Last year I began formally practicing yoga twice a week from a local studio. In just a few months I gained more strength and flexibility than I had from more than a decade of following CD’s from home. Yep, practicing under the live tutelage of a professional instructor makes a measurable difference. So when my teacher asked me to design a business card for her, I reached my arms high above my elongated torso and said “Yessss!!!” (all the while keeping my shoulders down my back and my navel towards my spine).
One of the first steps in my design process was to create mood boards for Sunshine (her given name, isn’t it beautiful?). Mood boards are collections of imagery that flesh out an overall look. As Sunshine and I gathered pieces for her boards, obvious patterns began to develop that enabled us to visualize her tastes and the message she wants to convey. Ha! Those Pinterest obsessions actually do serve a purpose!
Here are two moods boards we put together. Both of them emphasize the simplicity Sunshine wants for her cards. The board on the left is done in soft, gentle colors, with images of nature. This board conveys the spiritual qualities we often associate with yoga.
The board on the right is Sunshine! Teal is her favorite color. Orange is a color that projects energy, excitement, strength and vitality. While yoga throughout the U.S. runs a full spectrum on the zen-meter, I like that Sunshine’s classes are rather un-zen. Instead, she focuses on the physical aspect of caring for our health and the mental well-being we gain because of it.
Sunshine is a self-professed orderly person. She was initially drawn to a repeating pattern for the icons, but as we conceptualized the design in relation to her yoga it became obvious that uniformity wasn’t the right message. Just as each yoga instructor is unique, so are those of us who practice it. Sunshine frequently reminds us of this wonderful mindset.
The final result: The icons in her cards are orderly in their composition, yet unique in size and arrangement. The overall layout has a flowing quality that mirrors the Vinyasa Flow we practice in yoga. Best of all, the cards project the unique positivity Sunshine brings to our classes.
Namaste!