imjustcreative–Graham Smith: Logo Designer

Fender Logo Design Evolution

Graham Smith — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 15:19:48 +0000

“Spaghetti” Fender Logo Design

As with the Marshall logo, the original ‘spaghetti’ style Fender logo (above) is by [someone unknown], although general chatter suggests it was based on Leo Fender’s own signature with the ‘F’ being simply reversed! It’s a detail like that that can really create a truly ownable brand mark. Not happy with letters the right way round? No problem, just reverse them! :)

Fender has used several styles of logos, usually referred to as: “Spaghetti”, “Transition”, and “CBS” which were used to adorn the headstocks of their guitars.

The term ‘spaghetti’ wasn’t official, but was penned by Fender enthusiasts and collectors in later decades. This original version of the logo was used in the 1950′s and 1960′s on most of the Fender instruments, including: Esquire®, Broadcaster®, Telecaster®, Stratocaster®, Precision Bass® and Jazzmaster® guitars as well as several other Fender instruments of that period.

“Transition” Fender Logo

The gold logo (above) with black outline was called the ‘transition logo’, and was designed by adman and graphic designer, Robert Perine.

The main reason for deploying a new logo was that Robert wanted to cut down on all the various Fender trademarks in use, and thus adopt one single logo type.

Perine’s new Fender logo was used up and till CBS took Fender by the reigns which was introduced in 1967. The gold version of the logo was called the ‘transition’ logo simply because it spanned the ’spaghetti’ style Fender logo of the 1950′s, and pre Fender CBS-era of the late 1960′s.

CBS-era Fender Logo

Information on the CBS-era Fender logo is somewhat scarce, but it was a thick black logo that was used between 1968-1980.

You can see the difference in all 3 versions below, the last one being the style used by CBS until the 1980′s when Fender changed back to using the ”transition” and “spaghetti” logos, depending on the model.

Current Fender Logo

What’s interesting is that the Fender logo you know see on the website (below), white lettering on red background, is pretty damn close to the first ’spaghetti’ style logo but for a few positional changes, curves and proportions.

• The white on red version of the logo has now been archived to my Logo Stack collection, filed under: Fender

I have crudely over laid both the original, and new logos (below), for comparison. The red lettering is the logo currently is use whereas the slightly pixelated black/grey version is the original ’spaghetti’ style Fender logo.

Who designed the current Fender logo?

I can’t find any information on who ‘tweaked’ the newest logo now used by Fender, but I think it’s safe to say that who ever designed the first one takes credit for the Fender logo overall give it’s closeness to the original logo design. Unless you disagree?

Resources

Some official information on the history of the Fender logo over on Fender.com and you can download various Fender brand logos and style guides on their Brand Logo page.

Read Fender Logo Design Evolution on imjustcreative - logo & brand identity design portfolio and blog.

Allowing a Client to Choose a Font for Their Logo [AQFG]

Graham Smith — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 11:16:01 +0000

I certainly understand that choosing the right font for a logo design can seem to some clients to be a complete mystery that will get them so worked up that they refuse to want anything to do with it. I guess with some clients that might be a good idea, but there are certainly some clients that might be better at selecting a font than they themselves realise.

I’m not necessarily talking about giving a client a ‘blank sheet’ and expect them to do your job for you, neither am I suggesting you SHOULD always give your client a choice, but there is place and time during the course a logo design where a clients input might make the client feel more part of the design process.

I know it might seem obvious to some of you, but I do know some designers who refuse to allow their clients any where near making a font choice because said designer has already got the final design signed-off in their head, even if the client doesn’t know it yet.

So I thought I would just scribble a few words about this important part of the logo design process.

I often find myself asking the client to choose from a selection of fonts that I have carefully and thoughtfully sifted though, often after days of searching and scanning 100′s and 100′s of options. Yet when I present this carefully curated list of font options the client can often remark, “I don’t know what I’m looking at because I know very little about fonts.” This is a honest response, but I also then feel that a client can make the idea of choosing a font to be so hideously difficult that they simply shut-down at the very idea of being asked to make a choice.

It’s important to explain to the client that you would not allow them to make a drastically bad decision, or choose a font that technically or aesthetically is totally inappropriate, but at the same time giving them some confidence to take part in the evolution of their logo.

If you don’t make it clear that you are the font ‘gate’ keeper, then they might reasonable presume they could choose completely the wront font which is where the anxiety usually comes from.

