Happy Marvelous Monday! We are super excited to feature this amazing business today! Laura James of Laura James Studio is an incredibly talented brand designer that helps entrepreneurs (especially photographers just like YOU!) get their businesses properly branded! You already know that the Golden Girls are BIG advocates of how important branding is to running a successful business and we are totally in love with the things Laura James creates! We have benefited from her awesome expertise and we have a feeling that a lot of our readers will really love what she does!
Read on to learn more! <3
Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your business! What's your specialty?
I am a brand designer that specializes in creative entrepreneurs (like photographers!). I started my first business designing wedding invitations in 2004, and not long after realized graphic design was definitely where my heart belongs. I currently work full time from my home office in sunny Los Angeles, where I also am a full time mom to one little boy (with another bundle on the way soon!) and a wife to the love of my life. :)
Tell us about your journey! How did you get to where you are?
As I touched on before, I started my design career in 2004 as a wedding invitation designer. Few people realize I still do that now! From there, I dabbled in a number of design areas – print, layout, branding, web, color theory, and more – all of which I still do to this day. During all of that, I found that branding design was by far my favorite aspect of graphics.
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<<< Hurry on over to the Laura James Studio blog to snag yourself a FREE download of her new brand discover guide! Go HERE to learn more!
What are your favorite things about working in your field?
I don't even know where to begin! Since I really do work that makes my heart sing, it's hard to say what my favorite parts of this experience is for me... I really do love bringing the inner visions of others to life, and the reactions that I get from those designs. I love asking those thought provoking questions that help entrepreneurs define where they want to be (you'd be surprised how few people think of really important details!), and I really love going through the answers people give me.
While I blog a lot of my completed projects on my website, I also love that many of the details and nuances of branding that go on between me and my clients are sometimes not shared. For example, I love packaging design – and I think a lot of photographers do too. I spend time with a lot of photographers sharing resources and suggestions of how they can integrate their branding into their packaging seamlessly – such as ribbons, twine, stickers, stamps, and so on. I make sure I never just hand over a brand and say "see yah later!" – I share the ideas and thoughts behind each branding element that I suggest, and a few that I maybe didn't include in the branding materials!
What are some of your plans/goals for the future?
I have SO many grand plans for my business! Outside of branding, I am integrating photography (I've been doing that for almost 15 years now...) and product styling into my services list by the end of this year (though I already have a few fantastic clients!), and hopefully by early 2015 I'll be launching a shop with some really fun products – but that's all hush-hush today hehe!
What areas do you service?
I work anywhere! Since my business is so flexible, I don't need to meet face to face with my clients (though I do love Skype, FaceTime, and Google Hangouts to meet up and get to know people). I am based out of Los Angeles, but we move quite frequently (I've lived in more than 6 states in the last 10 years) and travel quite a bit too.
Please be sure to check out Laura James Studio! The best way to contact her is via email, at info@lauraj.co – but she can also be reached by phone at (321) 328-0765. Be sure to follow her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Google + too!
Xoxo!
Golden Girls
If you would like to be featured on a future Marvelous Monday post or if you know a local vendor of photographer we should feature, please send an email to hello@goldengirlsworkshops.com!