Personal Brand

To kick off the personal branding development, I needed to transfer my skills and knowledge of branding and apply it to myself. Branding is an experience and a relationship, and I wanted my brand to take hiring managers and companies on a journey through my experiences so far. I also wanted to convey an inviting feeling to help foster a relationship with my audience. This process has helped me discover more about myself and how to show others who I am as a marketer.

The Process

1. Acknowledge my progress from 1st portfolio to now

2. Figure out my why and who

3. Defined my values

4. Developed brand elements

5. Made brand universal across platforms

Recognizing my Journey

In branding myself, I needed to remember where I started to understand where I was going. I revisited the first portfolio I made on Wix, and oh man. The portfolio lacked depth and direction; I took the guided borders too seriously, but most importantly, it didn't represent me. A complete website overall and brand update were due. It's common knowledge that brands evolve and change; I realized my brand was no different. Reviewing my first portfolio helped me move from an ad student with a handful of school projects to a recent grad and young professional with intern experience and a better understanding of her professional goals.

My Why

I wanted to develop a solid personal brand representing my creativity, personality, and career accomplishments thus far. My brand aims to help me stand out from other marketers and job applicants with similar work-level experiences. This process allowed me to help build trust and credibility in my resume.

Target Audience

My target audience consists of the following:

1. Hiring Managers

2. Companies

3. My Connections

As someone who recently relocated, I needed to establish a highly reachable target audience. This included hiring managers and the companies they work for, specifically in the Louisville area. Through the shuffle of resumes they get, I wanted to stand out with a unique portfolio to me and my journey. I could take these two target groups on my journey with me. My connections make up my third target group. Since moving, I have established a chain of relationships, and for them to help me grow, I needed to show them who I am so they could show others.

Core Values

Be Inviting

I wanted my brand to be professional in some elements, but I mainly wanted it to be inviting and friendly from the second someone lands on the home page. This allows my personality to shine and welcomes people to view more of my portfolio.

Stay True

In a time filled with ongoing trends, online presences, and a continuous feedback loop in our lives, it's hard sometimes to stay true to oneself and not to follow the crowd. That's why I made it a point to make it one of my core values to remain authentic and consistent with myself and my brand because my whole purpose is to stand out to my peers and prospective employers.

Entering the advertising field means going in with the understanding that it is a continuously changing game. One must be able to adapt for the sake of their clients and themselves. A personal brand is no different. Establishing this concept as a core value will help my brand flourish and help me grow as an individual.

Forever Changing

Always Accountable

A significant part of my personal brand goals is establishing credibility amongst my target audience. My portfolio includes work examples, publications, and testimonials to help support my resume. These steps help demonstrate my accountability and how I keep the success of a team, company, and client.

Brand Elements

Logo & Brand Name

I wanted to keep the logo simple, friendly, and representative of me. What better way to do that than with a signature-style font of my name? The logo contains shadowing under the letters to ensure it stands out from my other brand elements, making it the more eye-catching component. The logo also contained two primary colors from my brand palette: a soft purple and a dark purple of contrast.

Futura Bold

Futura

Brandon Grotesque

Brandon Grotesque Bold

Color Palette

My personal brand's color palette is filled with soft colors and then with their contrasts. This gave me more options and concepts to play with while developing my brand, my website pages, and other platforms. Building in contrast colors specific for the soft colors allowed certain elements to stand out from others. I also made purple the primary color for my brand because it represents creativity. The bolder colors contrast with the soft colors complimenting the purples, representing versatility and flexibility within my brand. The soft colors are a constant in the brand because it creates that welcoming, friendly feeling I want to establish with my target audiences.

Typography

These fonts were chosen because they are fresh without being trendy and complement my logo's font.

Futura Bold is reserved for titles, and buttons within the portfolio
Futura is used for secondary headings
Brandon Grotesque is for longer body text
Brandon Grotesque Bold is for body text that stands on its own without boxes

Building a Presence

The Steps:

1. Buy a domain name consistent with the brand name

2. Make the brand logo and name consistent across social platforms

3. Share portfolio with connections

4. Announce the launch of my portfolio on LinkedIn

5. Include portfolio link to LinkedIn profile and direct people to it from my bio