Often at this point in a logo projects evolution, the logo mark has been signed off, the general style of the font has also been approved: say a strong serif font (see above for Viva Chocolat: I used this selection as the final selection for the client to choose from, but I did thrown in a wild card). You’ve found a selection of approximately 12 serif fonts that you feel would work, but now would like the client to see if there is one from this ‘final’ selection that they like. It’s not them choosing life or death here, it’s giving them the opportunity to make a style choice that’s not going to break a logo into a million pieces.

I might say to them that it”s more about looking at a font style as a form of dress or suit: does it fit the body shape well, is it styled in a manor that is pleasing to you, and overall does it look appropriate to represent your brand.

One will know if a suit or dress is inappropriate for a certain event, we even know what’s acceptable for just going down the pub on a Friday. That decision would be much much easier then if you had your partner pick out 6 suits/dresses for you, and asked you to choose one knowing that all 6 would be suitable. All you need to do now is not worry about picking a suit that is going to be a disaster because you trust your partner to know exactly what is appropriate, so you can now breathe a little easier knowing that you can now choose one that best reflects the look you want to give.

The client needs to know that you have carefully selected a range of fonts that any one of would work, but one will, or could be, more preferable to the client even for a reason they might not understand. Simply might just be a gut feeling, or something else as to what font they choose.

Asking a client to choose a font doesn’t need to be a massively anxiety filled decision, or even one that is technically or right or wrong. You can also encourage them to try and give ‘simple’ reasons for any choice they make as they might surprise themselves, and you for that matter, by actually coming up with something that is valid and appropriate.

“Ultimately I wouldn’t let you choose a font that was totally wrong, inappropriate in any way!“*

*Although there are cases where a client will insist of a font choice that is a complete disaster even after your passionate pleas to listen to reason. Sometimes you simply can’t get through and have experienced reason taken seriously.

Ask Graham a Question on Logo & Brand Identity [AQFG]

If you have a question or issue that you need a hand with then please take a look at this post: http://imjustcreative.com/ask-graham-a-question-on-logo-brand-identity and feel free to whip me a line.

I’ll try my best to address it in a unique blog post so that you and others can hopefully get some use from it.

Read Allowing a Client to Choose a Font for Their Logo [AQFG] on imjustcreative - logo & brand identity design portfolio and blog.

Logo Stack: real world logo design inspiration

Graham Smith — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 15:56:52 +0000

If you like the sort of logo design inspiration that has it’s feet firmly in the real world, and not in the make-believe, then I’m hopeful you might like what Logo Stack has to offer.

I started Logo Stack because I was getting a bit jaded with the sheer amount of conceptual, made-up brand name logo designs popping up whilst researching and gathering inspiration for my own logo design projects.

We think we have control over what inspires us, yet we are swayed even when we don’t consciously know it, inspiration is a powerful beast.

When you end up not knowing if a logo was designed to a brief and real world application, or simply more of a portfolio filler—not saying there is anything wrong in make-believe logo designs, simply stating that it’s nice to be able to know exactly how and why a particular logo design came to be—then the boundaries between logos that represent real brands, and those that do not, are blurred to a point where real world logos seem to fade into the background.

The kind of logo inspiration one is ‘consciously’ seeking can be quite different to the inspiration our minds just relentlessly catalogues in our brains, and will often steer our creative direction as it pleases.

Ever designed somegthing you sure was original? Only to find out a few weeks later that you had actually seen something similar, but had not even realised it at the time? Even worse is when someone kindly points that out for you…

At Logo Stack you can be sure that every logo design you see has been used, or is in use by a client in the real world. That every logo you’ll see generally has a purpose and application behind the development and design of said logo.

I think the distinction between real and fantasy is quite important, more so when some logo design galleries are simply choc full of the conceptual.

You may not care if a logo is real or not, that inspiration is inspiration regardless of it’s intended use or destination, but I think it’s a little more important than that in some cases. Hence why I started Logo Stack, so at least there is a place to go should you just want ‘real’.

My Own Personal Taste

The other aspect about Logo Stack is that it’s primarily a collection of logo designs that I personally like, rather than a collection of all and any design.

It sort of started as my own personal inspiration hub, but ended up becoming openly available the more I realised other people were interested in seeing what sort of logo designs tickled my fancy.

Credits & Attributation

I’m also careful about attributing the proper credits and links to each logo design and it’s designer: be it a solo endeavour or a major agency. Therefore, each Logo Stack post details the project name, and the designer/agency responsible with links back to their home page, and if applicable, the actual project page.

I also add only one style of post Tag: this is the designer/agency name, which means there is a healthy database of names being indexed, and are of course searchable.

