What's My Style...

I ask myself that question a lot. Does my style come off as modern and sleek? Or vintage? Or traditional? I'm not so much referring to my photography style..but more my design style. If you walked in my house, you might say sleek and simple.

I have a black kitchen table surrounded by black and white European photos in black frames and black mirrored sconces. (they aren't in the pictures)

My office/creative space is a black flat desk with 2 organizational boards hanging above in what else, but black frames.

So if you judged by that, you would not say vintage or eclectic. And a lot of my designs have a simple, classic look with clean lines. Not a lot of fluff or frill. However, when I see cutesy blogs and photobooks with vintage papers, embellishments, swirls, etc..I LOVE them! Even this blog has that style! My ideas for my next office feature a shabby chic style, eclectic refinished furniture, and lots of color. But when it comes down to actually doing some designs, I always seem to go back to my old "clean" ways. A polished clean look is what I always end up with. And in some things, that's great. But in others, I really need to broaden my horizons, take some risks, and produce some work that's not just my style, but the style of potential clients. But at the same time, have my "identity" as a designer and stand out because of my style. So what does this mean for me? Where do I draw the line between being flexible to change as I need to and too all over the place?

Some thoughts I had to "fix" this problem was to have different lines of greeting cards. For example, a "Vintage Baby Collection" where all the birth announcements in that collection would have a vintage, shabby chic feel. Then there would be a "Modern Baby Collection" with more contemporary designs. You get my drift. I'm about to start on my holiday cards and hope to implement this new plan.

Have any of you ever faced this dilemma? Either in your shooting style, design style, etc? You know what YOU like, but found it hard to adjust to accommodating the customer.