Hi there! My name is Melquea Smith, owner and illustrator of PrettyKittyCommissions. I illustrate digital and traditional pieces. I hope to sell prints, and provide merchandise with my artwork on it for sale. I'll be honest though, I am struggling on how these items will help my future customers. I do have a love of sweet narratives and kind stories, so maybe something along those lines.

The website was originally a home base for when I offered commissions, hence the name. I started off having a blog type website, unsure of what to blog about or write or share. I began fiddling with different ideas here and there. Mostly about my artwork and writing about why I drew the image I drew. Then, ideas started sprouting everywhere I researched, and now I have a central hub for my artwork, and to share more about my work, me, and others.

For my color scheme I chose purple, orange and pale yellow. I love the luxurious colors of this combination, yet a hint of fun, and dreaminess as well. I want the brand to be associated with high quality, creativity and unique elements. Especially when it comes to packaging items and especially when packaging originals!

**Fun fact, little did I know, my color scheme is based off of my #1 favorite videogame level from a Mario game. That must have been my subconscious at work.

For my business cards, I started off with this design. which was cohesive to my website banner at the time.

PrettyKittyCommissions - An Illustrator's Business Card Journey - image 1 - student project

The colors were vibrant, and beautiful with that glossy finish, I screamed to the top of my lungs when my first set of 100 came! I went to anime conventions and art events and shows, and gave them out to everyone I talked to. I met and networked with so many artists and people. I spoke with a professor at a well known art school in New York City and he advised me to put my name on my business card. Someone may not remember my business name, but personal names might be more memorable.

Once I ran out, I designed again.

PrettyKittyCommissions - An Illustrator's Business Card Journey - image 2 - student project

PrettyKittyCommissions - An Illustrator's Business Card Journey - image 3 - student project

Now, I have a Facebook page, my name on the front, and my most popular digital and traditional piece to feature to that date. I liked switching up my artwork every run of business cards. I also loved using my artwork as promotional material, advertisements, and fliers. Those business cards recently ran out. I had about 250 of them. I decided to keep going.

My most recent design that came in last week I switched up a little bit.

PrettyKittyCommissions - An Illustrator's Business Card Journey - image 4 - student project

PrettyKittyCommissions - An Illustrator's Business Card Journey - image 5 - student project

I decided to order 500 of these ones, and they came out gorgeous! I really liked the storybook look they have to them, as well as the purple and yellow together. I think this one is my favorite to date, simply because I feel like I'm getting closer to what my target audience is and finally figuring out who I want to market to. That's honestly my biggest struggle and I'm working towards that, but I hope you liked my journey into my business card design.

...This would be great content for my website actually. I... think I'll work on that! I'll even go in depth about my online banner designs, advertisements and physical designs too!

If you'd like to see more of my work, please check out my website!

Melquea Smith

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