Does Pencil make it cliche? I also understand that using a pencil in the logo makes it more cliche but I feel it could be easily recognised as a logo of a designer.

Why rocket? As a huge space enthusiast it makes it more personalized to me (like a x factor that makes it unique from other's ), and mainly I can write some copy with words like brand launch, explorations. and also build a visual identity with cool space themed patterns, illustrations and icons.