Never Take a Risk With Your Corporate Logo Design

Never take a risk with your corporate logo design. You might be a good executive and know all; about the functioning of an organization. Knowing about the way a company operates and looking after its daily activities is one thing, but knowing about the logo design of a company, is a different cup of tea all together. There are many companies who know the value of a properly and well-defined custom logo design. They hire people from renowned advertising agencies and pay a good sum of money just to get a professional logo design made for their organization. But then again, for every such company that knows the value the logo bears directly on their business, there are those who do not bother to take care about the business logo design of their organization.

They think that just some snazzy design along with the name of their company in bold big letters is all that it makes for a good logo. They do not know the intricacies of the logo designing business. Just take a look at any good agency that provides logo design services and you will be amazed by the knowledge of their staff.

These people know the value of a well and properly designed corporate logo design and they have all the equipments with them that are required to make such designs. It is easy to make a simple design but a different thing to design a logo. Ask any good artist to make a design for your new product and they shall be able to complete the same without any problems.

They have a base to fall back upon. They know the type of the product that is going to be launched. In most cases the organization provides them with a sample of the product whose design they have to make. IT is not the same with a corporate logo design. Over here the designers have to do all things from scratch and they have to input their intelligence and reply on their experience to build one from scratch. This is the toughest part of making such designs and this is also what makes the logo stand miles apart from other designs. A company might be making many products and all of them might have their own specific designs that may help to determine the future of those products. But, all these products have one thing in common, the logo of the company.

Many times it has been noticed that even if the design of a product is not up to the mark, it is the logo of the company that helps promote the sale of that product. A properly designed corporate logo design ensures that the same is very simple and at the same time describes all about the company. It is the right hand of the company and helps to make or break one. One should ensure to see that no third grade programs are used to make these corporate logo designs. These programs do not assist its user to make any creative designs. On the other hand these designs just help the artist using them to copy a pre-designed logo and just make some minor changes to it to make another logo.

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Logo Design Templates Services

The growing scope of logo design has enabled companies to grow better in terms of economy and productivity. Since business entrepreneurs consider logo as fastest way to communicate to their prospective clients, logo template is an added advantage to have your design in customized form within a short span of time. Basically, a logo template is readymade designed logo that is faster, quality focused and customized to serve your business needs compared to traditional logo design process. The idea behind providing logo template is not focused on just one company, but is aimed to satisfy requirement of various industrial sectors. Logo templates offer unlimited options in terms of colors, patterns, images, fonts, text and styles, so you don't have to spend thousand dollars waiting for weeks to get a logo designed for your company. Logo templates come as a boon for small companies to make their services recognized in an effective way at a very affordable price.

In order to make the first positive impression in minds of customers, it is critical to have an impressive logo design so that it can appeal to the masses by their appearance and should convince them to buy your product. Logo templates act as the new business tool where you can choose your industrial logo initially with concepts and further get them refined according to your needs. Many designer companies prepare logo template in various designs and formats for the industry so this design process gives an opportunity for every single company to get their logo designed that compliments their needs and suits their business nature. If you want to increase your visibility in the industry, you can apply logo template for your website, business cards, envelopes, letterheads, magazines and promotional items. With the growing plagiarism in industry, it becomes very crucial to have your business logo design copyrighted with original artwork from a reputed logo design firm. Nowadays professional logo design firm provide logo templates with copyright features to their business clients in order to protect their business image from getting misused.

Why consume time and money on ordinary logo design process when you can get logo templates in unlimited designs with a faster delivery at a very affordable price. Forget the hassles, delays and frustrations of a traditional design process and adapt your business image with colorful, stylish and trendy logo templates. Give a competitive edge to your business and be ready to be showered with new challenges and opportunities. Logo template has made wonders in business for many companies. Get your logo template right now and rediscover your business in a new way.

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Company Made Logo Design

A logo represents the graphical symbol of any organization, firm or product. Logolabs offers the highest quality Custom logo design at affordable rates. You will get the logo design at a price that will be affordable to you. We create a world-class logo design that will create a permanent mark for your company. The logos create a mark for your company. The logo will be able to create a permanent mark identity for itself. Logo design companies are making a brisk business by creating logos to match the growing demand of the business owners.

A logo has its own importance in matching the needs of the business its will give you a readymade marketing idea. We understand the today's business needs & under strict guidelines it follows. Logolabs has a team of 30 full time designer's offering the quality logo design services at affordable rates. The team combining their skills, talent, and experience to create customized logo designs to suit the needs of your company. Logolabs works very closely with the client in designing the logo of their choice. Logos come in different shapes & sizes but the most important thing is setting the right logo is to have all the concepts clear in your mind. The designer is only going to replicate your ideas. A logo designer should know many things like what it the target audience the tagline of the, what logo name should it include.

