Branding Inspiration by Kristina Brenn

Becky Albertalli's Website

kdeianab — 2025-03-16 19:43:05 UTC

One of my favorite authors, Becky Albertalli, has a website to promote her work and connect with fans. She incorporates elements of herself into her characters and her website. For example, she is so obsessed with Oreos that they have become part of her brand so several of her characters love them and her website has art of the cookies throughout it.

The homepage clearly and concisely describes her career, links to her social media pages, and highlights the menu options. Her "About" page describes Albertalli as a person, separate from her work. I find the quirkiness refreshing without seeming like she is trying too hard to be funny. Her "FAQ" page is written in the first person and answers dozens of questions that she is commonly asked, creating the illusion of one-on-one connection with the audience. Additionally, I enjoy how the color scheme and fonts of the website are the same colors and fonts used in her first and most popular book. It all feels very cohesive.

References

Albertalli, B. (2025). Becky Albertalli. https://www.beckyalbertalli.com/

Education/Resources

kdeianab — 2025-03-16 20:17:39 UTC

Caroline Zani is one of my mother's friends and works as a health and wellness teacher. While there is not a lot about her as a person, I find the resources she provides on her website to be very useful to her intended audience of students. Her goals of helping people become mentally and physically healthy are clear and her focus is on her mission and vision rather than herself. Because I value education and social justice, I plan on including a resource page where people can find more information about these topics.

References

Zani, C. (n.d.). Welcome. wellness. https://carolinezani.wixsite.com/wellness

Kalyn Nicholson's Social Media Presence

kdeianab — 2025-03-16 20:41:14 UTC

Though she does not have a personal website, Kalyn Nicholson's career in digital content creation and her goals of helping others with life's daily challenges and personal growth are made apparent throughout her social media profiles. Her brand revolves around health, maintaining relationships and a household, spirituality, and finding hobbies. I think that her balance between personal content and content that can be inspirational and applicable to everyone makes her brand appealing to a wide audience. Also, she consistently uses the same filters, fonts, and colors in all of her content. Her written, video, and image posts all reflect a "soft living" lifestyle.

References

Nicholson, K. (n.d.). Kalyn Nicholson. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/@KalynNicholson

Guidance from Social Media Managers

kdeianab — 2025-03-16 20:58:46 UTC

One area of communication that I might go into is social media. I briefly managed a club's Instagram page and worked as the social media manager for the tutoring center I worked at. My portfolio would be very limited at this point, but it could grow as my career does. The experienced social media managers in the linked discussion provided the following guidelines for a portfolio that may be applicable in many career paths:

"Normally it's great to put:
a. Client name
b. Brief description of the client
c. Goals that you've set for this client
d. Solutions that you provided them
e. Social media handles of the client (that you've put your hands on)
f. The feeds of the social media you managed
g. Examples of the content you've designed: it could be graphic content (images, short videos, long format videos), copywriting (blogs, articles, captions). Also, if you've worked with website designs (add examples)
h. If you have paid media skills and you've run campaigns, put them with their results
i. General metrics that will show off your great work" (Nic727, 2024).

References

Nic727. (2024, March 6). What should I write on a social media portfolio?. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/SocialMediaManagers/comments/1b82xbu/what_should_i_write_on_a_social_media_portfolio/

Guiding Values

kdeianab — 2025-03-16 21:34:26 UTC

The course textbook lists several values that could shape my personal code of ethics. The ones that stood out the most to me are listed below:

Creativity
Economic security
Fairness
Family happiness
Friendship
Learning
Loyalty
Pleasure
Quality
Responsibility
Security
Stability

References

Rampersad, H. K. (2015). Authentic personal brand coaching : Entrepreneurial leadership brand coaching for sustainable high performance. Emerald Publishing.

Personal Key Roles

kdeianab — 2025-03-16 21:40:03 UTC

The textbook explains that those who are defining their personal brands must determine what roles they want to play in their relationships with others. My personal key roles are daughter, student, friend, and employee.

References

Rampersad, H. K. (2015). Authentic personal brand coaching : Entrepreneurial leadership brand coaching for sustainable high performance. Emerald Publishing.

