I know that there are multiple devices that help you record your thoughts, ideas, visions and inspirations.
There are apps that simplify the process and help keep things neat and tidy.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my iPad – wouldn’t trade it.
But for me, nothing beats a little notebook.
I call it my PaperMind.
It’s my mind on paper.
Very stream of consciousness.
Sometimes messy.
Sometimes sporadic.
Most times, full of mistakes.
Just like my mind.

I prefer my PaperMind because:
1. It’s tangible
I love to feel the pen or the pencil on the paper.
2. It helps me stay loose
Trying to use my finger on a tablet is cool, but there is a fluidity that cannot be achieved when I use my entire arm, wrist and fingers to record some thoughts.
3. Doesn’t take a battery
It’s portable, it can sit in my blazing hot car and can double as a coaster.
4. It’s history
I am able to look at the evolution of an idea over a period of time. Some of my best logo designs and taglines have transformed over a series of 3 or 4 pages.

What do you do to record and keep your ideas as they come to you?

Your brand isn’t what you say it is.
It’s what they say it is.
Does that scare you?
You might have an idea in your head or a concept in your office regarding your brand, but your brand isn’t your logo, your blog or your trendy colour scheme – it’s the gut feeling people have about you.

This gut feeling is created after having several experiences with you or your company.
Therefore, if you are engaging the public at any level, you have a brand.
Intentionally or haphazardly, you have a brand.

Michael Eisner, former CEO of Disney, once said, “A brand is a living entity—and it is enriched or undermined cumulatively over time, the product of a thousand small gestures.”
What Mike said is true, but it happens at lightning speed now.
Because of the world-wide interweb and a social-media-frenzied culture, your brand can be instantly awesome or instantly tarnished.

So as you step out everyday to conduct business (or not, for that matter), know this – you have the chance to leave your personal fingerprints on everyone you meet.
Not in such a way that you should be arrested, but in a way that is going to leave an impression about you or your business.
And that impression will affect their gut feeling about you.
And that impression, is your brand.

Are you aware of your brand?
Are you making purposeful strides toward embodying the brand you want to be?
How are you doing that?

Over the last several years, the Relay for Life campaign has taken off.
When I lived in Virginia, it was a huge event that I helped cover whilst working at Cable 12.
The occasion unites a community that rallies around one cause – fighting for a cure for cancer.

Life is different for me now that I am no longer working at a camp.
Ever since I started a business with a dear friend, I am able to be more active in the community.
One way I was able to get involved was with the Relay for Life for the greater Travelers Rest area. Bottlecap (my business) was able to lend support by participating in the Paint the Town Purple campaign.
We showed our support by temporarily changing our logo as you can see below.

Those that participated in helping paint the town purple were entered into a contest and judged by a small panel.
The winner was chosen based upon certain criteria and were awarded the Spirit Award.
I had made some suggestions for a creative trophy, and then very quickly given the task of developing said trophy.
In trying to capture the essence of the event and the area, I wanted to do something unique.

Materials:
Paint brush
High gloss latex paint
Reclaimed barn wood
A Jenga piece
Industrial glue
A hanging thingy for the back

Below is the abridged version of the process…

…and where it currently rests (The Forest Coffeehouse was the recipient of the award).

So congratulations to my super-wonderful friends at The Forest, and well done to the folks involved in our area’s Relay for Life event.

Do you have a cool Relay for Life event in your area?
What are some creative things surrounding the promotion of the event as well as the all-night-long relay itself?

Since becoming a full-time creative professional, I have struggled with brand.
Ironic, since it’s what I do.
The struggle isn’t with what branding is, it’s more with how I handle my own brand.
Not just my brand, but the brand of my company – but that’s still my brand, right?

My associate and I have talked about starting a blog for Bottlecap, but should we start another blog? Should we instead write our own blogs infused with the highs, lows, comedies and tragedies of running our own branding firm?
And if so, how does that work with the other stuff that I want to write about?
Mancode?
Lumpkin Watcher?
Random and obscure humourous offerings?

I almost feel that if I start blogging, Tweeting, Facebooking for Bottlecap in addition to my own stuff – I am going to split myself into several not-as-effective pieces (as shown by my lack of posts here).

Have any of you encountered this problem with your personal brand and professional lives?
If so, what are your thoughts?