Claire Paterson the Brand

Salvidor Dali, Hitler and Super Mario are all very different personalities yet they all share one memorable trait; their iconic moustache. It’s the most memorable feature of men who fashion them and almost always leads to a better memory of whom they are and what they represent.

There are many different styles of moustache but they all have a practicality aspect in that they keep sweat away from the mouth much like eyebrows do for our eyes. My moustache represents my profession as a designer. I feel it represents the approach to design that I enjoy and aspire to use in my future career; mixing style and aesthetics with practicality and functionality to produce products or services that are attractive to users but can also greatly benefit them.

Generally moustaches represent confidence as they are worn on your face which is a very visual statement to make. I want my moustache to say “I am a designer and innovator!” I want this to be very clear to people when they see this image that I am proud of my profession and I’m passionate about this industry. Most of the great leaders of the world wore moustaches; Gandhi, Stalin, Einstein, Hussein.  Although I do not agree with every aspect of their views or opinions I cannot argue with the fact that these men gained the trust and respect of many followers. I think of myself as being a good leader, I enjoy motivating and directing people towards my own views and opinions.

I use this image to represent myself because even in 2011 the design and manufacturing industry still predominantly consists of males and professional women continue to face prejudice in the workplace. I’m trying to convey, by using this image, that I wish to be viewed as a designer and professional first and a woman second. In using this image I want it to show that the product design, engineering and manufacturing industries should not be stereotyped to being a male only industry as women can fulfill these roles just as well as males can.

 Most importantly my brand image is fun. I never take myself too seriously and I’m always the first one to laugh at my mistakes. I think this is really important in business especially design because it’s the best way to overcome and learn from these mistakes. In my opinion, being too serious and focused on the outcome of projects can make designers narrow minded. Even though projects may address serious problems such as global warming, natural distracters, famine etc I always feel it is important to, if possible, make the solution exciting and fun to engaging users and interesting them. It’s also important for me to add exciting techniques and procedures into the design process to help myself engage with the problem. I work better if I don’t actually feel like I’m “working”.

Like many other iconic moustaches my moustache represents me in an instant without any need for further images or explanation.