Yesterday, I quietly relaunched the website with an all new look.  The site design itself stayed the same as far as how the portfolios work.  What I did do was update the site with all new branding:  new colors and a new logo along with updates to the About and Extra Info sections.

When I first launched this site design a little over a year ago, I went with a new logo and brand concept based around the periodic table of elements and a play on my name and the element Carbon.  The idea was that good photography was similar to Carbon;  something that all living beings are made of and need to exist. I loved the simplicity of the concept.  The downfall was that over time, I realized that the logo was too similar to way too many working photographers.  How was I going to stand out and be different when my branding and logo was so similar to others in my field?

While I was still in school earning my Photography degree, we had to create business cards and promo pieces for our final portfolio review.  Even then, I wanted to create something unique besides the standard at that time:  a sans-serif font paired with a script based font and a logo based around a camera or the aperture blades.  So I did a bunch of searching online trying to find inspiration of what not to do for a logo and to brand myself and my work well.  At the time, I came up with a logo based off of the eye exam chart.  I loved the idea and concept behind it and I created the promo pieces I needed for my portfolio review.  I played with the idea of how to actually incorporate the eye chart concept for a couple of years but I kept coming back to the realization it was just too busy.

Then a couple of months ago, I revisited the idea again coupled with a pair of glasses with a cracked lens.  Again, it just felt so busy that I sat on the idea.  I played with it here and there but was never fully satisfied.  I decided to hand the Photoshop files over to a graphic designer friend of mine and let him work his magic since he knew my work and me as a person.   Together we bounced ideas off of each other and I finally made a decision.

Welcome to the new www.shawncollie.com