The Thought Process Behind my Rebrand
A New Name, Logo, and Signature, Oh My!
If you found my website or started following my social media accounts recently, then chances are you only know my business, Insomniac Illustrations. But as the title suggests, I went by another name: Cjax Art.
What motivated me to change?
Why Insomniac Illustrations?
Continue reading to find out!
The Reasons Behind My Rebrand:
It Wasn’t Consistent Enough
I started sharing my art journey on social media in May of last year. When signing my art in the past, I always used a signature that I formed from my first initial and last name: Cjax (derived from Cassie Jackson).
I had put off working on art for so long that my main goal was to actually start doing and be more consistent with it. I didn’t want to waste anymore time coming up with a whole new brand - so, I just went with Cjax Art for my social media accounts as well.
The problem for me was trying to decide where to put periods . . . For Instagram, it was @cjax.art and for Facebook, it was C.jax Art. It seems like an insignificant detail, but as I was getting more serious in building my brand, I realized I needed to be more consistent with my business name.
Not to mention, saying C.jax Art out loud doesn’t really roll off the tongue in a pleasant way, especially if you’re saying, “C dot jax.” Oui.
I Changed My Name
As in, my last name. That’s right! I got married in August of this year! It was an amazing celebration - I actually made a lot of the decor! Can you say DIY wedding??
But yeah, I went from Jackson to Byard. Technically, I didn’t HAVE to change my brand JUST because my last name changed, but moving forward, I figured it would be less complicated and confusing. And I really only liked Cjax Art for the signature - as lame as that sounds, ha!
Ultimately, I felt like I had outgrown Cjax Art. I was ready for bigger and better things, and I thought a rebrand would aid in my journey to being a successful artist!
I Wanted It More Professional
The last, main reason for the rebrand was simple . . .
These items are my marketing materials and include my sign, my business cards, and my logo as a sticker.
I wanted my business to seem more legit! If I planned on applying for booths at big pop-culture conventions, then I needed a more professional brand. As I mentioned before, Cjax Art didn’t have a consistent theme.
This time, I made sure to pick and stick to a font, color scheme and logo for everything. I’m sure you’re saying “duh” after that statement, but this was a turning point for me and my business. Not to mention, I’m super indecisive, so I wanted to make purposeful decisions when creating my new brand. I will say, having a clear direction with my brand has certainly made it easier for marketing!
My Instagram community helped by giving me feedback on my new name and logo. One person agreed with my thinking when they said,
“. . . Also you’re right, Insomniac Illustrations is much easier to say!”
Another one added,
“this looks very professional and clean!!”
Seems like I met a few of my requirements!
Why Insomniac Illustrations Though?
I just so happened to get a couple of questions that sounded like this. And no, I don’t have trouble sleeping! I actually fall asleep pretty quickly, but that’s beside the point. I spent a good amount of time brainstorming different options for my new name. I knew I didn’t want to base it off of my real name again. Like, how boring is Cassandra’s Art?
I needed a brand that could encompass ALL of the art I could potentially do, but also be interesting. I didn’t want a name that was specific to one subject. Sure - I do a lot of fanart at the moment, but eventually I want to branch out and make my own original stories and characters.
I came up with Insomniac Illustrations one morning while I was driving to work. Memories of younger me staying up all night to catch my favorite Disney show (any Gargoyles fans out there?), or play more Final Fantasy or Harvest Moon, or work on a certain art project fluttered in my mind.
Being creative and having fun seemed easier when I was “burning the midnight oil,” so to speak. From there, names including night and insomnia started forming. After a few combinations, Insomniac Illustrations was born! Of course, I had to double-check the internet and social accounts to make sure nobody was using that name. To my surprise, hardly anyone was using “insomniac” and this domain name was free! Win!
How Did I Come Up With My Logo?
I’ll be honest: I had help from my husband a.k.a. “Manager Babe” for this one. Adding an animal mascot seemed to seal the deal, and that’s when Manager Babe suggested using an owl. More specifically, he thought a Bard Owl similar to the one from The Labyrinth would be cool and fit the night theme I had going.
I liked the idea of using an owl. Not only do they seem majestic, but in my natural state, I would consider myself a “night owl” vs an “early bird.” Plus, I thought using “Night Owl” in my brand lingo would be fun.
Along with the owl, I wanted to include a cresent moon, because it’s another element of night. From there, I made up my color scheme by searching examples on Pinterest. I also found a font that goes perfectly with my theme, and it was completely free on Dafont.com!
Logo sketches.
I played around with different logo designs to find the one I liked the most. Switching up the pose for the owl and the location of the crescent moon gave me many options.
The stars mark the designs I was deciding between to finalize.
Finished logo design.
Again, some of my followers on Instagram said it best when they made comments like,
“Pretty good design. The white against the black makes it recognizable even at small sizes and it has no problem being printed just [black & white] for cards or things like that.”
One of my favorite comments was this one stating,
“I really like the new name and the logo you’ve chosen, very reminiscent of the Labyrinth as you’ve said. It definitely has a sleek, professional vibe to it!”
New Brand! Who Dis??
So, even though it was a lot of work, I’m very happy with the result. My new brand looks much more professional, and I think the theme, colors, the name and the logo are all cohesive. I like how eye-catching my logo is with the owl soaring over the cresent moon. More importantly, I feel as if the meaning behind the name and logo are unique to me.
If you made it this far, then I have a gift for you!
I’m offering my mood board I used as inspiration for my logo design! With this, you can see what I was going for in creating my brand and maybe use it as a reference for your next project! I love using mood boards because they’re a great way to collect images and aesthetics. I feel like they help guide me to the look and feel that I hope to achieve in my works.
Let me know in the comments what you think about my rebrand or if you got anything useful from my process! Also, I’m curious, are there any artists you follow that stick out in your mind as having a unique and cool brand?
