We’re happy to introduce you to Kelly and Angela, of ReVive Boutique, our latest brand launch!
Tell us a bit about how you got started with your business / blog / venture that we branded.
Sitting down one day trying to write up my resume I was feeling so stuck. I knew I had a lot to offer a company, but I couldn’t get past the sense inside that I was to start my own business. As a mom of three boys, I’ve always cherished my time alone shopping or thrifting as it would ReVive me to go back home and love my family after a little me time.
That’s when I sensed I was to open my own consignment boutique. So together with my business partner, Angela, We hope it’s a place where woman can come to ReVive and restore. A place to renew your spirit.
What products or services do you offer?
We have new and consigned women’s clothing, shoes, jewelry, and accessories. We also have home decor.
What’s the best advice you have for someone that is interested in doing something similar to you?
Treat others like you want to be treated. Go the extra mile in your service to your customers and stand apart from what everyone else is doing.
Tell our readers a bit about the branding process!
We knew we wanted the V in ReVive to bloom and we both love hydrangeas, and Lily got our vision perfectly. We also wanted butterflies as they are significant to new life and that’s what ReVive means. To bring back to life.
What does the future hold for you?
An amazing walk of faith, new adventure, new friendships, and the blessings that come from doing hard things and pioneering new ground.
We’re excited to introduce you to another one of our lovely clients, Emily! Emily is the gal behind Emily Corinne Health Coaching.
Tell us a bit about how you got started with your business / blog / venture that we branded.
I love the science behind how our bodies works when it is fed good quality REAL foods! I have been overweight most of my life but have also always had a fascination with how your body functions properly and they way it feels (and looks, of course!) better when you feed it right. I realized this is where I was wanting my focus to be. So I became a Certified Health Coach and want help overweight women to loose the weight they have been wanting to lose and feel more confident with themselves. I know the struggle and the process on transforming your body all to well through my own personal experience.
What products or services do you offer?
I am currently working on offering a 12 week group program called the Bye Belly 12 Week Transformation. I will also be offering this same transformation to women who would like to work 1:1 instead of in a group. I plan to be up and ready to deliver my programs by May 1st, 2018!
What’s the best advice you have for someone that is interested in doing something similar to you?
Don’t do it all yourself. When I was first starting I thought I had to figure it all out and create everything myself. Don’t reinvent the wheel! Seek professionals like Autumn Lane Paperie, and a coach to help make your journey as smooth as possible.
Tell our readers a bit about the branding process!
The branding process through Autumn Lane Paperie was so simple! Lily and I worked together and it was like she could envision exactly what I was thinking! She really made the process smooth and hassle free. One of the hardest decisions for me to decide was the font. There are so many amazing ones to choose from that I just couldn’t decide. I explained what I liked and Lily picked out fonts that were a perfect fit. I truly think that the branding that I got from Autumn Lane Paperie will make me look more professional and has set me up for success. It is unique and people will be able to spot me out.
What does the future hold for you?
A LOT! But how knows exactly what at this stage. I can say I will definitely continue doing business with Autumn Lane Paperie to expand my brand. This was truly an easy and amazing process. I also hope to become well know and sought after for my ability to truly help women lose weight.
We’re excited to introduce you to Sarah, of Gatherings Market in Nebraska!
Tell us a bit about how you got started with your business / blog / venture that we branded.
About 5 years ago, my husband and I moved back to his hometown and bought an old Farmhouse from his Great Aunt. We completely remodeled the house from top to bottom, and my love of Interior Design was born. I designed our house myself, and after several comments from friends and family about where I bought different things or wanted me to help them with their space, I decided to open my own business. It started out small in a shared space with a Christian bookstore while I kept my full time job and worked on nights and weekends. The response was overwhelming, and after much soul searching and praying, I decided to take the leap into full time. We rented another space and started the remodeling process. With our new store look, I wanted to change the name of the store to Gatherings Market and rebrand our image. The new space will have an urban, upscale feel and will be everything you can get in a large city, but in our small community!
