YASMIN SARAI PHOTOGRAPHY: BRANDING WITH WATERFALL CREATIVE

Lately, I've been learning about the importance of branding.  It's more than just a logo.  And prior to going to the Sitehouse GO LIVE Workshop with Promise Tangeman to create my website, (which I wrote about here!), I knew I needed help with developing my brand. After a little online research, I stumbled upon an up-and-coming graphic designer, whose style I fell in love with and who I felt could help effectively communicate the look and vibe of my photography business.

That designer is Joanna Waterfall of Waterfall Creative.  She is super creative, talented, and totally cute!  Joanna shares her lovely art, recent projects, and fun finds on her blog almost daily, so be sure check her out!  After seeing her art style and reading her blog post, Branding - More Than a Logo, I knew we would be on the exact same page and that she would be a perfect fit for me and for what I needed.

Isn't she cute?!                                                  Photo by Kristen Rogers

Now, what is branding?  Here is my little metaphor to explain: if photography is a gift, then branding is the beautiful wrapping.  Your brand is what gives a client the first impression of your business, reveals your unique style, and sets the tone of your work, in order to hopefully attract your ideal client.

Some of the words I want people to associate with my brand are: classy, cute, clean, sparkly, stylish, youthful, fierce, light, fresh, and fun.  Above all, I want my brand to communicate the most unique part of my business: me!  So the first thing I did was create an inspiration board, collecting patterns, typography, graphics, and colors that scream me! I then spent some time thinking about my personal style and taste, thinking about clothing and accessories that appeal to me and the vibe I want my brand to evoke.  Joanna was able to take all my ideas and create something amazing! Thus, I'd like to officially present to you: my new logo!

When I first saw it, I believe my response to Joanna was "It's perfect! Yay!"  In addition to my logo, I also wanted an emblem/motif that captured one of my favorite things: bows!!!  So she also created the cutest little bow for me.  I love it!

It's just so cute and represents my love of pretty little details.  After settling on the logo, Joanna sent these lovely business cards over, making me feel so official.  Here's the front:

 And the back:

I'm in love!  I also received these cute little stamps: 

 Fun!

I'm so pleased with everything!  The colors, the design, the attention to detail!  And this is just the beginning... I know that as I continue developing as an artist and as a business, it will only get better.  I'm totally inspired!

Now, who wants some pictures?!?!  Let's connect!

Love + Glitter,
Yasmin

MEET MY SWEET LITTLE SUCCULENT

At the start of the summer, I adopted a succulent plant! I've decided to take on the extra responsibility of tending to this cute little plant. I'd like to think I'm learning how to be nurturing... Or how to just keep something alive! It sits on my desks so I get to glance at it in between projects. It is a good reminder of God's amazing creativity. God is definitely my number one inspiration as an artist! I've only had to water it a few times and it's definitely grown since we first brought it home! It's pretty low maintenance... my kinda plant!

Without further ado, I am pleased to introduce my sweet little succulent:

HIPSTER PARTY: YASMIN'S 23RD BIRTHDAY

A hipster-themed party... When Kurt told me his idea for the party he wanted to throw for my birthday, I laughed.  How would that even look? After doing some research on Google I became better acquainted with hipster culture and told Kurt to go for it.

And he totally did! The entire party was hipster-ed out! We had an Instagram competition (#yaz23), an ultimate hipster contest with a prize for the best dressed guest, and an improv spoken word on hipster topics like Apple products, blogging, and eating organic. There were skinny jeans, PBR, Wayfarer glasses, mustaches, and Toms. Seeing everyone dressed up was really fun! Here are a few pictures I took:

And here are a few of the Instagram photos that were taken:

A TOTALLY RANDOM MONDAY MIXER

Hello there friends! Today on Promise Tangeman's blog, she shared dozens of random facts about herself. She asked her readers to do the same and since I haven't posted a blog yet today I figured I'd join the fun with what I'd like a call a Monday Mixer!

So what exactly do I mean? Here's a quick definition: Mixer /ˈmiksər/ n. An informal party arranged to give people an opportunity to get acquainted.

Hopefully this will be a regular installment on the blog... you know, to help us get acquainted! ;) I will list off several random things and you can feel free to respond with comments on how you can/cannot relate or maybe even with your own random Monday list! Well, here we go!

I am CONSTANTLY chewing gum. I'm convinced it helps me focus.

I have an entire drawer dedicated to sunglasses.

I must watch movies with the subtitles ON.

I am OBSESSED with making to do lists. My desk is covered in them.

I talk on the phone to my two-year-old nephew everyday. We have some pretty deep conversations.

I was voted Most Likely to Succeed in high school.

It only takes 1-2 times of hearing a song for me to memorize the lyrics.

My idea of therapy is walking around in Pier 1 or World Market with my sister during Christmas time.

I LOVE getting mail.

I make New Year's resolutions, even if I know I won't keep them.

