The ImJustCreative Branding Story - Part 1 - Pre History
Posted: November 12, 2008 at 8.49 pmFiled under Featured, Logos, branding Subscribe to comments
Pre History
Before the dawn of ImJustCreative, and evolution took grasp, existed a part-time freelance chap who went by the name of DigitalSlave. It was a cool name at the time, some 8 years ago, and whilst still working for a larger commercial printers, he enjoyed a successful and steady flow of customers. He enjoyed creative freedom from his home studio, taking on a range of jobs from creative logo designer, professional brochure layouts and the bread and butter stuff that we all rely on.
Regular work included The Brighton Bears basketball team, each week designing a 50+ page game program, all done at home whilst still working full-time for his employer. DigitalSlave was indeed a slave and worked tirelessly to establish himself, with the dream of cutting free from the 7am to 8pm work schedules routinely expected of him. Tag on technical manager to a job description and all rights as a human being go out of the window.
Evenings were long and late, but he was able to create a distinctive brand, name and identity and soon enjoyed taking on new and exciting clients.
Then stuff changed
Then, stuff happened. This freelancer underwent a transformation, but a slow enduring one. During a period of reflection and significant life changes, a new identity was needed. To start afresh and make a clean start. Some time elapsed whilst DigitalSlave was retired, but thoughts on the replacement brand name were filling his mind. So many ideas, so many variations.
Twitter discovered early 2007
This motivated young man got into the Twitter vibe April 2007 and started finding out all about this cool way of communication. He didn’t totally latch on at first, but gradually finding that this could prove to be a serious tool in his marketing and branding arsenal.
The Rising of ImJustCreative
September/October a new name was formed. He searched the Official UK National Business Registrars to ensure no similar UK business name existed and thankfully, nothing came close. Satisfied he had another unique and memorable name, in November, the domain name was purchased. Doubly happy that no other ImJustCreatives had been taken, not even the ‘.com’, ImJustCreative was officially born.
It’s harder and harder nowadays to secure a genuine domain name. Naming a business is OK, but finding a direct domain alternative can be really very daunting. So the process I went through was frustrating at times, but also very enjoyable.
It’s a permanent fixture, so it needs to be relatively future proof. DigitalSlave was more a hobby, but turned into more, so I had not really given thought into how it might age. Carrying around numerous notebooks, looking through dictionaries, trying random patterns of names, loving some, discarding others, then all of a sudden one just pops into existence.
Trying to find a name that is not totally generic and has some meaning, especially for me personally. IJC represents me. The wording is really how I see myself, no bangs, no fancy gimmicks, no fantasies, I am just creative. There were variations, but after throwing these out to friends etc, the one that sounded the best, and thankfully, suited my personality, was ImJustCreative.
Often people assume you are only talking about the physical side of creativity, but I am more than just that. I have a very creative mind, a creative thought process, logical thinker, so to me it sums up all aspects of creativity. Not just a professional logo designer.
The tag line/strap line/motto
I am a firm believe in the ever reliable tag line. Tag lines communicate that little bit extra when the main company name might not be overly descriptive. If you are skilled at creating tag lines, then it can communicate a whole lot me. As with ImJustCreative, the tag line took some time to come up with. In hindsight it sounds easy and obvious, but it’s not always that way. For me it’s as close to perfect as I was going to get in half a dozen words. It really sums up most of what ImJustCreative stands for.
Evolving ideas to print and digital media
With name secured a look was needed, the physical identity. The usual backwards and forwards with creative logo ideas, some not so creative, some original, some just plain outrageous. In the end he had created too many ideas so a cull was ordered. A step back and reload.
Part 2 of the ImJustCreative Branding Story will focus on the creative design process of the logo, why I choose this one in particular and personal thoughts on the brand in general.
21 Comments
November 12, 2008 at 9.17 pm
Graham, I’m hooked…can’t wait for part II.
November 12, 2008 at 9.18 pm
Great article!
November 12, 2008 at 9.35 pm
Fascinating read sir! Truly insightful into the inner workings of the design process. And really enjoyed the background info and the bit of history…
… can’t wait for pt2.
November 12, 2008 at 10.33 pm
That was a great read Graham, looking forward to part2…
November 12, 2008 at 11.46 pm
Nice llittle bit of background, i didnt realise you had imjustgraham until a few days ago.. i think im slow great domian aswell.
November 12, 2008 at 11.52 pm
Arif, Arron, Martin and James>
Appreciate the comments as everyone would do, just nice to get a few words ever ynow and again. Was hard to keep this to a readable size, easily could of tripled this post alone with fluff, so hope it covered the main points.
The logo post will be more in depth, showing some of the other ideas that I sketched out etc.
November 13, 2008 at 1.01 am
[...] The ImJustCreative Branding Story - Part 1 - Pre History | ImJustCreative is Graham Smith Once upon a Time. There was a Graham… (tags: design logos web ping.fm branding professional twitter brand blogging business creative logo) [...]
November 13, 2008 at 3.06 am
Graham, this is great - nice insight into who you are and how you got here :) Love it! Can’t wait for part 2.
November 13, 2008 at 8.26 am
An interesting read, Graham. Good to get to know you a little better, and I’m also looking forward to part 2.
November 13, 2008 at 10.43 am
The ImJustCreative Branding Story - Part 1 - Pre History | ImJustCreative is Graham Smith…
Before the dawn of ImJustCreative, and evolution took grasp, existed a part-time freelance chap who went by the name of DigitalSlave. It was a cool name at the time, some 8 years ago, and whilst still working for a larger commercial printers, he enjoye…
November 13, 2008 at 12.10 pm
Enjoyed the post Graham. Good to get some background info on your creative journey.
November 13, 2008 at 12.18 pm
It’s always good to know a few more things for people i admire. waiting for part 2 :)
November 13, 2008 at 1.27 pm
Kudos to you, Graham. I actually read it all in one take and I usually avoid long reads ;)
Looking forward to #2.
GO Brighton Bears!!! Yay!
November 13, 2008 at 7.05 pm
great read. looking forward to part deux.
November 15, 2008 at 9.18 pm
Adelle, David, Conrad, Gerasimos, Simon, Kenroy–>>
Appreciate you all stopping by. Part 2 is in nearly completed, so hope to post next week.
Thanks all,
G
November 16, 2008 at 6.17 pm
Will send mine. Thanks for the opportunity.
Pete
November 20, 2008 at 12.01 am
This was great hearing how you built your name up. I’m still searching but close
November 25, 2008 at 12.26 am
I hope Part II includes a fair amount of artwork. I am curious to see how your mind worked on your own identity.
November 28, 2008 at 12.58 pm
amazing, thanks for sharing :D
November 30, 2008 at 10.04 pm
[...] The ImJustCreative Branding Story - Part 1 - Pre History Before the dawn of ImJustCreative, and evolution took grasp, existed a part-time freelance chap who went by the name of DigitalSlave. It was a cool name at the time, some 8 years ago, and whilst still working for a larger commercial printers, he enjoyed a successful and steady flow of customers. [...]
December 18, 2008 at 12.26 am
truly enjoyed it..