Personal Branding

Personal branding is one of the most important parts of being a professional designer. It represents who you are, your style, and your personality. It's a creative space where you can express who you truly are and for that one must be ready to put serious time and effort into the idea.

Simplicity is Key

I very much enjoy simplicity. To me, a logo should be simplistic yet sophisticated. The logo should be able to be read and understood from any size on any surface. Over-complicated can be hard to read at smaller sizes and could cause confusion for the viewer.

Early Sketches​

Starting out, I really wasn't sure what angle I wanted to go for. I had two primary options in my head, either use my full initials "SMH" or my other idea "Droffah Designs", which is my last name (Hafford) backwards. 

Rough Drafts​

I came up with a few quick ideas for both the "SMH" and "Droffah" names. I very much liked the idea of utilizing two D's for the Droffah Design name. 

I sat on both ideas for awhile after creating the rough drafts and finally decided on continuing with the "Droffah Designs" name. I thought that it was more clever and unique than just using my initials/name.

Fine Tuning The Design​

I went with the 'double d' design choice with a different twist than originally planned. I thought it would be a neat idea to combine both a lowercase 'd' and an uppercase 'D'.

I took this and created two different renditions of the idea, a more rounded straight-forward design and a three-dimensional more abstract design.

Second Thoughts​

I loved the "Droffah Designs" idea but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to brand myself as me and not something else. I eventually came to the conclusion to use my initials as a logo instead of the "dD" design. I'm also starting to slowly transition towards fully using my name "Sean Hafford" instead of "Droffah Designs". I feel like this move makes my work more personal and less business-like.

Conclusion

Personal branding is something that will always be evolving as we evolve as a person and designer. Our perceptions change and what we like at one point in time might not be what we like in a few years. I'm happy with where it is currently and will always strive to have my own personal branding be an extension of who I am.