As a blogger, there are many extra parts of the job to consider, away from just writing and blogging. There is the promoting of my blogs on social media, the seeking advertisers, sponsors and affiliates and then there is all the technical aspects that come with being a daily professional travel blogger. However, one more thing is missing – creativity and design. I have never been the most creative person when it comes to art and design and this aspect of my blogging has needed improvement down the years. Logos and headers need creativity.

The Crossing World Borders header

In July 2016, a new startup website called Design Bundles began and this platform makes it very easy and cheap to design digital products to showcase my blogging and brands to the world. I had to log onto the website and start designing. It is a big part of the lifestyle of being a blogger.

They provide their customers with all kinds of affordable digital products for brand use and promotions, products such as Graphics, Templates, Mock Ups, Patterns, Illustrations and Craft Files. Since 2016, the site has expanded and now boats over 150,000 products on their vast marketplace.

If you haven’t heard of a design bundle, check out this quirky baseball svg from Design Bundles…it’s a great collage.

A Baseball design bundle

The truth is that away from my online life of blogging, I do enjoy art and creativity, and it’s normally related to football or my travels. My Mum is excellent at knitting and embroidering and has a real talent for it, so I try to mirror that. I have scrapbooks for my travel cuttings. I have a book that I keep beer labels in and I have tons of football tickets and cuttings that I want to put into a scrapbook or picture frame some day. This works online too these days and with Design Bundles, it has never been easier. You can use your travel photos, PNGs. JPEGs, SVGs and Cut Files for all kinds of art forms, for example embroidery, paper cutting, collages, picture frames, scrapbooking etc. Basically you can design it all online, then print it and get ready to showcase your work. An example such as the mandala svg illustrates how easy it is to design such a logo for your own use in whatever way you want:

Breathe Mandala SVG

You can print such designs, turn them into emroidery, make stickers, postcards, fake stamps etc. The list is endless and thanks to such platforms, it’s now very easy to design things online.

In the past I have used my blog logos to promote my main three brands (Don’t Stop Living, Northern Irishman in Poland and this – Crossing World Borders) in various ways. The logos and headers need to be recognisable, suitable (appropriate to the brand), attractive and consistent with the brands. I then use these to promote my brand. I use the same logos on my website as my social media accounts and business cards.

Further afield, I will use my brand logos on my books, postcards, stickers and even a tie. It shows that it only takes a little bit of creativity to get your brand up and running and noticed. Good luck designing!