Posts Tagged ‘designer’

The following are print & web design projects that I have worked on during the month of March 2010.

1. Sesame Communications – Beaupre web design
   
2. Home Resource Network – eNewsletter design/layout
   
3. Parent Support Group – Pro bono layout of 11 different insert cards
   
4. Seattle Reproductive – Mother’s Day greeting card design
   
5. Sesame 24×7 – Hughes web design
   

These are print & web design projects I have worked on during the month of February 2010:

1. Africa Easy – Quarter page ad design
   
2. Sesame Communications – Howell web design
   
3. Sweet Lily Organic Salon – Various design of marketing materials
   

   

   

4. Rodgers Law Firm – Logo comps
   
5. Sesame Communications – Alba web design
   
6. Sesame Communications – Williamson we design
   
7. Sesame Communications – Vadecha web desogm
   
8. Emerald City Lights – Pro bono brochure layout
   
9. Sesame Communications – Rodriguez web design
   
10. Sesame Communications – Rosen web design
    
11. Simply Efficient – newsletter banner
    
12. Sesame Communications – Cook web design
    
13. New Project News Magazine – IGBS ad design
    
14. Rodgers Law Firm – Final logo design and business card layout
    
15. Just A Call Away – logo design
    
16. New Project News – Magazine layout/design
17. Simply Efficient – CD label design
    
18. Just A Call Away – web redesign
    
19. Rodgers Law Firm – PowerPoint template design
    
20. Home Resource Network – half page flyer design
    

The following are projects I’ve worked on during the month of January 2010:

1. McBuzz – Blog header for Michael Powell
   
2. McBuzz – Blog header for Scontrino & Powell
   
3. Sesame Communications – Reed web design
   
4. Jim Allen – Letterhead and business card design
   
5. ANSWER – brochure
   
6. Sesame Communications – Chen web design
   
7. Sesame Communications – George web design
   
8. Sesame Communications – Wadhwa web design
   
9. New Project News – Magazine layout
   
10. Sesame Communications – Frankel web design
    
11. Sesame Communications – Gifford web design
    
12. Sesame Communicaiton – Thomas-Blair web design
    
13. Sesame Communications – Nissenbaum web redesign
    

These are projects I worked on during the month of November.

1. Sesame Communications – Lamb web design
   
2. Sesame Communications – Kawatta web design
   
3. Sesame Communications – Adams web design
   
4. Sesame Communications – Kemp web design
   
5. Sesame Communications – Pazios web design
   
6. Sesame Communications – Elliot dental web design
   
7. New Project News – magazine report ad (making use of lots of the same word “leads”)
   
8. Sesame Communications – Oberg web design
   
9. Serene Coaching – New design & blog
   
10. Sesame Communications – Rey web design
    
11. Seattle Reproduction – flyer design
    
12. Sesame Communications – Lindenhurst web design
    
13. Sesame Communications – Alter web design
    
14. New Project News Magazine – Magazine layout
15. Sesame Communications – Paventy web design
    

These are projects I have worked on during the month of September:

