The Brand Nirvana Journal: design case studies & human-centred musings
Case Study: Nick Matolytsch personal brand
Nick Matolytsch is a digital consultant in East Gippsland, specialising in tourism marketing. Nick brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to his brand, and is passionate about sharing the beauty of the East Gippsland region with the world. Nick's mission is to...
Case Study: Dream.Believe.Create rebrand
Kathryn Edwards is the Founder of Dream.Believe.Create a global, online platform that helps women build successful, values-based businesses without sacrificing a balanced lifestyle or their emotional and physical well-being in the process. Kathryn helps women around...
The ten typography commandments for designers
Are you seeking to produce memorable, impactful, disruptive designs? This post is for the makers, the creatives, the DIY'ers who long for their type to be full of luscious ligatures and stylistic alternates. Quality type is an investment. Go on font benders! Layer...
Brand Nirvana Conversations: Jodie Preiss, Inspiring a Difference
Create a ripple in your world. A thought-provoking and powerful way to ponder your purpose in life. What impact will your presence leave on the world? What are you doing to change the world, for the better? Encouraging people to answer these questions, through...
Put on a different hat
"We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them." Albert Einstein You're coming out of the seed phase of business and it's time for growth. And this new level of entrepreneurship comes with other obstacles. Perhaps you're a busy...
Brand Nirvana Conversations: Christine Ford, Sensual Seed Oracle Cards
Through serendipity and mutual connections the stars aligned when Christine Ford needed a designer to bring her legacy project to life. As Christine described the vision for Sensual Seed Oracle Cards, I knew this would be a unique collaboration. At the time I was...
The Brand Nirvana Playlist Volume Two: Self-Care
Nature therapy, resting to recharge, trusting intuition in business, cultivating better habits for stress management and listening to your inner wisdom. In the Brand Nirvana Playlist Volume Two you will find a number of articles and podcasts with the theme of...
Brand Nirvana Conversations: Bobbie Hall, BOLD Dance & Arts
About eight years’ ago I crossed paths with Bobbie Hall, Principal of BOLD Dance & Arts. At the time, Bobbie was an early-childhood educator and my son was in her class. He would come home from kinder telling me awesome stories about the dances he learnt with...
The Ripple Effect
Consider these statements in the context of brand success. Listen to your heart, not your head. What you focus on multiplies. When you have a crystal clear vision for your brand, the cards fall in the right place. Your success (brand nirvana) has a flow on effect to...
Brand intuition
Your first year in business may bring up emotions, obstacles & challenges. And it’s ok. You will survive. Yes, the process might be overwhelming. And yes, a mentor or coach is a great sounding board when needed. It’s also an investment in yourself and your...
Brand harmony
Recently I've noticed that developing a brand is akin to cooking the perfect risotto. There are layers of texture and flavour added to the recipe over a period of time and you need to be patient. And right when you think the rice won't change from super crunchy...
Case Study: Inspiring a Difference Brand Nirvana
“There is vitality, a life force energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The...
Case Study: The Abbey Brand Nirvana
"You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty." - Mahatma Gandhi The Brand Story The Abbey is a place of contemplation and hospitality, operating as an accommodation and conference...
Be the 1%
Entrepreneurship is not a lifestyle, nor a big vision or a skill to be learnt. It's a drive, that makes you get out of bed each day and tackle things that would leave others crippled with fear, rocking in corner. It's the action you take in order to leave your legacy...
Awaken brand alchemy through silence
Solitude, the gift of silence and active listening are skills, which once mastered will extend to all aspects of your life and awaken alchemy. And this naturally includes your brand. How? Your strategic goals are particles of energy sending vibrations throughout...
The Brand Nirvana Playlist: Volume #1
A new series on the Earth & Sea blog: The Brand Nirvana Playlist. Lists of things that grace my ears when I'm out walking, for your auditory enjoyment. First up, podcasts. These are my go-to podcasts. October 2016 playlist: 1 October 2016...
Case Study: Wise Women Ride Brand Nirvana
“I would travel only by horse, if I had the choice.” - Linda McCartney The Brand Story Wise Women Ride is the result of a pipe dream conjured when Founder, Jeanette White, said she wanted to travel and take people with her along for the ride. The business is...
