I apologize for how dark this video came out (we were in an outdoor courtyard with no lights), but the sound is fine, so you can get the gist of the presentation. As I mentioned in a previous post, this is a video of my presentation to a group architects at an AIA Los Angeles event. I was one of seven speakers. We were each allowed 20 slides and 20 seconds per slide. There were approximately 50 people in attendance. I got to talk to a couple people afterward and received encouraging feedback, but I think my presentation was too general to really spark people’s interest. That will come as I continue to refine the idea.

I’m still super early on in concept development for my venture, so the idea is changing almost every week. Of course, ideas build on each other and I want to show the progression of thought, so I’m posting this up. I spent a good chunk of today on instantdomainsearch.com, trying to find a better available domain name than Vverdant. Gotta sleep on a few gems I came across. I don’t want to take too long though, as I’ve already seen one good name disappear before I could register it: fillvoid.com.

A friend from the Emerging Green Builders Los Angeles (EGB-LA) Steering Committee, Justin Valis, sent me some logo design ideas! Check out his concept sketches below. Great brainstorming. I love having people contribute ideas!

Set 1: Vverdant logo concepts by Justin Valis: June 27, 2009.

1A – the bottom of the V is a taproot, the horizontal line creates the 2nd smaller V, the right side curves like a leaf, blade of grass or fern
1B – same but line is lower, the colors could be different on either side of the line
2A – the small V “slides” into the large “V”
2B – just seeing how a large V in first looks
3 – a hedge, high grass, field of green wheat, is cut down to show the large V. the top of the hedge would be like a saw tooth, the rest of the letters would be white letters, I was thinking of facebook’s logo
4 – like blades of grass or the trail of a rock skipping in water, w/ cursive or print
5 – the same hedge, but both V’s are cut out
6 – trying out different V combos
7 – the hedge goes up like a graph, or the hedge turns into a cityscape outline, the left of the large V curves like a leaf, blade of grass or fern

Set 2: Vverdant logo concepts by Justin Valis: June 27, 2009.

1 – 2 logos in one, they both share the same large V, similar to the first file’s #1
2 – further refinement of the previous one. Using “square root” to play with the 2 V’s and a plant’s root.
3 – bubble letters, because I felt all my other logos were too thin, because from what I read, verdant is suppose to be lush, I kept thinking of an overgrown garden on steroids and I can’t seem visualize that in a logo.
4 – staircase similar to the sawtooth hedge and graph
5 – blades of grass
6 – just trying to work w/ the double V
7 – trying to give the effect that you’re looking down into a box garden and the letters are make out of plants
8 – name split over a building, w/ little V flags on top
9 – trying to give the effect that you’re looking down into a rooftop garden of a highrise rectangular building, and the letters are made out of plants
* – enjoy the doodles

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My favorite concept of Justin’s is his use of the “v” as a square root symbol ( √ ) as seen in Set 2, number 2. Do you have a favorite? Feel free to leave a comment. And please also check out my previous post on logo design from June 23, 2009.

It’s great to have a network of talented friends! Today my man Lawrence Santiago volunteered to help me with a logo design. There is so much thought that goes into a logo….The company philosophy ought to be evident in its design. I told Lawrence, “I just want it to look clean, simple and progressive. I want to come across as a cutting edge green company. I like simple logos.” I think he nailed it. The idea needs a bit of tweaking, but it’s most of the way there. I’m interested in some color variations, but I love his font, and how he made the “t” into a leaf. He sent me a few mockups:

Vverdant logo mockup #1 by Lawrence Santiago: June 23, 2009.

Vverdant logo mockup #2 by Lawrence Santiago: June 23, 2009.

Vverdant logo mockup #3 by Lawrence Santiago: June 23, 2009.

Vverdant logo mockup #4 by Lawrence Santiago: June 23, 2009.

Then Lawrence started working on an idea for the slogan, “To the Power of V.” This has a lot of great potential. As he pointed out, it could be used to say, “Raise your impact to the power of V,” or “Increase your reach to the power of V,” etc….I love this mirror image “v” concept.

Vverdant logo mockup #5 by Lawrence Santiago: June 24, 2009.

These got me excited and I started sketching:

Vverdant logo sketches by Drew Shula: June 23, 2009.

We’ll be working toward finalizing these concepts soon. Until then, leave a comment to let me know what you think!

Financing for my fledgling business venture has been on my mind. I’m currently in the start-up “Valley of Death,” that part of the financing cycle where you’re investing in yourself and going negative. It’s hard work to pull that curve back into a parabola, but I’m passionate about my idea so I think it’s very possible.

I can ask around, but the liklihood of an angel investor is not good. I could head to Vegas, but I don’t like my odds there either. The surest way to get this off the ground seems to be through diligence, creativity, and a solid belief that taking this risk will lead to a reward in the end. I go to Rick Ross for inspiration….The venture capital will come to me if I do this right.

Something I've been asking myself a lot lately.

I’m currently reading What Should I Do with My Life by Po Bronson, and thinking about the impact I want to have on the world. The book isn’t extremely well written, but the biographies presented are inspiring. The author interviews people who have made big decisions in their lives to find their calling. It’s interesting to read about people who are in the midst of latching onto a dream, when I find myself attempting to do the same thing.

I want to do work that has a positive impact on people, and make enough money to support my family. I have a triple bottom line goal to work toward social, environmental, and financial success. My entrepreneurial ideas are focused on finding the best way to make this happen.