From the desk of Mr. Monk

Why art students shouldn’t try to brand themselves

Ive just redesigned my site and it took me a while. I went through making myself a little brand, going by aliases and then trying to work them in.

Trust me this just was not going to work.

Im preparing early for my final show, 12 months in advance. If my site is ready to go, its less messing about when I could be mega-stressing over something silly. Already I see students trying to come up with logos for themselves or go by something else. I admit, I fell into this trap too. Now, Im not condeming it completely, its just some people can pull it off. Most can’t.

Why?

You tend to look like an idiot. You as a person are not a brand; you’re a person. If someone came round on a show, they dont have enough time to make a connection with both your work, and some brand that they’ve never seen before. You expect them to remember some logo they see at a show? Unlikely.

Im going by the fact that if I sell myself on me and my work, it should be good enough to be remembered. No relying on a backup-plan-logo-scheme for me. Sure some cute kerning and a nice face will sweeten your audience, but its the subconscious subtleties that are the real tools. Utilise those and you’ve got to be onto a winner.

That’s why I scrapped my logo as a main focal point and drew attention to the fact that I am “Nathan Monk” and then they realise that Im all about the work.