What products or services do you offer?
We have an extended line of Modern Farmhouse home decor, a high quality skincare line, a home fragrance line, gifts for children and others, fresh cut flowers, and we are also the first coffee shop to open in our community! Along with goods, we offer services of interior decorating, personal shopping and event decorating.
What’s the best advice you have for someone that is interested in doing something similar to you?
I think the biggest advice is to be confident in your style and vision. Really think thru the process. There is a reason you are being called to do this, and do your research to help you make the best decisions. At the end of the day, if this is truly what your passion is, you will find a way to make it successful!
Tell our readers a bit about the branding process!
Well, first off Lily helped to make my decisions way easier! When first starting I was a little intimidated by having to explain what I was thinking, but Lily took everything I suggested and made it into images I couldn’t even image. Once I shared the colors and a few details, I was absolutely in love with everything she sent. I wanted something that was simple and classic that would flow with changes in the home decor business as there are new trends and colors all the time. The design Lily came up with is everything I was trying to say: classic, understated, timeless, with a touch of copper to make it a little quirky. I think having consistent images across the board will make my brand more easily recognizable, and also the understated classic look will make people want to see what we are selling on our shelves. I pride myself on selling unique, high quality pieces that are worth the investment, and I think my new branding captures that perfectly.
What does the future hold for you?
The immediate future has us moving to a new space and opening our doors to a new clientele and expanding our product offerings. The response we have received from the community we operate in has been overwhelming, and we are excited to venture in this new direction!
Meet Lindsey, the gal behind Lindsey Linden Events! Lindsey is based in Denver, Colorado!
Tell us a bit about how you got started with your business / blog / venture that we branded.
Love a good party. Have mad planning skills. And, wanted a business of my own so I could use and share my passion for splendid celebrations!
What products or services do you offer?
Lindsey Linden Events is a boutique event planning company.
Our coordinators have local savvy, impeccable planning skills, and serious party swagger — and, that means your event is perfectly executed and uniquely splendid!
What’s the best advice you have for someone that is interested in doing something similar to you?
‘No pressure, no diamonds’ has proved true for me. Work hard and the blessings will follow!
Tell our readers a bit about the branding process!
This process was so much fun! And, was so easy! I’ve worked with countless designers on projects for my clients. I wanted to give Autumn Lane a try. For the price, you can’t get a better outcome — I love my new Lindsey Linden Events brand!
What does the future hold for you?
Hopefully, lots of flowers, cake, and ‘I DO’s’ are up ahead for Lindsey Linden Events!
Meet Samantha, from Northern Clove Photography. Samantha is located in Michigan’s central upper peninsula.
Tell us a bit about how you got started with your business / blog / venture that we branded.
I’ve always had artistic interests, but didn’t find my niche until my husband surprised me with a Canon Rebel for Christmas the year that our son was born. He said he hoped I would do something with it, and I don’t think either of us anticipated that it would lead to a business with a storefront studio in a few short years! Photography serves as my creative outlet, and also lets me snuggle newborn babies now that we are done having our own.
What products or services do you offer?
I am a photographer serving Michigan’s central upper peninsula, and specialize in newborn, child, and family portraiture. I am also very passionate about helping my clients print their art so that they can enjoy it daily, and for years to come.
What’s the best advice you have for someone that is interested in doing something similar to you?
Find out what it is you love doing, and then learn how to do it well!
Tell our readers a bit about the branding process!
Autumn Lane made this process absolutely wonderful and stress free. My head was all jumbled up with random ideas that I had difficulty putting into words, and somehow they came up with exactly what I was envisioning. They helped me organize and narrow down my thought processes into something manageable and less overwhelming. I’d been working for 3 years with a logo I just made myself quick in Photoshop, and no cohesive design. I am so excited to have something professional and put-together to represent myself and my business now.
What does the future hold for you?
