Bit by Bit, Putting it Together

There is this song called Bit by Bit, Putting it Together, by an artist who shall remain nameless till the end of this piece so don't judge me. The song often plays in my head these days as I set up this business of mine.

I ordered business cards today.

No big deal, you may be thinking. Think again.

Altogether, the process took months. Came together bit by bit.

Here's the card.

Front of card

Back of card

I felt so elated when it all came together.

What's the big deal, you ask?

Lemme tell ya.

First, there was the thinking about my business logo. Coming up with things that were overly complicated. Asking a dear friend and incredibly talented artist to work on one for me. She did. It's perfect.

Then, there was choosing a color (branding, marketing, consistency, you know).

There was the google phone number which I had to a) understand b) choose c) remember to answer my phone for.

Of course there was my website, which took months to  make and years off my life.

I asked a friend, a talented artist, where she got her biz cards. Looked at Moo.com. Freaked over the prices. 

This friend had her own artwork at the of each card. I totally stole took inspiration from that. Researched inspiring quotes on creativity. Forced myself to choose just one (I was using a super-budget company who wouldn't individualize them for me).

I pilfered business cards all over town. Studied them. Looked at what I liked, what I wanted mine to look like.

I put it all together. Spent a few hours moving text a millimeter to the right and left, up and down. 

Finally, I told myself to step away from the computer. To just click "buy" and walk away.

~~~~

It amazes me how every single aspect of starting my own company takes so much time, effort, care, obsessing, thinking and rethinking, knowing when to eventually bite the bullet, knowing when to let go.

Especially when you have somewhat of an artistic eye, somewhat of an (over)analytic mind, so that aesthetics matter, language matters, a millimeter to the right vs. left matters.

But when it all comes together, it is beautiful. Thrilling. All mine.

Oh, and it is also important to celebrate every step along the way. Check.

PS. The aforementioned artist is Babs (Barbara Streisand, you guys, get with the times), who has truly quotable songs, say what you will about her.