How to incorporate hand-drawn illustrations into your brand

Today I wanted to share with you an answer to a question that I get asked frequently:

How can I incorporate your hand-drawn illustrations into my business? or

How can I incorporate those hand-drawn elements into either my website, social media and all that good stuff?

So let's dig in!

The first place where you can incorporate those hand-drawn illustrations is in quotes. For example, on social media, you have a lot of people that use inspirational quotes as part of the message that they want to get out there.

You can have beautifully drawn frames to put your quotes in. And that will give you a distinctive character to the quote, which is not the simple white background, or a solid color background.

So it's kind of giving a more memorable element to your quote, that is going to match your brand.

On Pinterest

If you're on Pinterest and it's your main channel of putting content out into the world, you can do beautiful templates for all your motivational quotes.

For example, if you are a self-care coach or a life coach you can have beautiful templates to put those quotes in with, either in some nice rounded frames or square frames that are hand-illustrated.

Another great way to present that would be, let's say a floral wreath or let's say a sea-themed wreath and things like that, depending on the vibe of your brand.

You should use that template every time you upload one of your pins with a motivational quote, so you can get a consistency, first of all.

And also, with time, you get recognition. 'Cause people are going to recognize your brand or your pins because of those elements.

Those elements are going to make it more distinguishable, and people are going to remember that. That's one of the great things that you can do with hand-drawn illustrations.

Another thing that you can do, for example, now that we're talking about Pinterest, on your website, you can have a custom Pin It button instead of the default one.

For example, If you are a food blogger and you have a specific ingredient that you love as a food blogger or that is very common in your recipes.

Take chocolate for example if you talk about chocolate desserts, chocolate recipes, or how to cook with chocolate.

It would be great to have a chocolate bar illustrated as your Pin It button.

First of all, people are going to remember you, 'cause it's going to be visually attractive and it's going to have that Wow effect.

That is going to be something a really distinguishable element for your brand, and it's something that people are going to see as, very whimsy, very fun.

You're going to evoke a lot of feelings through that illustrated details.

The buttons don't have to be very elaborate, especially because of the size and resolution that you're going to need for that. But I think this is also, that's a really great thing to add.

On your Website

You can use hand-drawn illustrations for images if you have different categories or topics within your website.

You can use images as icons or clickable icons, throughout your website.

So there' is another great use for illustrations and you're incorporating another element that represents your brand and people are going to remember that.

There is a lot of flexibility in terms of the things that you can use to your advantage to extend your brand out

Give your customers that unique experience when they visit your website.

Last but not least are logos. Logos, of course, is one of the major visible pieces of your brand.

You can play a lot with the different ideas that you want to reflect.

And a hand-drawn logo is going to give, again, that special character, personality, and it's going to be more distinctive.

'Cause it's going to be custom to you, unique to you and your brand.

So there you have it a few answers to your questions, on how to incorporate or add hand-illustrated elements into your website.

Once you have it on your website you can also use the same elements for other social media platform.

on instagram

Also, you can transfer those elements, especially into Instagram. Now with Instagram Stories, you can use those elements with a specific template for your post.

Or the new feature Instagram Highlights, and other things like that. I'll be happy to answer any of the questions that you might have!

Until next time!

How to create a Mood Board

In today's post, we are going to talk about mood boards and how to create your own mood board and why they are important to your brand, so let's get started!
 
A mood board is an inspirational collection of images, colors, fonts that are going to define your brand and how you want your brand to look. 

It reflects your overall style and the direction that you want for your brand, and it includes a couple of elements.

You're maybe asking, "Where do I start?"

#1 Inspiration

The first thing that you can do to start creating it, or to get inspiration for your mood board is to do a search on Pinterest. 

If you don't have already an account, you can create one. It's really easy in terms of the steps. You just have to sign up for an account and create a board.

Once you're in there you will need to think about what you want your brand to reflect. 

For example, if it's a whimsical brand like targeting children, moms or if it's a green brand, a lot of natural textures, colors, a lot of greenery and things like that, or if maybe it's bold and bright.

#2 Color

One of the first things that I like to add to a mood board is colors or color palette.

As I already mentioned, depending on what you want your brand to reflect, you can opt for soft colors, bold colors, or a mix of both to balance it out.

So it depends on your preference. That would be one of the elements that will go on your mood board.

When you are searching through Pinterest, you can type on Pinterest search bar,  'color palettes'. 

You can be more specific, especially if you already have a business idea in mind, a product, or a niche that you want to represent with your brand. 

If you have a business of selling nursery décor, you can search color palettes to decorate nurseries for boys or color palettes to decorate a nursery for girls, and that will bring up a lot of results.

For example, if you're looking for a more neutral palette and that is your style, you can also incorporate those words into your search. You can search 'neutral color palettes,' or something similar.

A style that is now very popular, which I really like, is the Nordic or the Scandinavian style, which is very minimalist, with a lot of white and black accent and sometimes they can incorporate some pastel tones.
 
So that is something to keep in mind, which colors match your brand. Based on that, you can go into Pinterest and have a look and get inspirations. 
    