Quite a number of logos come from Mr Cup, (what used to be Graphic Exchange), but also come from many other sources. So if I haven’t stumbled across an agency website on my own travels, then I’ll also add a credit to the website I found out about that particular logo.

Just for Clarity

As mentioned above just want to be absolutely bloody clear that I am not dissing the: conceptual, the made-up, the experimentational* (*apparently not a real word) logo design.

What I am trying to do is just create more of an awareness between what we allow ourselves to be influenced by. I have done my fair share of experimenting and still do… it’s an important way to keep ones skills fresh as well as just enjoying the freedom of designing for the hell of it.

But sometimes I just want and need to be influenced by the real, not the unreal.

Other Ways to Follow Logo Stack

Feed: You can follow the updates to Logo Stack by the websites feed (RSS), and view in your favourite feed reader.

Pinterest: There is a Logo Stack board on Pintertest, so if this is your inspiration hub, then you’ll easilt be able to keep-up-to-date.

Designspiration: Shelby is doing a terrific job over at Designspiration, and I have finally been able to create a Logo Stack section over there as well.

Flickr: I have created a Flickr Logo Stack Set that also will contain all new logo designs published to Logo Stack.

Twitter: Each new post gets Tweeted with a #LogoStack ‘hashtag’

Tumblr: Each Logo Stack post is sent on it’s merry way to my casual tumblr account, but it’s not specific to Logo Stack.

Google+: As Tumblr above each new Logo Stack post is published to my Google+ feed

Read Logo Stack: real world logo design inspiration on imjustcreative - logo & brand identity design portfolio and blog.

Beano Brand Guidelines Designed by Wayne Hemingway

Graham Smith — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 11:43:19 +0000

Now this is what I call a serious flashback to some sweet childhood memories! I was an avid Beano reader and was a member of the Beano fan club with some cool dudey membership items that I can’t properly remember now. I forgot the joy and excitement waiting for the next Beano just drop through the door with my Dad’s newspaper, such excitement.

So it’s simply magical to see these Beano Brand Guidelines, designed by Wayne Hemingway, surface on the web. I have pulled out a few of the pages from the Beano PDF which you can view in full over on Design Week’s Beano post

» Via: Design Week: Beano Brand Guidelines Designed by Wayne Hemingway

Read Beano Brand Guidelines Designed by Wayne Hemingway on imjustcreative - logo & brand identity design portfolio and blog.

The Curse of Literal in Logo Design [AQFG]

Graham Smith — Fri, 31 May 2013 14:24:18 +0000

One of the hurdles I find with some projects is a clients belief that the logo should ‘literally’ convey all and every possible meaning and association that they can find. If a logo design is packaged with such literal meanings, and visual clues, then how could anyone misinterpret the logo, or be in any doubt what the logo is representing?

The main problem with loading a logo design with literal symbols is that we don’t really end up with a logo design, but more a busy, and oftentimes, cliche icon and/or mess. I’m not just talking about a client wanting a leaf in the logo because they sell plants, or a car salesmen who wants a car in the logo, I’m talking more broadly where a client may not be aware that a logo isn’t really about trying to make their whole business philosophy somehow visually apparent in the logo design.

To them, and I don’t mean to be patronising, this is a relatively common sense assumption, and this is why we often see such overly obvious logo and shop signs in local towns, and yes, even with larger more global prominent brands.

The curse of the literal cliche loaded logo can be found everywhere.

On one hand it sort of makes sense that if you have a logo that it should try it’s best to convey exactly what the business is about, and I can quite understand how a client may want this approach. Often thought that’s actually not the goal of a logo or identity designer, it’s more about finding the deeper meanings, drive and inner workings of a particular company or brand.

As logo and brand identity designers we are not particularly looking to create an obvious icon or symbol that is loaded with literal visual clues and meanings. Examples of such are more aligned with road sings, icons and symbols for toilets, disabilities, parking and other public facing areas where the icon has to convey, in the cleanest and simplest way possible, a literal meaning of what to expect.

Logo design as a whole doesn’t really fall into this area, although some logo designs do end up actually being quite literal, but this would be all part of the plan from the outset. The difference is that some brands may benefit from this approach, but others not, but if they do then there is generally a good reason for it.

Consider that many companies have logo designs that when viewed complete alone, don’t actually appear to mean an awful lot. Yet when you take time to look into the company, take the rest of the brand identity into consideration, the logo is likely to make far more sense as a complete package.

It’s not always neccessary to design a logo that when viewed alone makes much sense, but it is important to still try and embody some of the companies soul, essence, personality through the choice of design, colours and typography.