I sometimes call Kurt's name from another room just to hear him respond.

I carry gold coins in my purse because it makes me feel like a pirate.

I think I want to adopt children some day.

I don't count calories because I honestly have no clue what they really even mean.

We currently do not own a television.

My favorite place to shop is my sister's closet because it's FREE!

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Haha... alrighty, well I hope that was at least mildly entertaining! Feel free to post your own randomness in the comments! Happy Monday to you!

BUILDING MY WEBSITE AT PROMISE TANGEMAN'S SITEHOUSE GO LIVE EVENT

One month ago, Kurt and I began the long drive down to Phoenix for the SiteHouse Go Live Event, where we spent two days with graphic designer/rockstar Promise Tangeman and her equally awesome creative team, learning the Showit software and being coached through creating an amazing website for my photography business!

So first things first, I present, in all its gold glittery goodness, my new website YASMINSARAI.COM!!!

GETTING THERE
So just how did I stumble upon this amazing opportunity? Well, it all started back in April, when I signed up for a special lifetime account with Showit.  I wanted to become a Showiteer eventually, but when the opportunity to get a lifetime account arose, I knew it was too good of an offer to pass up! This happened just a few days before Promise announced the first ever SiteHouse Go Live Event. I was sooo excited because I knew that if I was going to create a killer website with my brand new Showit account, this workshop would be my opportunity to learn from the best of the best: Promise Tangeman! So I desparately begged Kurt to let me go discussed it like an adult with my husband and signed up soon after. We decided to drive there, making it an almost 12 hour road trip (it really wasn't as bad as it sounds)! It was a perfectly adventurous way to start our summer!

Fun times in Phoenix!

MY GO LIVE EXPERIENCE
My experience in Phoenix was simply amazing! I truly feel that this event helped me take my business to the next level. I now have an online presence that is totally glam and totally me. The work environment was so fun and I am shocked at how much awesomeness we all accomplished in only 2 days!

I loved that I was able to get individual time with Promise because she is really good at what she does. She is obviously a totally cool, rock-and-roll kinda chick as you'd imagine, but I also really enjoyed her personality because she is a really down-to-earth person and I knew that she really wanted to see each of the attendees leave with a feeling of success and accomplishment.

The time I got to spend with the entire creative team and other attendees when we weren't hard at work was the most impactful. Besides finishing my site, Kurt and I made friends and had a great time! We literally celebrated for each site that was launched! Oh, and the giveaways and all the free swag were so so great! I even won a lovely Epiphanie camera bag (blog post on that coming soon)! The value of the whole experience was worth a lot more than the cost of attending!

I am TOTALLY confident with editing my own site now. Maybe even helping show others how it's done! I recommend this event 100% to any photographers (or other creative types) out there who want to create a rad website in a fun, focused environment with the easy-to-use, drag-and-drop Showit software while receiving helpful input from Promise and her creative team.

Here are some photos from Alejandra Vidal of Imaginale Design, who also took all our new hot new headshots and made the amazing review video, which you will see later on in this post:

Creative Backdrop

Hard at work on Day One!

Goodies galore!

Day Two!

My short-lived career as a hand model... rockin' the mint polish! And holding my favorite hair product!

Kurt showing his support with a fist pump... and we've never even seen The Jersey Shore!

Celebrating our success with style!

TO FUTURE ATTENDEES
The next Go Live workshop is this October so if you're interested in going I highly suggest signing up now because space is limited! If you do sign up here is my greatest piece of advice: DO THE HOMEWORK! I cannot stress this enough. The homework that we were given prior to the event forced me to dig deep to develop my brand. I think it can be intimidating to try to define yourself because you don't want to seem like your limiting your business, but actually I found that the more time I spent brainstorming and making decisions about colors and design, the more confident I felt going into the event. I was able to really focus on getting my site done and asking the real questions I needed to ask Promise about Showit and my website layout. The homework really was the key to my success! Also, come prepared for your headshots, even if that means bringing your curling iron for a quick touch up like I did!

For more info you can read Promise's recap! Also, be sure to check out the sweet Go Live website too!

I also did a live review shortly after I hit publish! You can see me (and Kurt too!) at the end of the attendee review video:

FINAL WORDS

The Promise Tangeman Creative Team is amazing! Alex and Liz were extremely helpful and totally cool! And I am soooo thankful that everyone was super welcoming and open to letting my hubby join us, considering the first day of the event was our 1-year anniversary and all :) He loved it and we are so happy that we got to experience this event together! 

I want to give a special THANK YOU to our friend Rocco and his parents for being such great hosts to us while we were in Phoenix!

And to my husband Kurt: THANK YOU for driving there and back and for spending those two days supporting me as I pursue my dreams! I love you!

My goal was to create a site that represented me and my brand and I truly expected to publish a site that I would be proud of at the end of the 2 days. 
Mission accomplished!