I try to not plan too far ahead and just take things as they come! I recently signed a lease on a studio space in downtown Escanaba, which is very exciting, as I’ve been working out of a 200 sq foot bedroom this whole time (and slowly expanding into the rest of my basement – my husband calls me a goldfish – the more room I’m given, the more room I’ll take up!) I also work full time midnights as an RN. My hope is to make photography a more full-time part of my life, and, while I love nursing and would never leave it completely, at least step back from it a bit, so that I can make my schedule as flexible as possible while my children are still young. Other than that, just enjoying my time with family, friends, lots of babies, and snow, lots of snow (because it’s Michigan’s U.P and that is always a given!)
We’re excited to introduce you to Alayna, of Cleveland Natural Birth. We were fortunate to work with Alayna on both her brand & her website!
Tell us a bit about how you got started with your business / blog / venture that we branded.
Cleveland Natural Birth naturally evolved from my personal and professional interest in natural pregnancy, birth, and parenting. After the birth of my children, I became increasingly active in the natural birth community in Baltimore, MD, and began providing doula services via The Nurturing Root. In early 2017 I moved to Cleveland, OH and expanded the reach of The Nurturing Root to northeast Ohio, offering families doula, placenta encapsulation, and childbirth education services. I realized that my childbirth education courses really needed their own platform, and Cleveland Natural Birth was born (pun obvious and intentional).
What products or services do you offer?
Cleveland Natural Birth offers an exceptional array of prenatal wellness workshops, comprehensive childbirth education courses, and holistic parenting classes. Our workshops are available as group or private classes, in-person and online.
What’s the best advice you have for someone that is interested in doing something similar to you?
I think if you are looking to re-brand or even start a business be really thoughtful and hire a professional that produces consistently exceptional work. Your branding is the face of your business and you want to it shine. Design and aesthetics really motivates people to engage with you and your brand.
Tell our readers a bit about the branding process!
I think the branding process was really easy. Autumn Lane has a rhythm they use and you will be walked through the entire process. I chose Autumn Lane, because their branding portfolio was large design driven. I gave Lily a few visual examples of the type of branding I was looking for, and she presented me with 4-5 drafts of logo examples. 1 of the initial drafts was pretty much spot-on, and we just refined the exact fonts. Then we moved on to creating 2 sublogos in a similar process, and then we refined the color palette. This process was pretty effortless, as I had a strong idea of the branding I was looking for, and Lily is a quite gifted designer. The CNB branding is really light, airy, fresh, and minimal, which is exactly what I imagined. I want this new branding for my birth classes, to be inviting for prospective clients.
What does the future hold for you?
Isn’t this the question, we are all seeking the answer to…? With respect to CNB, I would love to be the premiere provider of perinatal education and birth coaching services in the greater Northeast Ohio region. I am passionate about healthy and safe birth practices, and want families to have an informed and satisfying birth experience. So, I hope to help improve birth outcomes one family at a time, through Cleveland Natural Birth.
Mary here, with another ALP Tutorial! Cropping images basically an image adjustment that allows you to better frame a subject, or take out all of that “extra” stuff in an image. We’re providing this tutorial so that our lovely clients can gain a little more knowledge on the DIY side of business. Not every logo is going to fit perfectly square on the digital canvas that we provide, and this will ensure you know how to crop an image to better fit the space you need it for! Sometimes, you can crop an image on your phone or in an app, but we’re going to be focusing on doing this on your computer. We’ll be using the amazing Photoshop to show you how to do this, and PicMonkey — we’re not affiliated with either entity and we don’t get any kick-backs for blogging them. We think that Photoshop is great for clients that already have knowledge on how to use the program, and PicMonkey is great for clients that have little to no editing/software knowledge. They both get the job done!
So, something to keep in mind when you’re cropping is where and what you’re cropping for. If you’re cropping for your website, you’ll want a different size than, say, a grid set up or for a tile on Instagram. Make sure you look at your size options and what they’re asking for so you don’t end up with a stretched image or the inability to upload. (As a side note, check out our image resizing post — it will also be helpful information alongside cropping images!)
