Creating a brand

One of the first mistakes I plan to make out here in the Blogosphere is one involving branding.

"Branding" refers to how one distinguishes oneself, how we present ourselves to the world and what meaning we make of that representation. Think "trademarking." Think Nike and Gatorade and Disney. Think Mother Jones and The Onion and The Economist.

Branding also refers to burning a mark into something -- like branding cows or horses or other livestock.

It also means to stigmatize: "branded a fool."

Stigmas and burns are difficult to remove. They tend not to change, for the most part, leaving lasting marks -- which is probably how the advertising sense of the word also works. Changing a brand is a huge risk, a big expense. For some demographics, changes in brand is almost an expectation. For others of us, well...I just want to be able to find that blue kind of deodorant I wear, dang it! Don't go changing the packaging to yellow!

As I move along here, though, I might think the background on my blog doesn't quite fit. I'll likely learn how to use my own photos or backgrounds. I'll likely mess with fonts and colors and all the other things that might be considered "branding." I'll likely morph, change direction, go from blue to yellow. And it's highly unlikely I'll notify anyone of my intentions -- or explain my reasoning. There is creativity in chaos. "Consistency," as Michael Shurtleff writes in Audition: Everything the Actor Needs to Know to Get the Part, "is the death of good acting."

And what are we out here but actors? You might watch at the window. (I'm imagining readers, here, in my conceit.) But I'm the performer.

So be ready for costume changes, shifts in scenery, makeup artistry. The writing will be what it will be, but the set design, the lighting, the BRANDING -- well...all of that might just go yellow on you now and again.