So it is 2018 and I really wanted to take some time to reflect on the history of what’s really become the name of a brand I’m building at this point. I also wanted to write something explaining why even though I’m aspiring to be an author I haven’t transitioned to a decidedly more typical looking author page.
I’ve had the HaevenArts name and domain for nearly a decade now and even as I’m transitioning from my initial goal of creating an artists’ community to becoming an author I have a really hard to define and strong attachment to the name.I think to most people it probably sounds like an oddball website name with no meaning and I could very well be expecting a good number of new eyes on the site since I’m expanding my social media presence.
The HaevenArts name was born a long time ago when Oekakiart shut down and I had the idea that I wanted to go into the business of running oekaki boards. But with time my desire to host oekakis became a dream of a better artist community. I decided to name that idea HavenArts but when I was creating the logo in photoshop I made a fateful typo that has stuck around to this day.
I realized over time that I didn’t really have the means or the people to do the artist community and I’ve rehashed it quite a few times and always kept that project in the back of my mind. During that time I kept renewing the haevenarts.com domain and to be honest I’ve never given up on the artist community as a project. I think gaining more of a fanbase from my recent projects and building a community around my work will actually make it a lot more possible in the future to do that.
But I realized coming into this year that the HaevenArts name means so much to me now. It is something that I’ve carried with me over the years as I’ve grown up as a person and developed as a creative. I think in a way it’s more than a domain to me and really has become what I think is my personal brand. I think the stranger thing to people might be that I don’t reskin my personal page here to reflect my name but in a way HaevenArts has become a very personal and treasured name to me. Even moreso than my actual name it embodies my passion not just for my own work but my passion toward the community of creatives online.I did have a moment where I thought I should just drop the domain and get my actual name as the domain but to be perfectly honest it didn’t feel right.
I still want it to eventually house an artist community too. My original idea for a better artist community is still very much a dream I want to make a reality but pursuing the book is the project that feels right to go after now.
Really for me the book and everything else I do is all about reaching out to other creatives because I feel like that’s important. Creative minds are strongest when they fuel each other and work together so moving forward I don’t just want to pursue projects that are lucrative for me but also create projects that encourage others to reach their creative potential.
While I can’t say at this point what HaevenArts will be in the future I have come to the decision that it’s my brand. I’ve come a long way in what kind of person I am as a creative and I think as I keep growing and pursuing different creative avenues it will still be under this same domain as long as I can scrape up the dollars to renew it.
I hope as people are looking at the site,especially in relation to what you expect from an author page, that the impression it makes is not as an unorthodox or unclear site but one that truly reflects me as a creative person and the brand I’m trying to grow. It is a brand that truly reflects my heart and mind and boldly displays my unique blend of creative endeavors.
