Logo #2: The Mark of a Failed Business

A little over a year after my first logo, I looked at it again and winced.
It wasn’t terrible. It just wasn’t me anymore.
And I knew I could do better.

At the time, I was back in Australia, around 23 or 24, working as a graphic designer in marketing and freelancing on the side. The work wasn’t glamorous, but I was creatively restless – drawing/designing daily, exploring dropshipping, building my first website, and trying to start a business with the money I saved.

To match that energy, I knew my next logo needed more personality. I wanted it to be a singular mark, stylistic enough to leave an impression and strong enough to make my family proud.

Since the foundation of it was my initials, I leaned towards typography for inspiration. I wanted it to look sharp and edgy to represent myself at the time, with a hint of elegance as a reflection of my family. Naturally, I shared it with them, took some advice and eventually landed on a design that captured both.

At the same time, my business bombed. I failed, and took it a little too personally.
I remember feeling really defeated because I had spent most of my savings, time and effort to make it happen.
To make things worse, I was already going through a bit of a rough personal patch, so I didn’t handle the crash well.
It’s the reason behind the moody tones in some of the art I was making back then...

I spent late nights playing video games to numb the feeling while figuring out where things went wrong. Now I know, it was just part of the process and failing something doesn’t make you a failure.

Even though it wasn’t a pleasant phase in my life, I wish I had documented more in that season. Unfortunately, I was still camera-shy and stumbled on words, so I’ve learned to give myself a pass.

On the bright side, that failed venture became my first exposure to websites, ecommerce and the reality of starting a business. It was my first taste of entrepreneurship, and I walked away with a lesson that I wouldn’t forget: success demands relentless iterations, undeniable hard work, unshakable self-belief, and yeah… money to keep it alive.

Here are some mockups I had created at the time for my brand, and some wireframes for my dropshipping website which also became my personal portfolio. I called it Imagination Station and you’ll still find remnants of it on my current website!