Photoshop
Let’s start with Photoshop — the keyboard shortcut for crop is c — any time you press that while in Photoshop, you’ll end up with the Crop tool. Red indicates where the Crop tool is at, and the setting that are important. Original Ratio and the corner bar — this is how you’ll move to crop.
Next, you can adjust your crop ratio, or just leave the original. If you don’t choose a pre-determined ratio, you can adjust the size of the box by using the corners, or even dragging the crop box by the thick bars on each of the edges.
Next step, adjust the ratio, move the grid where you’d like it — click the check mark and you’ve done it, you’ve cropped your image.
Don’t forget to save as a separate image from your original file so you don’t lose that. You can use stock photos for all sorts of crops which is great use of an image from a header on a blog to a tile on social media. Succulents are great for relaxing or clean presentations, I’m fond of using them myself!
Now, PicMonkey!
Head to PicMonkey, edit photo, open your image and we’ll crop it up!
When you open your image to edit in PicMonkey, Basic Edits is the first thing that’ll pop up. This is where it gets pretty quick and simple. Right there at the top is Crop, that’s it. We’ll click that and get to work.
A grid will appear and you’ll have the ability to adjust or SCALE your ratio on the left. It’ll start by showing you the original size right there on the left. This is when knowing where your image is going comes in handy, if it needs to be a certain size, pop in those numbers there. Height is on the left and width is on the right, generally.
I’m going with a tile for my social media to celebrate spring, because this pink set is PERFECT for spring, am I right?!
I zoomed out a bit to give an idea of what I was going for. Save and upload, social media tile ready to go!
Tell us a bit about how you got started with your business / blog / venture that we branded.
I have been making cheesecakes for awhile it all started from a close friend of mine wanting a blueberry cheesecake because she said you cannot find a decent on in OC so I said heck let me try to make one and bam from that day forward everyone always asks me to make that as a dessert for a get together. Then this past thanksgiving my friends dad was like you should open your own business and was so passionate about it and it really stuck to me so I said heck why not and now rest is history 🙂
What’s the best advice you have for someone that is interested in doing something similar to you?
To just go for it, don’t think to much about it just jump into it if you really want it, make it happen!
Tell our readers a bit about the branding process!
I had an idea of what I wanted and had come across autumnlanepaperie I believe on facebook, I got in touch and asked some questions I had about the package and next thing I knew I was starting the process to create what I had in my mind out on paper. Thanks to Lily for taking the time to make it happen and understanding what I wanted, honestly it was a smooth process for me because I knew what I wanted only minor tweaks here and there color wise and at the end Lily created something even better that I imagined and I am so very grateful for that. I think this is will attract the crowd and vibe I am going for more edgy less whimsical, something that fits in the with now.
What does the future hold for you?
The future holds me having a storefront or cake studio that is my goal and I am going to make it happen one step at a time.
Mary here, with another ALP Tutorial! Sometimes when I’m searching across the internet, looking for a new shirt, coffee cup or anything, I come across pictures for daysss! Product photography is super important. Presentation is everything and the way the shop presents their product. BUT, product photography can make or break a sale. Bad product photography can be a total turn-off and might keep people from clicking that “buy” button.
You being here means you’re investing in showing your product to the best of your ability and I admire that. We’ll make this as simple as possible, easy as possible and quick. We want to show you that it’s entirely possible to have decent product photography without investing in thousands of dollars of equipment, or elaborate set-ups. While we do recommend hiring a professional for the best results possible, this isn’t feasible for everyone — we’re all business owners on a budget, right?!
All images in this post are totally un-retouched, straight from an iPhone — this is important because we want you to see that it’s totally possible to work with what you’ve got!
Appearance and Light.
Appearance and light are the two key elements that will make your product photography amazing. It’s so easy! And with your phone, wha wha!
