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n3rdlif343va · 6 years

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Chasing Gold Zine Promo Ficlet No. 5

The fourth ficlet in my promos for my piece in the @yoichasinggoldzine! (read on Ao3: Memories )

This is an AU where Yuuri and Victor are retired Olympic athletes, who now coach Paralympic athletes. You can follow the series on Ao3 here

Ficlet 1, Ficlet 2, Ficlet 3 , Ficlet 4 on Tumblr

Pre-orders are now OPEN but the bundles are going fast! Please head to the blog to place your orders!!

The suitcases were propped by the front door. Yuri’s bike stood in the middle of the living room, shining and waiting to be slipped into its protective bag. Plane tickets were tucked in the front of Victor’s carry on, along with the USB drive containing Yuri’s medical history and copies of every document that Victor had completed on Yuri’s behalf. Everything was tagged, organized and ready for their early morning departure.

Alone in the darkness of his own bedroom, Victor stared at the ceiling as he mentally reviewed their list and schedule for the following day. He had memorized every detail, yet he couldn’t tell his brain it was time to shut down for sleep. Apprehension and worry weighed heavier on him than the down blanket covering his body on the bed.

He owed Yuri victory. He owed Yuri his time and his care. He owed Yuri distinctive proof that his life and career weren’t over. Not out of any obligation dictated by his place as Yuri’s coach, but out of the love that he held for the young man, deep-seated and unspoken within his heart. And out of his own guilt, which still wallowed in his stomach like a lurking beast waiting to devour him.

Groaning, Victor rolled onto his side, burying his face into his pillow. No matter what Yuri said, Victor knew that Yuri had gone to the lake because Victor had trained there. He had gone alone, returning wet and gloating when Yakov got to him in the parking lot of their training facility. Victor had stood idly by, distracted by his own departure for what would be inevitably his last performance in the world’s most prestigious competition. He hadn’t known that at the time, just as he hadn’t known that the miniscule cut across Yuri’s shin had introduced deadly bacteria into his body.

Lying on his stomach, Victor gripped his pillow, fists clenching and unclenching. He had left Russia with Yakov, last seeing Yuri’s back disappearing into the locker rooms moving with the jaunty walk of the young teenager he was. All was quiet until the night after Victor’s race. When his phone rang, the world stopped spinning, and Victor had thrown all of his belongings into the closest bags. He raced from his room, his vision tunneled to the tragedy happening at home.

No matter how hard he tried, Victor couldn’t erase the image of Yuri, small and frail in the middle of the sterile hospital room. By the time he had reached St. Petersburg, Yakov leading the way through the long hallways filled with the smell of people balanced between life and death, Yuri’s leg had already been amputated and the antibiotics had begun to fight the remaining threats of infection. Yuri was asleep for three days, worn out from his body’s battle to save its own life.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Victor tried to will away the threat of the memory, but it came to him anyway.

“Yura, listen to the doctor,” Yakov said, placing a firm hand on Yuri’s arm to try to calm his thrashing. Yuri had been awake for less than thirty minutes and all hell was breaking loose. Victor leaned against the window, Mila standing at his side, both of them wishing that they didn’t have to watch Yuri’s life shatter.

“Fuck the doctor,” Yuri spat, clawing the oxygen tubes from his nose and throwing the hollow plastic to the ground. Victor winced, letting his shoulders sink as he felt Mila press closer to his side. “He stole my fucking leg.” To emphasize his point, Yuri threw back the bed covers, revealing his leg which now ended at his knee.

“The removal of that portion of your leg was necessary to save your life,” the doctor took a deep breath, maintaining eye contact with Yuri as he continued, “before you leave here, you will be fitted with a prosthesis. You will walk again and you will live. In this situation you are very lucky.”

Rage ripping from Yuri in a primal scream, he grabbed the tissue box on his roll away tray and threw it against the wall. The sharp thud made everyone in the room jump, with the exception of the doctor. “I’m a triathlete with no leg. If I can’t compete, then I have no life. You should have let me die.”

