Development of a logo from conception to completion

Here is my logo design for Designer Bags on Wheels. Here we were going for more of a trendy look for the industry and demographic that the client wanted to target. The following post will cover the steps involved in bringing a logo from conception to completion.

Step 1: Discovery phase

• Learn as much as possible about the clients company, use any effective means of communication to discuss the needs of the client and brainstorm a starting point. Begin to have an idea of budget and timeline so that you can prepare an estimate.

Step 2: Approval of estimate

• Creative brief
• a list of questions to refine the concept
• find logos that the client does not like
• color schemes  that stand out in their industry
• Get 50% upfront, if this is not possible make sure to protect your samples.
• If they don't choose you, find out why. Then you will get a better idea of how to improve.

Step 3: Research

• Find out everything you can about competitors and the industry. This will allow you to create a logo that will be equal to or hopefully rise above competitors. Helping both you and your client.

Step 4: Time to doodle

• Draw anything that comes to mind. free flow here.
• In my case I use a Wacom tablet. But pencil and paper will do just fine.
• This is just a small sample. the more you draw the better ideas will come.

Step 5 Refine: 

• Begin to refine your best concepts for review. keep the goal of the company in mind. The concept is the most important facet of the design.

Step 6: Chosen samples

• Send to client in PDF format for best viewing.
• proper feedback from your client is very important here. Find out what they like, what they don't like. Be sure to give them your input, you are the artist after all!
• Make sure to label each logo so that you can communicate to your client easily.

Step 7: Round 1 edits

• You will show your client a variety of concepts for them to discuss with you.

Step 8: Working on the chosen concept.

• At this point you should have the concept chosen and will be refining and making variations of the chosen concept.
• Typefaces should also be honed in on at this point.
• See how the logo looks in black and white to see how it holds up (show B&W to client first)
• Do more rounds of editing as needed

Step 9: Creating the final package for your client

• Fix any 'less than perfect' lines and edges
• Make sure fonts are converted to outlines so that no fonts are embedded in the final logo.
• Provide the client with every version of the logo they may need.  CMYK, B&W, Inverted (.ai, .eps, .jpeg, .png for each)
• This will allow them to easily modify or use the logo on any medium

Step 10: Client pays promptly

• After payment is complete, get a referral from your client, and hopefully you can develop a long lasting working relationship with them
• Don't forget to update your portfolio and show off the new work you've done.

This article was written by Michael Jonsson. If you need a talented graphic designer then take a look at michaeljonssondesigns.com and consider Michael as the designer for your logo. 

The roles of designers and clients: How to avoid problems during projects

This post was originally published on the Thoughtbot blog. 

There has been a lot of talk about empathy with the end user in UX design over the last few years. The importance of understanding what type of product you are building and for whom you are doing it, what needs and knowledge the intended user group has.


While this is important, and really hard to get to, there is another type of empathy, that is almost as important during the development of a product and that is the communication and understanding that should exist between co-workers, and between consultants and clients.

Generating ideas: We have (not) already tried that before

Being sensitive during idea generations and brainstorms is extremely important. It takes guts to present half-baked ideas and if they are dismissed in a rude way or too quickly you risk killing creativity in your team.


It’s crucial to vet as many crazy ideas as possible before funneling down the best ones. The essence of idea generation in a team is to allow for a lot of bad ideas to pave the way and give birth to the good ones.


When coming up with ideas or solutions, words like “what if” or “I’m thinking out loud” can be helpful to express that design is a process with multiple stakeholders, an ever-changing dialogue and something that is not set in stone but should be discussed.


Try to embrace the fact that you might not have all the knowledge about the users needs or about what might, or might not, work. Pause for a moment and think before you say “We have already tried that before.” Maybe it was not the right time for it at that point, could the idea be revisited in a different way?

Preferences: You not liking something is irrelevant

During the first days of any decent design education you learn that saying “I don’t like this color,” or “I don’t like this layout” is completely irrelevant. Yet we still hear it from time to time.


Design is not about your own preferences but about meeting the needs of a specific user group. As a designer, or client, you are (usually) not the user. What you should be saying is – if you know it to be true – “I don’t think this color will work for the intended user group, because…” and that last word is really important.


There must be reasons for all decisions in a design, and they must go all the way back to the use case. Also, avoid generalizations. Claiming that “women don’t like this or that” or “men don’t like this or that” is very rarely true.

Expectations and roles

This one is hard, so keep an open mind and be willing to revisit the topic many times during the design process. Who does what, when and why? What is the most efficient division of the work.


Every client and every designer has a different view on what is expected from them during a project. Don’t be afraid to speak up if something is wrong. Most misunderstandings can be sorted out by talking and being honest.


Don’t hide behind egos, emails or managers. If you do, words will get distorted, misunderstood and issues will get blown out of proportion. Good communication is always key to successful team work.

Be a good client

Being responsive is key. If the designer or developer has questions, try to answer them as quick as possible to optimize their time and your investments. A developer or designer that doesn’t get feedback has two choices; either to wait for your reply, thus being blocked, or continue working on assumptions that might lead the project down the wrong path.


