Creating an Identity, Part I

For this week, I'm going to blog about the process of creating an identity.  I found the process fascinating and fun, and so hopefully it will help some of you all out there who are thinking about or getting ready to embark on this same journey. When Adm and I first started the wedding business, we pretty much started from bare bones.  As in, we didn't have any kind of budget for marketing, advertising or branding, and to be honest, I don't think we really knew that that was a key part of starting and running a business.  We knew we needed a web site and business cards, but we didn't know what "creating an identity" meant or that it was a necessary part of building our business.  Both of us are fairly creative people, and that was what we had focused on honing, not our business and marketing skills.  Since we had to create everything on the cheap, I did it all on my own.

I found a floral stamp at The Paper Source for $8, photographed it, and bam, put some pretty font next to it and that was my logo.  I put that stamp to good use and stamped floral patterns all over everything - stationery, envelopes, contracts, shipping labels....  I have to admit, I was pretty proud of myself for coming up with a design that had a somewhat DIY/custom feel and fit within our non-budget.  I picked the brown and blue color scheme because blue was for Carolina blue (my alma mater), and I liked how brown complemented the blue.

At some point, I think around the beginning of 2010, Adm and I decided that we were ready to create a legitimate logo and identity that was a reflection of what we and our photography are about.  We also decided that it was time to hire a professional to do this.  This was kind of huge for us because it marked the first time that we were hiring other people to do work for the business.  Up until this point, we had done everything ourselves, but we also realized our limitations, particularly the fact that we're not designers.  We brainstormed moods, themes and adjectives that we wanted our logo to reflect - emotions that we wanted people to feel (either consciously or subconsciously) when they looked at our logo and our photographs.  We did all kinds of exercises, like coming up with single sentences to describe our approach, creating a mission statement, outlining our long-term and short-term goals...  Initially, I thought these exercises were kind of silly and a waste of time, but they're really not.  They forced us to be able to articulate what we are about, our vision and what we want our clients' experience with Alison Yin Weddings to be.  While we were doing this, I kept pulling design inspiration from the web and just putting all of that away in a folder for later use.

The next task (no small feat) was to find the right designer.  We did have some restrictions - namely, our budget, and we wanted to work with someone local so we could be active and in-person participants.  That, and we're also trying to support local businesses and services as much as possible.  In researching graphic designers, I noticed there are lots of different types of designers - the three most obvious to me were designers who specialize in typography, others who specialize in collage and mixed media, and others who are illustrators.  We wanted someone who could draw so we went the illustrator route.  I realize that all of this must sound really elementary, but figuring out these basic principles literally took us months, so that just shows where we were coming from.

After several meetings with designers and countless hours looking through online portfolios, we finally stumbled upon Emma Robertson.  At the time, Emma had just moved to Berkeley from Paris, one place that provided some major inspiration for the look I wanted to create.  What sold me on Emma before even meeting with her was the personal work portion of her portfolio and her blog.  Most of the time, graphic designers create work that reflect the vision of the people they're working for, so it's not really a true reflection of what their personal style is all about.  I love Emma's illustrations and her use of color, AND her blog is full of things she likes and is drawn to - all things that were on the same wavelength as what I wanted.

Unfortunately for Emma, I basically just dropped my inspiration folder in her lap (there were at least 85 different photos of things), and told her to have at it.  Here's a sampling of what I gave her:

Below is a smattering of things that I like that I gave Emma.  I wanted her to create something that was pretty and elegant, but that also had a hand painted, whimsical and quirky feel with room to evolve over time.  And obviously, as you can tell from just glancing at the images below, I love color so that was also key.

1/2/3

4/5/6

7/8/9

10

11/12 (a vase I brought back from Paris)/13

14 (a bag I brought back from a store in Paris)/15

For the next blog post, I'll write about the process of working with Emma and coming up with our new look.

La Colectiva - Nonprofit Work

I don't normally post the non-wedding work that I do on this blog (actually, I have a separate web site for the documentary and photojournalism work here), however, I've just finished a major project that launched today and consumed much of my September and October, which also happened to be two of our busiest wedding months, and so I thought I'd share it. It's a combination of photographs, audio and video in a documentary/promo style for La Colectiva, a worker-run collective that's based in San Francisco. I photographed ten women and recorded their stories, and then created a multimedia piece (in Spanish) about the domestic worker experience as well as La Colectiva. I encourage you to visit  the web site where you can see the photos, listen to the stories (they're all in Spanish, but there are English translations), and watch the video (again in Spanish with English subtitles). This was a really fun project for me (even though extremely challenging since I'm not fluent in Spanish), and it was such an honor to meet and photograph such amazing women!

Tips for looking extra fabulous in your wedding pictures

As more wedding days are approaching, I wanted to share a few extra ideas to help my brides look even more amazing in their wedding pictures. Hair and Make-up

1.  Your wedding day is not the time to experiment!  Make sure you have your hair and make-up styles planned and "rehearsed" well before your big day.

2.  Whenever possible, go with a professional.  Not only do the pros have a large repertoire of styles, but they are also more apt to keep you on schedule and give you hair and make-up that will last throughout the day.

3.  Waterproof make-up!  With all the sweating and crying that goes on at weddings, we want to make sure you avoid raccoon eyes, unless, of course, that is your intended look.  On this same note, it would be wise to carry some eye drops in your clutch to refresh any eyes red from crying.

4.  Try to avoid wearing super heavy face make-up.  It has a tendency to rub off onto people's clothes, which doesn't look very attractive.

5.  Keep it simple!  When it comes to your hair, you'll want something that you don't have to worry about throughout the day.  Simple styles that won't fall out or can easily be fixed with a bobbypin or two will save you a lot of headache.  As for make-up, I always encourage brides to stay with their own personal style, just with a little extra care and flair.  Remember, you want your fiance to still recognize you!

Before the wedding

6.  Practice your best smile (or serious face) in the mirror.  You'll be a pro model by the time your wedding rolls around.

7.  Try to get a good sleep the night before your big day.  I realize this will be difficult what with all the excitement of GETTING MARRIED the next day, but at least try.  My friend's grandma once told me that if you can't sleep, the next best thing is to trick your body to think it's sleeping by lying still with your eyes closed.

Day of

8.  Remember your vitals!  Or rather, eat and stay hydrated throughout the day.  I know what I look like when I have food anger and we certainly don't want any memories of that!

9.  Hold your bouquet down low around your tummy area.  Many brides have a tendency to want to hold their flowers up near their chest, but it looks much better when held lower.  The lower position will elongate your arms, hide any unwanted pooch and show off your neckline.

10.  Do not talk during your formal pictures.  Mid-sentence is never a good place to get caught in a photo.  Let's update that old Victorian adage to say, "Brides should be seen, and not heard."  (But only during your formals, of course.)

11. Take a break from smiling in between shots.  If you hold a smile for too long, your face will start to appear strained.

12.  Elongate your neck when being photographed from a lower angle - this will minimize double chins.

13.  Most importantly, RELAX AND HAVE FUN!  This is your wedding day so you shouldn't have to worry about a thing!  The brides who take the best pictures are the ones who are most at ease, laughing and enjoying themselves!