BryonySeries Throwback Thursday: Branding Logos and Taglines, Grrr....

Monday, December 27, 2010

Branding Logos and Taglines, Grrr....

Coming up with ideas for a logo was easy, thanks to the previous creative efforts of Bryony's illustrator Kathleen Rose Van Pelt (http://www.imaginarylinesstudio.com/) and Christine A. Lindenberg, president and founder of CAL Graphics, Inc. (http://www.calgraphicsinc.com/).

An effective, snappy tagline, however, is eluding us.

Just when the majority of us like a particular verse, someone else comes along and slams it, either for the phrasing, the cadence, a solitary word, of all of the above. Sarah Stegall, Bryony's web administrator, has had fun creating really awful taglines and randomly posting them on Bryony's Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bryony/115857775121196?ref=sgm).

Yesterday afteroon, Sarah had a brainstorm of an idea. As I wavered between skepticism and cluelessness about certain concepts, Sarah very carefully explained how the process could work to me until I had sufficient understanding to be able run Sarah's idea past my publicist.

I don't want to say any further unless we go with it, at which point I'll fill in the blanks (once I grasp them enough to explain them). I never realized creating an image for a book was so complicated. I wonder how long it took McDonald's to do it.

BryonySeries Throwback Thursday: We Have a Tagline!!!

Monday, January 10, 2011

We Have a Tagline!!!

It's just that I can't share it yet. I can, however, tell you how we created it.

At Bryony's first "Meet and Greet" last month, my publicist, Dulcinea Hawksworth, passed around a list of twelve possibilities she had written. One of them generated the most interest; a second one had modest support.

Through much debate and a insights from a small, focus group, we tweaked the language until it concisely represented the overall plot of the entire series. Then we sent the tagline to our graphic designer, CAL Graphics Inc (http://www.calgraphicsinc.com/), who is creating our logo. Once the Bryony team approves the final design, I'll share the results.

In the meantime, we'll keep posting the "rejected" taglines on Bryony's Facebook page.http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bryony/115857775121196?ref=sgm

Some of them are really awful, too, but that's the fun of brainstorming. Happy groaning!

Bryony Business Cards....

....are in and the first 1500 or so are distributed.
These plastic-coated cards features the Bryony logo, complete with Bryony's signature vines (created by Kathleen Rose Van Pelt (http://www.imaginarylinesstudio.com/), tagline (a drop of blood, a deceptive fantasy), and contact information: website, blog, Facebook page, and email.

THANK YOU Christine at CAL Graphics, Inc. (http://www.calgraphicsinc.com/) for designing a fabulous logo!

Best of all, they cards are FREE!

If you'd like some, contact me at BryonySeries@gmail.com, and I'll send you some.

Logo, Makeover, and First Appearances

Wow! Bryony is getting busy.

First, the official Bryony logo and tagline is complete, thanks to Bryony's illustrator, Kathleen Rose Van Pelt (http://www.imaginarylinesstudio.com/) and CAL Graphisc, Inc (http://www.calgraphicsinc.com/).

To view, click onto Bryony's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bryony/115857775121196?ref=sgm

My publicist, Dulcinea Hawksworth, has scheduled a makeover for this Friday afternoon and is coming with TWO cameras in tow--I don't own one :(--so she can take lots of pictures of the "new me" to post on the Bryony sites.

Now, this a little daunting for me because I don't wear makeup (I have chronic hives), but Dulcinea insists it's part of my packaging (see http://bryonyseries.blogspot.com/2011/02/i-am-commodity.html), and that the make-up is very hypo-allergenic.

I trust Dulcinea's judgment and, besides, it's should be a nice bonding time with my two daughters. Rebekah, seventeen, can heckle me in person, and my web administrator, Sarah Stegall, who lives out of state, can heckle me long-distance, via camera phones.

I have a dressmaker!!!

Last week she came to my house and measured me for my first, three Victorian outfits: two walking suits (spring and fall), and a ball gown. Yesterday, we purchased our first patterns and several yards of shimmering burgundy/black fabric, on sale.