Tears soaked through the fabric covering Victor’s pillow. When the anger had passed, Yuri had become nothing but a shell, a ghost of the fiery person he had always been. Victor had gone to the hospital every day, sitting quietly in the room with a book in his lap, never asking the questions that everyone else did. He saw Yuri leave for physical therapy and return, only to unhook and drop his new leg to the ground, without expression or feeling. Yuri hadn’t died from the infection, but his spirit had.

One day Victor had run late for his visit. His head had finally cleared of the emotional fog and he had attempted to catch up on the remaining results from the games he had so abruptly abandoned. Yuuri’s retirement announcement glared at him from the screen of his laptop, flipping his world upside down for the second time in ten days. Scanning the article with a shaky hand on his touchpad, he picked up only on the key details. Yuuri had retired the morning after Victor had left the athlete’s compound, information that made Victor’s stomach sour instantly. A week later, an announcement was made that Yuuri would be coaching Paralympic hopeful Kenjirou Minami.

With thoughts of Yuuri and his abrupt change in career path, Victor had walked into Yuri’s hospital room, mind halfway somewhere else. The shouts slamming off the walls had immediately gained his full attention. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one who had stumbled upon the idea of redirecting Yuri’s training. The fight occurring in front of him centered on Yakov stating his inability to coach Yuri and Yuri screaming at his former coach for abandoning him.

Victor remembered making his offer at a volume barely above a whisper. He didn’t know anything about being a coach, but he also refused to continue his own career if it meant competing without Yuuri Katsuki. Yakov had thrown up his hands and dragged Victor backwards from the room, barking about Victor throwing away his life.

His decision to coach Yuri had never felt like that though. He had poured through every book and medical journal he could find in order to develop a training regimen for Yuri. He had purchased Yuri’s modified bike with his own money and found a sponsor to pay for the specialized prosthesis that Yuri wore to race. When Yuri had shown up on his doorstep, duffle bag and two trash bags filled with clothes sitting beside him, Victor had welcomed him in without hesitation.

Rolling over again, Victor returned to his spot staring at the ceiling. It no longer mattered why Victor had offered to coach Yuri or why Yuri had accepted the offer. They were a partnership, a coach and an athlete fighting for one goal. Until Yuri lowered himself into the water. Then Victor would have to stand back, he would have to let Yuri go and pray that all the training was enough to carry him through to gold. All of the confidence Victor had felt before his own races was missing now, leaving him only with trepidation and desperate silent pleas for Yuri’s success. He would turn in all of his gold medals, if only to give Yuri this one.

Sighing, Victor forced his eyes closed feeling the tears catch on his eyelashes. Wordlessly, he begged his mind to quiet and finally let him sleep.

Down the hallway, Yuri laid in his bed, cat draped over his chest, wondering if tomorrow was the beginning or the ending of his life. With silent tears rolling down his face, Yuri closed his eyes as exhaustion overtook him.

#yoi #yuri on ice #yoi chasing gold zine #chasing gold zine #yuri plisetsky #victor nikiforov #paralympic AU #promo ficlet number 5 #nerd zines

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blschaos3000-blog · 5 years

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Its 11:15 pm dark

A little while ago I was lucky enough to have interview the fantastic artist Louie De Martinis whose drawings of The Shadow just blew my mind. Ever since that interview I have been looking for more artists to talk with but I found out that is easier said then done. My old friends in the music business will get a laugh about how I met Meaghan C. Kehoe…I found her completely by accident. See,I have been a follower of a small art community center in Oshawa called The Living Room which was founded by the lovely Mary Krohnert for a couple of years now. Once in a while Mary will post on YouTube about community center and upcoming events. When I saw the Taskmaster Art Challenge video which featured 5 very talented artists creating a project in just 5 minutes and then raffling it to raise money for the center,I knew I had found my next artist to chat with Meaghan. But securing a interview with a very much in demand artist is no easy task either as Meaghan and I played email tag for while before she able to get a little time to answer her questions. But the wait was so worth it because Meaghan is pretty damn amazing and I sure am blessed to landed this chance to ask her 8 Questions!!!