I try and explain to clients who are expecting to see a logo design loaded with literal and easy to understand visual clues, “to try and view your logo as a graphical short hand, or unique avatar for the brand name/business, where the logo styling: abstract, monogram, initials, crest, word mark etc, helps set the initial tone, along then with a tag-line, USP (unique selling point), philosophy, descriptions, elevator pitch, and the other parts of the visual identity will all come together to breathe life into the brand.” If a client doesn’t have a USP, doesn’t know really what they are doing or how to sell the idea convincingly to someone in a few minutes, then it’s hardly fair to expect a logo designer to be able to fill the gap—and why would you take on such a project in the first place?

It’s important not to allow a client to get carried away with believing the logo should, on first-glance, tell who ever it looking at it everything there is to know about the company. This might seem obvious, but I get many completed project briefs where the client has indicated that ‘this, that, this and this plus that and some of this’ must all be conveyed in the logo design.

You, as their logo designer, need to set expectations over what the logo needs achieve as soon as possible. We are generally not designing a road sign icon that implicitly conveys what a company does. Again, that’s not to say that in come cases a logo design might not benefit from that approach. If that is an approach that could work then it’s because you have looked at the other options for this client in particular, and because of what they do it may be really important that a logo design is as clear as possible.

What I’m trying to advise is that you don’t allow yourself to get carried away by saying, “yes yes yes”, to whatever the client asks of you because you want to keep them happy. Remember you are the expert, and the client will be relying on you, whether they know it or not, to steer them the right way, even if they are reluctant to listen at first.

The skill is understanding the complete big picture about what is appropriate for each client (not the client per-sai, but the business/product you are designing for), and then forming a design direction that can, in the cleanest way possible infer/hint/suggest at some of the more important aspects of their brand, or personality, whilst creating a logo mark that is appropriate for their needs, and for the intended audience.

If you are going to go literal in your logo then then ensure it’s because you feel it’s the right direction for the client and their brand needs, and not because you don’t have the balls to say NO! :)

Ask Graham a Question on Logo & Brand Identity

If you have a question or issue that you need a hand with then please take a look at this post: http://imjustcreative.com/ask-graham-a-question-on-logo-brand-identity and feel free to whip me a line.

I’ll try my best to address it in a unique blog post so that you and others can hopefully get some use from it.

Read The Curse of Literal in Logo Design [AQFG] on imjustcreative - logo & brand identity design portfolio and blog.

“I think you are more perfect than Helvetica” Poster by Bisgràfic

Graham Smith — Wed, 08 May 2013 14:34:34 +0000

Know someone who shares your insatiable lust for Helvetica? Then head over to Bisgràfic and check out their gorgeous Helvetics poster which simply states, “I think you are more perfect than Helvetica”. I would be dead chuffed if someone gifted me this.

For €40 you will get a 300 limited edition run of a 50x70cm offset poster printed in two colours onto 150g/m2 stock. Boom.

Bisgràfic also have a fine selection of other posters/prints to purchase on their BStore

That’s one heck of a nerdy compliment!

» Via: CosasVisuales
» Source: Bisgraphic

Read “I think you are more perfect than Helvetica” Poster by Bisgràfic on imjustcreative - logo & brand identity design portfolio and blog.

New York City Transit Authority Graphics Standards Manual by Massimo Vignelli

Graham Smith — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 13:26:15 +0000

New York City Transit Authority Graphics Standards Manual

There are a few real world establishments that can claim to have the endearing longevity that the brand identity for the New York City Transit Authority has had and continues to experience. Designed by Massimo Vignelli of Unimark International, in New York in 1970, the New York City Transit Authority’s brand identity has achieved cult status amongst the creative community.

Niko Skourtis, Jesse Reed and Hamish Smyth have collectively created this archival record of the New York City Transit Authority Graphics Standards Manual by Massimo Vignelli. This site is dedicated to serve as an archival record of a first edition NYCTA Graphics Standards Manual designed by Massimo Vignelli of Unimark International. The manual was found in a locker beneath old gym clothes. Roll over the images to magnify. Enjoy.

The http://thestandardsmanual.com micro-site is dedicated to the graphics standards manual of the New York City Transit Authority, and has 182 photographs showing each page of the binded manual. Stunning.

» Source: New York City Transit Authority Graphics Standards Manual

» Via: BrandNew

Read New York City Transit Authority Graphics Standards Manual by Massimo Vignelli on imjustcreative - logo & brand identity design portfolio and blog.

