CJ Lorentz

McKenzie Baird
Career & Portfolio

Branding 101 Intro Assignment

Part 1 - Websites:

Billie Wildrick: https://www.billieville.net/actor

Natalie Weiss: https://natalieweissofficial.com

Ben Platt: https://www.benplattmusic.com

1. The first thing I notice while looking at these three websites is that all of them
(within the first few moments of laying my eyes on them) had one directly clear
declaration of what their name is and what face matched up with that name. These
were pleasing to me because all of them were adhering to what they had going on
in their lives currently. Ben Platts had a couple pictures that look almost lonely
however aesthetic to the eye contemplative, that of which matched up very well
with the mood of his album Sing To Me Instead. Billie who is a director and also an
actor and singer, her webpage at first glance gave me a simple stripped down look,
almost as if she were a canvas waiting to be painted on, crafting a picture can be
conveyed through what type of work she does. Whether or not that is Directing,
Acting, or Singing. Natalie who is many things in the practice called her career.
She has pictures that show every side of her which can be a singing performer, a
broadway actor, a silly composer, a fun vocal coach, and a collaborator.
2. The one thing that really stuck out to me was that they all three had a good variety
of pictured and info that shaped what they were doing and took care of what they
were were saying with their brand.
3. The color that Billie used was white and some other outlining colors (for example
red and oranger) used for some words or for a splash of new color. I would say that
her website was all white and within that white was an aesthetic color palette.
Natalie used black with her website, engulfing everything, however all of her
pictures and media events and such all held the color. It worked very well because
she had many colors, especially for different lines of work. Ben website was very
similar to Natalies in which it was all black. The differences being that he didn’t
have much color variance and personality within his photos witch matched very
well to the mood of his album and colors used on the website. He can do this
because he is specifically trying to appeal to an audience interested in seeing
concerts and listening to music.
4. Billies imagery was very focused on what she looked like for the appeal to all her
lines of work. When is came to her being a singer there were more pictures with
specific style and attitude and sultriness. Her acting imagery was full of kindness
and energy; even goofiness. And her director had images of her productions and
he working as such. Where as to Natalies has imagery that made me feel as
though she lives in her website. There were pictures that were from concerts that
 made me feel I was there because they work so well with the mood of her website
aesthetic and when it came to her coaching she had these really cool silence video
like picture clips that showed her personality working with students in a very fun
and interactive type of way.
5. I think that their sites had just the right information and the right info in the right
spots that hit the eye sooner than too late. where when I saw something that
summarized their intended information, there was more information, however I had
seen what I needed at that time and could move on knowing that more of the
information was just a little bit more extensive if I was interested in more. For Ben
platts page there was less information, however I think that is what was intended
for the website. Which was in pursuit of selling his brand AND his album.
6. Natalie Weiss’s page made me really happy.. kind of sad that I didn’t know her
personally because the site made me feel personally connected to her through her
information and images. Everything on her site was really sewn together nicely and
had a solid through line which made an effect of not noticing how nice it was and
just on what she was about.

Part 2 - Personal:

I REALLY want professional hiring companies to know that I asm extremely outgoing
and loving. i mean if this weren’t a profession that asked for more elaboration than that
id leave it there because there is nothing I love more then spending my time with people.
So spending time with people to create ART? Thats something almost unfathomable
because it so rare to see tight nit community these days. However, there is more, I want
them to see that I am very hardworking. Because, sure, I’m talented but I want them to
see that the talent is truly persevering through anything that may be difficult or new for
me.

Narrowed down words by me:

Quirky
Personable/ Approachable
Charismatic
Introspective
Endearing
Empathetic

(I couldn’t narrow this down to 5)

Branding 201 Making Choices

*Visual Elements:

Colors for website - Yellow/Orangish, Black, and some form of green. The reason I pick
a yellowish/orange type color is first because it compliments my skin and the more you
shade towards a gold color within yellow and orange it can present a feeling of
wiseness, someone who is really introspective and harmonious. With the orange mix
means I can lean more radiant and joyful with a vibrant warmth. When it comes to aura’s
it is said it signifies physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual balanced and strength.
With that yellow shows sort of an innocent ambitious love. Black because I want that
feeling in my website of “an edge”, something that takes focus into the colors that are
representing me and helps show my personality which is very kind and attractive until
you get closer to see that quirkiness. Green because when it comes to teaching voice I
want to create a feeling of “nurture” and “natural by nature”. It is said when It come to
chakra work that green signifies innocence, healing, and love. I want it to create a sense
of unity and collaboration with those of which who seek vocal instruction.

Typography font for website - I have a font in mind, that if you thing about the
psychology of typography popular photo representation, that show expressiveness. I
want to create a feeling with all of my colors and personality that I can express that.

*Layout and pages:

Types of page - Home page (for overview), News (for where I am at and what I am
currently doing), Media (For photos and videos of past or recently previous work),
Coaching (to explain what I teach and how I teach and show some pictures of when I
have taught, maybe even video, and some testimonies to my teaching), About (where I
come from, where I am, and where I am intending to go), Contact (some form or another
of how to reach me and ask questions… reach out for lessons private unperson or on
Skype, or to collaborate with me)

*Real Life Examples:

i'll use photos done by professionals of past shows where I was utilized a lot, and videos
of these same instances if available. I will probably organize them by how ever my
information flows on my page. Probably in the media section where it is specifically
meant for show. Where as headshots and model like photos will be used to characterize
my website on all of the pages depending on where I need them. Then photos and
videos of singing lessons and workshops will be linking into my coaching page.

*My Story:

I started singing and dancing very young after being adopted and started lessons for
both not too long into that new interest. When I found theatre in middle school, I only
gained more experience through those art forms as I fell in love with telling a story. From
there on I developed my skills in music and picked up a few things like tumblings and
firm idea of the voice and landed my first professional debut in CDA Summer Theatre’s
South Pacific as a Featured Ensemble. I aspire to be an actor who can use his
movement to compel and convey the inner mechanism of a character within a story to
inspire the audience. My goal is that with ballet technique as a fundamental basic for
momentum and agility and gymnastics for tumbling and acrobatics like tricks, along with
hiphop to shape a sense of style in my moment. I can obtain a goal to be in a marvel
film.