Please introduce yourself and share a little of your background.

My name is Meaghan Claire Kehoe and I am a human, feminist, amateur environmentalist, and some would say artist. I’ve always been excited to create things- things that are visually appealing. From drawing pretty pictures when I was a kid and into my teen years, I started to ask myself where I wanted these pretty pictures to take me in life. I went to Sheridan for Illustration, but dropped out after a year and a half when I found I was bored by the direction the program took me in. After months of deliberation, I decided to go safe and do my undergrad in French at Laurier (choosing this university only because my younger sister was applying there for Business). It turns out I loved the structure of university. I loved the critical thinking of dissecting literature and I loved learning about different cultures across the globe. I took German and Italian as well and was hopeful for a future of globe trotting to fill my life with cross-cultural understanding and meaning. In third year, I was finally allowed to go abroad on exchange. I worked full time for a semester as a barista while on a full time course load and was able to afford one semester in France. I went to Tours (for no other reason than our schools had partnerships for course equivalence), and it was beautiful. A small University city overrun with mostly students, shops, cafes and cobblestone (and of course our late-night shawarma place for post-cheap-wine-and-cheese snacks. But it was a single evening that was pivotal in my life’s direction and probably the reason I am where I am. I had managed to get into a figure-drawing class (really had to fight for that one since it wasn’t a normal elective at Laurier) and I remember surprising my stereo-typically snooty french art prof with my skill in the class- he even stopped me after class to ask about my history in figure-drawing (which was an accumulation of Arts York HS and the stint at Sheridan). Anyway, the experience woke me up again. I felt alive. I remember after the class ended, it was already dark out- a late January evening- I literally skipped back to the cafe where I was to meet a friend. Rolled newsprint underarm, blackened charcoal fingers, and a silly grin, I felt weightless flying over the cobblestone. I knew then, or maybe in the days to follow, that it was time to take this thing seriously.

After 6 months travelling Europe, I returned to finish my final fourth year at Laurier and did so with honours, all the while setting myself up to begin the risky journey of being an entrepreneur and self-employed artist.

What drew you to art? Was there a defining moment where you knew this is what you wanted to do?

My mum is an incredibly talented artist. When I was growing up, she went from working as a graphic designer for an agency to starting her own business from home so she could spend more time with us. She has always had an incredible eye for composition and a refreshing use of negative space. This seemed to alway translate to her paintings as well. She created gorgeous watercolours with expressive vibrancy, colour and edge. She was obviously a strong influence in my life and I followed in her footsteps though I did not always want to. I knew I had the natural passion and all the learned skill she’d taught me through the years, but I had watched her struggle with the classic entrepreneur hangups: getting clients to pay her, getting clients to respect her choices and knowledge and experience, and… getting clients. I didn’t think I was cut out for it. I was shy and insecure and I didn’t think I had anything original or meaningful to share with the world.

That moment in Tours, France on my exchange really helped me remember why I painted in the first place. It was enough to do it because it made ME happy. And if I couldn’t do that then what else was there?

What are the pros and cons of getting a art education at a university or college? Some say a “formal” education restricts artistic freedom,how do you respond to that?

This one is tough for me to respond to since I never finished my post-secondary art program. All I have to say is that it is likely like any other program. It has to be the right one for you, but also there is no program out there that is going to satisfy your needs %100. It takes a lot of guts to go against the grain or the prof and take from the experience what you need as opposed to what is provided, but its worth it to do some digging and soul-searching to make sure you don’t conform for the sake of conforming. There are a lot of opinions out there about what constitutes “real” art, but they are all just that. Opinions.

What does “mixed media” mean?

Mixed media means you are no sticking to strictly one medium in your work. For example, you are not using just oil paint or just acrylic paint. There are some fantastic contemporary artists using mixtures of paints, pastels, papers, photography, and even found objects. (Anya Mielniczek is a great one for this- she’s a good friend of mine who is also an environmentalist and up-cycles trash to create beautiful works).

What is your typical day like as an artist? How do you get your creative ideas?