Simplicity of Dreams/Higher Calling

kdeianab — 2025-03-16 23:06:27 UTC

My main goals and dreams are quite simple or overly ambitious. I would like to have a career related to writing but I would be happy in a variety of career paths. My professional dream is to make a memorable and positive contribution to the world. I am currently unsure what this would entail. My personal dreams are to be financially stable and provide for my parents so they can retire and live comfortably. I feel that people will take me seriously if my goals are realistic like this.

Successful Individuals' Dreams That Inspire Me:

Oprah Winfrey: "Female empowerment" (Rampersad, 2015, p. 25).
J.K. Rowling: "To become a professional writer" (Rampersad, 2015, p. 25).
Walt Disney: "Making life more enjoyable, and fun" (Rampersad, 2015, p. 26).
Barack Obama: "...brings about real change, change that we can believe in" (Rampersad, 2015, p. 28).
Nelson Mandela: "A free and just society in South Africa" (Rampersad, 2015, p. 29).

I can develop my own dream/vision statement by incorporating the same elements of the aforementioned individuals. My dream needs to be authentic, able to "[add] value to others," something that I love and want to live by, and something I truly believe I can accomplish (Rampersad, 2015, p. 29).

References

Rampersad, H. K. (2015). Authentic personal brand coaching : Entrepreneurial leadership brand coaching for sustainable high performance. Emerald Publishing.

Light Academia Aesthetic

kdeianab — 2025-03-16 23:55:00 UTC

Due to my focus on academic and creative endeavors, I feel that an academia aesthetic would be fitting for my personal brand. Academia is characterized by "vintage features, especially neoclassical architecture," an emphasis on liberal arts, and "mentally stimulating hobbies" ("Which type," 2024).

Light is preferable to dark academia as light academia is focused on the "generally positive, inspiring, and gratifying aspects of university life" ("Which type," 2024). The color schemes may include "neutral and subdued hues like beige, brown, caramel, off-white, and porcelain" ("Which type," 2024). Neutral and warm color schemes are more likely to appeal to audiences.

References

Which type of Academia Aesthetics are you?. The Other Aesthetic. (2024, April 5). https://www.theotheraesthetic.com/blog/types-of-academia-aesthetics-which-one-are-you/

Unique Style - Matthew Gray Gubler's Website

kdeianab — 2025-03-17 00:10:17 UTC

Matthew Gray Gubler's website is intriguing in terms of style. All of the text appears in his handwriting and nearly all of the visuals are buttons that were drawn by him personally. His website page labels are a bit unclear and difficult to navigate but I find the personalization of every aspect interesting and unique. His eccentricity and creativity are on display.

References

Home. Matthew Gray Gubler. (2024). https://www.matthewgraygubler.com/

Blog

kdeianab — 2025-03-17 00:22:55 UTC

I think having a section of my website dedicated to blog posts is a great idea. It would be a perfect opportunity to display my writing and research abilities, as well as my thoughts on current events that I am passionate about. Jane Fonda's website is a great example of what I am looking to do. She writes about her political beliefs, events she attended, organizations she is affiliated with, and her acting career (Fonda, 2025). She also highlights the work of others that she respects and supports. I would love to write about similar topics.

References

Fonda, J. (2025). Blog - Jane Fonda. Jane Fonda. https://www.janefonda.com/blog/

Playlists

kdeianab — 2025-03-17 00:32:31 UTC

I love the idea of curating a playlist or soundtrack for the campaigns or stories I am working on. Perhaps I can incorporate Spotify links to songs that I feel reflect who I am as a person as well. This is not something I see often so this could make me stand out to others.

References

Etzkorn, L. (2024). Social Content - Bumble. Lindsey Etzkorn. https://www.lindseyetzkorn.com/bumble

Romantic Academia Aesthetic

kdeianab — 2025-03-17 00:39:48 UTC

I am interested in the romantic academia aesthetic's color palette of "blush pink, beige, gold, light blue, and deep ruby" ("Which type," 2024). I find its emphasis on romanticizing life's simple pleasures, specifically those related to art and literature, fitting for my brand. I enjoy my simple life and would love to work in an art or literature related field.

References

Which type of Academia Aesthetics are you?. The Other Aesthetic. (2024, April 5).https://www.theotheraesthetic.com/blog/types-of-academia-aesthetics-which-one-are-you/