Journal 3-2 Best Practices Research
Eric Bryden · Portfolio version updated October 9, 2026
My online brand needs to show who I am and give people a clear reason to connect with my work. As the founder of Draconic Realms Creations (DRC), I bring together storytelling, music, gaming, and ethical communication. To me, a brand is the impression people form from my work, values, and actions. My websites should make my identity clear and give visitors examples of what I can create.
My Draconic Realms Creations (DRC), Draconic Realms Gaming (DRG), and Draconic Realms Music (DRM) websites remain under development as I apply what I learn throughout my master’s degree in communication.
My first source is the peer-reviewed review by Gorbatov et al. (2018), “Personal Branding: Interdisciplinary Systematic Review and Research Agenda.” The authors describe personal branding as an intentional process. It communicates a person’s distinctive qualities to a specific audience through stories and imagery. They also emphasize continued evaluation and maintenance. This research shows me the importance of aligning my values with my presentation and creative work. My brand should help people understand my purpose, not simply attract attention. This article gives me a useful foundation for building my brand. However, its approach may work differently for each creator.
My second source is the scholarly article by Labrecque et al. (2011), “Online Personal Branding: Processes, Challenges, and Implications.” Labrecque et al. (2011) found that online branding efforts may fail to convey a person’s intended identity, particularly when addressing different audiences. This finding highlights the importance of evaluating how visitors interpret my brand. Although the study’s sample of 12 participants limits the generalizability of its findings, its approach offers a useful way to assess my online presence. I can apply this approach by gathering feedback on whether my websites clearly communicate my values, creative abilities, and professional goals.
These ideas connect directly to my website development. DRC is my central professional identity. Draconic Realms Music (DRM) and Draconic Realms Gaming (DRG) express different interests within that identity. My main DRC website connects visitors to my music, gaming content, Suno portfolio, academic projects, and other creative work (Bryden, n.d.-a). My founder portraits and brand imagery establish a recognizable connection between my identity and creative work. On my music website, “My Voice, My Creativity, and AI” explains how my vocals and creative decisions shape projects developed with AI assistance. The accompanying creative-process section gives visitors a clearer understanding of my role. “Under the Same Sky” demonstrates how I use music to tell stories and express personal values (Bryden, n.d.-c). My gaming website presents another dimension of my creativity through original builds, shared adventures, and character development (Bryden, n.d.-b).
Creating means producing new songs, artwork, videos, and writing. Curating means choosing which pieces belong, where they fit, and how they support my identity. I will select work that demonstrates my abilities and explain its purpose in my own words. My ethics handbook and academic work show how I connect creativity with responsible communication. In my developing investigative truth series, I want to distinguish verified facts from opinion and identify uncertainty. That work should reflect the same honesty as my AI disclosures.
As my websites develop, I recognize that too much content on the homepage can overwhelm visitors and obscure my brand’s purpose. I plan to simplify navigation, improve logo readability, and move detailed information to dedicated pages. Regular reviews of links, descriptions, and visual presentation will help keep the content accurate and accessible. Visitor feedback will guide further improvements. For next week’s milestone, I will apply these principles to high-profile online identities by examining consistency across their platforms and evaluating how effectively their content communicates their intended image.
AI Use Acknowledgment
ChatGPT was used to help locate sources, organize my website examples, draft this journal in my voice, and improve grammar and formatting. The website examples draw on my own creative projects. This acknowledgment identifies the AI assistance used to produce this draft.
Scholarly references, website examples, and resources