I’d like to say my typical day is a romantic sepia-toned dreamy sequence of me in cute overalls with a smear of paint on my nose, a brush through my messy bun that I’ll continually be losing and looking for, and a giant canvas on my wall splattered in passionate marks that somehow emerges as a perfectly balanced masterpiece. And it is. Is the lie I’ll tell Spielberg when he interviews me for the biography he’ll shoot about me one day.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of stuff I have to do that sucks my soul (like in any job). I usually start with a to-do list, then emails, any phone calls I need to make to clients, sometimes brainstorming/conceptualizing/sketching designs for corporate murals, sometimes cleaning up the mess of spraypaints I’ve dumped in my studio the night before after a project. There’s taxes, invoices (which reminds me I still have a couple to do today), and walking my dog. I actually get a lot of my best ideas this way. A walk alone with my thoughts, 50 minutes or so, gets a great creative brain-flow going and puts me in a better mind set to get work done when I get back in the studio.

What is your take on “art critics”?

Well, I’ve never been critiqued by one yet- I suppose my work isnt legitimate enough for them. But thats the thing, isnt it? My art isnt for everyone. Nor should it be. Like I said, opinions are opinions.

Do you ever go to museums or art galleries yourself? If so,do you look as a fan or an artist?

I do go to museums and art galleries, though I feel most compelled to visit them in Europe. They’ve put a lot more value into their arts and culture than we have in North America (as well as a longer and richer history) so there’s a lot more to see. Plus, they’re usually way cheaper or FREE! It’s like they actually want their citizens to appreciate art!

What was your first drawing and what was the first piece that you sold?

I really couldn’t tell you what my first drawing was. My mom says I was drawing perfect circles before I could talk. But my first piece I sold was probably when I was 16. I was commissioned to create the cover of Salvation Army’s ‘Faith and Friends’ Christmas zine. Though my mom will tell you that I painted a piece in grade three that all the teachers tried to buy off her. She had it framed and it hung in our dining room for a couple decades.

You have done art in over 50 Starbucks in Canada,how did you get that gig and do you have complete freedom in what you paint?

I got the Starbucks gig through a connection (my sister’s friend’s then-boyfriend was an interior designer for Starbucks and looking for more muralists at the same time I had decided I wanted to get into large-scale wall-art). It was a match made in heaven. I honestly have never had so little control over my work than I did with Starbucks- they are very particular about their branding, but they were really professional and respectful and compensated me well. I had so many jobs with them over the span of a few years that I was able to do things like quit my part time job, buy a car and put money into savings. I owe them a lot.

Are graffiti taggers artists or vandals?

Yeah this one is a tough one. I have to go with both. It’s funny because a certain few street or graff artists have become famous internationally (e.g. Basqiat and Banksy). Their work questioned societies norms in a way that was clever and beautiful and spoke to people. If that isn’t art, then I don’t know what is. But were they vandalizing property? Sure. But many graff artists would say that property is a societal construct and imposition that should be challenged. Personally, I can see it from both sides and its a constant dichotic conversation for me.

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You do a LOT of charity work, what drives you to give your gift to others? How did you get involved with Mary Krohnert and The Living Room?

I think one of the most universal human struggles is finding meaning in one’s life. That doesn’t change when you become an artist. In fact, it is only amplified. Everyone has their own gifts and talents and for me it is crucial to find out why I ended up with mine. The answer is that I still don’t know, but if I just keep helping out where I can, I’m sure I wont get further from answering that important question. Or maybe its just the childhood catholic school guilt… Who knows?!

My introduction to Mary from The Living Room was another serendipitous moment in my life. My partner and I moved to Oshawa two years ago and one day I was sitting on my porch and a pretty lady with a cute dog walked by. So I chased her down to meet her pup (a shy hound named Alice), and found out they were my neighbours from a few doors down. Mary was really excited to find out I was an artist and the friendship bloomed from there. I really believe in what Mary is doing with The Living Room. Any way I can help out, like in the latest fundraiser event where I got to be a part of their very own ‘Task-Master’ episode (a spin off form a British series), is the least I can do.

