Andrew Uncharted

Behind Andrew Uncharted

It’s a little weird explaining the inner workings on something that's been so personal to me. Andrew Uncharted is a multitude of things. A Frankenstein's monster. At the time of writing this Case Study, Andrew Uncharted is a multi-faceted travel brand that focuses on documenting my travels as I backpack around the world, building a dedicated travel community, selling adventure photo prints and Lightroom editing presets, and talking about travel-based topics that I find important.

Long list right? That’s what happens when you have to come up with an idea from scratch; you wear many hats. From web design to email marketing, from content creation to social media interaction, it’s all required to get Andrew Uncharted off the ground. I’ll be focusing specifically on my work for the branding, general creative direction, and social media marketing. I view Andrew Uncharted as my ongoing capstone project; it forces me to continuously evolve and improve my skills.

Branding & Logo Design

When I was thinking of an idea for what to call my fledgling travel site, I got hung up on the name. There were a multitude of bad ideas, like Andy Wanders or Andrew Abroad. None of them really had that oomf, y’know?

In a moment of frustration, I turned to one of my favorite video games, Uncharted 4 on the Playstation 4. This was a game about travel, adventure, and hunting treasure. As I was playing, the idea for Andrew Uncharted popped into my head. It was too perfect, so I immediately shut off the game and started sketching.

Since it would be a brand focused around my travels, it needed to have a personal touch mixed with an adventurous feel. After toying with dozens of type experiments, the combination of Andrew in a script font and Uncharted in a more rugged, weathered sans-serif hit the sweet spot. The next step was to decide on colors.

Based on color psychology, the white / gray for the script and green for the weathered sans-serif font made the most sense. The neutrally colored script would be my personal experience overlayed on top of the actual adventures, symbolized by the sans-serif.

The color green is psychologically a happy color, but it symbolizes more than that. A vibrant green symbolizes growth, friendliness, emotional calmness, and nature. Since I wanted my brand and my adventure to personify these emotions and ideals, choosing green as the primary accent color just made sense. Plus, it looks pretty damn good, if I say so myself.

Web Design

When creating the Andrew Uncharted website, I wanted to immediately let the user know the focus of my site: Travel and Photography. Although the scope of the Andrew Uncharted site was relatively straightforward, the types of content I produced was rather broad. I made it a point to touch on the highlights of what I offered: my Design Portfolio (how I made money while traveling), my trip around the world, video content, Lightroom Presets and Canvas Prints for sale, and an email newsletter signup form.

When creating the Andrew Uncharted website, I wanted to immediately let the user know the focus of my site: Travel and Photography. Although the scope of the Andrew Uncharted site was relatively straightforward, the types of content I produced was rather broad. I made it a point to touch on the highlights of what I offered: my Design Portfolio (how I made money while traveling), my trip around the world, video content, Lightroom Presets and Canvas Prints for sale, and an email newsletter signup form.

I carried over the same typefaces and colors from my website in order to keep brand continuity.Along with consistent typography, having a set image editing style was a necessary adaption in order to keep brand consistency. In times where text wouldn’t be present (most often on Instagram), my work needed to stand out on its own. My normal editing style is darker and moodier than most travel photographers & influencers. After doing a bit of competitive research, I saw my natural editing instincts as a way to help differentiate me from the pack. It’s great when your natural inclinations match up with your business objectives, y’know?

Social Media Management

The final major component of Andrew Uncharted is Social Media Management. Besides my website, I primarily disseminate content through two major channels: Instagram and Pinterest. The Instagram account has been in existence since I started Andrew Uncharted a year and a half ago. The Pinterest account, however, has only been a recent focus.

I’ve developed a social media strategy for Instagram primarily through trial and error. A few techniques I’ve started using are: only posting what I’m excited about, sharing my life and travels authentically through my posts and stories, and interacting with each person like they’re my friend. Just treating people like human beings, y’know?

With Pinterest, I have my boards broken down into my interests and how they relate to travel. Then, I make it a point to pin a bunch each day and post my own custom pins every 2-3 days. That tactic’s given me a 700% increase in impressions. On my website, I wrote posts when I had something to say, but I’m stylistically updating it all the time.

These are some of the many hats I wear in growing this travel brand of mine. If you want to view the different Andrew Uncharted properties, the links are below. Cheers!