Once you find a couple of color palettes inspirations, save them on your board.  You call can name your board 'inspiration for my brand,' and just save all the pins there, so you can go back and have a look at that for reference.

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#3 Images

The other element that is going to go on your mood board, would be images. 

Images are really important because those are going to give you an idea of the vibe or look that you want to achieve with your brand. 

Again, you can do the same search to get those inspirational images.

If you find any images that are of interest to you or maybe you can use those images as well to inspire your color palette, save them as well on your inspiration board for your brand.

#4 Font & Typography

The other elements that go on your mood board are fonts. 

You don´t have to be a font expert, but it's also nice to search for fonts that might appeal to you. 

That can give you a good reference in terms of the style that you want to bring out. 

If you are into the style for hand-drawn letters, you can search that as well, and a lot of options will pop up.
   
You can go through those and take into account what appeals to you and what you're drawn to and you can save that in your inspiration board.

#5 Patterns and Textures

Another element would be textures or patterns. It's kind of similar to images, but this could be more into like geometric patterns or, for example, like repetitive pattern of a specific, let's say, like a flower or circles or polka dots and things like that.

That's something that is really helpful because you can incorporate those into your brand and your overall design and your different social media platform as well. 

That's an element that could identify your brand. 

For example in my brand, I really like the splatter effect. You can see that a lot of in my illustrations on my Instagram feed. 

You have the different dots sizes or a splatter pattern going all over my illustrations. That's something that identifies me. 

If you see my website, you can see that pattern as well, so people are going to start relating those elements to my brand. 

I´m sure it has happened to you that you say "Oh, that looks like such and such brand,"

Wrap up!

OK, so we´ve covered already colors, patterns, images, fonts. The last element to go on your mood board is the logo for your brand if you already it. 

If you don't have that and you're looking for something different to add to your brand, make sure to check out my Work with Me page. I offer the service of hand-drawn logos, which is going to complement all the brand elements that you already have. 

Or if you're a brand-new business owner and you want to have a cohesive brand to start with, is really helpful to have a mood board. For example, I can get an idea of your brand once I see the mood board that you have created and crate my illustrations based on what inspires you.

It's really good to have a board created either on Pinterest, or you can create it on Canva, which is a very easy and user-friendly free online software. 

You can create a collage to represent all that. You can download a template that I have created for you, to give you an idea of how to put it together in a nice layout. 

Hope you find this useful and it gives you more clarity. Mood boards, as I say, is one of the things that is going to reflect the overall style of your brand, so it's good to do it when you're starting out. 

Don't be afraid that if you start with your inspirational mood board, thinking that is going to be the one through the life of your business or anything like that. 

Because those things definitely evolve as you evolve as a business, as you niche down or find out what you really want to do with your business. So it's an evolving process. 

For example, you can do it when you're starting and maybe within a year of your business review it and see if those elements still represent you or if something has changed or maybe your view of your business has changed. 

It's something that is continually evolving, so don't be afraid to go through your journey and do tweaks.

It's not fixed in stone so make sure that you know that!

That way, you will be less intimidated to create one because you might think, "Oh, I have to make the right decision now, like the right color, the right font, the right everything." 

No! You can go ahead and start your business journey now with a mood board that inspires you now and then you can review it within six months, a year. 

Make sure to sign up and grab the free download template. 

See you next time!

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Why you need to add illustrated elements to your Brand

Hi, so in today's post, we're going to talk about why is a great idea to add illustrated elements to your website and brand in general. 

For me, there are 3 key points on Why

#1 Distinctive

First, is really important as a new business owner, or someone that is creating a new brand, to make sure that you incorporate illustrations because is going to make your brand distinctive.

Hand drawn illustrations will make your brand stand out against a crowded market because it gives that special and unique look. 

And since they are custom to you and your brand, they will reflect exactly you want to communicate.

#2 Personality

The second reason that I think why is really important to incorporate is brand personality. 

So definitely when you're creating a custom hand-drawn illustration for a brand, it gives that extra of personality, because you transfer those characteristics, traits and even feelings!

For example, if you are a brand that is into eco-friendly ways of living, a green brand which discuss a lot of recycling topics and things like that, you can transfer those characteristics in a more organic way with an illustration that later you will use in your website and social media. 

For examples like a small doodle of a recycling bin or a leafs and greenery elements into your brand.

# 3 Tell your story

Last but not least, people will get to know your brand, and what you are about. 

That's really important, and that shows when you incorporate those elements into your brand making it cohesive, reflecting, as I already mentioned your personality, but you also have the possibility to tell a little visual story.

This not only applies in the digital world, for example in your social media or on your website. 

But also if you have a brick and mortar, you can add the custom illustration to your packaging or in stationary, like business cards, flyers, invoices you name it the possibilities are endless

That is what I call a visual brand experience, it all about the details!

Want to know more about branding and how to incorporate custom illustrations into your brand check out HOW TO INCORPORATE HAND-DRAWN ILLUSTRATIONS INTO YOUR BRAND !

Until next time!