The logo style & the number of color the color scheme & the logo font. Also the most important concept is the color scheme of the logo & the budget at which you want to do the logo. There are many companies to choose from over the Internet but the best companies are those who have a great portfolio & who are in the web for more than 5 years. These companies have a wide experienced in logo designing. Once you have the logo design you cannot constantly update the logo since the logo will have to re-market it again. Since this task is time consuming as well as it involves large budget so make sure you design the logo only once so before moving ahead have a good discussion on all the aspects of logo design. The design should create a mark for yourself it act as an identity for the company. There are many images which company may exist but the logo may be different from all that. Also there are many types of logo design which you may decide to have the important aspects are the graphic & logotype.

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Logo Design for Non-Designers

The main purpose of this article is to help non-designers 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. Let's 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 clip-art (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 non-professional 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.

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What Makes A Good Logo Design?

I would venture to guess, and this is one designer's point of view, out of the 50,000 or so logos I see every year, on everything from food items to gas stations to sneakers, there might be 5,000 well designed logos in the world.

Designing a logo is much more then picking a font that looks neat, drawing a pretty picture, slapping them together and picking a color scheme you think looks pretty. There are a lot of variables you have to go through to decide on a good design, and then as a designer you have to convince your client that the design you made is the correct one.

To start, you have to think of the logo as the brand of the company, every time someone thinks of a product or service that you offer you want them to think of you. You also want the design of your brand to stick in their mind, and stay there forever. One almost has to think of the process as branding your identity into a consumer's brain, much like a cattle brand, leaving a permanent mark that won't go away.

Well, the first step of this process is the old adage K.I.S.S (keep it simple stupid). Complicated logo designs might look attractive when you are looking at them, but what is the target audience going to come away with? Odds are 5 minutes from the time they first saw your logo they will have completely forgotten what it looks like. When one looks at a simple logo, it tends to stay in the brain longer, which helps them remember your company, which will hopefully bring them to you when they require your services, which is the goal after all.

The second step is color and shape psychology. There is a reason most restaurant logos are red in color, red on a subconscious level makes you hungry. Blue makes you feel comfortable, black makes you look elegant, and the list goes on and on. I chose orange for my logo because when someone sees the color orange it brings a subconscious feeling of wanting to do something new, which is exactly the feeling I want when they are looking at my site and thinking of getting a web design created by me.

Shapes are also an important factor when designing a logo, as shapes can mean just as many different things as colors can. A circle gives the feeling of community, wholeness, perfection, and has feminine qualities. A Rectangle gives a feeling of logic and security, while a Triangle gives you strength, structure, and masculine identity. These should all be factored in when designing a logo. For every color and shape there is a feeling or thought associated with it, the goal is to come up with the right combination.

The third step is readability. You want them to see your logo and business name, you don't want them to take 5 minutes to figure out what it says. Good clean crisp fonts are the answer here, very rarely are logos memorable when they have curvy fonts and lines going every which way. Quick, think of 5 logos off of the top of your head (not including your own); do any of them have cursive writing or letters not on a straight line? Most likely not.

The fourth step, which is often overlooked, is scalability. Will your logo look as good on a promotional item like a pen as it will on a billboard? Most of the logos out there won't. I blame the recent widespread use of Photoshop to create logos for this reason. Sure, someone can use all sorts of neat filters built into Photoshop to make a pretty design, but what happens when you have to put it on a billboard? Odds are, it was not created large enough to print correctly on a large surface, and you will either have to pay someone else to recreate it or forget about that advertising opportunity.

Or better yet, what happens when you want to get some promotional pens made and your logo won't transfer well because all the complicated drop shadows and gradients just bleed together on such a small surface that you can't even read what your logo says? These things all have to be thought of before you even begin designing a logo, and sadly most of the time it is the farthest thing from both the designer and client's mind.

The four steps above are usually a good start to the design process, but not everything. They will, however, get you on the right track towards making your brand a memorable one. Below, I will give some examples of what I personally think are the best logos currently in use today.

One designer's list of the top 5 logos in use today

1. Nike - this logo has been so engrained in our minds that they recently stopped using their name in the logo - all it is now is the swoosh.

2. FedEx- many people don't realize this, but look between the E and the x, see that arrow moving forward? Subliminal advertising at it's best. There have been some other memorable logos using this technique, for instance the now defunct Hartford Whalers, at first you don't see it, but look at the white space between the blue tail and green W, see the H? I love this technique.

