Branding: Ask Allea

It is a beautiful opportunity when friends approach me as potential branding clients, and I get to be a part of shaping their business dreams. It's an honor to be trusted with creating a visual identity to represent the heart of their business and propel them to the next level. 

I recently worked with my friend Allea Grummert on branding for her financial blog, Ask Allea. Allea's blog gives millenial money answers from everything from debt to budgeting. Her blog posts are fresh, approachable, and have just the right dash of sass. Her goal is to help you understand money in a way that is realistic, and helps you to be more confident in your financial decisions. 

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Inspiration

To gather inspiration I had Allea create a Pinterest board that we filled with colors, textures, outfits, kitchen cabinets, and anything else that had the style we wanted to achieve. This assortment of pictures gave us a clear unique vision for the brand. Overall, one of the main branding goals was to make Ask Allea feel honest and approachable. We wanted her website to feel like a comfortable friend, not a stuffy financial website. 

With our inspiration sites set on and honest and approachable feeling it became clear that the brand would have a simple modern look, with feminine touches. This eventually translated into simple clean logos, graphics and images with small feminine details. 

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FINAL BRAND

The final brand for Ask Allea feels very warm and friendly. We paired a classic navy, with warm coral and yellow for a bright color palette. These colors are very authentic to Allea and the warmth, friendliness, and sass of the words on her blog. We kept the brand imagery modern and simple with the letter "A" inspired various monogram and drop-cap letters. 

Below you can see the full brand that was created for Ask Allea. Along with the main logos, secondary logos, and brand icons help to pull the brand together and give it an overall cohesive look and feel. Additionally we also created some blog graphics that you can read about below. 

Brand Graphics

In addition to the logos and other brand elements I also created blog graphics. Ask Allea is a website and blog, and so it was very important for her to have cohesive blog headers that could also function on other platforms such as Facebook and Pinterest. Below you can see mock-ups of her blog templates created for the Ask Allea brand. These blog graphics are cohesive with the rest of her branding, and have simple feminine details. Blog graphics such as these look great on her blog and extend her branding to her Pinterest boards as well. 

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Check out Allea's website Ask Allea, for helpful blog posts, and coaching services. You can also visit her Facebook page where she posts Ask Allea blog articles, and helpful financial information from other financial bloggers as well. Her information is helpful, real and feels like talking to a friend. I would highly recommend stopping over and reading a few of her posts for yourself. 

Are you a creative or small business owner looking to invest in your brand? I would love to help you create a beautiful brand that captures the heart of your business and gives you a visual identity to propel you to the next level. To learn more head to our Services Page, and then fill out the Brand Identity Contact Form. I can't wait to chat with you about creating a meaningful custom brand for your business. 

FAITH: Customer Interview Dwell Deeply Journals - Susanna Zach

I’m thrilled to share with you the first in a sporadic series of posts that will appear throughout the fall, interviewing customers about Dwell Deeply Journals! So many of you love the journals, and I thought it would be super fun to hear from some of you how you use them. Not only will these posts show you how other people use their journals, but their answers have been full of encouragement and other nuggets of wisdom about faith.

If you are unfamiliar with our Dwell Deeply Journals these posts should be informative for you! You can also check out our past blog post explaining them here. 

First up, I interviewed my friend and customer Susanna Zach! To help you get to know Susanna, I made her answer a few questions random questions about herself. Get to know Susanna below, and then dive into our interview.

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Fun Facts about Susanna

• Name: Susanna Zach
• Age: 21
• Instagram: @susanna.rachel
• Current Occupation/Job Goals/Major?: I'm student teaching right now and looking forward to being an elementary teacher soon!
• Favorite Color?: I love lots of neutrals, but right now I've been loving dark army green!
• Favorite Bible Verse?: My favorite passage in the Bible is Ephesians 2:1-10! It's so full of so many beautiful truths. If I had to choose a favorite verse from that section it'd probably by verses 4 and 5. I think that "But God" is probably one of the most important and powerful phrases in the Bible.  
• Hobbies?: Reading, listening to Music, organizing, playing with my nieces/nephew and all little kids, checking out the hippest coffee shops, watching the sunset.
• Favorite way to spend a free afternoon/evening?: If I had a free afternoon, you'd probably find me snuggled up on my bed reading a good book. I love reading memoirs and Christian non-fiction, but recently I've totally been enjoying Harry Potter. I would have a candle lit and a cup of iced coffee in hand.
• Coffee or Tea?: Both
• Chipotle or Qdoba?: Chipotle
• Salty or Sweet Snacks?: Salty

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Dwell Deeply Guest Post Interview

What does it mean for the word of God to dwell within you? When the Word of God dwells within us, it impacts our lives and the way that we go about our days. The Holy Spirit uses the Bible to change us and mold us and make us more like God. If we passively read the Bible, it won't seep into our hearts and lives. I think that we need to dig into the Word, what it means, and how we can apply it to our lives. Then, when the enemy tries sends his lies and arrows to attack us, we can combat his lies with the truths we've learned from the Bible.

How has the Dwell Deeply Journal encouraged you in your times with the Lord, and allowed you to process scripture? Using the Dwell Deeply Journal has helped me dig into what the passage is saying, what it means, and how I can apply it my life. When I go through those steps of studying the Word, I think that I really understand it deeper and remember it longer. I totally love the doodling section because I can choose a small phrase or word that really stood out to me and write it all pretty. That helps me recall what I learned from that Bible passage. These last few years I have learned the great importance of gratitude and how it impacts our outlook on life. I love that there's a section in the Dwell Deeply Journal to jot down things that I'm thankful for that day. I think that the best way to end studying the Word is by seeking the Lord in prayer. The prayer request section helps me focus my prayers and be intentional about who and what I'm praying for.