What is a art battle?

Art Battle is an event that was started around 8 years ago by two guys, Chris and Simon, that began with a competition of two artists painting live and being judged by audience vote and has evolved into a world-wide organization with monthly contests all around the globe between 16 artists at a time. There are three rounds: 1) 8 artists paint for 20 minutes; 2) another 8 artists paint for 20 minutes; 3) the top two painters from each round voted by the audience paint a new painting for 20 minutes and the audience votes for the final winner. There’s a DJ, a bar and a lot of excitement. The winner goes onto the regional competition and the winner of that goes onto the Nationals. I’ve won the Toronto regionals twice in the couple years I painted at art battle only to be beat out at Nationals twice.

The cheetah and I are coming to see a exhibit of your latest work but we are a day early and now you are our tour guide,what are we doing?

Oh my goodness! Okay! Well we’d have to go the the Robert McLaughlin Gallery for sure. If it was the first Friday of the month, I’d take ya to the RMG fridays event where they also feature some local live music. That would be after grabbing dinner at Spicy Affairs (my favourite Indian restaurant in Durham and its right near my house). Before that might be an afternoon at the Botanical Gardens. Oshawa Creek runs through there and in the right season you can see the salmon racing upstream to spawn. They’re huge! Theyve also got cool sculptures and some playgrounds for the kids around there. Before that we would go to Isabella’s for coffee and snacks or to Berry Hill for brunch/lunch. And at the end of the whole night, we would end up at Riley’s for a pint and a couple rounds of pool.

THE END.

I like to thank Meaghan for chatting with me. I think you have a true gift and that you share it with the world is tremendous. You are definitely doing what you were meant to do here,never doubt that for a second.

You can follow the wonderful Meaghan Claire Kehoe by visiting and bookmarking it by going to her website here.

Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy these interviews as much as I do. I have many more in the pipeline that I think you’ll really enjoy.

Feel free to leave a comment below and I’ll make sure to pass it on to Meaghan.

8 Questions with…………..artist Meaghan Claire Kehoe Its 11:15 pm dark A little while ago I was lucky enough to have interview the fantastic artist Louie De Martinis whose drawings of The Shadow just blew my mind.

#8 Questions With #art #artist #artistic #Canada #gifted #Life #Meaghan Claire Kehoe #Oshawa-Canada #painting #talented #The Living Room #volunteering

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myongfisher · 6 years

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Navigating branding for tech startups—a founder’s journey

A couple of weeks ago the 99designs team invited me to write a post for the blog and share my branding story, and as a startup founder I will never ever pass up an opportunity to talk about my company.

So here’s the story of Hecate, a suite of GitHub apps to help software engineering managers do their job better. There are two reasons you might find this story interesting.

The first is that I was the VP of engineering for 99designs itself. It’s always interesting to hear how a former employee uses their old product. Knowing the ins and outs of 99designs helped me get a great result and hopefully you can pick up a pro-tip or two.

The second is around how I’ve tried to use branding to drive company culture, particularly around diversity and inclusion, from day zero.

Via Hecate.

Taking the first step —

Like all good startups, Hecate began as a side project based on my own experiences running the dev team at 99designs. I began tinkering to find a simple way to let engineering managers know what their team is working on, a seemingly simple task that gets harder and harder as a team grows.

Beyond understanding the problem of communication in product teams, years of working for 99designs and seeing all of our customer’s success gave me a strong appreciation for branding work and I couldn’t get myself motivated without one.

Examining my branding influences —

I was binge-watching the TV show American Gods around the time I got started on the initial idea. The TV series is based on a book by Neil Gaiman, and it draws heavily on Norse mythology. I found that inspiring and wanted to follow suit. In Norse mythology Huginn and Muninn are a pair of ravens who fly all over the world, and bring information back to Odin. The imagery fit my business idea perfectly, but unfortunately someone else had the same inspiration.

I needed to keep going though, so rather than abandon the idea, I decided that the working title would be GitRaven. I bodged up a placeholder logo using a logo maker and then switched my focus back to prototyping the first version of the product.

