Well doesn't the bank holiday weekend feel like a lifetime ago. At least its not long until we get two on the bounce thanks to the Coronation.
In this chapter, I'm going to talk design and its rather apt really, as I'm in the final stages of completing The Zodiac range of candles which will be available for sale on Friday 21st April.
As soon as I launched The Tarot range, I began designing The Zodiac Range. As all my candles are following the same aesthetic, the containers, wax & wicks element was ticked off already so I dedicated more time to the more creative aspects.
Now I would consider myself fairly creative however it comes in waves. My brain can be moving at 100MPH with ideas but making them tanigble can be a struggle. This is where the best friend of the creative designer comes in...Canva!
Canva is a online graphic design tool that can be used to create presentations, logos, social media posts and much, much more. I have the Pro option which is a monthly subscription that gives you access to more designs but the free package is fantastic and can meet your needs just as well.
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of ready made templates that you can use or you can start completely from scratch. I started with a blank design for my Tarot Range so I could easily adapt it when making the Zodiac Range.
It's a case of trial and error, dropping graphics in to see what looks good, playing around with fonts and colours that meet your brand design and honestly once you start, you can lose hours to creating in Canva...don't say I didn't warn you ha ha!!
Once you have created what you want, the images are easily downloaded in many different formats such as formats which are best for printing etc, and these can then be uploaded to whichever label printing company you use or can be easily printed from your home/office printer.
I use the former option and a great company to use is Handy Labels. They have a great website - https://www.handylabels.co.uk - which talks you through what choices of label you can have from material, adhesive, size, quantity etc. I would highly recommend them if you ever need stickers or labels as another great feature is once you have uploaded your Canva artwork, they offer to check over it and will make recommendations such as if the font is a little on the small side or if the colours won't show up in the best way.
The sense of satisfaction I get when my designs are delivered and then putting them onto the candles is immense...like it's another string to my bow in running this business.
As I said previously, my tips would be dedicate some time to playing around in Canva to see what you can create. All of my social media posts, my branding and label design for the candles is done through Canva and I'm about to attempt their new magic edit feature for the photographs of The Zodiac Range so you will have to let me know what you think.
In the next episode of this blog, I'll talk about my experience with joining the online business world from websites to social media.
Enjoy your weekend
Love Jen x