Dwell Deeply Doodle | Grace be with you | by Susanna Zach

What is your favorite devotional to use with the Dwell Deeply Journal? I love using the Dwell Deeply Journal with the She Reads Truth plans. I write down the most impactful quotes from the devotion in the take away section. Then I use the application section to process what I learned and how that impacted my life.

What is a verse, or verses that have encouraged you lately? "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever for the Lord God is an everlasting rock" (Isaiah 26:3-4). These verses have been so encouraging to me recently. When I'm filled with fear and worry, I know that the Lord will fill me with His inexplicable peace. I love to look up the Greek and Hebrew of specific words in the passage. Perfect peace comes from the word shalom, which means completeness, contentment, whole, rest, safety, peace with God especially in a covenant relationship. I love those descriptions of the peace that I can find in Jesus.

What other resources would you recommend to someone looking to dig deeper into the word of God? I love using the Blue Letter Bible app to look up the Greek and Hebrew of words in the Bible. "Women of the Word" by Jen Wilkin is very informative on why and how we can study the Bible. "The MacArthur Bible Handbook" by John MacArthur gives an in-depth description of each book of the Bible, including background, setting, theological themes, key words, and God's character displayed in that book. I also find commentaries very helpful, especially when reading something that's difficult to understand. Matthew Henry is a great commentator.

Dwell Deeply Doodle | Colossians 1:10 | By Susanna Zach

How does processing scripture allow you to apply it to your business, job, family, passions etc? When I take the time to truly understand what I'm reading in the Scriptures, I think that it makes what I'm reading more meaningful to me. As I read and pray, the Lord reveals to me ways that I can change, become more like Him, love people better, and live more intentionally. I learn how to better steward my finances when I'm reading about the generosity of the early church. I learn how to trust God more when I read about David's dependence on Him. When I read about Christ's humility, I am spurred on to think of others as more important than myself and serve in any way.

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A big thank you to Susanna for answering these questions, and giving us all so much encouragement. I love seeing how real customers use their journals, and how they are being used as a resource to process scripture. 

If you are interested in a Dwell Deeply Journal for use in your own quiet time you can find them over in the shop! Stay tuned for more customer interviews about Dwell Deeply Journals, faith, and customer photos of their doodles! Enjoy!

Branding: Perch Lettering

I love working with other creative entrepreneurs and small business owners on branding for their business. One of my favorite parts of this is that no two projects are ever the same. Plus, I love walking through the branding process, and equipping these business owners to use their new visual identity successfully! The branding for Perch Lettering was no exception. It was also enjoyable to work with another business owner that loves lettering, and spoiler alert - we incorporated her lettering into the logo! 

Michelle, of Perch Lettering, and I connected through social media, and I was so excited to create branding for her lettering business that she has been in the beginning stages of creating. Michelle has a beautiful lettering style, and knew from the start that investing in branding would create a solid visual foundation for her to rely on. I knew that it was important to give Michelle branding that clearly defined her style, and gave her a visual identity of her own. This is important for any business, your branding should speak to who you are, set the tone, and define the image you want to convey. 

Michelle letters lots of wooden signs and goods for the home. The name Perch Lettering came from the the idea that just like a bird rests on a perch, these items would rest in your home and be a resting place. This mission for why she creates lettered pieces is so sweet, and one of the things I was so excited to infuse into this brand. 

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INSPIRATION

Since the name of the business is Perch Lettering, birds, perches, and branches were obviously a major part of the style and visual inspiration. The back story to the name, and why Michelle thought of that name also played into the inspiration and heart behind the brand. Through the brand survey we also identified the following words as brand inspiration: cozy, rustic, and home. 

With that inspiration in mind I knew that the branding for Perch Lettering would need to have a rustic modern vibe. I wanted clean lines, simple details, and warm colors, and perch-like details to come together and create the perfect visual identity for Perch Lettering

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FINAL BRAND

The final brand feels ever so slightly rustic, modern, warm and inviting. We developed a rich warm color palette that pairs beautifully with a lot of the wood grain that Michelle uses in the signs she creates. These colors also add to the cozy, warm, inviting feeling we wanted the brand to convey. The single branch, or "perch" detail is simple and and adds the right organic/rustic touch to the branding. 

One of the fun parts of this brand was that from the outset, I suggested, and Michelle wanted, was to use her own lettering as a part of the logo. This was a natural way to bring in her style, and let it speak for her business. The "Perch" part of the logo is Michelle's lettering work. I digitally incorporated it into the logo, and think it makes the brand feel even more welcoming. It's a small detail that adds so much personality!

Below, you can see the full branding style sheet. In addition to the main logo, we created some fun secondary logos, and icons. Secondary logos, and icons are great to use on social media, incorporate into product packaging in the form of stickers, and create a cohesive brand experience. 

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BRAND COLLATERAL

One of my favorite parts of this beautiful branding was the business card design. I selected the blush and maroon color from the color palette to be the center of attention. They pair so beautifully, and add such a warmth to this point of communication. I used the main logo, and one of the secondary logo icons to make sure the business cards displayed the brand well. We added Michelle's main contact information, and social media pages to the card as well. 

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You can find Michelle's work here on Instagram, or check out her Facebook page. I am so excited for her to embark on this small business journey with branding that fits her unique style, and communicates her vision. Michelle is available for custom wood signs, envelope lettering, and other fun custom lettering projects, be sure to reach out to her for your custom lettering needs!

Interested in creating a beautiful brand for your creative business? I can't wait to chat with you about that! Head over to the Services Page to learn more, and fill out the Brand Identity Contact Form. I can't wait to chat with you about creating a meaningful custom brand for your business.