Creating a personal brand

I’ve had some great conversations about branding with other professional writers since posting about creating a professional identity, so I was very excited when graphic designer Victoria Pater created her personal brand, “fresh”, and shared the process on sparkle + fade, her design blog.

Victoria Pater's Fresh brand

The thought and detail that Victoria put into creating a sample booklet is inspiring and a wonderful example of how you can brand yourself as a creative professional while developing something to leave behind after job interviews.

You’ll be able to learn more about Victoria in June through our “In the Workplace” series. In the meantime, feel free to share how you created your personal brand or the personal brands that you’ve been inspired by.

A Business Approach to Publishing

Recently I attended a two-day workshop called “A Systems Approach to Project Management” offered by the Human Resources Department at Michigan State University. I’m considering pursuing a Project Management certificate, and I figured that this workshop would be a good way to jump in feet first.

a handshake: good communication can ensure project success

I was impressed by the formalized approach to much of the work I already do on a day-to-day basis (communicating with team members, working under deadlines, organizing, and planning). More so, I was surprised at the depth of knowledge that makes up the study of project management. It may seem to be just common sense on the surface (something our instructor admitted), but I think many people under-estimate the amount of work that goes into planning, scheduling, budgeting, and managing a project.

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Must-read for editors

I enjoy when something on my RSS reader makes me sit up and take notice, and that’s just what happened today when I came to “The Cure for Content-Delay Syndrome” at A List Apart.

Pepi Ronalds, who has studied professional writing and editing, writes about the crucial role that an editor can play when it comes to developing online content. She makes a business case for engaging editors early on in a web project as they can deal with multiple authors/writing styles, help manage the project, and much, much more.

If you are still trying to find the words to describe what you bring to the table as a professional writer, then this article is a wonderful source of language about what editors do and how they do it. Ronalds even touches on “specialist web editors” who have editing skills and knowledge of web issues, which provides even more ways of defining what a professional writer has to offer. Able to save money through project management? Now that’s something that corporations can understand.

In the Workplace with Amy Diehl

Name: Amy Diehl
Title: ESL Computer Teacher and Freelance Web Designer
Website/Blog: Under Construction – how lame!
Location: Northampton, MA

Tell us about your educational/professional background.
I studied English and Film as an undergraduate at the University of Michigan and my work trajectory has always been directed by my love of narrative. I received my Masters in Digital Rhetoric and Professional Writing at Michigan State University in 2006, and while studying at MSU I worked as a digital writing consultant at the Michigan State University Writing Center and then later as a Research Assistant at WIDE (Writing in Digital Environments) and at the MSU Usability and Accessibility Center.

While I work with computers both as a teacher and a designer, it was not the technology that attracted me to the work, but the ways in which as someone who loves to write, one could write in a such a diverse and exciting way with computer technology – whether it be on a website, digital video, digital photography, animation, or writing and printing a story or paper. Through my work at WIDE, I became a passionate advocate for ensuring access and training for digital composition to everyone. The sheer power of digital composition should not be squirreled away by those with the resources and power to use it. It should be open and available to each of us to use if we wish to – and I think many of us would if we really knew what it was capable of.

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Design inspiration: Seattle

I’m always on the lookout for typography, and my recent trip to Seattle was no exception. Below are some that caught my eye and provided a bit of design inspiration. I would love to be able to use the elements from #2 in a design, where bright red, sharp angles contrast with curvy white arches, or #7, where swirls complement the free formation of the letters.

Seattle fonts

(left to right, top to bottom) 1. Space Needle @ Seattle Center, 2. Space Center Arena, 3. Parking on the waterfront, 4. Belltown, 5. Space Needle observation deck, 6. Photosynthesis step of a community garden, 7. Wall decoration in Pensione Nichols, 8. Mosaic of a poem by Chief Seattle, 9. Ampersand at the Olympic Sculpture Park.

Another recent source of inspiration has been the making of Charmingwall, a process that illustrator Julia Rothman of the design company Also shares, from brainstorming to animating drawings to the final product. The detail in their work is simply amazing. Feel free to share what’s been inspiring you lately in the comments.

