My unicorn definitely does not have four legs: a cautionary tale of an entrepreneur doing her own illustration work
So, when I was creating the Expert Generalist brand, I knew I didn’t want to use a logo template or just use whatever I found on the internet. But I’m also not a graphic designer or illustrator. (Remember that last bit as that’s an important detail.)
I don’t have a bunch of illustration tricks up my sleeve so I went into my favorite design tool: PowerPoint. I opened the stock images and found a unicorn icon, converted it to a shape, made a few modifications, and changed the colors so it fit my color scheme. Bam! Logo.
[A few months later]
I decided to change my colors, so I went back into PowerPoint, updated the unicorn’s colors, re-exported it, and posted it everywhere I’d been using it. Really, I was quite pleased with my updated branding!
[A few more months later]
Zip along to early spring this year and I realize I need business cards because I’m going to meet other business leaders. I didn’t have the capacity to design a business card from scratch so I actually hired a designer to create them for me.
[Enter Kristen]
Kristen and I talk about the business cards. I ask her if she has any suggestions for my logo, because if I’m going to print business cards, I want them to look stellar.
I don’t remember her exact words, but she said something like, “Oh, I love your three-legged unicorn!”
…huh!? My unicorn definitely has four legs.
So I take a closer look at it, and sure enough, my unicorn definitely does not have a fourth leg. The first version did, but at some point during the re-color, I deleted the fourth leg.
After a good laugh, Kristen and I decided to keep my three-legged unicorn and just give it a bit of a glow up. I wish I could say that I modeled my unicorn after Louis, my cat who’s also missing his back left leg, but I can’t. In the words of Bob Ross, “We don’t make mistakes, we make happy accidents.”
There’s plenty of lessons learned in here:
Find perfection in imperfection. Sometimes, what seems like a mistake or flaw is really character and charm.
Work with the tools and skills you have. Creativity often comes from making the most of what you have, even if it’s just PowerPoint.
Don’t hesitate to seek out help when you need it. Collaborating with experts can enhance whatever you’re working on and they’ll do it better (and oftentimes faster) than what you’d do yourself.
Maintain a positive attitude and sense of humor. Laughing at your mistakes can turn them into memorable stories and learning experiences.
Always look for ways to improve. Regularly revisiting and refining your work can lead to better results over time.
Check out the Expert Generalist Unicorn’s design process over in Kristen’s portfolio here. 🦄✨
