When it comes to branding yourself successfully, you need to start with the right image. I would argue that the most successful personality “brands” on the Internet today have a strong graphic identity. Today I wanted to talk about cartoons or “icons” as successful branding graphics.
Let’s examine a few of them.
Dave Taylor at AskDaveTaylor.com
Chris Pirillo at ChrisPirillo.com
Shawn Collins at Affiliatetip.com/blog
Sam Harrelson at Costpernews.com
Of course, I’ve have my own icons. This first one is my old one, which I hate.
This is my newest one, which I really like.
Here’s a tip. If you’re going to have your own “icon” made of yourself, choose your most flattering photo. As with any type of cartoon of this type, your features are pulled out, and the point is you want to look interesting, not stupid. Oh yeah, and use a smiling photo, unless you’re trying to scare people or intimidate them.
I had both of my icons done at Iconizeme.com. The first, which I hate, by the artist named Shalimar (to her credit, her other drawings look awesome, I just hate mine). The second, which I love, was done by Jose.
Oi! 40 bones seems kinda steep. I think I’d be more likely to try my own in photoshop or maybe toss $3 towards: http://www.cartoonme.com/
Fantastic! I’ve been looking for recommended caricature services after seeing these little pics pop up on a number of blogs. Luckily Fraser Edwards point me in the direction of this post, and now I’m determined to become iconized for my blog too. :)
I got mine from Paul at Iconizeme.com and was happy with it.
I also got one from Jose over there, but it looked like a very unflattering sketch of John McCain, so I destroyed it.