This is me, or my “Me and My Peeps” version of myself anyway.
Lots of people ask me about my career as a licensing artist. Lots of people have looked through my portfolio and at my website. I have gotten and get lots of continual feedback and one thing I hear ongoing is that I have a specific look that is consistent and screams LAURA KELLY…happy, bright and cheerful.
I think it is somewhat because of the way I hold my markers when I draw and create. I believe it is kind of because of my love for bold and bright things. But I mostly account the consistency to the look and feel of my brand to my style guide.
My style guide is my set of standards for designing collections of art from my drawing and doodles. It keeps me on track and drives me to stay focused. I have learned that I can experiment in my life hobbies and in my crafting…but not when I am creating for my licensing portfolio.
My style guide is made up of three simple elements. The first is my palette of colors. This is vital to my creating as it keeps the artwork, designs and collections throughout my entire portfolio consistent with the others. It also makes the products in the marketplace from different manufacturers consistent for the brand.
The second piece to my style guide is lettering. I have created my own lettering and turned the most used alphabets into fonts to save time in designing. I think that having exclusive lettering that coordinates with my colors and doodles helps build the brand.
Thirdly, I also have the main elements to be used in packaging of products. These elements get used in base designs within collections too but together they make what is necessary for creating all sorts of packaging…header cards, boxes, inside instructions, etc.
My style guide supports me in being able to create my marketing materials as well. Check out my business cards for Surtex next week!
I totally can’t wait to see everyone I love in the industry and to meet the new ones that join me on this artistic journey called art licensing.
Happy Styling and Love,
Laura
