you've strategically hit upon the logo & icon portfolio and blog of UK logo designer Graham Smith — the original Logo Smith since '86.
Written by Graham Smith: @imjustcreative—the original Logo Smith since '86. Subscribe RSS
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.
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