Niice: A [Logo] Design Search Engine With Taste

Graham Smith — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:22:36 +0000

As designers we certainly have a healthy supply of places to draw logo design inspiration from, but it’s always intesting to see new takes on web site inspiration format.

Niice simply collects logo designs and other graphic design imagery from: Dribbble, Behance and Designspiration and free flows them into a flexible grid for instant consumption.

Key in your search tag criteria and boom…

» Source: http://www.niice.co/

Read Niice: A [Logo] Design Search Engine With Taste on imjustcreative - logo & brand identity design portfolio and blog.

Vintage Cover Designs From The US Space Program

Graham Smith — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 11:18:11 +0000

A stunning collection of 20 American space (NASA) program: covers, reports, brochures and other vintage era space themed design and typography all from an upcoming: 2013 April 18 Space Exploration Signature Auction by Heritage Auctions.

Just trying to imagine the excitement of having the responsibility to create such historic pieces of design. My favourite cover is this last one above for the Gemini Press Reference Book, but in general there is some gorgeous typography through out the entire collection.

» Source: http://space.kinja.com/
» Via: Daring Fireball

Read Vintage Cover Designs From The US Space Program on imjustcreative - logo & brand identity design portfolio and blog.

iconify.co: a clean, fast, responsive and minimal logo portfolio

Graham Smith — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 12:36:01 +0000

Affiliate Links: Links to Iconify in this post are of the affiliate variety. This means that if you sign-up to the paid plan I get a nice little financial kick-back. I don’t usually do affiliate stuff, but I’m making an exception in this case

iconify.co: a clean, fast, responsive and minimal logo portfolio

I did an ever so tiny write-up on iconify.co a while back: Iconify—An Online, Responsive, Minimal & Downloadable Portfolio App before I had chance to use it myself. Now I have used it, uploaded all of my logo and icon designs, just wanted to do a quick follow up on this rather nice online portfolio.

I like it because it’s so damn quick and easy to set-up and upload your work. No faffing around, no extraneous fancy extras to get in your way and slow you down from publishing a straightforward really accesible gallery of your work.

Don’t think I have used, and continue to use, something as user friendly, both user and client end, as Iconify. You can view my Iconify portfolio here: https://iconify.co/imjustcreative

I have tried them all over the years, they come and go, with the more established ones like: Behance, Cargo Collective, Flickr etc staying the distance, but if you really want a super quick, mobile friendly platform to cleanly display your work then I can’t recommend Iconify highly enough.

For me it has become the first 3rd party web based portfolio that I update, usually even before my own hosted portfolio here on imjustcreative, simply because it’s just so quick and easy to update. After I have updated Iconify then I usually update the imjustcreative portfolio, then Behance and possibly Flickr if I can be arsed. I used to like CargoCollective, but just having all the customisation options there sort of makes me shudder.

Because you can set up folders on the left side navigation you can basically create self contained projects, or smaller sub portfolios.

I have created a master logo portfolio, a portfolio for my monomarks, and a folder for the few icons I have designed. There are no text entry options, not even captions which I actually love because it forces you to just focus on the imagery and let it speak for it self, which obviously also makes uploading and updating the portfolio so blindingly fast and painless.

There is a simple analytics page, as well as just two clean themes to choose from, and again: less choice means less time with draining choices to make, and I just love this about iconify.

One of the smartest features is it’s mobile friendly nature, from being fully responsive on all devices right down to being able to download, from a mobile device, the portfolio as a mobile app.

If you’re stressing because you don’t have any kind of portfolio at this moment, then Iconify will enable you to get up and running in no time. If like me you maintain several portfolios then I think Iconify will also provide you with a version of your portfolio that is always ready and waiting to be updated in super quick time. I sometimes use my Iconify URL as I actually prefer the way it looks and works over my own portfolio on imjustcreative!

Sign-up

Got nothing much to lose by signing up for the free plan, then you might come to the same conclusion I have come to.

Nice little video from the folks at Iconify:

Read iconify.co: a clean, fast, responsive and minimal logo portfolio on imjustcreative - logo & brand identity design portfolio and blog.

A Logo Design Project Nearly Wrapped-up

Graham Smith — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 15:08:37 +0000

Been a while since I have been able to post anything of note on my main website blog due to being incredibly busy with some hefty client logo projects over the last few months.

One of these logo design projects is for NAA: Network Architect Associates, which is almost complete. We are just finalising smaller details like: type size, spacing, proportions and brand colours, but the actual logo mark design itself is complete (below).

