Blogging is a crazy trend right now! As artists here at SCAD, I am sure many of you have a blog of some sort. Whether it is for fashion, photography, or even just a diary; it is such a unique way to express yourself in a professional way. Blogs have so many possibilities. You can gain personal experience from them and they are also impressive to employers. Not only that, but some people get their name out there in their industry and become famous from their work that they have put online for anyone to see.
Every blog is different from one another. It is fascinating to read other people’s blogs and to get a peek at what life is like for them. You find out their passions, interests, and you get to know their personality too. Some people often feel connected with the bloggers they read about, which is what any blogger would want! You always want your reader to look up to you or to get inspired from what you have to offer. Olivia Ruffin is one of my favorite bloggers here at SCAD. She has a unique style and is very consistent with how often she posts, which takes a lot of self discipline and talent. She never fails at created work that will capture your attention, so who would be better to interview about blogging!
I had the lovely opportunity to interview her and figure out what some of her tips and tricks are to blogging. She also gives us a little back story about how she first got started with blogging.
HC: What is the first thing that you learned about when it comes to blogging?
Olivia: I have learned a lot from blogging, but the most important thing is to not be so hard on yourself. There are always going to be people that you think are better than you and you just have to accept that and focus on yourself. Some bloggers have a higher budget or get to travel more since they are not in school, so you just have to keep all of that in mind when you look at other people’s blogs. I always try to remember that my blog is about me and it is for me. I want to accentuate everything that I do have to offer, but sometimes it is not going to be as extravagant as others and that is okay! I have learned to just focus on myself and to produce more blogs.
Photographer: Jasmina of Mod and Soul
HC: What made you want to start a blog?
Olivia: When I was in 9th grade, my close friend, Ally, showed all of these blogs to me and I just found them so fascinating. I was so amazed by these people’s lives and I loved reading about them. After reading all of them, it made me want to be a travel blogger. Then I realized I do not even travel much! With school it has not worked out quite yet. Then I thought about doing a beauty blog…but wait I don’t know much about makeup. It just clicked after that. Fashion is what I wanted to blog about. It is something I have always loved, so nothing would be better!
HC: What were you and Ally’s favorite blogs to read?
Olivia: Some of our favorite blogs to read together were “A Beautiful Mess”, a home and DIY blog, “Views of Now”, a fashion blog, “Something to Vine”, a family blog, and “Love Taza”, another family blog. Ally was never into the fashion blogs as much as me, but we still enjoyed all of the other ones together. We both enjoyed the home, DIY, and family blogs a lot. It was so interesting to watch their blogs grow! “Views of Now” started when I was 13 and the girl writing was also 13 at the time. It almost felt as if we grew up together…I mean that in the least creepy way possible! There is just so much inspiration from the blogs! They are so positive and they got me excited about the future. It made me most excited to explore and adventure.
Photographer: Cassie Suppes
HC: What is your favorite genre to post about?
Olivia: Fashion posts are definitely my favorite right now. I love talking about fashion and styling is so much fun! I think that travel blogs will be my favorite in the future though. I am excited to discover new places and share my experiences with the people that read my blog. I hope to incorporate video blogs with my traveling too. Fashion is great, but it is very materialistic and I believe that experiences are better than material objects. Photographer: Julia Blandford
HC: What have you done to develop a consistent theme and style?
Olivia: I am very mixy-matchy! I’m always all over the place with colors and I just stay that way with my theme in my pictures. As I grew up, my theme started to become more cohesive. My favorite color is pink, so I love to incorporate it throughout my blog as well. More recently I have focused on making my blog bright and colorful to depict my personality. I tried doing a black and white theme for my blog once and I just absolutely hated it! It just is not me, but it works for other people! Photographer: Julia Blandford
If you want to read more about Olivia, go check out her blog www.allthoselittlethings.com!