My Blog Manifesto & How To Create Yours

Categories Blogging Tips, Stationery, , , , , , , , 55 Comments on My Blog Manifesto & How To Create Yours

Hey, you gorgeous creature. What have you been up to this week?

In case you were tempted to actually answer, the thing that you’re reading this on is a screen – which means I can’t hear you. It’s an entirely redundant question, aimed at making you feel special and like I value you. It’s a cold-hearted, manipulative trick designed to emulate a personal relationship between us, which in turn causes you to become more emotionally invested in my writing and, in a wider sense, my blog.

I’m channeling my inner Justin Trudeau.

Regardless . . . so recently I’ve been on a bit of a mission to do as much blog-related Graphic Design as possible. (If you don’t know why, go check out my post Graphic Design Portfolio Ideas & Planning – SEND HELP.)

It’s actually a really fun challenge to set myself and (I hope, at least) it’s a great way to upgrade my blog with real quality images and content. Today’s post is really all about one of my favourite projects that I’ve ever done for graphic design . . . a manifesto!

Did you instantly groan and think politics when you heard manifesto? Can’t blame you.

What is a manifesto?

A manifesto is a public declaration of your intent and values; it’s almost a party mission.

You can use your manifesto to visually convey who you are as a person, what you believe in and what you aspire to do/provide.

Why create one?

Well, for one . . . they look great. But – I suppose more importantly – they’re a great way for you to be able to see your mission statement and stick to it. The process of creating a manifesto forces you to sit down and think about what it is you’re trying to achieve and create.

Plus, once you’ve actually done it, people just finding your blog have an easy way to understand who you are and what your blog is for.

Image result for Brand Manifesto

Here’s an example of my favourite manifesto.

How to create a manifesto?

First of all, your manifesto doesn’t have to be visual. Not at all. It can be read almost as a mission statement or a set of brand values.

Girl Power You are Enough Manifesto. Yes! Remember that you deserve self-love, self-care. Your self-worth has nothing to do with your weight.

Source

My advice when you’re creating a manifesto is to answer the following questions:

  • What do you want to achieve?
  • What are your values?
  • What are you committed to doing?
  • Who are you?
  • Why are you blogging?

The beautiful thing about manifestos is . . . kids, they’re all up to you! I can’t tell you how to live your life; you’re free to do, to say, to write whatever you want. If you want to make it absolutely gorgeous, you go for it! If you want it to be minimal, do that too! If you want to write out an essay, well, I can’t promise you I’ll read it!

My Blog Manifesto

And so we reach the final hurdle of this post; the last leg of the race. If this were the relay in the Olympics, this is where we would just stop running and gaze at Jamaica beating us all in awe.

Here is my blog manifesto first draft:

For branding purposes, (I know, you’re sitting there like “Mia, what even is your branding?” but all will be revealed in time . . . or as soon as I’ve actually finished everything. Same difference.) I wanted to use these photos as they have the perfect colour scheme.

While I liked the idea of the first draft (I liked that it was all my handwriting; it made it feel very personal), I didn’t like how it looked. I think it was a bit too busy – and I don’t think having me in it added anything.

My next idea was the one I liked the most; using one of the images in my (admittedly still developing) branding pack, I wanted to create an almost scrapbooking effect. It’s simple and to the point – and it looks pretty! Plus, a lot of my blog content is around stationery and artsy-crafty things, so I think that having an arty manifesto was a nice way to tie that all in.

I apologise for my, frankly, terrible photography. I have no excuses; I’m just not a photographer. I know, my parents are disappointed too.

Anyways . . . that’s my manifesto! Do you think it’s an accurate depiction of my blog? Am I meeting my aims or am I just a terrible human being, the entire reason that Donald Trump is currently the president of one of the most powerful countries in the world? Would you create your own blog manifesto? What would be on it? Let me know your thoughts down below!

Peace,

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Published by crystalsandcurls

I'm going through a bit of an existential crisis right now, I'll tell you about myself when I figure out if I'm real or not.

55 thoughts on “My Blog Manifesto & How To Create Yours”

  3. This is great and I really love your ideas within this post! The idea of having a blog manifesto is great, and it doesn’t all have to be political! I had to make an art manifesto last year as a part of my course!

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  4. This is a great idea and I love the scrapbook style! You’ve inspired me to think about what I want for my blog and I think I might create my blog’s manifesto now.

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  5. Love your photos of your notebook! I may have to think of a manifesto for my blog…honestly, it’s not something I ever thought about before. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  6. I love how concise your manifesto is – definitely packs in so much meaning into a few lines! And you are so talented when it comes to graphic design, I adore how your ‘style’ has that whole vintage, yet big city, vibe to it if you get what I mean. Although the history nerd in me cannot read the world ‘manifesto’ without thinking of bloggers staging the new 1917 (2017?) revolution hahah. Amazing post as usual Mia, this is definitely something we should all consider doing as bloggers! xox

    Reply

    1. Thank you so much lovely! While I do like longer ones, I think my blog goal is actually quite concise – it just covers a lot of possibilities 😉 And you do not even know how much that means to me, I genuinely appreciate that so much! (Especially as I’m building my design portfolio at the moment) Haha that would be brilliant! We could create a world where all food is delicious and instagram worthy! Again, thank you so much – I always love your comments. xoxo

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  9. Love everything about this post, the design, the manifesto message, the idea of a blog manifesto – need to start working on mine 😉

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    1. Thank you so much lovely! I’m so glad you enjoyed it – and definitely do make one! They’re a really fun exercise and it helps you think about what your blog’s purpose is x

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  16. I love your manifesto, it’s so inspiring! I agree – travel often 😉 you’ve definitely inspired me to create one for myself 🙂 and I think your photography is gorgeous, it’s so hard to take pictures in the dark!

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    1. YES YES YES! And thank you lovely – let me know if you do, I’d love to read it 🙂 Oh my god, YES the struggle is so real. It’s so annoying with work and now shorter days, natural lighting is so hard to come by xx

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      1. Ahaha I’ll let you know when I write one! Yeah definitely you did such a good job taking those pics, they go so well with your colour scheme 🙂

  18. Your manifesto sounds awesome! I need to create one for my blog so that I can clearly define it’s purpose. It’s kinda hard though!

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  23. I love this so much! AND I LOVE that you used Jennifer Pastiloff’s Girl Power You Are Enough Manifesto. (she is one of my mentors) I love what you wrote for your manifesto and girl your pictures are amazing! I love the effect you created! <3

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    1. Thank you so much – and omg yes I absolutely LOVE her manifesto. I had to search for ages to find the original source (there are sooo many dead links on pinterest) but it was so amazing that i had to find the credit <3

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