Concept #1 - Pub or Pub Signs

The 60's postcard/photo idea wasn't working, so as I brainstormed further I remembered that "English Pubs" have always something I've enjoyed. I remembered that pubs tend to have these really cool signs, usually hand painted. There's loads of history around those signs (talking about early branding). The pubs themselves these traditional identifiers like the dark wood beams and posts, dark wooden furniture, crazy patterned carpets, interesting embossed wall paper, funny looking locals, various of beers (stouts, porters, and lagers) on tap, local cat, distinctive wall hangings, pub food (meat pies, plowmans lunch, roast and mash, etc). I decided to explore this concept further.

First option:

Use the sign of the pub as the entrance. Access various parts of the portfolio through the various parts of the pub (man, dog, beer levers, carpet, dart board, etc.)

Second option:

Use the sign to enter the site and then use the beer levers to access the various parts of the portfolio.

A third option I explored was creating pub signs for each part of the portfolio:

Concept #2 - Ice Cream Truck/Dickie Dee Menu

I was exploring brands that I've been loyal to, since I was a kid (of the 70's). I remembered the ice cream truck, with its distinctive tune, that would bring people running out of their homes and gardens on a hot summer day just for a treat. There's always a positive memory about this experience, so I thought it might be interesting to use the menu and draw people into the various parts of my portfolio.

Concept #3 - Pattern Exploration

Here's my third concept. This one was fun, because it was an exploration of famous patterns and finding ways to merge/integrate them into one design because, marketing and design together consist of the overlapping and merging of multiple elements. I thought this could be incorporated into the home page where the viewer could run their curser over the patterns. The curser would change indicating that you can click on a particular pattern and move into the portfolio pages.

Viewers would then move into the various portfolio areas. Notional thoughts are: