personal
branding

style guide

#7835ac

White text.  Used for buttons & interactables.

#000000

White text.  Used for text, borders & logos.

#ffffff

Black text.  Used for text & backgrounds.

#8bd0cc

Black text.  Used for highlights & navigation aides.

major mono display
lowercase used for headings
UPPERCASE used for titles & FLAIR

alata
lowercase used for body text
UPPERCASE used for buttons & interactables

web dev

My website drives my brand, and it's been through several significant overhauls over the years, and many, many small iterations.  The only things that have stayed the same are the text font (Alata) and that little spinning logo in the corner!

Once I had my brand established, I unified my social media presence with custom banners.

let's see EVAN'S card...

Sample Title

Sample Text

Sample Title

Sample Text

My business card has gone through MANY iterations - you can see most of them above!  It's important to me that my materials all share a distinct brand identity, as I'm sure is evident by now.  My first real business card was really just my site's color scheme, with the clear face logo and some information.  It did the job and looked nice, but it was never really satisfying.  Once I overhauled my website, I knew I needed a new business card.  Over several iterations, I slowly reduced the visual complexity of the front down to the bare essentials - my name and information.  On the back, I've endeavored to make something functional and beautiful, which also celebrates design.  I achieved this by including the tools I use on a daily basis on the back of my card: color swatches, hexcodes, measurements of size and angle, and most importantly, a grid!

what's in a name?

Creating an iconic lettermark ​has always been a bit of a nerd goal for me ever since I read The Lord of the Rings and was exposed to J.R.R. Tolkien's wicked cool lettermark.  As a part of my recent brand overhaul, creating a new logo was important.  Please hover over any iteration to read some of my thoughts on it! (This section is also available under "logo development")

1

1

The first and final design are remarkably similar. In this version, the capital 'E' gets lost.

2

2

Making 'E' more prominent made 'A' harder to identify.

3

3

Making 'A' easier to identify obfuscated 'E.' Both letters needed equal weight.

4

4

By merging 'A' and 'E,' identification becomes easier, but the logo loses cohesion.

5

5

A brutalist take on 'A' created a lot of visual interest, but clashes with and obscures 'E.'

6

6

This iteration helped me rule out a business card-shaped logo.

7

7

A dynamic 'A' helped to reveal part of 'E,' but it didn't sit right with the image I wanted to achieve.

8

8

turning capital 'E' into lowercase 'e' solved the readability issues.

final

final

Allowing the point of 'A' to extend beyond 'e' gives a sense of upward motion.

My first iteration of the wordmark was simply my name in all caps, in Alata.  The iteration work on this logo  can be seen below.  Feedback indicated it felt like a clothing or designer brand, and this wasn't the image I was cultivating.  By separating the entwined EA logo, I kept the spirit of the first wordmark - a lowercase "evan" supported by a capital "ALLEY" - while integrating it into a wider brand identity.  The "evan" font was simple enough to continue from 'e' and just needed some refinement.  In terms of size, 'A' was sized so that its stroke would just barely hit the stroke of 'e.'  "ALLEY" needed to convey support, momentum, technology, and class.  'Y' was giving me trouble, and I was inspired by another font to try a thick baseline.  This is the same thickness as the stroke of 'A.'  Subtle serifs on the inside edge of the letters gives the font a touch of class and momentum, and match the serifs on 'A.'