Another important thing to remember is that the developer or designer is likely learning about your field and target audience on the fly. You’re the expert in your field and they’re experts at designing and coding, so try to be patient when they start asking questions that you think have obvious answers. Rest in the fact that they know a lot about their fields of expertise and that with your help they will bring you a great product.


Hopefully you, along with the whole team, understand that it’s pretty much impossible to predict the reaction and use of your product before it’s published. The only way to get a clue is to perform user studies or interviews, but since that takes time it’s tempting to just throw in as many features as possible to cover for equally many scenarios.


However, this is often a reason for products failing; trying to do everything rather than doing a few things well. Designers will want to fight off feature creep, not because they are lazy but because they want to create a focused and confident product that knows what its purpose is, that can prove its right to exist.


So let designers question your feature requests, but make sure they know what they are talking about. Discuss what the core of the product is and make sure you are not just guessing what the end users need or like.

Be a good designer

Don’t be stubborn with your ideas if they are not crucial to the design. Pick your battles. Know when you are defending good usability and when you are defending your own preferences.


If the latter is the case you should be ready to kill your darlings. Consistency in navigation, consistency in how information is displayed and consistency in style is important to police. Explain to the client when a potential change would require a change of an entire system.


Try to think about what a client is really asking for. “The logo needs to be bigger” might make you sigh after hours of figuring out the perfect visual balance on a page but this type of request could actually mean a couple of different things.


The client might be nervous that their name is not going to stick with the user. If you think it will, even though their logo is not covering the entire page, let them know this. Try to explain why something is not needed. Explain the benefits of “less is more,” explain why a small graphical element with a lot of white space can make a greater impact than a huge element with no white space. Maybe the visitor has seen the client’s name five times already, in emails, ads or posts before landing on the actual page.


Being a good designer is being a good design teacher, explaining to worried clients why the obvious is not always the best way to go.

Organizing your workflow for large print jobs

Surprisingly it is not easy to find information about managing large printed file sizes in Photoshop. Here is a guide on how you should work with large printed banner size files in Photoshop CS6. There are a couple methods that each have their own pros and cons.

Note:
This post applies to raster images only (photos, etc.) and not to vector graphics (line art, text, etc.)

Method #1 - total pixel freedom

• Set the document dimensions to full size and the resolution to 150 ppi before laying out the project
• Use graphics of the correct size and resolution for your file. 150 pixels per inch (ppi) at full size (dimensions) is sufficient resolution for most posters, banners and displays. If the graphics in your project are set to a resolution above 150 ppi (at full size) either
• Resample each graphic to 150 ppi, or; 
• When saving, export the whole file to .pdf with a compression setting of 150 ppi.
• Do not enlarge JPEGS whenever possible, all that does is stretch out the pixels, defeating the purpose of having a high resolution image
• File format matters: You may be able to reduce the file size by exporting or saving your file as a .pdf (always keep the working PSD/PSB file if you want to make changes later)

• Save the file with a different name than your original file (to preserve the source file), then flatten the file (using the “Flatten Image” option under the “Layers” menu). 
• When saving as a PDF make sure to uncheck "Preserve Photoshop Editing Capabilities". Otherwise Photoshop will save a complete copy of the PSD inside of the PDF, makign for a massive file.
• Save the file as a .psd, .eps or .pdf if possible. These formats will not rasterize vector art (including fonts). Saving in other formats will rasterize the entire file, which may result in larger file size and reduced image quality

Pros: Working at 150 ppi will save you a ton of time and will still print well, original file is always preserved. You can modify pixels

Cons: It is still relatively slow to work with.

Method #2 - Duplicate guide for adjustment layers only

This next method will only allow for limited editing using adjustment layers. But makes working with large files much easier.

Duplicating an image, applying layer adjustments to the smaller image, and then scaling those adjustments to the master file. We call this a duplicate guide file.

• Duplicate the file and decrease the image size so that the file size is manageable. This is usually in the 200mb - 300mb range, which should be easily handled by most computers. This duplicated file would be your guide file.
• Apply expressive adjustments. These are layer adjustments that can be found under Layer -> New Layer Adjustments
• When you are ready to apply those adjustments to the master file you want to upscale your guide file to match the same exact dimensions as your master file. For example, in your case if you are working with a 7" x 6.483" guide file, you would then scale back to the 98" x 90" dimensions. This will cause some interpolation, but it won't be a problem because you are getting rid of the upscaled image.
• You then replace the blurry image with the image from the master file and the adjustments should be equivalently applied to the master file.
• You could then apply pixel adjustments like cropping, sharpening, etc. if you needed to. Proceed to save as outlined in method #1

Pros: You can work faster and lightweight, there is less crashes, easier modifications.

Cons: You can't modify pixels and you can only use adjustment layers. Pixels modifications must be done on the master file.