3. McDonalds - another company that doesn't have to use their name in their logo if they don't want to, the golden arches are memorable and identifiable on sight.

4. Apple computers - again, just a shape, no need for a tagline.

5. Volkswagen - Classic, clean and memorable, exactly what you should be striving for.
Do you think it is a coincidence those are 5 of the biggest companies in the world? Their logo has defined the company brand so strongly that it was definitely one of the factors in their growth. Now, I admit it is hard to convince a client paying good money for a logo design that going simple and iconic is always better, but hopefully you can show them the above examples of some of the largest companies in the world and how a memorable, not exotic, logo is a strong foundation to building a good brand.

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Automotive Logo Designs - Components Of Automotive Logo Designs

Automotive logo designs are probably one of the most stylish logos around. Cars, bikes and other similar stuff are incorporated in automotive logo designs to make them look classier and more eye-catching. Your automotive logo designs can benefit you by certain ways; it can setup a base for you to market your products well and to be recognized better. When creating automotive logo designs, the designer needs to pay attention to three factors which are (1) the objective to be achieved by the logo design, (2) should be according to the latest trend and (3) should be of high quality. Anyhow, the basic rule for designing good automotive logo designs is to relate it with your company.

For designing good automotive logo designs, you should take in consideration the following points:

Your automotive logo designs should relate to your business:

A basic technique to make your automotive logo designs look sportier is to associate it with automobile parts. Normally, the designers use the basic components of automobiles such as their wheels, handles, steering, etc. Also, you will find a large of number of automotive logo designs having images of cars and bikes in a very creative and amusing manner. For instance, automotive logo designs can have a tattoo type of design showing a car.

Color scheme used in automotive logo designs:

The colors which are normally used in automotive logo designs are mostly of an igniting nature. Colors like orange, fiery red, black, etc are used in automotive logo designs.

Fonts used in automotive logo designs:

Usually bold and big fonts are used in automotive logo designs. The reason is that the automotive industry is an amazing yet serious industry.

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Corporate Branding and Professional Logo Design

Any business with the minimum interest to be successful should concentrate on developing their corporate image and when I say "any business", I mean it, absolutely any business--even if it's a mom-n-pop shop. "Corporate image" might be a big word for such small ventures, however, what I meant by that is how the business wants themselves to be perceived by their customers. Irrespective of the size of the business it is very important to determine how do you come across to your potential customers? How do you compare to your competitors? These factors are largely determined by your branding and marketing strategies. Branding tools like logo designs, business cards etc goes a long way in creating your corporate image. Any marketing communication material should ideally have your corporate logo on it, which would give more credibility for your business as well as help your client to perceive your business as a professional enterprise.

Logo design is an absolutely indispensable part of corporate branding strategy and should always be assigned to professional logo designers. A professional logo designer is not just a graphic designer but he should also have ideas about branding and positioning of business. Depending on your requirements he will create a logo that would successfully exude the nature and attitude of your business. He also needs to understand the media in which you are going to use your logo; it can be web, print, electronic media (TV commercial etc) or a mixture of all of these. The logo should be compatible and equally attractive wherever you might choose to use them. While working on any of our logo design orders we ( Custom Logo Design )always try to capture as much as information possible, from the client.

Basically there are 4 types of logos, glyph, alpha-glyph, alphanumeric or a combination of any of these. There are a number of factors that should be looked into to determine what would be the ideal solution for you. A professional logo designer or a specialist logo design firm can definitely help you with decision making in this aspect.

Types of Logos

Glyph: This includes symbols, icons, pictures etc that represents your company. These are most widely used for secondary communication rather than business logos, except for few like, Apple. Glyphs though used rarely as logos, if created properly by talented logo designers can be extremely sophisticated and create a deep impact as a corporate identity. However, we need to be careful that glyphs need to be done by well experienced professionals, an amateur attempt can simply male your logo unattractive and useless and might even cause loss of credibility to your business.

Alpha-Glyph: An alpha-glyph logo uses a letter from the name of the company to graphically convey the nature of the business. At times picking the first letter of the company name and designing it in a particular way also do this. Ideal examples of this type of logos can be seen with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), IBM, Honda, Motorola, and Oklahoma State University. This type of logo is also not used very commonly and shares the same advantages and disadvantages as the glyphs.

Alphanumeric: This is a very common type of logos and is also used by some of the most reputed and well-known companies in the world. To name a few, Microsoft, Sony, Fed Ex etc. These logos are nothing but the name of your company written in a unique way with typographical effects. The typographic treatment gives a unique look to the logo and there is generally no issue with getting a Trademark. These logos are comparatively easier for amateurs to create however to get the best effect from an alphanumeric logo it's always better to work with a professional logo designer. Choice of font, color, letter spacing etc can make big difference in creating an impressive corporate logo.

