February 13, 2022

Logos. What are they and how do they effect your business? First, what is a logo? A logo is a symbol, emblem, graphic mark, stylized name or drawing, or a combination of all used by a company to help its brand's identity. Logos are visual shortcuts that can help reflect the brand's values and helps future and returning clients remember the brand. When we think of logos we often recall certain brands the quickest i.e. Starbucks, Apple, and Mercedes to name a few. This is because these companies and many others have logically marketed their logos to become recognizable immediately in the minds of their consumers | clients. So what does this mean for you and your business? It means the logo that you want to create for your business should reflect your business values and convey to your potential clients who you are as a business. I am going to open my soul and let you see what the creative process involved and how it evolved into the logo that represents my business Ivory Peacock Photography & Design today.

I. The Inspiration 
With so many websites and apps offering quick and cheap logo designs these days, it would have been easy to go with one of them, but that is not me. That's not my style at all. I love to photograph | draw | paint | and design stuff that has not been seen a hundred times before. I wanted to design my own logo to represent my business, but also be an extension of me as well. With that being said, why a peacock you might ask. Well let's turn the pages of this book back 7 years. I was in college at the time and the class was asked to pick an animal that would represent "a future business." I chose an interior design company with the peacock for the symbolic animal. This is because peacocks represent beauty, vision, royalty, honor, and integrity; for an interior design company this would work great wouldn't you say. As for the logical side, I have been a retail manager for years and knew that this was also the main base qualities of any successful business. The next steps were to pick out the colors that would represent the business.

Since this particular business was going to be higher-end interior design company, the decision was directly influenced by the peacock. So purples, blues, and whites | off whites were chosen. Purple, through-out history, has always had the meaning of royalty due to process of the making the hue was expensive because the material was rare, which meant only the rich could afford fabrics with this color. Blue also has a history of been associated with reliability and stability; that is why alot past and present day companies use this color for their main color. Lastly, ivory and whites were also seen as pure or clarity colors. Now you are probably wandering at this point, "what does this all have to do with the current business and logo and why does it all mean?"  The answer to this question is this, I was always told 'things happen for a reason' and that this was just the beginning for Ivory Peacock Photography & Design.

 II. The Beginning of something new
Now flip the pages ahead a couple of chapters five years later. I finally got the courage, the strength, the ability to get past my anxiety, the whatever you wanted to call it, I was ready to put my dreams and passion on the front burner and get started. I had always wanted to call my business using my name, but upon doing some research, there was an existing company in another state with that name sake and I didn't want mine to be confused with theirs. With that knowledge rattling around in my mind, I decided to use another name, but what? Remember when I said things happen for a reason. One day, I raffling around in old paperwork when I opened a box and the first thing on top was a pamphlet with the original design. Cue the spiritual music. I knew this outdated design would not convey the message that I wanted for my photography business, but it would be the center of inspiration. Time to evolve.
I immediately began sketching other ideas down and doing research at the same time to make sure that nothing that I was coming up with was already a logo design. 

III. The Evolution

This is where a symbol takes on the personality of a business and becomes more than just a logo. When you do a re-design, you must strip everything down to see what parts you want to keep and leave the rest on the cutting room floor. I wanted to keep the peacock symbolism of beauty, vision, re-newel, honor, and integrity, but colors would change to muted versions of purples and whites, but the peacock would be white. Why a white peacock? Albino peacocks are unique; ethereal visions of grace and purity. Regular peacocks are flashy and colorful. Albino peacocks don't have color to distract a person or animal from seeing them for who they truly are, which meant I wanted the peacock to be blank or avoid of color, so when clients come to me asking for unique images, I can create images from scratch so each session is different and unique to that client.  Since my business is photography related now, another key component to the current design is the camera or camera lens. Most of the designs that I came across, while doing research on photography logos, have a tendency of using the whole camera body, is the company name as a stylized wordmark, or the aperture symbol. As I sat staring at the film camera that had started this whole passion many many years ago, the light hit the front of the lens at such an angle it created two light flares. Then it struck me. What if I used the front of the lens as the base of the design, the core, since this camera is the core of my passion. At this time I had the name, the representative animal, the colors, and now the core; time to create a logo. 