Yes indeed, the logo mark is a representation of the companies initials forming a pretty solid, and identifiable brand mark in it’s own right. This design isn’t meant to be a straightforward typographic mark, but more of a semi abstract, highly stylised representation of the initials. It doesn’t particularly matter if people don’t see the NAA initially, or even at all, but for those that do it should end up being a memorably mark.

I choose this direction because the full company name is somewhat long, and the client had stated early on that the logo design ought to focus on the initials in preference to the whole three word brand.

For those of you looking to find meaning in the logo mark design, there are a few nice ones:

• I like the appearance of this pyramid, a period where all all the amazing architectural developments were made brick by brick. That a pyramid is enduring, captures our imagination, gives impression of complexity made to look ‘simple’, that we have interlocking pieces that build the NAA brand from the ground-up all whilst showing a upwards and onwards positivity. Building, designing and forming.

• My client did serve in the USAF, and he did mention that he wanted his brand to, “To capture the “energy” of our group, I use the military special forces as an analogy. I’d say my team is like the SAS of networking–highly specialized, talented, fast, young, and aggressive.” Early on in the logo designs development it seemed to take on the shape of a stealthy B2 Bomber which forms a bit of a personal bond to the brand for the client.

• This is a company that wants to be seen as relatively aggressive in a ‘getting things done’ way,

• Conveniently there are 3 partners in the company which are represented by each part of the logo marks structure.

So there we have it for now. A quick overview of my latest logo design project with a full logo developmental process post to come at some undetermined time in the future.

Read A Logo Design Project Nearly Wrapped-up on imjustcreative - logo & brand identity design portfolio and blog.

Designer Expenses: What Do You Claim For?

Graham Smith — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 08:59:58 +0000

Been very busy with client work of late, and so I decided to cut back on elements of blogging and twitteresque activities in order to better focus on the job at hand.

With that has come a nice sense of freedom and clarity, as well as leaving more time to deal with the annual accounts of a self-employed logo designer.

Have nearly managed to get my accounts done in time for Christmas, which compared to last year is a massive improvement. Last year my poor accountant got my accounts around the 27th January!

This time round I have focused a lot more on ‘expenses’ and being quite rigourous with what I can claim as an ‘expense’.

So, I’m somewhat curious, as a self-employed/freelance designer: what sort of things do YOU claim legitimate expenses for? Feel free to leave comments below as a helpful list for others.

Some things I have added to my ‘expenses’:
• Paypal Fee’s
• International SWIFT/CHAP’s process fee’s
• Portion of household and premise utility bills (work from home)
• Studio refurbishment (3rd bedroom): decorating materials etc.
• Certain car expenses: mileage, parking, partial cost of buying car etc.
• Client work and consultation.
• Accountancy book keeping fee’s. NOT preparation of tax returns!
• Advertising & Marketing: imjustcreative branded printing and stationery costs etc.
• Books & research: Self tuition/learning/training costs
• Computer Equipment & accessories
• Mobile phone bills
• BT Broadband bills
• Stationery & Postage
• Occasional client related expenses: meals, travel etc.
• Directory submission costs: logo galleries etc.
• Hosting & domains: 123-Reg, York Networks
• Web app subscriptions: Freshbooks, Vaultpress, Cage, Flickr, Evernote etc
• Application, software & typeface purchases for: Macintosh, iPhone and Android

Read Designer Expenses: What Do You Claim For? on imjustcreative - logo & brand identity design portfolio and blog.

Mini Review—Makeappicon: Generate app icons of all sizes in a click!

Graham Smith — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 11:19:25 +0000

Interesting web based application in the form of makeappicon.com The simple idea is to slip in your 1024px icon master then makeappicon hurls out a number of popular app icon size for both iOS and Android.

I tried it ‘oh so quickly with my simple grape iOS app icon and it gave me 10 new app icon sizes in about 3 seconds.

Please note that I have not opened up and checked these individual files for quality, signs of degradation or other ‘too good to be true’ unwanted pixel scenarious.

I always create each app icon size manually so as to be able to ensure the whole pixel-fitting is in order, and would hazard a guess that makeappicon.com wouldn’t be able to automagically do this.

However, even if the individual icons are not 100%, the fact that you have a simple and quick means to knock out some provisional app icons for testing etc is a huge potential time saver for when you are at the early stages of the icon design and just want to get a quick feel for how the design will look in-situ and at smaller sizes. Plus, even if you don’t want to rely on it for individual icon sizes you still get a quick way to get an iPhone phone mock-up with icon in place with text.

