Thread: logo design

i'm looking for someone to design a logo for our school,
any ideas how i go about that?

i really have no ideas as to what i want, apart from that it needs to be used for advertising (business cards, flyers, posters) and we want to put it on t-shirts/sweat shirts. i'm thinking something with our name, but maybe i also want a bellydancer on there (and not a picture of myself, but something more generic).

have others had a logo professionally designed? how did you go about it?i

if anyone here does this kind of work and wants to work with me on this, feel free to email me (info@emotionvzw.be)



thanks

Artemisia

Email my student at zeline@fairpoint.net

she's a designer? she did some work for you?

Yes she is. She hasn't done any for me yet, we're working on that. She's done some amazing work though. Just gorgeous! Her name is Melissa and she's going out on her own, so she's cheap!

Artemisia -- I have done this kind of work, but it's not my strong suit. I can give you a little advice though.

Like bellydancers, there are a lot of artists out there who are willing to work for free/cheap or call themeselves designers, and (like with dancers) many have a lot of talent & creativity. But for this kind of work, you want someone with good technical skills & marketing sense. Before you hire someone, make sure they have plenty of experience & understand the computer side of graphics & print reproduction.

Special considerations for a logo:

- It should be vector-based (run from any so-called 'pro' who doesn't know what that means!). Basically, it means your artist will be working in a program like Illustrator rather than photoshop. Vector-based drawings allow crisp, clear reproduction at any size.

- It should be simple (or at least offer a simple version). If you wanted to reproduce it on a pen or rubber stamp, for instance, it should still be recognizable. Can it be embroidered on a shirt pocket?

- It needs to look good in a single color. Being stuck with a logo that HAS to be reproduced in full-color to look good will cost you a fortune in the long run. Will it look good printed small, in smudgy black ink, in a newspaper ad? That's always a good test!

- Make sure you'll get the versions you need. You should recive, at minimum, eps versions for print production (black only and full color) and jpeg, gif or ping versions in various sizes for your website.

- Some artists won't give you the originals OR the rights to them and want to be paid again every time you have them send the art to your web designer, your business card printer, the newspaper for an ad, etc. I hate this system. A company *needs* to own the rights to its own logo, IMO.

Those are just the technical considerations. Stylistically, you want the logo to be as versatile as possible so you can change the style of your web page or stationery without needing a new logo. I can't stress enough that simple is best. Remember, Nike just has a swoosh, AT&T has a globe with lines through it, many companies just use their name in a simple but recognizable typeface.

From a marketing standpoint, try to get your desired image down to just one word or two -- Exotic? Artistic? Slick? Fun? Vibrant? Make sure you don't lose sight of that marketing message as you review art -- it's easy to talk yourself into a cool logo that doesn't sell what you want to sell!

thank you Lauren for that ton of info!!

so you would suggest i consult the local yellow pages and find a design company? i do want to hire a pro, it's just that my friends who did that for their websites ended up with crap,... and people that did not understand what they wanted.

from my gut instinct, i would just go for something with our name. other hand, it would be nice to have something that people recoginize as having something to do with bellydance.

our house style in one word, will think about that one, good idea

hmm, will google some more.

Oh, and where to look -- if Amity's student doesn't turn out to be a good match, you can try sites like elance.com

Just be sure to interview any potential artist about what rights you'd be buying (will you own the art or just the right to use it?) and what formats they'll provide you with, their experience & technical qualifications. And of course, study their portfolio carefully.

thanks, just emailed amity's student AND a bunch of local design companies whose portfolio's looked ok... now let's see

do you have any idea Lauren about what kind of money i should/would be spending?

Good advice! I hate photographers who don't allow rights to pictures of you! IMO, that shouldn't even be legal.

with photographs you hardly ever get copyright. with all my (very limited) photo shoots, i've had contracts allowing me certain uses of the pics, and allowing the photographer certain uses, but copyright ultimately has always stayed with the photographer. i do think logo's are a different business...

Originally Posted by artemisia_danst

do you have any idea Lauren about what kind of money i should/would be spending?

I found this great little article on that subject -- he gets plenty specific enough, I think, but of course these are U.S. dollars.
http://www.curtoons.com/logo-design-prices.htm

His ballpark of $300-1500 sounds wide. For a business the size of a dance studio, I'd say $250-750. The more specific you can be in terms of asking for what you want, the less I think you should have to pay. Some clients already have a vision of what the logo should look like and just need someone to render it. Others want to see several ideas and ask to see a lot of revisions before they scrap all those ideas & start over.

I have a friend who has done tons of work for me. He even does all the stuff I don't want to do like order business cards, make t-shirts, and brochures. His name is Len and you can contact him at sales at cellardoormedia dot com.

What he did for me was find out what I liked and didn't like and then came up with a few different designs. I got to choose different elements from each design and wound up with work I absolutely love!

http://www.modcatdesign.com/ is a great place!! They have done a few of my freinds non-bd sites and some bd sites. They have a list of some examples of thier logo and insignia designs. I really like thier work. They aren't cheap BUT for the same reasons Laura mentioned above, worth it!

so far i got a quote from one company. they come close to laurens checklist. the price however is 600 E plus 21%VAT. gulp. i need to think a bit about spending that... and what if i'm not happy with the results!!

artemisia

Try www.elance.com, there are lots of pros there. You can post your job, take bids, interview potential artists & look at their portfolios, and you may find a much better price.

if you want something cute, try Janice Wing, http://wingaling.net/

As a recent grad with a Bachelor of Graphic Design degree, I'm open and ready for work. I have a special interest in logos and wordmarks. Here are some samples of my work. I also have branding skills. So if you guys know anyone that needs a logo, please help me out. Thanks.