Combination Logos: This is the most common type of logos and is found everywhere. Most of these are actually glyph or alpha-glyph with an alphanumeric company name. It is the arrangement of the company name and the image and their color combination that plays the most instrumental role in the effectiveness of the logo. Some good examples of combination logos are UPS, Red Hat Linux and Intel.
Placing your corporate logo on all marketing collaterals including business cards, brochures, flyers etc helps you to mark those collaterals as your company property and establish your corporate identity.

Logos and marketing materials are integral part of a company's brand establishment strategy. A logo done by an amateur can ruin the credibility of your business in no time but when done by a professional logo designer can definitely add value to your business. A professional logo designer can help you to decide which type of logo is best suited for your business and can make people perceive your company as a huge corporate house with much credibility even when it might be just an one man shop.

It's the image of the company that matters, if you intend to portray a positive and impressive image of your company go for a professional logo design today.

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Logo Design and Branding - Points to Remember

A good logo design is highly instrumental in establishing a business brand and creating a long lasting impression among its customers. It should be able to create a powerful impact on the viewers and successfully exude the nature and attitude of a business. Ideally, a company logo design should be able to communicate your company ethos, principles, mission and the nature of product/service offered, to the viewers.

A professional logo design would establish a professional image of your company and strengthen your brand. Actually, in most cases the consumer gets the first impression about the company through your logo. Your business logo should build a brand that is strong enough to give your consumer a visual imagery of your company. People should be able to identify your company on sight of your logo.

Trend shows, most of the good logos are simple and often text based. Think of the IBM, SONY or Microsoft logo, even if you view a part of it you will be able to recognize the company. It is extremely essential for a logo to be easy for people to remember.

This principle of simplicity applies n most cases, however, we often see exceptions in Government Organizations, Hotels and Luxury resorts etc because they want to put up a classical exclusive image. This again brings us to a very important point that should be considered for a good logo design -- the nature of business.

While simplicity can be the basic principle for any logo design, the designs might vary widely depending on the nature of business. For example, a financial institution might like to use a bold face font to express solidarity and stableness where as a courier service or transport company might prefer italicized fonts to express the speed and movement involved in their business.

In addition, while specifying the design requirements for your logo you should consider the fact that you will probably have to use your logo on your fax cover and other places where it will be in black and white. You should ensure that your logo looks equally good and attractive in black and white.

I would also suggest avoiding a very trendy look for your logo if you are planning for a long-term business because what we concern "modern" today might be backdated tomorrow. It is very important that your logo designer knows how to maintain this balance.

While any professional logo designer should be able to create a Custom Logo Design once you have provided them with your specifications, you should be careful to select an experienced designing company and not land up with some single designer start up venture.

Last but not the least important factor is price. You are paying for your logo - something that is going to be used to establish your brand and represent your business for years, so you should be ready to pay a decent amount while it is also not necessary to pay some big amount like $350 for a logo. With the online logo design firms coming into business, now you have a wide choice of price for your logos and it should not be difficult to find a logo designer that fits your budget. Some logo design sites would even allow you to quote your own price for your logo.

If you have still not got a logo for your business or are not happy with your existing logo, it's time you get your new logo. Wish you lucked with your logo hunt.

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Logo Design Prices - Cost Comparison of Five Options

How much should a logo design cost? The correct answer to this popular question is anywhere from nothing up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

To say that 'you get what you pay for' would be true most of the time but not all of the time. If you are not working with trusted professionals then logo design can be 'hit and miss'. There are many cases where businesses have spent a lot of money and received poor designs and cases where companies have spent only a little and ended up with fantastic results.

The Internet has made the process of getting a logo design easier and more affordable than ever before. Many logo design firms have sprung up on the Internet and by using the Internet as a platform to do business have been able to reduce overheads and still offer a quality service.
In this article we explain how price should not be such a priority when it comes to getting a logo and then we look at the price ranges for some of the various options.

The Importance of Price

Price is often the first thing that people think about when looking at various options for logo design. It is great to get a good deal with a cheap logo design and to try and save a bit of money but stop and think for a moment about how important a logo design is to your company.

With your logo being on your stationery, website, building signage, advertising and even on vehicles it is often the first aspect of your company that customers come into contact with. Within a few seconds consumers will subconsciously examine your logo and create their first impressions of your company. These first few seconds are very important in conveying the right message to them and the quality of your company logo can in some cases help to determine whether you get those customers or they go to the competition.
Your logo is an integral part of your organizations marketing plan and a fair amount of the company's budget should be allocated to it just as a healthy budget is usually allocated to other marketing activities.