A placeholder logo for what later should become Hecate

After my initial nudge towards all things Norse, some nagging thoughts pulled me back—more than just the embarrassingly low quality of the logo and genericness of the name.

Working at 99designs meant that I was surrounded by branding for tech companies. I had already identified three typical ways that startups went with their branding: run-of-the-mill bootstrap theme, mid-century Scandinavian vibe, and dark background deep-nerd culture.

What I was seeing was a distinct lack of diversity in the way that tech startups were branding and presenting themselves. I’m a big fan of Amy Wibowo, computer scientist and founder of Bubble Sort Zines and her writing on diversity in tech and in the way products are presented has been hugely influential for me. I discovered her through her computer science zines, but Coding Like a Girl is a great place to start with her work.

When the organisation Code Like a Girl published a thinkpiece calling for an end to ‘pinkifying’ tech, that is designing platforms and tools in a way that they might be more appealing for a female-identifying audience, there was an accompanying Twitterstorm, and hurt feelings all round.

For me, it was disappointing. This debate made me determined to be better. My company was my chance to create diversity in way that I believed in and I wanted this built into the brand. I decided to pay homage to Amy’s work, and worked to completely flip my branding instincts. I switched my naming search from gods to goddesses and worked my way through the Greek pantheon. Hecate emerged, the Greek goddess of crossroads and witchcraft.

Creating Hecate —

With the name in place, it was time to consider a visual identity. I decided I was going to do a logo design contest with Hecate.

Learn more about working with designers on 99designs.

With a brief taking shape, I pulled ideas together on Pinterest. I tried to keep a pretty open mind while I was pinning things I liked, but by the time I had the board together, it was pretty obvious I was leaning towards developing a character or mascot for Hecate.

So I came up with a brief: I need a vector character/mascot design that can do double duty as a logo with a complementary colour scheme. It should be either a girl or a cat in a witches hat in a kind of bright pastel colour scheme.

99designs instagram post featuring the work of top level designer NataMarmelada

However, this brief never saw the light of day because I saw this Instagram post from 99designs. It was almost bang on.

When I contacted the designer—NataMarmelada—I discovered that the character design was an ‘off cut’ from a 99designs contest and that she was open to selling it.

Making Hecate more witchy. In progress character design by NataMarmelada.

I wanted Hecate to be a little more ‘witchy’, so she got a little update, and a hat. I’d asked for the hat and coat to sit halfway between a traditional witches outfit and kind of a classic lighthouse-keeper raincoat and hat for a little bit of nautical feel.

The final version is exactly what I’d hoped for, she’s the perfect representative for my tech brand.

Playing against type —

While the majority of my budget for branding had gone on mascot development, it was worth it. Unfortunately there’s quite a bit more to branding than just a mascot and with the budget gone I had to switch to a “beg, borrow, and steal” mentality to get the rest done. The book Design for Hackers was a great resource to help finish the job.

I took the colour scheme from the mascot design and plugged it into the various colour pickers recommended in the book like the Adobe Colour Wheel (formerly known as Kuler) until I had a pallette I could work with.

The Hecate wordmark in combination with the character design by NataMarmelada

I was also missing a wordmark to go with the mascot. Thankfully I had a friend who is a massive typography nerd who owed me a favour. He gave me a bunch of type foundry recommendations which I browsed through until I found Chapeau from Milieu Grotesque which was the perfect blend of professional and friendly. To finalise the wordmark I just needed to tweak the crossbar on the H a little to line up with the e.

Branding for tech startups: top tips —

Reflecting on the whole process of developing my branding there are a few takeaways I can share:

Pro-tip number one is to follow the 99designs instagram. The designer marketing team is always trying to show off some of the best work on the platform and it’s a great way to find talent on the up and up.

Contests are still probably the best way to get a logo done, but if you’ve found someone with an aesthetic you’re really compatible with you can save a lot of time and a little bit of money working directly with the designer

It’s worth putting in the extra thought up front on your brand. If I hadn’t questioned my own default assumptions on branding I’d have ended up with something that wouldn’t stand out in the market.