I started with the center | core of the passion, which a simplified version of the front of the camera lens with the lens flares with the rings or circles that radiated from the center of the lens; three rings in total. The rings would represent the three main beliefs of my business; integrity, professionalism, and client experience | value. To complete the design I wanted the most recognizable parts of the peacock; the head with the feather plum and their big tail. To keep in mind, during this whole process I was trying to keep everything simple and modern. Logo design 101 states that the logo should be able to size up or down without complications or turn into a cluttered balled up mess.   
The tail of a peacock is everything but simple. However, everything can be broke down into basic shapes in the design world. A peacock's feathers has a circle surrounded by several ovals or rings of other colors within an arch shape. Since I wanted to keep the design elements of the peacock with in the belief rings. I placed the circles or feather eyelets between the professionalism and client value rings. These circles will become the nine services
 Ivory Peacock Photography provides for their clients. The services have changed over time; currently the services are Intimate weddings, Elopements, Creative | Fine art sessions, Newborn, Maternity, Lifestyle sessions, Documentary sessions, Product photography, and Personal & Business branding. At last, it was time for the peacock, I decided the head was going to be on the same plain as the services since the bird and services were one of the same. Also, the head needed to be facing forward, symbolizing facing the future. I also had it over-lapse the integrity, professionalism, and passion rings because those are the base core of the business. 
Colors were added to the rings; rule of thumb is 3, maybe 4; to make this a complete combined mark. A combined mark is the typeface and logo. The typeface or wording was going to be a separate, but still compliment the logo. Being separate from the logo would make it more applicable towards paperwork and social media applications. I chose the letters to tilt forward for the same reason as the peacock's head, so it appeared to have movement. The thin typeface that was chosen was to represent a calligraphy feel.
There you have it.  A complete evolution of a outdated logo into something better for the future, but that is not the end of the story for this logo. What I have described to you is what each component means and the why, which not all logos have to be so complicated. You can have a simplified logo or wordmark as long as it helps potential clients understand what your business represents and what services it offers. But like all things in this universe; business' and people alike continue to change and renew over time.  

IV. The Renewal

Over the last two to three years, I used this logo as a representation of my business, but like any person behind a small business, most of us have a tendency of "Being" the small business and we pour our hearts and souls into something and my business isn't any different. That logo was not...me. It didn't convey my past or present, like it was having an identity crisis. In 2021, I experienced the most heart-wrenching emotional year to date in my book of life, however, it gave me time to think and meditate about myself and the passion that burns within my soul. I discovered more than my core, but the roots that lay deep. My photography began in nature, which meant the brand colors had to change. The color green was chosen because it represents new growth and renewal. Another change was the typeface, I have never in my life been dainty. I also have been told that my true editing style is somewhat painterly. This most likely stems from my days when I use to actively paint and draw.  During this meditative time, I remembered why I chose the albino peacock? I wanted My business to showcase what I love doing best; which is my ability to create masterfully beautiful images and help folks see themselves for who. they. truly are. by starting with a blank white canvas.   

Ivory Peacock, to me, is not just a simple photography company I started for fun. She has grown into more than a logo. Ivory Peacock Photography & Design has been rejuvenize to represent her past, her present, and her future. 

 II. The Beginning of something new
Now flip the pages ahead a couple of chapters five years later. I finally got the courage, the strength, the ability to get past my anxiety, the whatever you wanted to call it, I was ready to put my dreams and passion on the front burner and get started. I had always wanted to call my business using my name, but upon doing some research, there was an existing company in another state with that name sake and I didn't want mine to be confused with theirs. With that knowledge rattling around in my mind, I decided to use another name, but what? Remember when I said things happen for a reason. One day, I raffling around in old paperwork when I opened a box and the first thing on top was a pamphlet with the original design. Cue the spiritual music. I knew this outdated design would not convey the message that I wanted for my photography business, but it would be the center of inspiration. Time to evolve.
I immediately began sketching other ideas down and doing research at the same time to make sure that nothing that I was coming up with was already a logo design.