The gift of vulnerability
Have you been given an opportunity to be vulnerable, and your first reaction is to play it safe? Picture this... You’re attending a business workshop and the guest speaker asks each person to share what they want to get out of the workshop. In anticipation of what...
Will Hipstamatic Oggl eventually replace Instagram?
Instagram innovated & entered game changing territory overnight by introducing a 'Story' function which is practically the same as Snapchat. I didn't jump aboard the Snapchat train, so I can't compare. But I do wonder if Snapchat will fade like Periscope did. I'm...
read more8 traits of a ‘successful’ person
Have you ever reached a point in your career, reflected on your progress, and mused 'I'm amazed at how I got to this point"? Today is one of those days and in this post I offer a genuine account of why this is so. I'm sitting on the train, heading to Melbourne...
2016 East Gippsland Digital Forum: what I discovered
East Gippsland is home to fifth & sixth generation locals, sea-changers, tree-changers and is frequented by tourists from all around the world. A pristine environment, East Gippsland is growing and has a lot of potential. In 2015, East Gippsland Shire Council...
Brand Nirvana is never about the destination
Have you ever stopped to witness the depths of your soloist journey, and notice that your brand nirvana (‘success’) is never about the destination? When you’re navigating economical peaks & troughs it’s easy to lose sight of your Why. It's important to remember...
How to declutter your brand
Recently, a very talented friend helped declutter my wardrobe & the process helped awaken a sense of freedom from stuff. Because shiny stuff is magnetic & I'm like a bowerbird. Decluttering clothing sparked not only joy & transformation, but a deeply...
What is the next subculture after Hipsters?
Often when I meet a new client, we chat about a variety of elements of their business. Visual branding is one topic of conversation. But we also talk about personal branding because our society tends to judge a brand based on visual appearances, rather than the talent...
The Secret to Launching a Brand with Strength
When it comes to investing your precious start up capital into your business, where do you start? There are a number of elements a business needs to consider when launching a brand. If you are passionate about why you do what you do, rather than...
Case Study: Soulstice Artisan Body Care
The brand story: Ali Kelly of Soulstice Artisan Body Care is a massage therapist and reflexologist who struggled to find a soap to suit her sensitive skin. So she started making her own. Prior to engaging Earth & Sea Creative, Soulstice went by the brand name...
What to do with all those free resources you’ve downloaded
You’re on a mission to start the year with unmistakable clarity and profound action and want to increase your knowledge on a variety of topics. So you subscribe to countless mailing lists to grab awesome freebies. This is the year your business is really going to...
How to Create Human-Centred Content
If lead generation & sales are the main reason for content marketing, why do only 28% of businesses invest in content marketing? For small business owners, the reasons may be... I don't know what content marketing is I don't have enough time to create content...
One Golden Rule of Branding
You're launching your next big idea, and there's a chicken and egg scenario at play. In your mind, the program you need to launch will be up and running before 'the brand' is established. And you simply need “The Logo” to launch. But...the challenge you're...
Sometimes, you need to stop and buy the shoes
You're busy. You have deadlines to meet. There's no time to stop. You have bills to pay. A business to grow. Goals to achieve. You're walking down the street and a pair of shoes catch your eye. They're fabulous and elicit shiny-object-syndrome. You want the...
10 reasons why your personal beliefs are your brand message
Why is it that a branding specialist or copywriter needs to know so much about YOU as a person in order to create something like a logo or copy for your business? Have you ever answered a creative briefing question with 'N/A'. I bet you muttered to yourself "This...
Decoding Design Speak #2: What the heck is kerning?
On Sunday 24 January 2016, social media was abuzz with discussion about Lisa Messenger's new book. FYI - Lisa is a publishing rock star in the Land of Oz. She pushed her brand value of openness and honesty further in Breakups & Breakthroughs by candidly revealing...
The Intuitive Way to Unlock Your ‘Why’
Whilst undertaking a Diploma of Holistic Counselling Practice I lost track of the number of times our lecturer instilled "Never use ‘why’ during a session”. The use of 'why' forms a probing question. And depending on the audience's internal dialogue, the context in...
