Blackbird Eleven

About

Vicki Heijnen is the founder of Blackbird Eleven. Vicki helps organisations with systems and processes and so much more. Her Claude Untangled sessions helps her clients to get clear on making AI work for their business in multiple ways. Her sessions are bespoke to your needs and are presented in a no fluff way, enabling getting started and clear on what you actually need Claude to do for you.

The Brief

My ‘Join the Dots’ sessions are a low risk, low cost way to get focused on your brand and how you communicate visually.

Vicki came to me knowing that her brand wasn’t quite working as she’d like. She booked a ‘Join the Dots’ session with me to identify what wasn’t working and where the visual gaps were.

Together during the Join the Dots session we explored the typography used for Blackbird Eleven. Vicki had received feedback in the past but was feeling more confused and second guessed what she liked and what her business needed to reflect. She had a font in mind but wasn’t confident using it for fear that it wan’t professional.

We scraped that myth and used the Tan Ashford typeface she was yearning to use. My first advise is to try the font that you love, look at all the characters for clarity in headings and if you still love it and, if it feels relevant to you and your business, go for it.

In addition we looked at the colour palette Vicki was using and loved. Vicki loves orange – from her beautiful hair to her accessories – orange is that pop of colour that follows her.

Vicki had created her own brand identity using an illustration a friend had drawn for her sometime ago. She loved it yet found it hard to present it seamlessly on every graphic asset created and on every platform. She had received feedback in the past but was feeling more confused and second guessed what she liked and what her business needed to reflect.

The Solution

Vicki already knew that her visual identity needed some design refinement that was outwith the scope of a Join the dots session. Not a brand change but a design solution that would bring back her  confidence in using her brand identity consistently. That confidence comes with knowing what you like, which she did, and how you want to present your business.

We had already identified a colour palette and typography during the Join the dots session and subsequent report.

My task was to look at how the blackbird graphic could be simplified and used as part of the logo but also stand alone as an avatar.

• Adobe Illustrator
• Brand Development
• Brand Identity
• Typography