Posts Tagged: branding for start-ups

The other part of Pixels

Asked to talk about photographing families, children, couples smooching in the woods, portraits of beloved friends and special milestones, I can gab on without stopping. But we have another part of our business at Pixels on Paper and it’s one that Ryan and I are so deeply proud of and are equally excited to promote.

At Pixels, we are also business and commercial photographers and called on for real estate and business profile photography, headshots and a number of commercial projects in Wilkesboro, Charlotte and the surrounding area. Ryan is also an amazing graphic designer.

Craft Bistro

Krusch Divorce Resolution

Boondocks Brewing

Brushy Mountain Dental

Commercial and Real Estate Photography

Graphic design, establishing and developing brands, creating logos, coordinating visual vocabularies and identity systems for businesses, large and small, holds a special place in our business.

We love entrepreneurs, causes, non-profits, fund-raisers and events and established community organizations and Ryan has nearly 20 years of graphic design experience. His portfolio was huge before we started Pixels. We’ve added even more since then. Below is a mere sampling of favorites.

If you are in need of business photography or headshots, real estate or commercial photography for collateral, your website or other promotional needs, please contact us. If graphic design or branding consulting is something you’d would like to discuss or learn more about, we hope you’ll contact us.


We love family portraits whether they are set in the studio, the great outdoors, a specific location like the mountains or high country, or on our property in our outdoor portrait garden. Pixels on Paper photographsnewborns and families, special events and portraits  of all kinds in our Wilkesboro, NC studio. We would be honored to meet with you, learn about you and your family and be a part of taking special portraits that will become, we hope, family heirlooms.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States LicenseAll photos are ©2020 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.

Graphic Design with Pixels on Paper

Its’s a new year, and a new decade and businesses, like people, are looking for a refresh, an upgrade and some for a complete re-do to their brand identity.

Logo with pastry bag at top and Indulge name with 3 small cupcakes along bottom

Not all we do at Pixels is photography, as many of you know. Ryan has been a graphic designer and logo developer for coming on 2 decades. He has worked with existing brands to update their look and feel, and helped develop and create brand new custom visual marks for new businesses, important causes, organizations and special events.

Constant Contact email marketing header

At least two things need to happen for successful branding or the execution of a graphic design project:

The first is understanding the business (or event, organization, enterprise). Who are they?
What people do they hope to attract and what do those people care about? You want to pull your target audience in your direction and this means understanding who the targets are.
Ryan does this when he sits down with each and every new or existing client. He not only has the skill, but the intuition. He can help your business uncover goals, targets, obstacles, competitors and trends, and all of these are on the table with branding, rebranding or creating a new graphic design project.

peak performance heat and air logo photo

Secondly, you will also need a graphic designer who understands the principles of color, form, the visual arts, how consumers “see” what is in the marketplace, and how to message about the brand visually.

Pixels On Paper NC Graphic Designers Krusch Divorce Resolution business card design photo
Front and back of Krusch business card graphic design.

If 2020 is the year to rebrand, redo business cards, create campaign materials, we hope you’ll reach out. Even if you’re just starting to think about it, now is the time to begin.

If you’re a new business, a start-up or relatively new entrepreneur just trying to put your identity out there with a visual vocabulary, please reach out. We can walk you through the steps and create something that will serve you and your goals.

If you want to learn more about our graphic design and branding work, please check out these projects. We’d love to work with you.


We love graphic design and commercial photography whether logo design, brochure design, head shot photos, architectural photography or product shots. At Pixels On Paper we pride ourselves in listening to a broad range of clients and customizing our photography and graphic design services to meet each individual request. Our skills, styles, and visions come together to be a permanent record that either reflects an identity or delivers a message that speaks to thousands. We would be honored to meet with you, learn about you and your business needs. Email us at mail@pixelsonpaper.net or call 336.990.0080 to learn more, receive a quote or to let us know how we can put our skills to work for you.

88x31 lucy & glens valle crucis wedding photography | pixels on paper boone wedding photographers

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License

All photos are ©2018 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.

