Wild & Scenic® Film Festival "Jury Selection Exhibit"

Through these films, Wild & Scenic both informs people about the state of the environment  and inspires them to take action. I consider my paintings to be ‘studio environmental activism’.  I create paintings to inspire people to remember a place in nature where they have been, thus creating a desire to preserve its beauty.

Not all of us participate in activism in a vocal way.  Many of us contribute in a silent, yet equally powerful way when we create our art.  My feeling is that if I can inspire people to go back to a pond and take a second look at the reflections, go climb the Sierras to see the colors in the Fall, or explore the habitat of their own garden in the Spring, then I have done my job as an artist—and as an activist.

In addition to the exhibit at the Alpha Building, my work will also be featured in Nevada City at New Moon and Szabo Vineyards Tasting Room. NCA has selected more than 56 artists whose work will be displayed in several other venues throughout downtown Nevada City and Grass Valley for the festival.

LeeAnn, age 20

The last professional portrait I had done of myself, wasn’t something I exactly paid for. I modeled for my boyfriend at the time, who was a photography major while I was in art school. My compensation was a glossy 8×10 of the final shoot. Here it is, in all its glory…

Yes, I know, I don’t exactly look like that anymore, but that’s not my point. The point is, there is nothing like working with someone who knows what they’re doing. Beautiful lighting, making me forget that I was being photographed, the list could go on and on.

Skip to 2011. I’m not 20 anymore. But would I like an interesting portrait that speaks to who I am, that I could actually feel comfortable using for publicity in business? Hands down, yes.

So, I contacted a friend, Jeff Ross Photography in Reno, Nevada. I’ve always loved Jeff’s portraits and his unique sense of style. See for yourself, www.jeffross.com. It’s clear why he wins tons of ADDYS over the years from the Reno Art Directors Club to name a few. He has a gift.

And the gift I needed was a big one: do a portrait of me that showed a creative bent, did not rely on heavy retouching (I’m actually proud of my wrinkles), and where, well, I looked professional, yet relaxed and happy (they can go hand in hand, you know!).

The prop I brought was a simple choice. I selected one of my paintings for possible background color for Jeff to consider. He had other ideas, saying that he wanted to put it in the foreground. I confessed that I couldn’t picture it, but told him to go for it, as I totally trusted his opinion.

Of course, I had the luxury of having my sweetie, Robert Stelson along to art direct the shoot (you can see the fun behind the scenes shots that he did on www.facebook.com/BrookDesignGroup). Honey, I owe you bigtime.

The result was all that I hoped for.

LeeAnn Brook, 2011

One piece of advice to any business owner, professional, or an about-be-be professional: get a professional portrait done now. It will be the best investment you could make in yourself and in your business. Set the stage for your own personal brand.

Take the recent uproar on The Gap logo. The main reason that it became so controversial, was not that people hated the new one, but it was that they weren’t prepared for the change. The old logo was here one day, and a new one appeared the next day. There apparently wasn’t any press on the new transition, or why they were doing it. Transition is the key word. People have a hard time with change. So even though we have evolved from wheels made of stone, like on Fred Flintstone’s car, we sometimes just need to be brought along, or included, in what’s next.

The premise of creating a logo online through Facebook was a daunting thought to me–after I decided to do it. It created a very vulnerable environment for me, opening up to the opinions of others, none of whom were the actual client. “What have I done?” I thought to myself. However, it did do something new and interesting. It included people in the process of change.

The reality? It was an incredibly fun project for many reasons. 1). I had an amazing client to work with, that actually had a marketing background, so we were in simpatico on the design process. Mucho kudos to Mary Anne Davis of Madison Designs Jewelry! 2.) I had such positive, insightful and honest input from the community of people who took the time to make comments on the Brook Design Group Facebook page…thanks so much. I hope that I replied in an equally responsive way. After all, this IS how we build community–through online social networking or offline, over our neighbor’s fence.

The final design that Mary Anne chose is below, including the last little “tweaks”. Thanks to Brenda Horton of Nevada County Online Business Strategies Group for her continued support and infectious enthusiasm. Next meeting, I’m buying HER lunch!

The Final Logo!

The original goal of the brand of Madison Designs Jewelry, was to look elegant, yet affordable, in a design that would be one-of-a-kind. Below are the large pebbles that we sifted down to. To see the grains of sand that it took to get there, read the other posts…then, you decide. If you’d like to cast your vote, please go to Brook Design Group’s Facebook page, and enter your comments, and we’ll see if the client agrees with you.

Until then, back to the sandbox.

The Incredible Logo Makeover, Final Choice Logos

I will be posting the final 3 choices on my Brook Design Group Facebook page on Monday. So check back in to make your vote…yet most importantly, which one the actual client, Mary Anne Davis of Madison Designs Jewelry, chooses in the end.

The Incredible Logo Makover, Design #3 Process

For Madison Designs Jewelry, I had images in my mind as soon as I met with Mary Anne. The challenge was to get them onto paper as soon as I could, to allow everything to be considered. These are (only) a few of my first sketches.

My criteria was:

–to create a unique logo, as opposed to the stock font she currently uses

–to appeal to women age 20 and up

–to look beautiful, yet affordable

–to have a configuration that would work well in any format, including in a Facebook icon format

Options:

–a logotype (an alteration of fonts that creates a-one-of-a-kind lettering configuration)

–and/or a stand-alone symbol (in this case, the “M”)

Stay tuned for refinements that will follow, in three final designs for Mary to choose from (comments are welcome on my Brook Design Group Facebook page). (see earlier posts on how this project got started!)

Plan B., was for Wendy to pass the winning ticket to the person on her left, which was Mary Anne Davis of Madison Designs Jewelry. In contacting Mary Anne, it was clear that she was at the perfect point to upgrade her image. Picking a font from her computer, and setting up her own business card, Mary Anne started her business on a shoe string. With her business off to a great start, her image was a prime candidate for a makeover (see below). For what appears to be a fine look for Mary Anne’s business, (a classy, script font), it could be for any business–it was not unique (a competitor could easily use the same font, change the name, and voila…confusion in the marketplace!).

After discussing her targeted demographic (women, age 20 and up) and reviewing the brand message desired (great looking jewelry, at a reasonable price), my mission was clear in how to set her apart with the new logo design. (Reminder to self: the configuration also must fit well into the image block on her Madison Designs Jewelry Facebook page–the current one gets cut off).

Sign up for the blog (for a detailed account), or check the Brook Design Group Facebook page Photos section to see the stages of development in the logo I create for her. Comments (gulp!) are welcome.

From setting up my personal page, to then adding a Brook Design Group page, and a LeeAnn Brook Fine Art page, I thought that was enough to keep me out of trouble. Quickly seeing the value of the huge exposure, I started posting a “Card a Day” on my BDG page, sharing my latest greeting cards, with a note about what compelled me to take the particular photo featured. (oops, just remembered, it’s Saturday morning and I still need to post my card for today…!)

Excited about my results since this effort (increasing the traffic to my page by 105%!) I started creating pages for my design clients, setting up logos, photos, making posts, promoting their “brand”. I was hooked (even though I had little time left to brush my teeth…).

Call me a glutton for punishment, but I’m kind of embarrassed to say, I created another Facebook project this week. But it truly came out of a way of giving back to the community that has so generously supported me for the past 34 years. I wanted to offer something to a local business, who might be struggling with gearing up their marketing efforts in tough times. What did I have to offer? A logo makeover! Hollywood does it on t.v., why not me on Facebook???! Stay tuned to read (and see) more of the story…