After graduating from college, I started my own freelance graphic design business called Kaitlin Baylie Illustrations & Designs. Five years later, I felt that I needed to update my brand from top to bottom. To represent my company’s growth and mission better while attracting new clients and maintaining my current clientele, everything from my company's name to the color palette was to be altered.

My old website, I had come to realize, was cluttered, the logo too complicated, and its color palette far too dark and dull. Also, the project descriptions I had published on my site were too verbose. My company’s name suffered from this error as well. So, it was promptly changed to the more succinct Designed by Kaitlin. Immediately, I began culling unnecessary elements from my site.

For my business’s new aesthetic, I looked inward. I reflected on what design elements and colors embodied my personality and my work ethic, and how I run my company. Always being somewhat of a hippie, a fresh, modern bohemian design came to mind, inspired by the 70s: terrazzo, gradients, and organic shapes. Nostalgic branding has consistently been shown in studies to inspire trust and evoke positive emotions. Referencing from the more subdued color themes and fonts of that era, I built my brand around that nucleus.

The meaning behind the new logo is twofold: the peace sign symbolizes my playful, boho nature & the placement of the thumb forms an alternate version of the sign language letter ‘K’, referring to the initial of my forename. Sign language's visual nature appealed to me on several levels due how I create art. Feedback on my company’s new, streamlined look has been extremely positive, and site visitation has steadily increased.