Job Searching in the Lansing Area

Just out of curiosity, I just did a quick job search on LSJ.com using the keyword “communication.” Here is what I found:

Graphic Services Manager for Dart Container

Web Designer for Dart Container

Marketing Specialist for The Christman Company

Communications Editor for Accident Fund

These are perfect jobs for professional writers and I really encourage any recent grads to apply for these positions. I was pleasantly surprised to see a good number of positions listed on just one source, and I am sure with a little web scouring, more could easily be found.

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In the Workplace with John Phillips

Name: John Phillips
Title: User Interface Designer/Developer
Website/Blog: www.tridea-design.com and www.jwphill3.com
Location: Royal Oak, Michigan

Tell us about your educational/professional background.
I graduated from Michigan State in 2005 with a degree in Professional writing, where I gained a strong understanding of web usability, designing/writing for the web, and project management. After graduating, I worked Marketing & Creative Services in the University Relations department of MSU. There I was a lead designer on many large scale web initiatives including the MSU and Admissions sites.

Tell us about your current job.
Right now I currently have two jobs: my full time job is working at Campbell-Ewald as a user interface engineer. I work on a team with other developers planning/building and maintaining our marketing sites for the clients of CE. In the evenings I run my own web design/development company, Tridea Design, with two colleagues from MSU: Andrew Sautler and Tyler Smeltekop.
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Customize your tech

I was catching up with my Google Reader today when I saw a post from Design*Sponge about custom engraving for your tech products. I was amazed at the possibilities with engraving, but unfortunately I’m not the type of person who can make up my mind when it comes to permanent designs. Luckily there’s another option (and luckily I didn’t know enough to jump on the engraving bandwagon a month ago).

Unique Skins offers design-your-own vinyl faceplates for laptops, cell phones, MP3 players, and game consoles. They are a fairly inexpensive and creative way to advertise your online portfolio, blog, business, etc., plus you can change your mind (and your tech faceplate) as many times as you want.

I gave it a whirl and enjoyed seeing how beyondwords would look on my Mac. Pretty slick, and a great conversation starter!

Customized laptop

In the Workplace with Stephanie Pendrys

Name: Stephanie Pendrys
Title: Depends on the time of day and where I am. Marketing
Writer/Assistant to Program Director/Varsity Track and Field Coach/Mildly Obsessed Runner
Website/Blog: I’m on Twitter and MySpace, and do some blogging for work. I don’t write as much as I would like or probably need to. Sometimes I forget that I toiled in all those creative writing workshops in college.
Location: Upstate New York

Stephanie Pendrys

Tell us about your educational/professional background.
Bachelor of Arts Degree: History and English with Creative Writing Emphasis from Albion College

Master of Mass Communications (Integrated Marketing Track) from University of South Carolina

Tell us about your current job.
At the moment, I am employed by the YMCA of the Greater Tri-Valley. I spend half my time as an assistant coach/assistant to the Program Director. The other half is spent as a Marketing Writer for the YCCA (YMCA Center for the Creative Arts). I’m also a varsity track and field coach and assistant basketball coach for the Special Olympics.

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What’s in a brand?

I was listening to NPR on the way to work yesterday when I caught them talking about Starbucks. Seeing as how I am a fan of coffee and also heading to Seattle next week, my ears perked up, no pun intended.

The story was about how Starbucks is struggling and how in the past, they came out of rough times thanks to the strength of their brand. But there are doubts that their brand will be able to help them out this time around, as in their quest to become bigger and “better” as quickly as possible has led to a watering down of their brand (and their coffee, but I digress).

Just think about it: you see the Starbucks logo staring at you in the bookstore, in the gas station, in the grocery store, in the airport. And while convenience can be really great for some things, in Starbucks’ case it is only hurting their original quest to sell a really good cup of coffee. People are turning to independent coffee shops or McDonald’s to get their coffee fix, often at a lower price.

So what does this have to do with professional writing? In my line of work, we are all about the brand and protecting the strength of the brand, from using corporate font faces, standardized logo placement, color guidelines, and more. I think this is common practice across organizations, creating the corporate identity and sticking to it.

But shouldn’t we also be thinking about our own professional identity? Continue reading →