A Logo Will Be Born...Your Feedback is Valued!

A post from my heart today...ready to make things a bit more official regarding this blog and my freelance work. Excited and scared, am hoping you can relate.

Here goes....

I'm creating a logo for this blog, and launching a new website for my freelance work. In the past, I felt a bit silly about this. Maybe I still do, just a little. It's quite ironic, actually, because if I were my own client, I would have told myself to do this long ago! There's that thing called self-doubt that nags away at me, and I'm ready to push forward and stop listening to those fears!

Why now?

Well, it's the first time I've felt that I can officially accept most freelance work without it being a conflict of interest with my employer. When I worked in tourism, it would have been a bit of a conflict of interest to seek out freelance work from our area partners. The same goes for my time in internet sales. I also have more time to manage clients and balance my time, thanks to a wonderful husband and supportive family. Love love love them. I also owe a tremendous amount of gratitue to my fellow "flyers"...a group of 700 or so artists from around the world. We all took Kelly Rae Robert's e-course (called Flying Lessons) together recently. WHAT A LIFE-CHANGER! Click on the "You were Meant to Dream Big" banner over on the right column for details (or here).

I've been designing websites, printed marketing materials, and logos since 2004 (freelance), all while holding a formal marketing position as my day job, where I also put my skills into practice. Social marketing came around 2007 for me...so glad I jumped in and embraced that when I did! It's time that I formally creating a business identity (via a logo and updated website).

I had great practice in creating a logo/biz identity/online presence that was "mine" just a few months ago. I created a logo, launched a blog, created a facebook biz page, created a twitter page, and last but not least, launched my etsy shop, all for my jewelry business. It was an amazing time for me...totally felt overwhelmed and excited and like I was "flying", as Kelly Rae Roberts would say. You can read about this time here.

Let's Do This!

You'll notice I've already created my first draft for the logo, as seen in my updated blog header at the top of this page. You may also notice that I expanded the size of this blog, thanks to the handy blogger design tool. It was a great time for a little housekeeping over on the right, while I was at it.

As a refresher, I didn't have a "logo" before, but had the name of the blog in a font called "beautiful", seen below.

I figured a soft-launch with you, my favorite friends and followers, would be quite appropriate. We have connected and I value your opinion.

~Do you like the draft logo (top of this page) with the lightbulb?
~What other icons make you think of "marketing" without being too cheesy (smile)? An idea bubble?

~ How do you feel about the font choices? Lane Narrow and Sketch Block.

~ Do you like the sketch-i-ness of the word "marketing" and the light bulb, or should I smooth it out/polish it way up?

~Along these same lines, what would you put in the header next to my logo (on the right). It's photos of Charleston, now, because I love this place, but that doesn't convey everything about me/my work. I just hate to use stock photos of puzzle pieces, www (guilty as charged), etc. SO not personal, plus they are everywhere.

~Any other ideas?

Here are a few other logos I've designed...it's a different experience when it's your own that needs designing!

Thank you advance for your thoughts (via comment below, by email lauracotero at gmail dot com, or DM me at @lauracatherineo)...and thanks for being kind with my special dream.

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