Her future plans--sooner than later--is to kidnap me for a day (sans her children--two small boys who "helped" us yesterday look for patterns) and flee to a much larger, out-of-town fabric store.

Last, but certainly not least, Bryony has two upcoming events. Because any profits of the Bryony cookbook will be donated to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Will and Grundy Counties (http://www.bbbs.org/), Bryony is supporting the 2011 Bowl for Kids' Sake in two ways, by helping to fund event costs and through pledge-sponsored bowling on March 25.

If you live in the area and want to become a sponsor, form a team, join an existing team, or pledge a bowler, visit http://bfks.kintera.org/ for details. It takes $1000 to match one child with a positive adult mentor, so any help is welcomed, appreciated, and put to good use.

Bryony will also participate in an April 10 event at the Universalist Unitarian Church of Joliet (http://www.uucj.com/). I don't have details, but will share them when I do. Although WriteLife LLC does not yet have a release date for Bryony, the entire Bryony team is eager to start spreading the word.

To view sketches and biographies of the Bryony team, visit our website at http://www.bryonyseries.com/ or click here: http://www.bryonyseries.com/About_Us_FFC4.html.

I wonder if the spring walking suit is appropriate for April 10. I certainly hope so!!!

I Got an "A," Hurray!!!

Yesterday morning, Bryony's publicist, Dulcinea Hawksworth, and I reviewed a video she had sent me on branding and marketing. Dulcinea had urged me to watch it because she felt it contained some future networking opportunities for us, and we once again discussed goals for Bryony.

Two parts in that video really leaped out at me. One compared effective and ineffective logos and taglines, which reinforced my confidence that what we were designing was spot on. The other was a section about "giving back," which has been part of my marketing goal for Bryony since the beginning, and I triumphantly reminded Dulcinea of it.

"Congratulations," she said. "You have passed Marketing 101 with an 'A'."

Needless to say, I felt pretty good about that, considering my head is spinning with press kits, period costumes, strategy briefs, creating a music box for the trailer and CD cover, checking out locations for the trailer and music video, completing the cookbook, and CD cover art, including locating a model for John Simons, etc.

I'm not sure what's involved in the next marketing class, but with such an enthusiastic professor leading it, I'm definitely looking forward to it.

We Have a Tagline!!!

It's just that I can't share it yet. I can, however, tell you how we created it.

At Bryony's first "Meet and Greet" last month, my publicist, Dulcinea Hawksworth, passed around a list of twelve possibilities she had written. One of them generated the most interest; a second one had modest support.

Through much debate and a insights from a small, focus group, we tweaked the language until it concisely represented the overall plot of the entire series. Then we sent the tagline to our graphic designer, CAL Graphics Inc (http://www.calgraphicsinc.com/), who is creating our logo. Once the Bryony team approves the final design, I'll share the results.

In the meantime, we'll keep posting the "rejected" taglines on Bryony's Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bryony/115857775121196?ref=sgm

Some of them are really awful, too, but that's the fun of brainstorming. Happy groaning!

Branding Logos and Taglines, Grrr....

Coming up with ideas for a logo was easy, thanks to the previous creative efforts of Bryony's illustrator Kathleen Rose Van Pelt (http://www.imaginarylinesstudio.com/) and Christine A. Lindenberg, president and founder of CAL Graphics, Inc. (http://www.calgraphicsinc.com/).

An effective, snappy tagline, however, is eluding us.

Just when the majority of us like a particular verse, someone else comes along and slams it, either for the phrasing, the cadence, a solitary word, of all of the above. Sarah Stegall, Bryony's web administrator, has had fun creating really awful taglines and randomly posting them on Bryony's Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bryony/115857775121196?ref=sgm).

Yesterday afteroon, Sarah had a brainstorm of an idea. As I wavered between skepticism and cluelessness about certain concepts, Sarah very carefully explained how the process could work to me until I had sufficient understanding to be able run Sarah's idea past my publicist.

I don't want to say any further unless we go with it, at which point I'll fill in the blanks (once I grasp them enough to explain them). I never realized creating an image for a book was so complicated. I wonder how long it took McDonald's to do it.