Extra tips

you should also consider your viewer in this process. From what distance will they be viewing your banner? This is a significant question because it can change the ppi considerations. As @Alan Gilbertson answered here, the suggested dimensions for a 4 x 6 meter billboard are under 30ppi/dpi. It might make sense to lower your ppi to a more reasonable number throughout the modification process. This would help your file size and workflow considerably as well. The usual professional billboard workflow in Photoshop is to build the image at a small scale with high ppi (e.g., 4x6cm @ 300 ppi), but in this case you can work full scale because you're not exceeding any of Photoshop dimension limits. It is recommended that you contact the billboard company. Either their website or their production department will give you their exact requirements for file size and format. They will have Photoshop and/or InDesign templates that not only give you the dimensions you need, but the correct color profile. Use the template. Added note: I've moved my billboard workflow to InDesign these days, and send to the provider as PDF. If you have ID CS5 I highly recommend that, for speed of production, accuracy and vastly better typographic control. real example from @Alan Gilbertson When I'm doing a "goalpost" (18 ft high by 48 ft wide with a "bleed" of 18 inches), the company's Photoshop template is 5292x2052 pixels, 17.64x6.84 inches @ 300ppi including bleed. That's 8.7 ppi at full size. The InDesign document is simpler. I did some very simple math and made it 72x27 inches, 1/8th scale. In both cases, the document uses the color profile of their Fuji vinyl printer. I keep image effective resolution over 75 ppi and we're good to go

Source: http://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/6114/pdf-artwork-for-large-posters-filesize-issues
Source: http://www.gi.alaska.edu/files/ReducingFileSize.pdf
Source: http://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/3651/what-dpi-ppi-should-a-4-by-6-meter-outdoor-billboard-be-designed-at

The Resources that brought me here.

This blog is for graphic designers to learn from and to inform everyone else. I hope to learn a thing or two myself by posting on a regular basis. This first post goes over the resources that I use to do what I do. This list will be refined as time goes on. All of these tools are extremely useful, not just for artists, but for anybody who works with a computer and needs help organizing their workflow.

It can be hard to decide which programs, services and/or apps to use/download. So many options in an endless abyss of stuff that you can do which to choose? The following list is a look at what I use from day to day to get my job done.

 I post services I have used and have found useful myself and believe will be useful for others. Spend money on these products/services only if you feel they will help with your business and your goals!



Notetaking / Productivity / Communication

Google Drive - This is a great tool for creating and sharing documents or anything with people. I use it to share larger files with my clients
Workflowy - This is the greatest combination of simple and useful as far as a notepad goes. I use it to organize my life pretty much.
Trello - This is the best issue tracker that I have found to date. All of my larger projects with many tasks that require collaboration between people are tracked here.
Skype - A great tool for voice and video chat, as well as screen sharing between multiple people
Google Hangouts - I use this when Skype is acting up, or as another option when someone does not have Skype
Joinme - I use this when both skype and google hangouts are not working for the given situation. Always have backups when it comes to communication!

Email
Gmail - If you aren't using this, then you should start right now. go on click the link.

Web Hosting
Namecheap - Cheap and reliable hosting

Outsourcing / Freelancing
odesk - Great for assessing and hiring the right candidate for the job. feedback based. You can find qualified individuals or teams that you can build long lasting relationships with.
99designs - Great for building a contest around your project and receiving a lot of samples to choose from.

Blogging
Blogger - This is where I am hosting the blog you are currently reading. It works like a charm and it is easy to edit.

Track / receive payments
Paypal - Paypal is the way to go, it is easy to keep track of all your clients and payments.

Stock Content
shutterstock - This service offers a great 1 month package for $250 for 25 downloads per day.
istockphoto - A slightly cheaper service. They have a different image collection than shutterstock.

Newsletter creation
Mailchimp - Hands down the best service for keep track of your mailing list and creating newsletters.

Video hosting
Youtube - This is where you can host all of your video content for your website.
Ustream - Here you can stream yourself live.

News
Alltop - The purpose of Alltop is to help you answer the question, "What's happening?" in "all the topics" that interest you

Education
Lynda - If you are trying to learn a program, there is a good change Lynda can provide a tutorial for you.
CreativeLive - Amazing website that offers free live workshops from creative professionals. Check it out!
Lumosity - Great service for keeping you sharp using games

Web Design
Google Web Designer - This is a *free* brand new tool in its beta stages. From what I've seen so far it looks insanely great for any artist building a website or web ad who has limited coding knowledge.

Networking
Kickstarter - A great place to launch a product idea once you have it all set up. This will open your business to a mass audience and get it funded at the ground level.
Patreon - Similar to Kickstarter, but for people / Artists who create content on a regular basis

Marketing / Social - You want to get out there as much as possible:
Behance - A place for artists to post their portfolio beautifully
Vine - 6 second videos from your phone
Instagram - Easily share photos from your phone
Pinterest - Women use this the most. use accordingly
Adwords - This is tricky, but a useful tool.
Facebook - you know.
Twitter - You need twitter to be on the cutting edge of what is going on
Hootsuite - This makes twitter easier to use.

Programs
Adobe CC
Suitcase fusion
Sublime
Camtasia
7zip
Chrome
Skype
Snipping tool
Windows image resizer