Sometimes the image comes before the explanation
Sometimes the image comes before the explanation
Several years ago, probably around 2016, I was invited into a project by someone I was already working with. She wanted me to create a logo for one of her clients.
So the three of us got on a call.
I didn't know this woman well. This was a new project for her so there was nothing for me to search on. They simply started talking about who she was, her work and what she wanted to create.
And while she started talking, I started drawing, sort of like taking notes in sketch form. And this image came out.
I was sketching while speaking on the phone
I remember looking at it and knowing almost immediately:
That's it! That’s the logo.
It was one of those strange creative moments when something seems to arrive before you've had time to reason your way toward it.
So I started the design process. With this particular image, I took a picture of it, exactly as it was and created a vector image out of it (line art mumbo jumbo from designer’s world).
I developed the idea, worked with typography and color, and of course, afterward I did what designers do. I created other concept ideas to present to her, knowing this was it. I already knew.
And eventually, that little drawing became this:
And then it began to unfold.
It became part of the visual language for Georgianna Rivera's work and found its way into other things I designed for her, including Change Life Patterns, Create Your Life.
CDs, at the time, still represented downloadable courses. The banners, still great for live events!
What I really find interesting and reason I remember this particular project, after so many years, isn't simply the logo.
It's remembering how it arrived.
My creative process doesn't always happen this way. Sometimes I research. Sometimes I sketch and sketch. Sometimes I move things around forever. Sometimes an idea evolves slowly through conversation and exploration.
And sometimes I'm listening to someone and something inside me responds visually before I can explain why. And I've learned not to dismiss those moments.
Maybe it's intuition. Maybe it's decades of visual experience working quietly in the background. Maybe it's something else entirely. I don't really need to decide.
I just know that sometimes, the image comes first.
And I still love when that happens.
Maybe your idea is waiting to unfold too.
Every visual identity begins differently. Sometimes it arrives almost immediately. Sometimes we uncover it through conversation, exploration and a lot of moving things around.
What I love is discovering what is already there and finding the visual language that can bring it to life.
If you're creating something new, or what you have no longer feels like you, come see how we might work together.
Not looking for branding? Keep wandering. There is a lot more in my world. →
That can go to My World.