Oh this is exciting! I LOVE photography but designing and branding! and color! and swirls! and teal! and layouts! oh I love that too!! At this time last year I was pursuing graphic design but never had a distinct aspect of it that I wanted to focus on.  I have obviously switched my focus to photography and started Inspired Designs this past summer. One of my favorite parts of building this business is getting to make a name and a look for myself. Branding is SO SO SO important! It’s important for any business but especially photography. The world of wedding photography is full of look-a-likes and is saturated with websites and blogs that all start to look the same.  I’m DEFINITELY NOT an expert at any of this but I find it really interesting how design works and what goes into branding a business effectively.

Several people have emailed me about starting their own photography business and what should be their first step.  Besides taking your camera everywhere and practicing on any and every cute kid you know :), start making a name and a look for yourself! I spend way too much time stalking other photographers and reading their tips and tricks. One tip that they all hit pretty hard is to “define your style”. Make your images and your business your own! This has taken me a while but I’m starting to finally see what I want Inspired Designs to look like.  Once, someone jokingly said “Oh who designed that shirt, those look like Inspired Designs’ swirls!”, talking about a Tshirt I designed.  While they were half joking, that is what I’m going for! I want people to see my logo and swirls and recognize it. This doesn’t come from just having a good logo. So many people get a logo and that’s the only aspect of their “look” that they worry about. But branding goes so much further than that. It’s about selecting colors, fonts, designs, patterns and style! Once you figure out your style and colors, you can start branding yourself on the web, through advertising (print ads, business cards, etc.), and through production materials (mailers, labels, CD covers, letterheads).  By sticking with a theme of style and color, you start to form a cohesive “look” for your business. This not only attracts attention and is easy on the eyes, it takes your business to a whole new level of professionalism!

a few little tips:

• Simple is good!
• Stick with one design concept and just modify it throughout your “look”so that you don’t lose the sense of unity.
• Try to keep your fonts the same! Mine are not EXACTLY the same but for the most part, I only use the thin and swirly fonts that come straight from my logo!
• Find your two colors and work with them! Don’t be too strict, you can use variations of those two colors in some cases. (lighter teal, brighter green)

Here are some examples of my newly updated blog and website! Hopefully this can help some of you who are starting your own business or inspire those of you who would like to!