Spending $300 on a Logo may seem like a lot but if you spread the cost out over a period of say 10 years it only works out to a few dollars a month (a small amount compared to a monthly marketing budget that could run into hundreds or thousands of dollars).

With these thoughts in mind it becomes clear that maybe price shouldn't be the main focus when shopping around for a logo provider.

So let's examine some of the options available to you when it comes to getting a logo, starting from the lowest price range and finishing at the highest price range.

The Free Model

There are plenty of 'do it yourself' logo design templates that are available online for prices that range anywhere from free up to around $30 or $40. You can create a basic design with some clip-art or purchase a 'ready to go' template, customize the name to suit your needs and you then have an instant logo for your business.

Some companies give you the chance to browse through hundreds of generic designs suitable for various industries and then order one that can often be downloaded immediately.

The downside with these options is that some of the components that users can incorporate into their logo design such as shapes, symbols and clip art are unoriginal and in use by many other businesses. Without any design experience users usually end up with amateurish looking logos and sometimes even have to include a small credit on the logo referring to the site that was used to create it.

You must also consider that you may not have ownership rights over your logo design as these rights may be retained by the website that sold you the design.

Logo Design Software

You can now purchase some quite sophisticated logo design software that can assist you in the creation of professional looking logos on your home PC. The downside is that the better software packages can be expensive, there is a bit of a learning curve related to using the software properly and these packages still require some artistic input on the part of the user. Why would you bother really for only one or two logos if you are not a design professional?

Custom Logo Design

This option is the one that I recommend above all the others. By having a logo design tailor made by a graphic designer to suit your company's needs you are assured of getting an original, professional looking design that is suitable to your requirements. Your logo designer does all the design work while you, as the customer still get a considerable amount of input into the design process. Most reputable custom logo design firms will ensure that their work doesn't infringe on the trademarks of other companies so you can be guaranteed ownership rights to your logo.

Generally you can get a good quality custom logo design online for between $150 and $350 depending on the complexity of the package that you order (the number of initial concepts, the number of designers working on your case and the number of revisions that are permitted).

Design Competitions

There are now several websites that allow you to hold a competition for your logo design. Firstly, you put up a prize which usually has to be around $300 to $400 or more and a briefing for designers to understand the project. Then, designers from around the world submit their designs and you choose a winner who is awarded the prize money (after the website deducts their commission).
This method can work well if your offer a prize that is a considerable amount and you get a good response from designers. However you should first confirm with the website that you will have ownership rights to the winning design that you select. This method, while an interesting concept, usually ends up costing more than a custom logo design though and offers a little more risk as well.

Traditional Design Firms

For larger companies with huge budgets, meeting with designers face to face to communicate is still the preferred method. This is the most expensive method though as it usually involves several meetings and discussions with designers at their offices. Prices for this kind of personalized service usually start at around $500 and depending on the firm and the importance of the project costs can be much more than this. The great thing about online design firms is that they can cut costs by avoiding coffee drinking sessions with clients and can operate out of cheaper office space instead of fancy design studios.

Think about why you need the logo. If it's just for a website or a short term project you should be fine with some of the cheaper service providers. If, however you are building a future Fortune 500 corporation then you may want to spend at least $200 to $300 and possibly a lot more to make sure that you are starting off with a great logo design to suit your aspirations.
How much should a logo design cost? It should cost as much as you are prepared to pay. But remember that price is not everything when it comes to such an important decision for the future of your business.

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The First Thing That People Come Across at the Time of This Process Is to Get a Good Logo Designer

Logo is a very important and at the same time very unique graphic or word mark that helps to attract people's recognition. Many commercial enterprises and organizations use their own logo as their brand symbol or identity. People and customers can easily recognize the company or brand name by their logo. So it is quite important to get a good and commendable logo to represent a company.

The first thing that people come across at the time of this process is to get a good logo designer. Yes, first important step is logo design that would be created by a designer. As it would be a face of the brand, one must think of a very unique but catchy logo. It also depends on the product of the company when it comes to design a logo, like if a sports brand wants to promote its product it should go for a particular logo that reflects the image of that product. For that reason, among many, people should grab a talented logo designer. That would be the most challenging thing to do, because designers are waiting for you to get an opportunity to show their talent but not many companies get lucky to have a mind blowing logo.

