It’s here, it’s here, it’s here! For the past five months or so the lovely Rachelle Sartini Garner has been tirelessly working on my new brand, including color palettes, logos (for LBP and the Photobooth!), pricing guides and a sparkly website. I’m so excited to unveil it to the world.

This is the first time I’ve gone through the entire branding process as owner of Lane Baldwin Photography (I helped the fraternity with a rebrand, which was actually really good experience for my personal rebrand). When I started out three years ago I had my logo designed … and then I did the rest myself. I chose to invest in things like my client’s experience and cohesive packaging, along with new equipment. I’m not sure if that was necessarily the right or wrong way to do it, but I’m so thankful that it worked for me.

About a year ago, I knew that it was time to start thinking about hiring a professional to create a cohesive brand for LBP. I needed a more grown-up look, and I knew that I wanted my brand and website to have a more editorial style. Rachelle was just the lady for the job!

The brand piece (colors, fonts, logos, etc.) was fairly easy. Is that ridiculous to say? By easy I mean that 1) I had an idea of what I wanted going in and 2) Rachelle is super talented and I liked what she put together from the start. The website? Not gonna lie, I struggled with that part.

I really, really wanted a completely customized website. Like really. But I couldn’t find a platform that I loved. I always strive to create clean, bright, modern photos, and I wanted my website to match. The bells and whistles just didn’t feel right. I want my website visitors to be able to easily navigate my site and find what they’re looking for. And if and when visitors decide to spend some time on my site, I want them to hang out on the blog because that’s the heart and soul of my business. So … I decided to stick with Folio Websites. It’s a template-based site and it’s not flashy, but it’s simple and editorial and clean.

I find myself comparing myself to others a lot, which is so not healthy but so easy to do. I get swept up in what everyone else is doing and forget where I’m at and what’s best for me. This is what’s best for me. This is where Lane Baldwin Photography is supposed to be. And I could not be more thrilled! Thanks for all your support. Here’s to the next three years!