Graphic Design Project for Peak Performance

Pixels recently created a logo for Peak Performance Heating & Air and we must say, the clients love it and we do too. My partner in life, business, child-rearing, house maintenance, travel, gardening and love, Ryan, is pretty good at this whole branding, logo and graphic design thing.

Our pal Trista, who we know from the wedding industry in Wilkes, contacted us about doing a logo for her aunt and uncle’s business, Peak Performance. It was time for an update to their existing business and they were looking for something new to put on business cards and employee uniforms. As they work on their website, these would be a part of things to come, and we were happy to help. 

Ryan:“Trista acted as the go-between for them and sent us a few ideas she had gathered. With the directions, we set off into design land looking at ideas from each of the inspiration pieces sent. The owners love to hike, so mountains were essential to the logo and were, of course, a nod to the name.”

The first round yeilded exactly the kind of feedback we want to hear: 
OMG!!!! These are amazing.” But we also love the iterative revision process and collaboration that gets us over the finish line to happy campers. There were tweaks, we played with fonts, more of a neon color palette and options for the mountains. The owners mentioned wanting to possibly order brighter neon orange shirts for the techs, so Ryan adapted designs and provided options. 

The magic came with that second round and then Ryan created a style guide, delivered the logos for use across their promotional needs and then to their web designer. 

A few weeks after the final files were delivered, Trista sent us a message with the photos of how the logo was being used on the company trucks, and we cannot express how cool it is to see the finished product in use like that. 

If you’re thinking about a rebrand, need a logo, just want to understand what goes into working with us on projects like this, we hope you’ll be in touch. A business card to car wraps, it’s all about being cohesive and disciplined and Pixels can help your brand achieve this!


We love graphic design and commercial photography whether logo design, brochure design, head shot photos, architectural photography or product shots. At Pixels On Paper we pride ourselves in listening to a broad range of clients and customizing our photography and graphic design services to meet each individual request. Our skills, styles, and visions come together to be a permanent record that either reflects an identity or delivers a message that speaks to thousands. We would be honored to meet with you, learn about you and your business needs. Email us at mail@pixelsonpaper.net or call 336.990.0080 to learn more, receive a quote or to let us know how we can put our skills to work for you.

88x31 lucy & glens valle crucis wedding photography | pixels on paper boone wedding photographers

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License

All photos are ©2018 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.

Fionix Consulting – Graphic Work for a Commercial Client

When a friend and former colleague of Ryan’s approached us about creating some branding and graphics for her new venture, of course we were in. People know Pixels primarily as photographers, but Ryan and I are trained graphic artists. Ryan’s been with Central Piedmont Community College’s marketing and media department for 14 years. He’s our creative lead when clients need graphic design.

Jessica Graham wanted to start a new consulting business and found the name Fionix (pronounced Phoenix) suited her perfectly. The word in one definition described “a girl who isn’t afraid to fight; some people even call her the alpha. She normally has blond hair and slightly different colored eyes and she is strong, fearless, and loyal. She’s a best friend who never lies to you.” Jessica read that definition and heard the audible click that said, “the search for my business name is over.” That’s when Pixels’ work began.

Working with Jessica was a lot of fun for Ryan, because she was once his boss at CPCC and they had a sort of short hand. He picked her brain, but she also came to the table with lots of thoughts and ideas that made the process more exciting than a simple font treatment. We love logo design and branding and Ryan’s career has been steeped in the principles of consistency and unifying creative. The direction initially was a play on our traditional view of phoenix (the bird rising from its ashes), so flames and regeneration were a start. What we ended up with is a mark that she absolutely loves and one that we are particularly proud show off.
Once her design was approved, we created business cards and the rest of the identity systems for Fionix. We’re excited for Jessica’s new consulting business. She saw a gap in the market and is filling it with her years of experience in communications and public relations and her endless curiosity for reaching out on behalf of communities.

We are always eager to help new entrepreneurs or existing businesses develop their branding through better, more targeted graphic design. If you know someone starting a business or looking to refresh their brand, I hope you’ll tell them that graphic design is part of what we do at Pixels.

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