lovely little details new logo reveal {a 3 year branding journey.. part 1}

after almost 3 years and a crazy rocky road of designer mayhem, i’m excited to reveal the first piece of my new branding to  you - my logo!

sooooo many people have said “but why are you changing the look! we like it the way it was!” well. to put it in as short and sweet of a response as i can, my previous logo was thanks to the hard work, patience and dedication of courtney talbot - a super amazing designer who completely saved me in my time of trouble. courtney stepped in when i needed to come up with a new logo because of issues i ran in to with the first designers i hired. remember folks - always ask for custom illustration if you don’t want to be given clip art - that was something i learned the hard way, and courtney came to the rescue with my custom drawn mason jar logo that i’ve been rocking for over a year. and so in this time of “oh no i need something quick!”, i think i jumped the gun when i went in to my branding. i hadn’t quite figured out who i was in this industry, or what my purpose was, or what my true passion was. i think when you are starting your own business you really need to give it some time before you jump in to names/logos/collateral, because you learn so much about yourself in that first year alone, and things become so much clearer to you after the experiences you gain along the way!

i designed my current blog, from the icons to the header to the background - basically from the ground-up. but you know the biggest problem with knowing how to design in illustrator? you never stop tweaking things :). i kept trying to make changes to make the “site” exude all of the inspiration i had swarming in my head, and it was driving me crazy. so i finally decided to give in and use some of my LLD earnings to hire a web designer who could give me the outside expertise i so badly needed. after interviewing/meeting several designers, i ended up hiring henny & lucia of  d*lsh design (they’re also the sweet faces behind utterly engaged) and honestly that was one of the best decisions i’ve made in this business journey. i knew i had a crazy passion for floral design, but i’ve always been afraid to show it, for fear of what people would say or how they might judge me or my work. for so long i’ve tried to remain true to myself, but there’s always a little voice in my head saying “what if they don’t like it?” well, i finally put that voice to rest, and fully gave in to the concept of being myself, even though some people might not like it. it is so hard sometimes to know what makes you you, but being afraid to put it out there because you think it might deter certain readers or clients. but once you realize that’s exactly what you need in order to excel and continually fuel the passion to keep going, it’s like a breath of fresh air!

i told henny and lucia in my branding process that i wanted to keep the jar that courtney so carefully illustrated for me. mainly because i just couldn’t lose the mason jar, it is far too much a part of who i am and represents my beloved grandmother, mimi, along with my jars of love. i told them that i wanted to represent the “new england meets california” person who i am. i finally gave up with trying to make sure the end result would be something everyone would like, and gave in to the notion that really, i was hiring professionals to create something that was perfectly me. i knew i had to have flowers in there somewhere, and henny and lucia literally custom illustrated my little flower bunch based on a bouquet i sent them. but most importantly, i knew after my experiences prior that this time around, i shouldn’t settle on something just because i felt like i was being a nightmare client and asking for change after change. i told h&l if they needed to charge me more, that was fine, but i needed to wait until it was just right. and i’m pretty crazy excited about where we ended up! i can’t wait to introduce you to the full website branding where i can fill you in on all the other lovely little details we included.

until then, though, i hope you like where we’re going! thank you for joining me on the ride :)