Altamnont Gardens. This is one of my favourite pictures from today.

Picture Says it All, October 6th.

I'm not a neat freak, but except that it's nice to have some things in order around you, it also helps me to organize my mind. Image courtesy livingwellspendingless.com

 Back at the Clay Table, October 7th.

I'm still in love with faux knitting and couldn't wait to mix new colours and start knitting again. New work in progress.

Latest Creations, October 8th.

My new faux yarn has been put in good use and here are the first "fruits" of yesterdays work. Available online.

 Not Good News, October 9th.

You know when something isn't alright and you need to do something about it! I knew I should see doctor at least a couple months ago but I didn't. I will be good now and take more care of myself. Image courtesy pandorasinspiration.

Back on Track, October 9th.

October is Etsy Holiday Boot Camp Month with aim to get ready for Christmas season and I'm happy to take part. A little preparation and planning won't do harm. Setting up some goals today!

     Every month I pick a week and write about little things that happened to me or I noticed something I would like to share with you. Hope you had a great weekend and I will be soon back with new blog posts

Take care,

Liga

Craft PR & Branding Workshop Notes

     October is welcoming us with a lot of rain and I can hear that more and more people are going mushroom foraging. Probably some people even are taking mushroom foraging courses or willing to attend International Mushroom Festival  here in Ireland following week. I continue to enjoy taking part in autumn courses for design and craft enterprises organised by Craft Council of Ireland, Kilkenny and Carlow CEBs.

 

    On Wednesday I went to PR & Branding workshop for design and craft enterprises taking place in Kilkenny. I have to say that my previous understanding and knowledge about these subjects was very poor. During the first half of the day PR expert Noreen D'Arcy founder of D'Arcy Marketing & PR gave us short and sharp introduction what it's all about and before I'm going to approach any of PR communication channels it is important to decide on my core message and have couple standard press releases ready if I need them. The core message in the press release should reflect the story you want to tell and what are the News you want to share. Is it setting up workshop, new collection, winning award or something else!

Image courtesy bcmpublicrealtions

     Depending on which PR level - local, national, international aiming you need to build your media data base and Noreen gave us great examples how to do that. For example, I would look who wrights or talks about arts & crafts, fashion, jewellery, small businesses or something else related to Valg Studio. Find out the journalist, programme researcher names and contact details.

Other important things to keep in mind are good images, media drops and PR activities planned ideally 10-12 weeks ahead.

 

     After enjoying lovely meal at Café la Coco with friend and talented crochet designer Ornat O'Brien from Pure Hooked we headed back to afternoon Branding session with Jordan Ralph freelance design consultant and industrial designer. We looked at some great examples and for the first time I realised that it's not only about sticking your logo on packaging and business card. It can also include letterheads, web &  blog, voicemail, studio & retail environment, apps and much more. Valg Studio even don't have a logo so it was great to do some simple tasks and try to come up with some ideas.

 

     One of the starting points was to describe my product in one word and list them. Next task included sketching rough logo ideas and it was surprising what you can come up with if you force yourself a little bit and just follow your visions. It is good to stick all your logo ideas on the wall and see how you feel about them.

     Branding is about continuity and united style. Therefore another way making sure it all works together is to lay out all your branded products on the table and see does is give the impression you want. I have been very disorganized with my branding: to many styles, colours and materials. I found it very useful that at the end of the workshop we could have one to one time with Jordan and discuss our branding needs.

Zeri Craft Branding on the table, more great examples on Branding, Packaging & Opinion Here

     Now it's time to put all this experience in good use and I hope to introduce you to Valg Studio logo before October is over.

If you would like to have a look at my notes from  September Social Media workshop for Craft and Design enterprises click Here.

 

Take care,

Liga