12WC: Week 7 Branding like Bonanza {part 1}

There are no doubt some of you out there who remember this show. I have many fond memories of the rump-bubbabump bubbabump of the theme song and all the cool cowboy stuff, mostly the hats. For those of you who've not had the Bonanza experience, basically it's a family from the old west who ran cattle. At some point they'd have to deal with branding the cattle.

This weeks challenge has to do with defining one's own brand. { but Brian, where are the week 5 and 6? You may rightly ask. Well, I've been working on some images, but they will be posted another time. } For now, this weeks challenge is about asking the poignant questions, and discovering the principles that underlie my work. Along with finding a color pallet, fonts, and images that help to support those key concepts.

I tackled this in two parts, the wordy part and the picture part. There are a whole list of questions that are designed to help initially define the brand. Like; What is it that my product/service does that makes it different? What do I do that adds remarkable, measurable, and distinctive value? What do I do that I am most proud of? Then there are some questions that were addressed in the beginning of the 12 week challenge about identifying clients. These questions all fit under the umbrella of the "Feature / Benefit."

Here are the answers to some of those questions.

How does my work add value?

• Through the hand crafted and unique technique my work strives to have a warm and personal quality to it.
• My work aims to engage the viewer's imagination through metaphor and implication (aka story telling/ narrative devices.)
• My work draws forth an emotive sense of the subject through imagery, color, and technique.
• My work achieves an understanding of the conceptual problem and creates a unique visual concept as a solution.

What is measurable about my work?

• Quality of craftmanship
• Engaging imagery
• A history of growth and development via blog (you're watching it happen before your very eyes!)
• Consistent theme/ area of focus/ audience
• Punctuality, meeting deadlines

What am I most proud of?

• A technique which is very personal, effective and unique.

What do you want to be famous for?

• I want to create memorable and inspiring images that will stand the test of time.

What is it that my product/service does that distinguishes it from others in my field? (15 words or less)

• My work is skillfully crafted to effectively communicate timeless adventures to a targeted audience.

• My work provides a unique visual solution through a distinctive and engaging technique.

• My services create visual content designed to engage and inspire our youthful imaginations.

So, you can see, that I have no problem setting up some lofty ideals for myself there. Time will tell if I am able to meet these objectives, but I have always been one to aim for the stars. For now, I am going to post this up and let these ideas percolate a little bit longer. Stay tuned for the next post which will be about the image end of branding. I had a lot of fun creating a new personal identity, and look forward to sharing it here.

Thanks for reading along.
Cheers.