2024 has come and I have always been meaning to do a major change in my art, vision, and direction. This website was supposed to launch by December last year but got delayed because of other personal affairs.
For the main topics:
1. Why the rebranding？
2. Why the traditional website?
About the rebranding
Before I tell the main reasons why, I think it is best to tell the backstory.
My first major identity venture was when I’ve quitted my job on 2015. Back then, I was mostly a graphic designer and had just started painting. Since I really don’t know myself in the past, I didn’t have a moniker or artist name and went by my full real name as the brand because that was the usual suggestion when I google: “Branding for Artists”.
After I’ve discarded my graphic designing services and decided to focus on watercolor painting, I have rebranded to Atelier Victoria last 2017. This is largely inspired by my earlier watercolor inspirations; most of which are English, Americans or Russians. I thought that my name sounds sophisticatedly western enough, so I decided to go with it.
2020, the pandemic hit and I was holed-up in the house. Like most people, I resorted to watching Korean dramas to kill time. And when I ran out of k-dramas to watch, I switched to mainland Chinese entertainment.
I came across a c-drama entitled “A Romance in the Little Forest”. There was a character there named Penny and that’s where the light bulb hit me. Penny is actually one of my very personal nicknames that only my siblings and one of my closest cousins call me.
I thought that maybe I could just use one my nicknames to shorten the name of my branding. Like, a self-given stage/pen/artist name. Now that I know that one of my nicknames sounds okay, (fashionably foreign even) in other languages, I decided to push with this. More people call me Penpen, but it just doesn’t have a nice ring to it when combined with my surname.
Instead of Stephanie Victoria Tan, it is now shortened to Penny Tan. (Yep, still keeping up with the real name.)
Time to inject a personality into it.
Since the catalyst for change is Chinese (specifically, a c-drama), why not start with that since I already have the provenance to begin with. (Thanks to my anime influenced childhood catapulted further with the amount of Korean and Chinese dramas I’ve watched during the pandemic.)
In the show, Penny is written as 潘妮. However, I do not want to use this because 潘 is a common surname character and I’m intending for my Penny to appear more like a first name. It also clashes with my Penny Tan branding since I already have a surname that can also be translated to Hanzi just in case.
After racking my brains, I remembered Meteor Gardens singer Penny Tai and her Penny is written as 佩妮. It’s quite close homophonically and is actually a common literal counterpart or substitute for Penny. Translation of English to Chinese names or vice versa works provided that it’s simple enough to share the same or very close pronunciation. (Intentional meaning matters less since it’s a homophone translation or a transliteration. But of course, it would be better if the translation is suitable or at least does not contain funny or weird stuff like curses or vulgar words)
Sample:
Penny/佩妮/Pèi Nī , Jerry/嘉瑞/Jiā Ruì, Lily/丽丽/Lì Lì, Jenny/珍妮/Zhēn Ní
Consequentially, Penny Tan is literally written as 陈佩妮.
Now for the reasons of rebranding:
1. It is shorter, easier to remember, and therefore will hopefully have a better recall than Stephanie Victoria Tan. It is a necessity that I’ve always thought about because I observed that people always struggle saying or recalling my artist name.
2. I realized that Western style is a temporary means to an end. In my early painting days after I quitted my day job, I practice European methods to better my skills. However, when I learned what I had to learn; things start to get less exciting, I gravitated back to my initial influences. I already mentioned anime and Korean or Chinese dramas. But upon reflecting, I think my current style of painting has always been East Asian inspired because I discreetly live with it. Our house is filled with Chinese aesthetics and I see a lot of these while growing up: house decor, auspicious deity figurines, lucky charms, red envelope designs, colorful dinnerware, feng shui books, and even the calendars that are given to us by clients or business partners which sometimes come with a printed Chinese painting per month. What I see, I imitate, I absorb; then it becomes instinctual.
3. It feels more personal and comes from a better place of identity. The logo contains both English and Hanzi. English only speakers can read Penny Tan but may find the Hanzi uninterpretable. On the other hand, Chinese only speakers can read the hanzi or maybe both but may find Penny (although existing and acceptable) a trendy foreign sounding name.
I think this name nuisance perfectly reflects my experience growing up. My family practices both Chinese and Filipino cultures. All of my cousins went to Chinese school and only me and my siblings did not. Clearly, I did not learn the language so it was hard for me to keep up when people start to converse in Hokkien on social situations. We even don’t use Hokkien honorifics at home but we do use them to address cousins and other elders. How weird right? On the other hand, blending with my school environment was not flawless either. There are things that most of my classmates do not care or share sentiments with: lunar new year, getting red envelopes, interest in the animal zodiacs, eating mooncakes, being thrifty and lowkey (I went to Ateneo de Davao Gradeschool & Highschool and the norm there is being the flashiest), Great Wall, etc etc.
I felt like I didn’t belong anywhere. The branding and my personal experience is parallel in a way that it’s the same strangeness and slight displacement that a person might feel if they did not experience the other, or probably more if they experienced both. BUT, before things get somber, I will say that this isn’t necessarily sad or bad. When one doesn’t belong or exclusive to somewhere, then they can belong anywhere. I personally think that art should be like that. Fleeting. Freeing. Experiencing and taking inspiration from different places. Although I will always have my tendencies and habits close to home, there is no longer the fear of estrangement and identity crisis. Estrangement can actually turn to adventure and excitement. When a door closes, another one opens. Not only does it apply to relationships with other people, but it also applies to the self. Our identities as well as our art are not set in stone. It is always changing and ever developing.
Why the traditional website?
1. It gives the impression of professionalism, credibility and dedication to the craft.
2. Social media may not be enough. Having a social media account is just like renting a space on a mall. There’s always the possibility of it closing down or you being driven out by the owners. Having a site is like having a home; you have full control of everything unless you stop paying rent. Recently, some big social media platforms went out or have undergone major changes. I need to have a backup especially when things come for the worst.
3. It is a personal choice in response to the ever changing algorithm. After three years of struggle, I feel that short format can never be my bread and butter. My style of sharing my thoughts has always been thorough, long, and direct. I literally have no time to participate or come up with short and gimmicky stuff. I will focus with the current audience that I have through meatier and substantial content rather than capturing new people by always keeping up with the trends. With traditional art, I think it’s better to make new connections in the physical environment via conventions and exhibits.
And that’s it for my first blog post!
See you in the next one!
Penny Tan 
Leave a comment