It’s definitely worth a go especially as it’s FREE!

» Via: http://makeappicon.com

Read Mini Review—Makeappicon: Generate app icons of all sizes in a click! on imjustcreative - logo & brand identity design portfolio and blog.

The $999 Olympus OM-D vs $7995 Leica Monochrom

Graham Smith — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 11:50:59 +0000

Like a number of other people, I have realised that relying on the iPhone for photography has become a lazy ass way to rely on taking all photographs. I got interested in photography as a 5 year old, and my Father got me my first SLR, a Canon T70, when I was 12, and ever since then had been very much into digital photography until…

The first iPhone arrived at a time when I was just about ready to upgrade my trusty Canon EOS 300D, and became a devout iPhone photo taking butt head. Over a few years I became somewhat disillusioned with iPhonography as my only picture taking outlet, and my passion for SLR photography practically disappeared. Convenience is one thing, and there is no doubt that I have managed to capture some remarkably unpredictable moments because I had my iPhone with me, but to utterly abandon my passion for DLSR photography was a foolish decision. There were a few financial considerations for me over the last few years, namely not being able to afford a decent replacement for the 300, which did further factor into my reliance on the ‘best camera is the one you have with you’, ie the iPhone, mentality.

A few months ago I decided enough is enough: I eased back into ‘proper’ photography by getting the excellent Fuji X10. Getting a compact camera was still an important factor for me, as I was somewhat now put-off by the idea of carrying a full size DSLR around. The Fuji X10 was a means to just refamilirase myself with all the manual settings that I so liked to play with, but had got rusty with whilst totally relying on my iPhone for ALL photographs over the last few years.

The passion quickly returned whilst using the Fuji X10, and now I’m ready to finally make the move back to full DLSR photography.

I have so far zeroed down on the Olympus OM-D EM-5 Micro Four Thirds as a clear favourite, but that brand change would mean foregoing all the Canon the glass I had collected over the years: not a problem given the age of some of my lenses.

This crazy ass comparison of the Olympus OM-D vs Leica Monocrhom (thanks to @imrogb for the heads up) has only reinforced my decision, and couldn’t be happier with my refocusing on DSLR photography. My 2nd camera will still be the excellent Fuji X10 with the 3rd back-up being the Samsung Galaxy S3. That set-up should just about now fulfil all my requirements.

» Source: SteveHuffPhoto

Read The $999 Olympus OM-D vs $7995 Leica Monochrom on imjustcreative - logo & brand identity design portfolio and blog.

Explaining Logo Design Budgets to Clients

Graham Smith — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 14:39:06 +0000

The question I’m most asked? “How much will it cost me for you to design me a logo?”, and that’s often bluntly asked in the first line of a one line only email.

Sometimes I do get people calling me up for a chat which ends up them asking me how much I charge for a logo design. Due to the way I work it’s rarely as simple as just giving someone an accurate fixed price, especially if I have little, or no, idea about what I am supposed to be designing a logo for.

The usual scenario that unrolls once I am asked that question, “How much do you charge for a logo design?”, is that I first ask them to take a look and consider filling in my online design brief form that enables the all important brief to be formed as well suggesting they browse my logo design price guide. Although these are guides, they do provide quite a good overall idea of how much it may cost to work with me, and may be the moment they realise I’m somewhat too expensive etc.

Oftentimes I do end up talking to a potential client on the phone whom expresses a clear motivation in wanting to hire the ‘right person’ for their logo design, as well as being aware of the possible costs involved, but they need some ‘help’ getting their head around the prices that they have seen on my price page.

I nearly always end up putting that question of “how much?” back to the client because I feel it’s important that a potential logo design budget is something the client needs to work out for themselves. The way I explain this is as follows.

Analogies

I worked up a few analogies that I feel explain the importance of charging the right amount for a logo design, whilst also explaining the motivation, justification and reasoning behind the ‘why’ as well as the importance of a client understanding exactly what they are supposedly spending all this money on.

We are accustomed to spending money, without thinking about it, on things, like: iPhone apps, coffee and cake, clothes, gadgets and we often do so without regard. Yet the the moment we need to buy something really expensive and important, something that is not as easily “blindly justified”: a need rather than a want, we have to sit down and take stock of a few things which usually means regretting all those app’s we have bought recently, any cool mid price gadgets £250-£500, and other non crucial 1st world desirable item that has mysteriously eaten into our savings at the expense of putting more cash into our pension.

I like to think that my analogies help to provide the client with a real world comparison that allows them to view the idea of a logo design budget as something that is important, valid and worthwhile.

