Lensography of BevsPaper

I have a real affinity for graphic artists of the past. The artists who made a living illustrating advertisements, pages in books, magazine covers, and movie posters really intrigue me. Their styles and detail in their work just blow me away. They had a way of telling a story with just one illustration and making me fondly look back into life in America.

That love of the artistic work in advertising and magazine covers is what created the desire to open The Paper Trail. I opened shop online back on March 1, 1997. I had no idea what I was doing at the time, I just knew that I loved this old paper and wanted to share it with the world.

As The Paper Trail has grown, I have expanded to selling just about anything that involves paper including used books, comics, ephemera, sewing patterns, and back issue magazines. As I state on my website home page, "If it was printed on paper sometime in the past, you will find it in my shop."

As I started to build my website I wanted to have something unique and colorful for my logo. Something that would define my presence on the internet and be memorable.

I hired a graphic designer and told her that I wanted something with a retro feel. I'm a child of the 1950's so I wanted a look from that era with a sort of Atomic Age appeal. Something that kind of looked like a sign from a Drive-in Restaurant. She nailed it with the very first attempt and I was off and running. It became the inspiration I needed to "skin" my pages.

For my background I wanted something that fit the logo and stayed with the 50's theme. I came up with the polka-dots because dots were hot in the 1950's. There were polka-dots on everything from clothing, curtains, kitchen bowls, dinnerware, glassware, cookie jars, and sunglasses. The world was crazy for dots. I added the stripes as an accent to bring some color in from the logo and stripes were pretty popular back in the 50's too.

I think it is so important to brand our websites. Paying a professional graphic designer for your logo is, in my humble opinion, the best money you can spend in the beginning. You need something that sets you apart from the pack. Something that catches the customer or readers eye and makes them want to see what you have to offer. Have it be relevant to your website but also have your unique personality. Pick an era that you particularly like and that will fit with the content of your website and go with it.

If you would like to take a peak at my logo and my "skin" inspired by the logo visit The Paper Trail.