Pixels & Pieces

25/03/2026

Hey fellow entrepreneurs! I LOVE organizing things. Creating order from chaos always makes me feel better. I love helping small businesses create a logo with an orderly set of brand guidelines so they can DIY better.

Today I decided to take some time for myself and create order from the chaos of my spice drawer.

How can you create order from chaos in your business?

P.S. Someone remind me to pick up some onion powder, it appears I'm running low.

25/03/2026

Hey fellow entrepreneurs! A trade show is entrepreneurship in a bottle. The hours are long, the constraints are tough, and the lessons come quick. The element that has the first and most important impact: your branding.

Here are 3 ways to shore up your branding before a trade show:
1. Clarity
2. Professionalism
3. Details

You can't read the label from inside your bottle. Let's chat about how I can help you with your branding before your next trade show.

25/03/2026

I'm a graphic designer but I'm more architect than artist.

I'm a methodical designer. My aim is to finish a branding project such that my clients understand how decisions were made, feel involved in the process, and are confident they have everything they need to move forward.

Here's an overview of my process:

1. Get a blueprint from my clients: How do they want people to feel about their company? Where are they going to be using the branding? I'm already starting to think about what their branding will look like on a business card or t-shirt.

2. Gather all my materials & build: I add all the elements like colors, fonts, words, icons, shapes on the art board. I do a lot of prototyping in Canva which makes it easy to test out font combinations as well as look at things like readability and scale.

3. Refine based on constraints: I circle back to where my clients see themselves using their branding. Are the fonts I've chosen available in Canva? Google? Microsoft? I look and see what fits the vibe and eliminate unnecessary elements.

4. Do a live design review: Instead of 15 emails back and forth, I invite my clients to an online meeting where I show them where we are with the design and give them an opportunity to give feedback and contribute to the final design. It saves time, frustration, and my clients feel like this is really theirs.

5. Finalize & Deliver: One last meeting where I walk my clients through all of the files I am sending them, what the use cases are for each file type, and I help them set up their Canva brand kit and any other software (like invoices) that needs to be branded.

25/03/2026

The hardest part of DIY branding isn't learning the software (Affinity, Canva, they are free!). It’s the "Is this actually good?" anxiety. 😰

You know the feeling. You pick some colours. You choose a font. You design a header.

And then you freeze.

Does this look professional?

Does this connect to my strategy?

Or does it look like a hobby business?

Most DIY courses give you the tools, but they don't give you the eyes. 👀

In The Make It Club, we fix the Fear of Getting It Wrong.

You don't just watch videos. You submit your work. I review it right in front of you. I tell you exactly what to tweak to take it from "homemade" to "high-end".

Stop guessing. Start knowing.

If you want to make your brand look like you’re going places in 2026, get in on the Make It Club.

25/03/2026

A trade show is entrepreneurship in a bottle. The hours are long, the constraints are tough, and the lessons come quick.

During the long hours, a parade of potential customers passes by (say that three times fast!) and they sail through the customer journey in a matter of minutes or even seconds. You get hundreds of chances to see this journey in action, assess your competition, and even test different messaging.

The element that has the first and most important impact: your branding.

As I walked through the show, I noticed some vendors who didn't get the same attention as others. Their branding wasn't great, and they got lost in a sea of competition.

Here are 3 ways to shore up your branding before a trade show:

1. Clarity- As customers are taking in everything around them, they are grabbing the headlines from tables ("candles", "soap", "jam", "cider") and they might slow down if they like what they see. They won't slow down if they don't get it or if there are too many messages at once.

Clear signage and clear product labeling is key. There are many things you want to tell your customers (we sell soap, our soap is the best, here's the price of our soap, tell your friends about our soap, go to our website to see more soap,) but you have to pick one thing— and display it clearly.

2. Professionalism- A trade show is a good way to remember one of the tangible ways branding can be measured: perceived quality. The nicer your signage and packaging looks, the higher it's perceived quality.

Clear design hierarchy (name-flavour-supporting info) is a good way to look professional as well as intentionally chosen colours and images (aka branding!). The best way to tell your customers that your company means business is cohesiveness across your signage, decor, and product labels.

3. Details- Small details can have ripple effects. Anticipate different types of customers like direct consumers, gift givers, and influencers. Having branded gift wrap, easy instructions, and memorable take aways can help convince potential customers.

Signage that explains pricing deals or potential uses helps avoid confusion and inspire your customers. Professional branding that communicates company values and intentions can give you more time to chat with your customers about their specific needs instead of explaining who you are and what you do.

You can't read the label from inside your bottle. Let's chat about how I can help you with your branding before your next trade show.

24/03/2026

From a Make It Club participant: "This was a spectacular course. I especially appreciated the structure, the Canva document, and the opportunities for one-on-one help. This course was my first in the Levelling it Up Program, and it set the bar incredibly high for all future courses! Thank you!"

This feedback represents the soul of what I do. Every day I strive to empower my clients so they walk away with more confidence and drive to tell the world about their company.

Are you an entrepreneur serving organization? DM me for details about how I can empower your clients.

24/03/2026

Hey fellow Entrepreneurs! Day in the life:

📆 9:00am: Time block tasks in today's calendar
😎 9:05am: Feel good everything's organized
🔥 10:00am: Mouse died, project needs attention. Re-arrange!
🆘 Noon: Panic. Nothing's getting done
🐕 12:15pm: Chill out with your pupper
😤 1:00pm: Re-arrange blocks again
📞 1:30pm: Phone rings, re-arrange again...
✅ 5:24pm: Put down the mouse & wonder how you actually got everything done
😵‍💫 9:00am tomorrow: Time block tasks...

Relatable? 👍 or

23/10/2025

Presenting AND learning! Finally figured out some CapCut stuff thanks to Will! More videos in my future for sure.

14/07/2025

It's 🎄 Christmas in July! FREE Brand Audits for the first 10 people who book.

I'm doing a bit of market research and have a couple of quick questions about how you feel about branding. Then we turn the tables and I answer all of your burning branding questions!

Book your spot here: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/appointments/schedules/AcZssZ0C3K4uzaahzk9TarMoHtXr230Zmp6n89qj_2t9outTmaIBXARkUfuQ7GrzhyXiMznbBHqize7O

Send a message to learn more

24/01/2025

Your Q2 deep-in-client-work-with-no-time-to-work-on-your-business future self will thank you.

You'll be able to create a content library that is cohesive, product labels that look great lined up on a shelf, and you'll feel confident that your branding is telling the right story about you.

Your branding will use colour and font psychology to portray the right feelings about your business, your files will be easy to work with, and you'll fall in love with your logo again.

You'll give yourself a pat on the back because you made the right investment at the right time.

This is the last day for the Logo Fix in a Day sale, book now, and your future self will thank you: https://pixelsandpieces.ca/logo-fix/