5 ways to cure self doubt + overwhelm when trying something new
If you're about to take a massive leap of faith in business, chances are you might be experiencing an equally big dose of . Soloist life has it's perks: freedom, collaborating with amazing people, travel, self-empowerment, leaving a legacy, helping people,...
Decoding Design Speak #1: What does RGB and CMYK mean?
When your designer starts talking about RGB + CMYK, do you simply glaze over and wish they would quit the jargon? RGB and CMYK are common terms used in the design industry. 'Screen' and 'print' are the client-facing version but your designer may revert to jargon by...
6 ways to keep your business sparkle alive post-holiday
Holidays are such a brilliant way to take time out, recharge your batteries, spend time with your loved ones and work on the business. And then the day comes when you have to return to work. It’s ‘game on’, but you might be juggling kids who are on holidays and this...
8 ways a soloist can effortlessly manage the school holiday juggling act
It’s been raining for three days straight, the Star Wars/Frozen/pink unicorn banter is wearing you thin + the sparkle of Christmas went to the compost heap with the tree. You're juggling soloist life during the school holidays and feel guilty for allowing the kids...
If the word ‘rebrand’ overwhelms you, here’s 3 ways to make friends with ‘change’
Have you reached a point in your business' journey where the notion of 'change' needs to enter the equation so you up-level? You may have quickly thought of a business name, registered it and launched without a plan; thinking "I'll see how this all goes, and then...
Empathy: the essential ingredient in the customer service pie
Famished at 3pm, a person realised they unintentionally skipped lunch. “A pie from my local bakery” they thought. “That will have to do”. Upon entering the bakery, the shop attendant was making a couple of rolls. The customer was the only person in the shop, and...
Awesome People to Discover Vol 1: eL Seed TED Talk – Street art with a message of hope & peace
Hands up if you LOVE discovering inspiring people? Ditto. And I love sharing the wisdom I discover... it's all about the ripple effect. I had the pleasure of attending the Strategies for Inspired Health & Personal Success Seminar yesterday - a seminar...
Case Study: The Sensual Seed Oracle Card Deck
It's not every day a graphic designer has the opportunity to collaborate with an amazing, compassionate and soulful person to help them bring their passion project to life. Passion projects are BIG ideas coming to life, and they often bubble away in the unconscious...
Case Study: Interior Philosophy Brand Development
The Brand Story Tania Goranitis is the Founder of Interior Philosophy, an interior styling and home organisation service located in Paynesville, East Gippsland. Tania believes that a beautiful and well organised home is important to her client's life, as the home...
Case Study: GrantsPro Brand Development
The Brand Story Marguerite Davie and Susy Jones are the Directors of GrantsPro, a specialist grants management training and services company for government and other organisations that invest in people, communities and business through funding. Marguerite and Susy...
Case Study: Sensual Seed Brand Development
The Brand Story Christine Ford is the Founder of Life in Sync, and Sensual Seed is a collaboration between artist Amanda Kennedy and Christine to produce a stunning, bespoke oracle card set for women to use in their daily life. Sensual Seed oracle cards are beautiful,...
Case study: BOLD Performing Arts Rebrand
The Brand Story Bobbie Hall is the Principal of Bold School of Dance, and the Academy is evolving in 2015. There are a number of performing arts academies in East Gippsland, however none offer all three streams (dance, drama and vocal) under the one brand umbrella....
Case study: Veronica Strachan Brand Development
The Brand Story Veronica Strachan is the Founder of True Dialogue; a coaching, facilitation and change/project management business, and co-founder of True Bliss; a collaboration between three women dedicated to helping women find and follow their bliss. The new brand...
Case study: Inspiring Success Brand Development
The Brief Earth & Sea Creative were commissioned to develop a professional, clean and unusual brand identity for Inspiring Success, an East Gippsland based coaching and facilitation business. As with all branding projects, our expertise was sought for colour and...
Case study: Robin Mayer Civil Celebrant Rebrand
The Brand Story Robin Mayer is a civil celebrant who specialises in wedding ceremonies, commitment ceremonies, renewal of vows, naming days, funeral services, memorial services, ash scattering, new business blessings and pet memorials. Earth & Sea Creative were...
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