Logo design is not a simple task. Marketing team and Design agency get involved to finalize a perfect symbol and color of that logo. It takes lot of time to create a perfect symbol as it should be able to attract all the attention of the mass around the world. There are some very famous logos like Nike, McDonalds, BMW, Face book, Vogue, Barbie, Fly Emirates, Adidas, Twitter, Pepsi, and Apple etc. These popular logos are crying aloud that designing logo is as important as the product of the brand. And to get that people should keep in mind important aspects of logo design, which are Uniqueness, Appealing, Relevance and Communication. These are the important aspects should be keep in mind.

In this process we meet custom logo that has a strong place to be considered. Many use only a short symbol, which is called custom logo, to portray the errand of the company or an advertisement which is also very powerful. Companies use this kind of logo to get a unique and creative image as it is possible for people to get confused with other logos, though no one can use others' symbol after being created. So, logo design has become a popular trend nowadays. Many agencies and software companies are raising their heads in this field and the profession is becoming one of very good sources of making money. Because of this a huge amount of designers are getting chance to prove their talent. It also helps people to get a good logo designer for their brands. This profession began to grow from 1950 in United States. At that time, popular designing firms were responsible to make many famous logos and it has become a trend now.

Many small companies require free logo for their brand and for that they have options to look for some web-sites that provide free logo. Those websites provide free design service to help people have their own unique symbol. Gradually one could gain the knowledge of how a color of logo can be selected and other important things that can be known by following the process of getting free logo. Many small entrepreneurs don't want to invest lot of money for getting logo but it is important to get a logo for their brand, so they have option for that.

There are many Indian logo designs that have successfully attracted everyone's attention and have made all the brands unique. The examples are Mumbai Indians, Air India, Green Apple, DLF Indian Premier League, Indian Pacific, Airtel, HP, State Bank of India, Tata Docomo etc. So it can be said that in India there are good scopes of getting talented designer or firms that provide services. Of course, one can find a talented logo designer if needed and searched properly.

Logo Design India is one of the popular firms that help people getting good affordable logos. This is true that to get a unique logo one has to hunt for a good, experienced agency or talented logo designer. It also depends on luck to get a perfect, attracting logo that will change the image of the brand forever. Many are willing to invest a good amount of money to have an attracting symbol. But it is possible to get logos without spending a lot and some popular brands also haven't spent much to get their own logo.

Logo designer from India are very talented and are successful when it comes to provide you good logo as we have many examples before our eyes. Many Indian organizations are proud to get their logo from Indian logo designer. Indian logo design is getting popular internationally and the market is spreading like other International agencies.

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Logo Design Prices - Cost Comparison of Five Options

How much should a logo design cost? The correct answer to this popular question is anywhere from nothing up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

To say that 'you get what you pay for' would be true most of the time but not all of the time. If you are not working with trusted professionals then logo design can be 'hit and miss'. There are many cases where businesses have spent a lot of money and received poor designs and cases where companies have spent only a little and ended up with fantastic results.

The Internet has made the process of getting a logo design easier and more affordable than ever before. Many logo design firms have sprung up on the Internet and by using the Internet as a platform to do business have been able to reduce overheads and still offer a quality service.
In this article we explain how price should not be such a priority when it comes to getting a logo and then we look at the price ranges for some of the various options.

The Importance of Price

Price is often the first thing that people think about when looking at various options for logo design. It is great to get a good deal with a cheap logo design and to try and save a bit of money but stop and think for a moment about how important a logo design is to your company.

With your logo being on your stationery, website, building signage, advertising and even on vehicles it is often the first aspect of your company that customers come into contact with. Within a few seconds consumers will subconsciously examine your logo and create their first impressions of your company. These first few seconds are very important in conveying the right message to them and the quality of your company logo can in some cases help to determine whether you get those customers or they go to the competition.
Your logo is an integral part of your organizations marketing plan and a fair amount of the company's budget should be allocated to it just as a healthy budget is usually allocated to other marketing activities.
Spending $300 on a Logo may seem like a lot but if you spread the cost out over a period of say 10 years it only works out to a few dollars a month (a small amount compared to a monthly marketing budget that could run into hundreds or thousands of dollars).

With these thoughts in mind it becomes clear that maybe price shouldn't be the main focus when shopping around for a logo provider.

So let's examine some of the options available to you when it comes to getting a logo, starting from the lowest price range and finishing at the highest price range.

The Free Model

There are plenty of 'do it yourself' logo design templates that are available online for prices that range anywhere from free up to around $30 or $40. You can create a basic design with some clip-art or purchase a 'ready to go' template, customize the name to suit your needs and you then have an instant logo for your business.

Some companies give you the chance to browse through hundreds of generic designs suitable for various industries and then order one that can often be downloaded immediately.

