Between 2018-2023 I operated CallyAnn Creates as an LLC, offering custom illustrations, prints, and art books as a hobby alongside my full time job. I attended conventions around the United States to sell my work and collaborated with other artists and local businesses. I managed the art production, logistics, marketing, and sales, end-to-end. In 2023 I decided to sunset my LLC to pursue other interests.
Brand Elements
Logo
Color and Inverted
In Context
The CallyAnn Creates Logo is a stylized capital "C" and a lowercase "A," as a reference to my name. This was a shape I liked doodling in the margins of my notes during lectures in school. It was inspired by a heart-shaped glass bottle with a stopper, the eternity loop symbol, and the shape language of the magic spells in “Quest for Camelot.”
Color Palette
Typography
[Sans]
Raleway
[Serif]
EB Garamond
[Promotional]
Beauty and the Beast
Visual Motifs
Mysterious Forest, a colorful backdrop with a soft focus that hints at fantasy, adventure, and the untamed
Motes of light, soft-edged circular specks and rounded-corner diamonds that evoke magic and whimsy
Ragged edges for borders and transitions, which represent torn paper, sketchbooks, old tomes, and dog-eared novels
Mascot
Kalarune is a character I created for a story project in my early teens. Her fantastical and distinctive design lent itself nicely as a "face" for my brand.
Self Portraits
I used cartoon depictions of myself as the profile images for my “CallyAnn Creates”-branded social media accounts. Every so often, I changed up the style to keep my brand identity fresh and playful.
Products
Art Prints
My primary offering consisted of prints of my digital artwork, featuring characters from popular fiction and original designs. To avoid burnout, I focused only on illustrations I would have made for myself or friends. Selling my work at conventions served as an opportunity to meet new people and develop my craft. This gallery shows a small sample of the pieces I offered.
Coloring Pages
I provided a selection of free coloring pages of popular characters, available as prints at my booth or downloadable files online. They created a fun opportunity to garner interest and strike up conversations.
Commissions
When I had the bandwidth, I offered custom commissions. Sometimes I offered on-the-spot illustrations in ink, but more often I corresponded with clients via email so that I had time to produce detailed digital artwork for them. This gallery shows the reference image and in-progress shots for a client who asked to be drawn in an anime style.
Marketing and Operations
Website
I chose to limit my business to in-person events only rather than managing an online store. The CallyAnn Creates website served as a showcase of work and a hub for social media links. I built the website on WordPress using a heavily customized version of the Divi theme. Writing the CSS to lay out the responsive header featuring Kalarune was an enjoyable challenge.
Booth Design
I frequently collaborated and shared booth space with fellow creative, L.C. Ireland. When we first started out, one table was plenty of space for us to share. After a few years, we expanded into a two-table setup. These concept sketches I created show the planning I put into arranging our space for function, visibility, and appeal. The first two images show the setup for our very first show in 2018. The last two images show the concept and execution of our booth from our final show together in 2023.
Print Collateral
A pricing sign, promotional flyer, and business card.
