Brands, huh.

What brands do you associate with?

Brands, Branding, Association. ummm

I like brands and logos. I’ve designed some. I appreciate clever ones, pretty ones, beautifully designed ones. I like knowing what I can expect. Rachel Zoe is a good example. I know her style, I like it and I know her quality. Free People, I like the name, I know the style and I can expect a standard of quality there as well. I don’t only buy designer brands, but I like that they exist.

I also know that it takes a certain amount of time and staying power and consistency to be a brand that is known and widely recognized.

Creating a brand sort of stresses me out. It seems so permanent. Like a tattoo. My favorite thing about my website at the moment is that I can change it.

If I’ve learned one thing, it’s that my mind changes as my life changes. Trends change, life style, even values change. I used to buy Jif peanut butter. Now that I know about vegetable oils and particularly the hydrogenated ones, I only buy the kind with peanuts and salt. I started buying Adams before there were other choices because it had no sugar or other ingredients. Now I know that my instincts were right and why., I usually buy the best priced version.

Knowing everything is changing makes consistency challenging. It makes branding a bit of a crap shoot. Kudos to brands that have spanned the decades.

Picking out a brand for myself requires me to know myself. So thank you blogging, because I think answering questions like this one, get me thinking. Who am I ? What do I care about? What do I like? What do I want to be associated with?

Before I knew anything about baseball I wore a Yankees ball cap.. I liked the logo design. I had never sat through even one baseball game in my life. When my Red Socks loving husband came along he quickly set me straight. Has anyone seen that movie Fever Pitch? It was like that.

Sometimes we get ourselves associated for a variety of reasons. In a world of quick judgement, it feels worrisome. I can’t change snap judgement or misunderstandings but I can work on self awareness. I can ask better questions and get to know more specifically what I’m about.

For me this blog question has me wanting to change my website again…