The downside with these options is that some of the components that users can incorporate into their logo design such as shapes, symbols and clip art are unoriginal and in use by many other businesses. Without any design experience users usually end up with amateurish looking logos and sometimes even have to include a small credit on the logo referring to the site that was used to create it.

You must also consider that you may not have ownership rights over your logo design as these rights may be retained by the website that sold you the design.

Logo Design Software

You can now purchase some quite sophisticated logo design software that can assist you in the creation of professional looking logos on your home PC. The downside is that the better software packages can be expensive, there is a bit of a learning curve related to using the software properly and these packages still require some artistic input on the part of the user. Why would you bother really for only one or two logos if you are not a design professional?

Custom Logo Design

This option is the one that I recommend above all the others. By having a logo design tailor made by a graphic designer to suit your company's needs you are assured of getting an original, professional looking design that is suitable to your requirements. Your logo designer does all the design work while you, as the customer still get a considerable amount of input into the design process. Most reputable custom logo design firms will ensure that their work doesn't infringe on the trademarks of other companies so you can be guaranteed ownership rights to your logo.

Generally you can get a good quality custom logo design online for between $150 and $350 depending on the complexity of the package that you order (the number of initial concepts, the number of designers working on your case and the number of revisions that are permitted).

Design Competitions

There are now several websites that allow you to hold a competition for your logo design. Firstly, you put up a prize which usually has to be around $300 to $400 or more and a briefing for designers to understand the project. Then, designers from around the world submit their designs and you choose a winner who is awarded the prize money (after the website deducts their commission).

This method can work well if your offer a prize that is a considerable amount and you get a good response from designers. However you should first confirm with the website that you will have ownership rights to the winning design that you select. This method, while an interesting concept, usually ends up costing more than a custom logo design though and offers a little more risk as well.

Traditional Design Firms

For larger companies with huge budgets, meeting with designers face to face to communicate is still the preferred method. This is the most expensive method though as it usually involves several meetings and discussions with designers at their offices. Prices for this kind of personalized service usually start at around $500 and depending on the firm and the importance of the project costs can be much more than this. The great thing about online design firms is that they can cut costs by avoiding coffee drinking sessions with clients and can operate out of cheaper office space instead of fancy design studios.

Think about why you need the logo. If it's just for a website or a short term project you should be fine with some of the cheaper service providers. If, however you are building a future Fortune 500 corporation then you may want to spend at least $200 to $300 and possibly a lot more to make sure that you are starting off with a great logo design to suit your aspirations.

How much should a logo design cost? It should cost as much as you are prepared to pay. But remember that price is not everything when it comes to such an important decision for the future of your business.

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Why Should You Go For Custom Logo Design?

Have you ever wondered what is there in the design of a particular logo that makes it stick to the back of your head? Have you ever pondered some time thinking why your brain associates itself with a particular company whenever you see a particular design in the print media or on the TV? These are all due to logo design. Whenever you like a particular product or company your brain associates itself with the designs of the logo of that company. Not only the design of the logo, your brain also associates itself with the jingles that accompany advertisements of famous products and organizations. Case in point is the famous theme track of all James Bond movies.

The moment a person hears those tracks that know that it has something to do with James Bond. The same is applicable to a business logo design too. There are many organizations that go in for without even pondering to think about the importance of that small piece of art. They just do not know the importance that design will have bear in the future and they just select the first logo company their search results provides them with. One small error in the design will remain stuck with the company forever and by the time they either realize or are pointed out the flaws in the design; it is too late to make amends. One should always seek the services of professional logo design services to ensure that they get the custom logo design they are seeking for.

There are many professional logo design companies who will create a professional logo for your organization, but even they require some information and feedback from your end in order to create a perfect logo. If you are looking for someone who can render a professional logo design, it is recommended that you take the help of advertising agencies. They are your best bet when you are seeking is a graphic designer and creator. Simon Nelson writes on various business related topics which help others to start up and boost up their business. Get more valuable information about being a custom logo design for your organization. These advertising agencies have their own research & planning department along with their own art studio and they also employ professionals who know what sells. Remember, your logo is your organization's mascot and it represents your organization, hence it is important that it has a unique and custom logo design that stands out from the designs of the logos of your competitors.

There are some smart people who do not want to pay the high charges that the advertising agencies demand. These smart people know that there are programs that are designed just for creating professional logos. What these people do not know is that these programs have pre-defined logos. In order to create a custom logo design using these programs using this software, one has to first select any design from the software's collection. The same is altered a bit over here and a bit over there to give the shape a unique design. After that one can change the color according to its choice. Simon is a graphic designer and creative writer on various business related topics which help others to start up and boost up their business. Get more valuable infologin4mailsrmation about combinations of the logo to one that suits the standard colors of the company for which the logo is being designed.

