100 people surveyed, top five answers are on the board.

[prillalar]

(OK, there weren't really 100 answers, but I just like to think about Richard Dawson sometimes, you know?)

Thank you to everyone who responded to my questions about The Brand Called Hal. I appreciate you indulging my curiosity. And you still can, if you want -- the topic isn't closed, even though I'm summing up a bit now.

(And, hey, meme-tastic. Next thing you know, we'll all have business cards and marketing plans and brochures.)

"Quirky" was used ten times so that seems to be the best one-word description. Odd, minimalistic, wry, twisty, funny, character-oriented, oh, and quirky. *g*

But my favourite was from kormantic:

I think of you as the patron saint of the odd man out. Is he nebbishy, generally despised, priggish, fishy, overlooked, beady-eyed, possibly 74% sweet, black eeeeevil? Then he is *so* Hal's sekrit crush.

This all lines up pretty well with what I perceive my brand to be. I see myself as off to the side in most of my fandoms, not unknown, but not mainstream, with a reputation for strangeness, humour, and a little darkness. And I've always loved the minor characters, the ones that no one else will love.

This is also pretty much where I'd like to be in fandom. I suppose I'll always wish I were just a little more popular, but I don't actually want to be a BNF or have a zillion minions. If there were one thing I could shift, I would want people to think of me as slightly darker and harsher than they do.

One of my favourite "brand" experiences was on an XF list a few years back. Someone was looking for this rather strange story she'd seen, which involved some sort of bestiality between Skinner and a hawk. And someone else suggested that I'd written it. I hadn't, but I was so pleased that she'd thought me capable of it.

I think my pseudonym -- Halrloprillalar -- has helped with my brand over the years. Nobody forgets it or confuses me with someone else, even though they can't spell it (even I have trouble sometimes). So when I get into a new fandom, people have usually heard of me before.

I find my fannish experience mirrors my RL experience quite well. I've always been the odd, quirky one on the sides of things. Not in the popular groups, but not really wanting to be either. And often I had friends who were part of the popular group, but it never pulled me into that group. It's the same now that I'm all growed up.

So, I've chosen my tagline: perfectly normal. Now I just have to pore through font books at work to find the perfect Hal font.

Comments

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

I regret that I didn't have a chance to post my thoughts on this yesterday, although by the time I read through all the comments you'd gotten, I realized I didn't have anything original to add. Seems to me your brand is pretty clearly defined. (:

Love your tagline. And I'm eager to help you out with typefaces, if you like. I have squazillions of them.

Chat on Sunday?

[prillalar]

Chat would be great. :) Also chatting about fonts. I know the basics of typography but since I'm mainly a web-gal, I rarely do anything more daring than specifiying Trebuchet MS at the beginning of my font-family.

My thought is something along the lines of my name and then below it, justified, the tagline. I worry, though, that my name is too long for there to be much contrast there. Hmm. Maybe another treatment would be better.

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

Of course, now it looks like I may have to work for most of Sunday. Probably most of Saturday, too. I hate big launches. ):

I'll be in touch one way or the other. Maybe we can chat next weekend, or next week some evening.

I look forward to talking more about developing your wordmark and figuring out how it'll fit in your new site design. Fun!

[prillalar]

Bleah to work! I hope everything comes together OK. I think I'm busy every night next week and then I'm away on the weekend. I'll let you know if any of my nights free up, though.