If you’re a founder, definitely keep these things in mind when you’re developing the branding for your tech startup.

Hecate is open for business already. If you’re an engineering or product manager with a tech team in the range of ten to thirty engineers come and check us out at https://hecate.co/

Need high-quality branding for your tech startup?

Look no further: our designers have what it takes.

Learn more

The post Navigating branding for tech startups—a founder’s journey appeared first on 99designs.

Navigating branding for tech startups—a founder’s journey published first on https://www.lilpackaging.com/

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pamelahetrick · 6 years

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Navigating branding for tech startupsa founders journey

So here’s the story of Hecate, a suite of GitHub apps to help software engineering managers do their job better. There are two reasons you might find this story interesting.

The second is around how I’ve tried to use branding to drive company culture, particularly around diversity and inclusion, from day zero.

Via Hecate.

Taking the first step —

Examining my branding influences —

A placeholder logo for what later should become Hecate

After my initial nudge towards all things Norse, some nagging thoughts pulled me back—more than just the embarrassingly low quality of the logo and genericness of the name.

Creating Hecate —

With the name in place, it was time to consider a visual identity. I decided I was going to do a logo design contest with Hecate.

Learn more about working with designers on 99designs.

99designs instagram post featuring the work of top level designer NataMarmelada

However, this brief never saw the light of day because I saw this Instagram post from 99designs. It was almost bang on.

When I contacted the designer—NataMarmelada—I discovered that the character design was an ‘off cut’ from a 99designs contest and that she was open to selling it.

Making Hecate more witchy. In progress character design by NataMarmelada.

The final version is exactly what I’d hoped for, she’s the perfect representative for my tech brand.

Playing against type —

The Hecate wordmark in combination with the character design by NataMarmelada

Branding for tech startups: top tips —

Reflecting on the whole process of developing my branding there are a few takeaways I can share:

If you’re a founder, definitely keep these things in mind when you’re developing the branding for your tech startup.

Hecate is open for business already. If you’re an engineering or product manager with a tech team in the range of ten to thirty engineers come and check us out at https://hecate.co/

Need high-quality branding for your tech startup?

Look no further: our designers have what it takes.

Learn more

The post Navigating branding for tech startups—a founder’s journey appeared first on 99designs.

via 99designs https://99designs.co.uk/blog/logo-branding-en-gb/branding-for-tech-startups/

0 notes

susaanrogers · 6 years

Text

Navigating branding for tech startups—a founder’s journey

So here’s the story of Hecate, a suite of GitHub apps to help software engineering managers do their job better. There are two reasons you might find this story interesting.

The second is around how I’ve tried to use branding to drive company culture, particularly around diversity and inclusion, from day zero.

Via Hecate.

Taking the first step —

Examining my branding influences —

A placeholder logo for what later should become Hecate

After my initial nudge towards all things Norse, some nagging thoughts pulled me back—more than just the embarrassingly low quality of the logo and genericness of the name.

Creating Hecate —

With the name in place, it was time to consider a visual identity. I decided I was going to do a logo design contest with Hecate.

Learn more about working with designers on 99designs.

99designs instagram post featuring the work of top level designer NataMarmelada

However, this brief never saw the light of day because I saw this Instagram post from 99designs. It was almost bang on.

When I contacted the designer—NataMarmelada—I discovered that the character design was an ‘off cut’ from a 99designs contest and that she was open to selling it.

Making Hecate more witchy. In progress character design by NataMarmelada.

The final version is exactly what I’d hoped for, she’s the perfect representative for my tech brand.

Playing against type —

The Hecate wordmark in combination with the character design by NataMarmelada

Branding for tech startups: top tips —

Reflecting on the whole process of developing my branding there are a few takeaways I can share:

If you’re a founder, definitely keep these things in mind when you’re developing the branding for your tech startup.

Hecate is open for business already. If you’re an engineering or product manager with a tech team in the range of ten to thirty engineers come and check us out at https://hecate.co/

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