Appearance, clean, neat and clutter free. Depending on what your product is will play a huge role in how you go about this. Make sure you pay attention to what is behind your products. Take some time to clear a space (near a window, that’s where light will come in) or near decent lighting (avoid flash — we’ll get to that) and consider what products you’re selling and look at it as if you’re a client for your own display. Would you like it, would it appeal to you? Clean, white. Add a bit of greenery (I went simple to show you but it doesn’t need to take much or less) or even a few pieces to compliment what you’re showing. All of this thought can really make your product sell itself. Let your products sell themselves.
Look at what is behind your product. Make sure if something is behind your product, find a way to block it out. Background clutter is distracting, so if you can’t find a clear space to take photos in, find a way to cover up what is behind your product! A blanket or a poster board would be sufficient. Keep it clean. No clutter. No darkness.
For me, I use a white foam board, card stock, or poster board. Check out my set-up — super simple, right?!
There are a lot of options for a set-up. If you’ve got a nice counter, some pieces of wood. Outdoor space. Whatever compliments your product.
You can definitely use whatever works for you, the key is to give your product the best representation and best quality with your PHONE! Boom diggity.
Lighting. This is the key to success. The rest is just the frosting on the cake. So when you’re shooting, there are several options for light sources. We’re going with free and limitless. Natural light. I like to use the windows that face west, they tend to get good light until the evening. You don’t want shadows, harsh light or spots of different light. So take a look when you put your product down and give it a once over to make sure it’s all in decent light.
I use the board, on a table, in my kitchen. Which brings me to casting, color casting. Avoid red/blue/black or anything that’ll cast on to your product. The white board really helps to keep that from being an issue as you can see with the light yellow kitchen.
Place your product facing you, with the light to your left/right side. Don’t place your product with the light behind you, side or even in front if necessary. When you position and take a photo, make sure you don’t place your image to close that it isn’t fully visible. Take a little step back and it’s okay if you might need to drop and adjust, you can do that on your phone easily too. Tap your image, check your light, you can adjust it up or down to make sure you get the best quality of your product. Ta da. Click click!
Image Composition. Remember to compose your image in a sensible way, too! Don’t do that weird camera tilt thing that you think looks artsy, and make sure that your entire product is displayed in the image, unless you are pulling in tight on your subject to show off a special detail. If your image isn’t straight, there are ways of straightening the image using the tools available to you right on your phone!
So, check this out… BAD images:
And then, with a few little adjustments and following the advice we’ve given you… a BETTER image!
The biggest thing is to think like a prospective client. Would you purchase that item the way it is shown in the images? If you can say yes to this, you’re good to go!
We’re happy to introduce you to Homes by Iris, and her new brand, based in Madison, WI.
Tell us a bit about how you got started with your business / blog / venture that we branded.
Born and raised in Switzerland, quality and integrity are part of my being. In my twenties, I left home to see the world. I met my husband, a native of Madison, WI in St Petersburg, Russia. We married in 1999, and have three rambunctious boys. We moved back to Wisconsin in 2013. Besides assisting my clients in real estate, I also work as a certified lay-counselor. My cross-cultural experience and love for people are assets that make me a great realtor.
What products or services do you offer?
Real Estate Services
What’s the best advice you have for someone that is interested in doing something similar to you?
Be! Do! Have!
Success in any business comes from who you are, what you do and then you’ll have whatever you set your mind to having.
Failures are part of success.
Tell our readers a bit about the branding process!
I need to stand out from the competition. My name is very unique, so I used it to brand myself.
What does the future hold for you?
My future is whatever I set my mind to doing. I love to travel around the world and being in different cultures.
What’s the best advice you have for someone that is interested in doing something similar to you?
What’s the best advice you have for someone that is interested in doing something similar to you?
Tell us a bit about how you got started with your business / blog / venture that we branded.
Meet Lindsey, the gal behind 
What’s the best advice you have for someone that is interested in doing something similar to you?
Meet Samantha, from 
Tell our readers a bit about the branding process!
We’re excited to introduce you to Alayna, of 
Tell our readers a bit about the branding process!
Tell us a bit about how you got started with your business / blog / venture that we branded.
Tell us a bit about how you got started with your business / blog / venture that we branded.
