3 Re-branding Changes I've Made In 2016

If this blog looks different than you're used to, don't worry! Keep reading, you're in the right place!

Hopefully you caught my last blog post, 7 Re-branding Changes I Made For 2016, a week ago. If you're new to my blog - Welcome! - and know you caught me right in the middle of "graduating". You can check out Roots Journey on social media for the full scoop, but basically since I'm graduating from Iowa State next semester, it's time for my blog to grow up and join the real world.

Anyway, last week I shared seven ways I'd worked towards this re-branding goal. Today is an update with three more things I've done in the new year to make progress.

Here's my new Roots Journey logo! I can't wait to make it part of my designs and social media posts!

1. To kick of 2016, I began using my new logo. Before this year, my posts were lacking a logo of any sort. Occasionally I'd use my head shot or "@Roots" in the corner of an image to identify it as mine, but nothing was consistent. After researching all the things I needed to do to take my blog to the next level, it was clear this was something that needed to be fixed right away. I'll save the process of designing and deciding for another day, but special thanks to all my Snapchat friends that tolerated hours of "This? Or this?" snaps as I worked trough it all!

2. Like I said at the beginning of this post, if you're a regular reader here, you may notice the page looks different. I updated my template. My page used to look like this:

Out with the old and in with the new! This is what Roots Journey used to look like in 2015!

While I liked the wood texture and green accents, it is awfully dark and distracting from the content. In my new look, I kept the country feel by adding the wood to my header image (that includes my new logo), but went for a simpler design for the rest of the page. Now, my page looks more modern and adult. This change scared me for a long time, but after checking out a few YouTube tutorials I was able to pull it off pretty easily. I'm discovering there is so much you can customize on Blogger if you take the time to learn!

3. Finally, I reworded my greeting on the right hand side of my blog. I'm not positive it's in its final form, but at least I have some key words that describe who I am and why I blog. (Like I said last week, I'm all about baby steps around here!)

"Hey there, it's Natalina Sents! I'm a Millennial blogger writing about agriculture and entrepreneurship. I love to travel, thrift and cheer on the Iowa State Cyclones."

I look forward to documenting my re-branding journey on the blog as I make progress. As always, feel free to share your thoughts or suggestions in the comments below. Thanks for reading!

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