1. Sesame Communications – Roth web design
   
2. Sesame Communications – Wright web design
   
3. Sesame Communications – Pratt web design
   
4. AMV – VanSkyhawk web design
   
5. Sesame Communications – Wiggins web design
   
6. Stritmatter – Print ads for Bar Bulletin and Trial News
   
7. Stritmatter – Postcard for speaking engagement in 2 spot colors
   
8. Sesame Communications – Mortensen redesign
   
9. Sesame Communications – Woods web design
   
10. Sesame Communications – Kim web design
    
11. Curvine – Waddell Properties web design
    
12. New Project News – Ad design for placement in magazine
    
13. Sesame Communications – Harrison web design
    
14. Sesame Communications – Fowler web design
    
15. Sesame Communications – Marxen web design
    
16. Sesame Communications – Hilgers web design
    
17. New Project News – Magazine layout
18. New Project News – Pinnacle ad design
    
19. Sesame Communications – Alter web design
    

Below is a list/samples of projects I worked on during the month of July 2009

1. Sesame Communications – Epstein web design
   
2. Sesame Communications – Steiman web design-take 2
   
3. AMV - Arundel web design (take 3)
   
4. Sesame Communications – Croco web design
   
5. Sesame Communications – Chung web design
   
6. Sesame Communications – Turner web design
   
7. Sesame Communications – Patton & House web design
   Client wanted a “movie theater” theme
   
8. Camp Fire – Invitation, reply card & envelope
   To keep costs to a minimum, no bleeds were used.
   
9. Stritmatter – Full size magazine ad (black & white)
   
10. Sesame Communications – Sabatino web design
    
11. Sesame Communications – Ribarevski web design
    
12. Adam Smith – Customized Twitter background
    
13. Sesame Communications – Michael Wall web design
    
14. Sesame Communications – McCaskey web design
    
15. Sesame Communications - Fernandes web design
    
16. Jensen Law – Revised business cards
17. Sesame Communications – Mastroianni web design
    
18. Stritmatter – Save the date flyer
    
19. Sesame Communications – Caruso web design
    
20. Sesame Communications – Ossie web design
    
21. AMV – Windermere realtor web design (2 options)
    

Are you an individual or small business that knows you need some sort of logo to help identify you from competitors? Do you have no idea what you want in a logo, making it hard to talk to a graphic designer? Below are some quick tips to help articulate ideas to shorten the design process and potentially saving you some money.

1. Look at the logos of other businesses in your industry. Do your competitors use solid, conservative images, or flashy graphics and type? Think about ways you want to differentiate your logo from your competition.
2. Make a list of your values and circle the top three. Values are what appeal to your target market and are true to you as business. These things are so important that they become rules to guide your company. Values are who you want to be and how you get there. They are your culture.
3. Make a list of brand attributes (metaphors, descriptive words and symbols) and circle the top three. The brand attributes are personality traits that reflect the idea that businesses can be viewed in much the same way that people are. We react emotionally to all our interactions with them. It’s important to ensure that these interactions are consistently on target with just the right business feel and tone of voice.
4. Now that you have a list of values and attributes, what images, symbols, or colors come to mind when you think of them? Make a list of them.
5. Round up a group of other people in your network. Share your values, attributes, images, symbols, etc. to get feedback. Often, you are too close to your ideas. Your network can see your business as a consumer/client and give you valuable information. They may come up with ideas you haven’t thought about. Be sure to write down all ideas, no matter how outrageous.
6. Your logo should be clean and functional. Your logo should work well on a business card or a billboard. A good logo should be easy to reproduce. Icons are better than photographs since they can be deciphered when scaled small. If you include too much detail, think about what it will look like scaled really small or on a fax.
7. Using all the information you have gathered, sketch out some ideas on paper. Logos can be one of three types: font-based, consisting primarily of a type treatment; an illustrated logo that literally illustrates what your company does, such as when a house-painting company uses an illustration of a brush in its logo; or an abstract graphic symbol, such as Nike’s swoosh, that becomes linked to a company’s brand. You don’t have to be an artist. If your shape doesn’t look quite like it should, make a note of what it should be. The point is to get a rough idea to share with a designer.
8. Explore your colors. One thing you need to be careful of as you explore your color options is cost. A five-color logo might look gorgeous, but the price won’t be so attractive when you put it on stationary. Try not to exceed three colors unless you deem it absolutely necessary.
9. Take your rough sketches and ideas to a graphic designer. Shop around for a graphic designer. If the price seems high, look at it this way—remember that a good logo should last at least 10 years. If you look at the amortization of that cost over a 10-year period, it doesn’t seem so bad. Sure, you can find a cheap designer, but you often get what you pay for. A graphic designer can take your ideas and give them some finesse, as well as make them digital. Since you have done your homework, you cut down on the amount of time a designer has to brainstorm with you, which could potentially save time and money.
10. Next steps. Be sure to get several versions of your new logo. At a minimum, you should request a color version, a black & white version and a reversed version. Depending on your design, you might also want both a horizontal and vertical version. Insist on getting vector versions of your logo (.eps) with the fonts converted to outlines. You don’t’ need to know what that means and you might not even be able to open the file, but it’s extremely important. You need to safeguard these files as any other business asset. Any time you work with a print company, print designer, web designer, etc. be sure to give them these files. They will love you! Have your logo designer also give you JPG or PNG versions of each version of your logo so you can use it in email, Word docs, etc.

With a well-designed logo, potential clients can instantly discover how your business can serve them.

I’m working on-site at HL2 for the first half of this month, so there won’t be as many other client projects.

1. Synergene: Produce Labels
   
2. Roomaker Organizing: Postcard
   

   The following projects were done during the second half of the month.

3. Camp Fire USA – Flyer (bottom left black for overprint)
   
4. ATZ – Doug Fox Web Redesign
   
5. Sesame Communications – Leff Web Design
   
6. New Project News – Magazine Layout
   
7. Media Services – Web Redesign & Development
   
8. Andrea Benoit – FSI Presentation Folder & Inserts
   
9. CRM - Sesame Postcard
   
10. Ad Agency – Ad design
11. Animal Sense – Logo Design Comps
    
12. Jim Myers - Logo Design Comps
    
13. ATZ – Garage Craft Logo Comp
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