"WHO ARE YOU?"
My name is Patrick Tuell and I am a freelance graphic designer who has been specializing in brand identity design for the past seven years, but in general, I am a creative person who does a lot more than make nice looking logos. Most of my design experience comes from working with design agencies as part of a team, strictly through project facilitators, or from being contacted by clients directly. In terms of who I am as a person, I like to think of myself as reserved and thoughtful and as someone who likes to listen rather than talk. Speaking of listening; music has inadvertently helped my design career. Some of my favorite artists are Bon Iver, Frank Ocean, Mac Miller, Elliot Smith, Beach House, Tame Impala, Far Caspian, SALES, Slowdive, Mac Demarco, Kanye West, Nirvana, The Verve, and Radiohead. I also love basketball and being close to nature. All of this fuels my creative spirit.
"WHAT DO YOU OFFER?"
BRAND IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT
This area of design has been my bread and butter for a long time. I find the fact that one can incorporate a practical and functional use to good looking visuals to help brands, products, services, etc., whichpo can then build their ideal business and sometimes impact lives to a great degree, very appealing and is the main reason I got into design in the first place. This service can include, but is not necessarily limited to, logo design, stationery, packaging, social media, brand guidelines, advertisements, signage, editorial, photo treatment, typography, typeface creation, websites, and motion design. Whatever you may need for your brand, I can help make it happen.
BRAND STRATEGY
A very influential reason of my growth as a designer is the fact that I have grown as a problem solver as well. To note, some of what I may include under "brand strategy" is not necessary, for a project to be completed, to succeed, or even to over achieve, but everything I mention helps me in one way or another. An example of how I implement brand strategy into my process is by going beyond the questionnaire and using techniques that help figure out your mission statement, values, goals, etc. Aka the root of it all. If I do not understand who you are, what you sell, who you sell it to, why you sell it, and much more, then I cannot do my job. This service helps me know that my design can function on a higher level, and is therefore mandatory unless supplied high level thinking on the matter.
NAMING & COPY
I am somewhat new to the naming scene and am just now comfortable with saying I can offer my services, but I know that I love this practice and have learned some really interesting and helpful techniques to create really interesting and compelling business names. As for copy, I prefer to not do large body paragraphs of copy, but I instead make slogans and short phrases such as headlines. I mentioned that naming really interests me, and it does almost to the point in which logo design did way back in the day. Just as I think simple and quick to read logos are best-I try to employ the same line within naming and copy.
"WHY YOU?"
The eye that I have developed over the years has been refined to a really sharp point that can both create and detect good design at a moments notice and from a mile away. Plus, I genuinely have your and customer's best interest in mind when creating in order to reach everyone's goals during the project. I am not trying to sell you anything and if you want, you can book a free 15-30 minute brief consultation on how I would help you based off your business' looks and performance. Just give me a message by clicking the button below and filling out the contact form you are presented with.
I take pride in the creation of a methodical and strategical process that has been refined to be efficient and effective. The equation like nature of my process allows for the answers to my questions, which are personal and tailored to the situation at hand, to aggregate and combine for a solution that is elevated and distinct enough to be separated from one's competitors, but familiar enough for one's customers to relate to. I have slightly different techniques for different types of projects, but what I talk about below is a good overall summary/representation of how I go about creative projects.
1. DISCOVERY & RESEARCH
I love a good start to a project. This is why I implement this key step, that of which includes many mini steps. Every bit of my process has a purpose, and this step is no exception. By discovering who you truly are, your goals in life whether business related or elsewhere, how you want to help others, etc., I can then take that very personal data and research your industry and customers to form a very high quality piece of design.
BASIC LEVEL QUESTIONNAIRE
Once we have decided that we want to work together, I always start off by offering a premade template of questions that allow for us to get on the same footing moving forward. I understand that no one likes filling out a document that contains boring questions, so I try not to put a lot of emphasis or pressure on it, but understand that these questions help me quite a bit when developing visual solutions to the problems that need to be solved. A few examples of some questions I may ask you are what your mission statement, values, and goals are. I have also developed certain exercises to determine your mission statement, values, goals, etc. I offer this, and most aspects of most services I offer, based on your needs and availability.
STYLESCAPES
A stylescape is a canvas of thoughts, concepts, ideas, etc. Some are tangible, some are not, but they all include examples of important information that help us specifically figure out where you want to be in the market, aka how you want to portray yourself to your audience amongst your competitors. These even help figure out certain important visual aspects of your brand later down the road. If you have done extensive, high quality research to figure out exactly where you want to be in the market, then this step can be considered optional. However, if you have not done thorough research, I have some premade stylescapes that I think make for a fun exercise to break up the monotony of answering questions one right after another.
HIGH LEVEL CONVERSATIONS
As I mature and go through life, I like more and more to talk to people and to get to know them on a level much deeper than the surface. I believe everyone is unique, and by taking the information gained earlier, I can ask important, tailored questions which will lead to valuable and eye opening conversations about your needs, wants, and goals. This is one of my favorite parts of the process as I find it is a chance to grow more as a person than just as a designer, but also for the fact that I believe it leads to some of the most innovating solutions.
2. CREATING
Once I get into the nitty gritty of things, for example in a logo design project, I like to firstly brainstorm synonymic words and ideas that I could possibly represent in a logo. These brainstorming sessions come utilize very simple techniques in order to not make things unnecessarily complicated, such as word lists and word maps.
I love sketching during projects, but since I have stated a couple of time already, every project is different, so everyonce in a while, and always for very good reasons, I do not stay on this step for long. If you would like me to iterate if I will be sketching for your project or not, I would be glad to do so. When I do sketch though, I use the ideas from the filled out documents and my brainstorming sessions to come up with ideas for my sketching.
Once I whittle and sift my way through the average ideas to find the best ideas, I then bring these sketches into Adobe Illustrator and bring them to life. Part of the reason why my process is so efficient, is because while I dig through my ideas to find the best ones, I am simultaneously acting upon my favorite part of any project which is to reiterate upon my already good ideas to find the revolutionary ones.
I love sketching during projects, but since I have stated a couple of time already, every project is different, so everyonce in a while, and always for very good reasons, I do not stay on this step for long. If you would like me to iterate if I will be sketching for your project or not, I would be glad to do so. When I do sketch though, I use the ideas from the filled out documents and my brainstorming sessions to come up with ideas for my sketching.
Once I whittle and sift my way through the average ideas to find the best ideas, I then bring these sketches into Adobe Illustrator and bring them to life. Part of the reason why my process is so efficient, is because while I dig through my ideas to find the best ones, I am simultaneously acting upon my favorite part of any project which is to reiterate upon my already good ideas to find the revolutionary ones.
3. FEEDBACK & REVISIONS
I like to create a small presentation for my designs, but besides that I am done creating for the first round. Once I am done creating I do not like to send the presentation over through email, and would like to present it to you personally as I feel that is more respectful to you and my work. I feel this allows for my thoughts to get properly conveyed and that it helps my clients in the future once they know how their brand should work.
4. DELIVERABLES
Once we are done creating entirely, including any revisions, I like to neatly package the files I have created and then put them into a DropBox folder, along with emailing them, so that you can access them at anytime. We can also work out any situation that needs to be dealt with that includes working with any internal storage systems or file transfer software/program.