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Archive for January 1st, 2010

Logo Design For Non-designers

The main purpose of this article is to help nondesigners understand the logo design process general terms requirements and things to remember when ordering a logo.

When you decided that your company needs a logo you need to think if you need a completely new logo or redesign the old one of course if you have it before searching for a designer. Redesign of the existing logo is often cheaper than design of a new logo.

There are a huge number of companies which offer logo design services. All of them have different prices number of concepts and revisions offered. Some of them can design business stationery for you. Lets talk about every point in detail:

Price is important factor; it is very unusual to receive high quality at low price. But Internet is the place where designers work from all over the world and logos are going down in price. You can buy logo of satisfactory quality for 100 yes one hundred dollars. One of the very important factors affecting the price is whether design company uses clipart premade pictures or graphic elements or creates unique logos. Be sure to find out this. Custom logos are much better because you will have exclusive logo nobody has.

Number of concepts is a number of ideas for logos which you will be offered after answering the logo design questionnaire. It is good to have more than one idea for logo because you will be able to choose. Usually you will receive a couple of ideas in different styles. When you choose a concept for your logo you will be able to change it using revisions.

Number of revisions is a number of possible changes which you can request for a chosen logo design concept free of charge. You can change everything including color font graphic element arrangement of the elements. The more revisions you have the more chances you receive a logo of your dream.

Turnaround time is an amount of time needed for work on your logo. Usually design process takes from 3 to 10 days. There are companies which can do urgent orders but the cost of logo will be higher.

Number of designers recently design companies started to indicate number of designers working on your project. Big number of designers should guarantee diversity of the concepts but this factor is difficult to control and it is difficult to find out how many designers really worked on your project.

Stationery design it is good if your logo design company will design business cards letterhead and envelope for you. Usually you will receive a couple of concepts of business stationery to choose from.

Things to remember during the communications with logo design company:
1. Number of colors of your logo. The more colors you have the more expensive will be cost of printing services.
2. Files optimized for print. Be sure to request files optimized for home and professional printing tif pdf jpg eps.
3. Source files of your logo ai cdr. Be sure to request source files of your logo; you may need them in future.
4. Use of photos in logo. It is very bad idea to use photos in your logo. Such logos are overloaded with graphic elements and have nonprofessional look.
5. Logotype with abbreviation or without company name. It is very difficult to advertise and promote your company with such logo. Logos with acronyms are good for very big companies which have a lot of money for marketing.

Logo is very important for each company and serves the crucial role of successful marketing. It is vitally important to have good logo from the beginning because redesign of logo will cost you a lot because of need to inform you clients about rebranding change business stationery and logos on signs cars etc.

About the writer:  Vitaly Pedchenko is a professional freelance logo designer Company Logo Design

From A No Show To The One Show

Ad people are nothing if not judgmental.

Few other industries have such a cult of personalitya wellread person can learn which ad people are doing what campaigns at a particular shop.

And if youre not fortunate enough to regularly appear in the trade press ad people will judge you more harshly and think less of you.

That can be a problem because for most job seekers in the ad business a quick glance at a resume or a few samples will be the only way a prospective employer determines if a person is a superstar worth hiringor a hack worth ignoring.

Is history destiny?

I dont think so. And to prove it Id like to introduce you to Mr. X and Mr. Y.

I will conceal the names and agencies to protect the innocent the guilty and the fact they dont know Im writing about them.

I met Mr. X and Mr. Y many years ago at when they worked as copywriters in the Z agency a secondrate shop in a secondrate ad town. X and Y were hired by creative directors who were looking to raise what was obviously a fairly low bar.

Despite their talents X and Y couldnt overcome a culture of mediocrity at this particular shop. Their efforts were futile. So they didnt last long and neither did their CDs and were gone after a year or so.

A career of mediocrity however was not the destiny of Mr. X and Mr. Y.

Their careers have been simple to follow. Thats because Mr. X and Mr. Y are now true creative superstars doing awardwinning work.

Mr. X went to a shop that was just beginning to make waves. Now its arguably the best shop in the country and Mr. X is a Creative Director there doing awesome stuff.

Mr. Y took a more circular path. He went to a couple of shops making progressively better moves until he landed at one of the top creative shops in the country.

Both X and Y are now doing the type of work they could never have done at the Z agency.

How did they catch those breaks?

What did Mr. X and Mr. Y do to convince people that they could rise above their time at the Z agency? A little luck a little timing and a lot of persistence Im sure.

I know how frustrating it can be to work at a shop that prevents people from producing the kind of advertising theyre capable of. Ill bet the majority of creatives and even other types of ad folks feel the same way.

Thats why I keep an open mind when I encounter frustrated ad people at secondrate shops. So many of us work under circumstances seemingly beyond our control.

What happened to Mr. X and Mr. Y works in reverse as well: Many great ad people left wonderful agencies to take jobs at mediocre agencies. And then werent able to produce equally good work. These people haven’t lost their talent but still they can’t recapture the magic. It happens.

For better or for worse the people in our industry should be tagged with the disclaimer most investments come with:

Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Just ask Mr. X and Mr. Y when you see them. Youre bound to find them at the One Show.

About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;Branding. Religion. Censorship. Office politics. Global politics. Sexual politics. And getting drunk during a job interview.
Since 2002 Danny G. a.k.a. Dan Goldgeier has been writing the most provocative advertising columns ever published. They’re all witty thoughtful and probing and a must read for those who want a perspective rarely seen in traditional industry publications.
An Atlantabased copywriter and ad school graduate Dan has worked at shops big and small. He reads incessantly about advertising and is a whiz at rock roll trivia. Learn more about him by visiting his copywriting website or AdColumnist.com the View From The Cheap Seats Archive website. You may also find articles by Danny G at TalentZoo.com.