So…as most of you have seen right now I’ve had a rebrand and facelift to my blog/website and on Facebook! Just so you know this definitely did not happen over night! So for today’s post I want to spend some time talking about my rebranding process or as I’m calling it “The Rebranding Evolution” ha! I was lucky enough to work with an amazing designer and fellow Longwood art major (woo hoo!) Emily Baird of Emily Baird Design. Be sure to show her some love and like her Facebook page too!

Emily and I first chatted over the phone and I had gone ahead and sent her my “Branding Inspiration” board that I had created on Pinterest. I’m such a visual person and I needed to see everything together in one place…thank you Pinterest! You can see my initial blog post on my branding here!

First, we started with my logo! I don’t know if you guys remember this little baby…

Mmm…yeah not the greatest haha. But that’s okay because I needed to start somewhere so I just whipped this up in Photoshop. I LOVE design but I do not have a design background and it’s not really my thing. This is when I realized I needed some help! So I reached out to Emily. We didn’t reach the final logo that I have now until after a few rounds. I had to figure out what I liked and Emily designed things based on my feedback and she nailed it! Seriously…I love the new look and the “BC” icon is seriously my favorite thing! I can’t wait to start incorporating it into all of my packaging!

Next…it was time for business cards! I was SO excited for this part. The only business cards I ever had were the ones I hand letterpressed in college. Now yes these were awesome because they were handmade by me and letterpressed! But I needed something more professional and that went along with my new look! These are actually in the works right now and I should get them soon but here’s a peek at what they’ll look like…

Oh gosh!! I LOVE them!!! They’re square and awesome! And I cannot wait to see them in person!! (I know the yellow looks kind of off on the BC icon and the cards but it will actually match that brighter yellow on my Facebook and website!)

After the business card design it was time for a Facebook Makeover! Here’s what I had before Emily redesigned it…

Now this was OKAY but it was definitely lacking good design and a cohesiveness from my Facebook page to my blog/website and my entire brand!

So here’s what it looks like now…

Ahhh! SO much better and everything is cohesive and ties in together!! YAY! Now, I just want to point out that before Emily had finalized this I had an epiphany about my color scheme haha. I always wanted to have a mustard yellow…that’s been my favorite color for a very long time and I knew I wanted it to be apart of my brand for Brittany Claud Photography. But other than that I wasn’t so sure…maybe tan, gray, some blues?? I really had no idea!

Then I realized how drawn I was to succulents and it just hit me! I LOVE that color…the color of a succulent. I don’t even know what color that is so I’m calling it a succulent green haha. So very last minute I sent Emily an email explaining how I wanted to incorporate this “succulent color” in somehow and I’m so glad I did because I think it looks amazing and we both LOVED it!! Here’s a board I found on Pinterest that I had sent her in the email…

I’m seriously in love with these colors and it was SUCH a great last minute revision! So if you’re in the rebranding process  go with your gut…even if it is last minute! You’ll be so glad you did!

Now it was time to tweak my website! I use ProPhoto which allows me to have a blog and website all in one! Which is perfect for me right now and where I am in my business! Eventually I hope to have a separate website with Showit just because it’s amazing what you can do with a fully customized website and then have a separate blog with ProPhoto…but that will be later down the road. Baby Steps.

When Emily and I first talked I had mentioned to her that I wanted an “about me” page that was fun, graphic, and helped my clients get to know a little bit about me and my personality. She did just that! You can view my “BRITTANY” page here!  Some of it’s serious and some of it’s funny and you get to know some things I like! It’s hard to write about yourself and I had to really sit down and think hard about who I am and what I like! Matt actually helped me out  A LOT with this! So thank you Matt for always being there for me and for being such a wonderful best friend and roommate!! And I definitely HEART bacon!

The home page of my blog/website also had facelift and here’s what it looks like now…

The most important thing I got out of this whole process or “evolution” is that if you are a small business owner in the process of rebranding or even branding for the first time…find a designer that you with MESH well with! This is so so important!! Emily and I were both art majors at Longwood University. She was a graphic designer and I was a photographer. I’m pretty sure we had one class together. We were acquaintances but not really more than that. Now I don’t know why because I think we could seriously be friends! It was important that we meshed well because it made the whole process run so much smoother because we were on the same level.

This is also true with photographers and brides. If you’re a bride it is SO important that you find a photographer that you mesh well with because you will get so much more out of your wedding day and your images with someone who has a similar style to you and you may even walk away with a new friend! It’s so much easier to open up to someone that you with feel comfortable with…and this will show in your images!!! So whether it’s me or any other photographer make sure they are the best fit for you! Same goes for photographers or small business owners and designers…find a designer who is the best fit for you because you will gain so much more!

I know this was a pretty long post but I hope it was helpful for anyone going in this direction! Or I hope it was entertaining for anyone who was just interested in my rebranding process! There’s A LOT to it…but it’s SOOO worth it!

Halfway through the week! Happy Wednesday y’all!