Header/Business Card Design

When I began to put together ideas for my header and business card designs, I started of with design styles that I was comfortable with and I didn't try to break away from my minimalist style of design. As I went through each thumbnail though, I realized that even though they were nice to look at, they weren't as dynamic as they could have been.
With some helpful advice, I tried breaking away from where I was and tried branching out with other concepts of design that still felt like myself but pushed the boundaries of what I knew. With my final design, I felt that it was still somewhat minimalist but it broke away from what I typically do.
The final design has a feeling of depth brought on by the way I've broken up the shape and text of the logo to the point where it feels as if there's a layered effect to it. I chose black and white because when I drew the thumbnail, I liked the appearance but I added the yellow in order to add that dash of color that broke up the logo and gave it a more dynamic look. I chose yellow because it's not a color I would naturally go with and it seemed to be the most interesting color to compliment the rest of my design.
I'm pleased overall with how my design turned out and I'm comfortable with each element that I put into it.

Blog Header (Comprehensive)

I felt with my header, I wanted to stick as close to the business card design without repeating it. I stuck with the same color scheme and I think the final product turned out better then I had expected.
In the comprehensive stage, I wanted to take the basic logo design and mix it with the name of my company name. I like the idea of giving depth to an image using a 3D effect with the shape and lettering.

Business Card (Comprehensive & Final)

Here is the finished product. I kept with the basic theme and font while adding background color to give the negative space a more dynamic design. It's very similar to the comprehensive design that I had originally started with...

Though the comprehensive is very similar to the final product, I was unsure of what I was going to do to fill in the negative space around my logo and text, and it took me several tries and changes before I came up with the final design you see above. I retrospect, I wish I had saved a copy of the changes and various design ideas I had before coming up with the final piece.

Business Card Thumbnails 4

These are my final round thumbnails with the bottom business card design being both the thumbnail and comprehensive sketch for the final piece. I basically went from the drawing stage to the digital rendering which is where I got the comprehensive design idea, but I think in the future I'll either do more sketches or digital comprehensive so I can show my progress and the steps taken to arrive at my final design.

Business Card Thumbnails 3

I liked the look of these two, it was out of my comfort zone and more dynamic, but after much thought - and with a helpful suggestion - I went with one of my final designs. I like the Art Deco look of the top one though.

Business Card Thumbnails 2

With the next batch of thumbnails, I was told to think outside of the box, to get out of my comfort zone and branch out with new designs. Though these are similar to what I did before, they are less simplistic in feel and look. Still, I wanted to see where I could go with them.

ADVANCED COMPUTER GRAPHICS: Business Card Thumbnail 1

I've learned that my style for designing anything is minimalist in its appearance, which is how these initial designs were. I liked the look but it wasn't as dynamic as I wanted it to be. It was a start though.