I was first attracted to The Blogcademy for its branding. Not simply because it is witty and attractive with a clever nod to snooty English private schools that intices me so. Having long been a fan of Shauna Haider's blog, Nubby Twiglet, since my own beloved designer shared it with me, I was extra fascinated by the use of the branding across the entire event from start to finish.
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I think I first came across The Blogcademy on Twitter via a tweet from Shauna, and that one little tweet lead me to a world of branding heaven. At this point, I should just point out that I am not a designer. I don't have Photoshop or InDesign, heck I don't even have Corel Draw. I struggle to change my margins in Word for sobbing out loud. I simply have a love for good branding in the same manner that I have a thing for stationary. Get me in Typo, Kikki K or even Officeworks and you won't see me for a good while. I'll need to touch all the things.
Read: I'm a graphic design/paper products geek.
Once I was led through the magic twitter mirror to the Blogcademy website wonderland I found design-elements-meets-photographic-branding I could really make a meal of. I became somewhat obsessed with the blog with photos from the events in Portland, London, New York… then I found a VIDEO. I have watched the Portland and London videos an embarrassing number of times. It was not only the fun being had, the knowledge being absorbed by the Blogcadettes, but the branding represented in every part of the event that drew me in. Big silver 'B' balloons, photo booth backgrounds, branded cakes, bunting, colour themed accordion paper lanterns, goodie bags, signage – I was in heaven. And I could not wait to see this branding brilliance executed in person.
It was an 11-month wait for me until I arrived at The Bleeding Heart Gallery in Brisbane for The Blogcademy's first Australian event.
Our goodie bags were branded both Blogcademy and iconic land of Oz. LOVE! They contained such fun things as necklaces and hair clips from Art School Dropout, cute blue origami crane earrings from Imogen Wilson and Self-love alchemical oil from Sacred Self.
I also got all the secrets from the official workbook – again, just beautifully designed.
I felt like I got to know the Headmistresses over the weekend. And from memory, this looks like one of those moments where Gala revealed a very honest truth about her own blogging experience. All the babes were candid about their experiences, and the other Blogcadettes and I took it in appreciatively. The weekend was chockas full of valuable information and advice, so it was helpful having our learnin' littered with entertaining anecdotes.
Each class of Blogcadettes is gifted a pair of ears from Crown and Glory, but us lucky ducks got two – the extra pair especially for Australian classes were a set of koala ears, which my son is now quite fond of. I'm keeping my sparkly bunny ears for myself, though. I believe they yeild magical blogging powers and live happily on my desk.
I hadn't even realised before attending The Blogcademy that I was missing something so valuable, and I'd even say crucial, to navigating this world of blogging – a blogger posse! Kat and Shauna, along with Gala make the best team; even aside from teaching classes together, they have sounding boards in each other, who give trusted advice and share the same passion. Seeing that made me realise that I was seriously lacking in blogging pals.
The upshot is, now I have a blogger posse! I met some top chicks over the weekend and we are making it our business to keep in touch and talk blogging whenever we want. This was quite an unexpected bi-product of the weekend.
As a bridal blogger, I was also obviously a huge fan of Rock n' Roll Bride, and I happily discovered creator, Kat Williams, is so surprisingly humble, and just a regular gal you could really hang out with.
I know it's not right to choose favourites… but listening to Shauna talk branding was a seriously cool moment, and she's just so cute!
Concentration face on with specs and everything.
Clearly I wasn't the only one taken with the branding.
Shauna, I'm such a huge fan and the fact that your nails exactly matched your Pantone iPhone case was not lost on me! I even took my own photo to show my friends, but it wasn't as beautiful as these photos by Janneke Storm, who incidentally is a fantastic Sunshine Coast wedding photographer!
