Is it me?

Branding is tricky. Advertising specialists spend months, if not years, testing out different logos, tag lines, colors, and fonts on focus groups and company executives. My son came up with the new colors I’m using for my website in about five minutes. All right, maybe ten. With me standing over his shoulder saying, “hmmm, maybe a touch darker? No, lighter.” He fiddles with the slider testing out variations of the shade, fools with the placement of the little dot, nudging toward the bluer end of purple, slipping the pink closer to purple. And voila! I’ve got new colors. Colors that were made just for me.  We quickly jot down the exact red/green/blue numbers so that they are not lost forever.

I disappear back to my work, while he (home from college with little to do until he can find a summer job) fools around some more, finding the right picture, putting it at just the right angle with the right cropping, before calling me back up to his bedroom to pick among a few fonts that he’s chosen. Within an hour of proposing that my son might be able to help me design a new banner for my website, I’ve got colors and a logo, which I may live with for the next few years of my professional life, if not longer. It goes not only on my website banner, but on Facebook, my stationary and business cards. Now a purple quill pen in a square pot of ink will say to people Meredith Bond.

Is this me? I guess so. I’ve asked a few friends and my discerning husband. They all love it. I haven’t decided if I love it. I certainly like it. I love quill pens, both aesthetically, and, oddly enough, to write with. I love fountain pens better, but the quill is graceful and elegant. It says old world. It says classic. And it has a touch of magic to it as well. So, yeah, maybe it is me. I certainly like the messages it sends.

What do you think? Is it me?

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