Behind Beinuma – Building My Own Visual Identity

Designing for yourself is certainly one of the most challenging tasks you can face in this profession. At first, it might seem as though all the cards are stacked in your favour: there is no client, no brief, no conditions, not even someone sitting across the table ready to judge your work. And yet, reality works very differently, because every decision becomes something personal.

When I decided to create Beinuma, as with every brand that takes shape in my mind, I did so with the purpose of building something unique, meaningful and inspiring — something capable of finding a special place in the memory of the people who inhabit the vast and remarkable world of stimuli we live in today.

How the name Beinuma came to be

This is certainly a curious story, to say the least. It all goes back more than ten years. I remember that, in those days, my old Steam account provided plenty of entertainment during the boring winter afternoons in my hometown. By then, I had already settled on my naming as just another user of Valve’s platform, but it wasn’t until I began studying graphic design that something clicked in my mind on the most unexpected of days: “What if I simply take this naming and turn it into something much bigger and far more personal?” I told myself.

And that was how everything began. But, of course, that opened the door to the next question: “How do you build an entire visual system for something that is 100% yours when all you have is a name?”

Getting the machinery going

This, in my opinion, is where a graphic designer shows what they are really made of, because every good brand worth its salt has a powerful story behind it. It isn’t enough to create something that is simply “beautiful” to look at. It needs to have real “meaning” behind it, to explain why it exists and to justify that existence visually.

When I embarked on this new adventure, I didn’t want my personal brand to become just another one in the crowd. I wanted it to be something recognisable at first sight, something capable of leaving a lasting impression on those who came across it.

Establishing something unique

Daruma dolls are well-known figures in Japan. Representing the Indian monk and first patriarch of Zen Buddhism, Bodhidharma, they are given without their eyes painted to determined people who need a little help pursuing a goal. In return, it is those people who give the Daruma its eyes: one when making their wish, and the other once that wish has been fulfilled.

It is a particularly illustrative concept because, according to legend, the monk eventually lost the use of his arms and legs after a long period of deep meditation inside a cave, which is why these dolls have their distinctive rounded shape and are made without limbs.

What caught my attention the most, however, was the fact that they are not simply good-luck charms. Quite the opposite: they are symbols of self-effort, perseverance and personal growth. Their purpose is to serve as a reminder that you, as a person, must make an effort every single day to achieve your own goals and ambitions. They will watch over you, of course, but they will not intervene along the way. That responsibility has to fall on you.

For all these reasons, I could think of no better philosophy on which to build my own personal brand. And beyond everything already mentioned, there was also a phonetic component that created an additional connection, since my naming bore a certain resemblance to the native pronunciation of this symbol from Japan: DA-RU-MA /dəˈruːmə/ · BEI-NU-MA /bein’:umə/.

Where I want to go

Beinuma is not just my symbol; it is my philosophy of work: a little Daruma doll with one of its eyes painted and the promise to work hard morning, afternoon and night, striving to become better every day for the rest of my life.

It will be a difficult journey, because the things that are truly worthwhile in this world undoubtedly come with a demanding road ahead. But alongside that difficulty remains the motivation and excitement of knowing that what I am doing is heading in the right direction, as well as the feeling of companionship that guides me throughout this adventure.

Because, somehow, I have someone behind me, keeping their other little eye on me and watching over every step I take.