An ‘expense’ that they could be ‘almost’ excited about, not viewing it as a burdening drain on their cashflow much like we might do with: car insurance, car repairs, household utility bills, house repairs and other unexpected yet expensive drains on ones finances.

How it Works

Once I am asked the question of how much a logo design will cost, and I have bounced it right back to them, I will then follow up with a few nuggets of wisdom. It’s all about providing the context, some much needed real world comparisons that makes the digestion of having to work out a budget a little easier to make, as well as justify.

I’ll typically start by explaining: “As with many things in life we often have to sit down and work out how much we want to spend, or can spend, or have to spend on something really important.”

Then I’ll hit them with my analogies.

Analogy One: You are saving up for a much need holiday, one that will definately break the bank, one that is needed due to your constant hard work over the years. You’ll have a pretty good idea about: how much is too much, and how much is not enough as you go through all your other expenses and outgoings.

This holiday is really important to you, so you make a determined effort to try and afford the best you can, whilst not totally breaking the bank. You’ll quickly have a figure in your head that may need some justification on your behalf, but ultimately you know that it will be worth the investment and drain on your bank balance.

That budget, although definitely steep, is still one you are ‘mostly’ happy and excited about spending given the positive effects it will have on you, or just worry about the financial fall-out when you get back. The holiday blues is no real mystery in most cases.

Analogy Two: Your car of 7 years, that has served you well, finally gets to a point where it’s no longer financially viable to fix all those MOT failures, even though it may still have years left in her could you indefinitely throw money at her.

So the time comes where you have to sit down and think about a new car budget. It’s going to be steep, but you’ll instinctively have a good idea about how far you can stretch yourself with this expensive, yet perfectly justifiable replacement.

Assuming you don’t go crazy stupid on some loan, or other form of credit, you’ll likely buy yourself a car that, whilst hurting your bank account, will provide you with many more years of happy motoring.

A car is typically expensive, yet it still creates that passion and excitement that can help numb that can financial sting.

Analogy Three: Your one bedroom studio loft has served you well over the years, but now you have gotten your girlfriend pregnant you’ll need to expand your living quarters considerably!

As with Analogy One & Two, once you have crunched all the numbers, added your joint salaries, minused the outgoing and baby orientated expenses, you’ll come to budget that will, hopefully, provide you with an adequately sized family house for 3+.

Clearly, buying a house, is no where near the same league as a holiday or buying a car, but the overall emotions are similar in that you are looking to spend the most you will ever spend, yet still be excited/nervous about doing so.

Investment vs Burdensome Cost

I chose these analogies because they demonstrate that not all things we choose, or need, to spend our money on will be easy decisions to make. We do so because we ultimately know that the longer term advantages are clear, and this provides the much needed sense of justification and rationalisation that can otherwise drown us in guilt, cause significant doubt, if we have not done an adequate job of analysing all the pro’s and con’s.

A logo and identity design, at least for many clients that I work with, could well be for some new business/product/service in the pipeline. This client has clearly had to make a number of important strategic decisions to even get this far, not to mention the personal and emotional cost that starting a new business can have on you.

They’ll likely be throwing every single ounce of personal energy and motivation, all their collective focus, energy, faith, eggs into one basket, into this ‘thing’, that is ultimately designed to earn themselves an income.

An income provides us with the opportunity to buy that much needed holiday, that new car or family home. A new logo and identity design is something that deserves to be regarded as an investment into the success of your future, rather than a drain on your wallet.

Yet, and very unfortunately, the logo and identity is often the last thing to be considered. This is not always a massive practical problem for a designer, but it invariably ends up being a financial problem for the client due to dwindling financial resources. Then it comes down to finding a logo designer who’s logo design prices meet with the clients expectations, and this is when the fun can start.

Sitting down and thinking about how important and valuable a new logo and/or brand identity will be to you is not so dissimilar to the analogies above, and in many cases deserves, maybe, more priority than: a 2nd car, or that 3rd holiday this year to Aspen.

I really do find that explaining that a logo design budget being viewed as being a worthwhile investment, rather than a burdensome cost, can to some clients, make the difference to how they approach the sticky issue of: how much to spend on a logo design.

As a designer, it’s not just about having to sell yourself, you also need to be able to sell the end result, the promise and excitement of a logo along with the cost involved to someone who will placing a heck of a lot of trust in you.

A car they can see, a holiday they can imagine, a house they can also see, but a logo design? They only have your portfolio which is of things past. Just something to keep in mind.

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