Most professional companies have their own unique color combination that is used in all their stationery and the same should be followed for their custom logo design. Once this is over, the software allows the user to add some text that can be set in a straight or curved path. Once all these steps have been completed, the entire image can be exported as a graphic corporate logo design,best logo design,company logo design,custom logo design file and can be sent to the printers for printing on letterheads, visiting cards and other official stationery. What the users of this software do not know is that the same program is being used by tens of thousands of semi-professionals all over the world to create some other custom logo design.

They are being termed as semi-professionals, since no graphic professional worth their salt will ever use such programs with pre-designed logos. Professional graphic artists and typographers prefer to use their own brains and vision to create something unique, which will stand apart from the pack. After all, they are charging you such a huge amount of money for creating your organizations custom logo design. There is one more important point that one should remember when getting their logos designed. They should not act in haste and allow the designers sufficient time to re-work on the design, till they are sure that it is satisfactory. The image of the logo should appear to be a part of your company. Try to add elements in the design that shows the nature of your company's business.

A famous example is that of a gramophone record company. Their logo depicts a dog listening intently to the horn of an old gramophone player. Yes, the players of olden days used a horn to amplify the sound of the record. Can you imagine how many things does this logo depict? The record goes to show the logo is that of a company that deals with records. The horn is used to show that this organization has been round for ages. The dog listening to the sound emitting from the horn wants to convey the faithful reproduction of sound one should expect when they are playing records of that company. No prizes foe guessing the name of the company, but this classic example goes to show how many things a logo can portray. These are some of the points you too should keep in mind before you plan to get a custom logo design for your organization. Remember, the logo is the heart and soul of your company and they are the biggest and most important representatives of your organization too. 365 days a year, the logo of your company keeps reminding people about the presence of your company through your organization's ads, letterheads, visiting cards and gifts.

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Your Organization Is As Renowned As It's Logo Design

Your organization is as famous as its logo design. If you are one of the lucky ones you might have seen a famous ad that was released by a world renowned Japanese transistor manufacturing organization way back in the mid eighties. This organization had booked 8 pages on a world-renowned news magazine. The ad occupied 3 pages before the center spread and 3 pages following it. Along with the center spread itself, the ad occupied 8 pages. All the pages were black apart from the center spread that had just the logo design of the organization whose ad had been published with a single line pf text. "We are so busy manufacturing transistors that we do not have the time to get ourselves a new logo design"

The fictitious company did not have the requirement for a new logo design. In fact the one that they were using was so famous that people viewing the ad associated the custom logo design with the company. This is the power of a logo design that people associate a company with it. There are a number of logo design services all over the world that specialize in designing special logo design for their corporate clients. Creative artists, who undertake corporate logo design, spend lots of time designing one, and they are paid a fat salary for their work. In case you have any doubts about the impact a logo design has on the sales of a company's products, just see how the fakes are thriving.

There have been instances when a product has ruled the market just on the power of its logo design. There are different types of logo design and it requires different brain sets to design a business logo design and a professional logo design. There have been countless instances when reputed companies have been fleeced because of their logos. Fraudulent organizations copy their logo design on fake products and sell the same with impunity. In most cases they did not have to undergo criminal cases or forgery cases because they had used text that was quite different from those used in the original product. However, the client who used to purchase those products, especially the first time purchasers got fleeced because they had purchased the product just by looking at its logo design.

They were confident that the product was genuine. Keeping this in mind new laws have been introduced and nowadays organizations and individuals can be penalized and be brought under the purview of law even if they copy the logo design of any company to sell spurious products. Most reputed companies have spent a long time before they were able to get a perfect design that they could use for representing their company and its products. There is no doubt that a company is known by the quality of its products but is recognized even more by its appealing logo design. A few days ago one gentleman was watching the TV while relaxing in his hotel room in a foreign country.

Now this gentleman had no idea of the language used in that country, but he knew that they used the roman numericals in their written text. While the alphabets were in a language he did not understand, he had no problems following the digits 0-9. He was craving to be back in his own country and missed the food of his hometown a lot. Suddenly an ad in the TV amazed him. He noted down the phone number provided in the ad and ordered 2 hamburgers manufactured by "batgonald". He might not have recognized the "batgonald" ad because he did not know the foreign text, but he could recognize the logo of "batgonald" immediately.

This is the immense power of an organizations logo design.

People recall them more than the name of the company. A properly designed and catchy logo design stays in one's subconscious mind for a long period of time. In most cases the logo of a company also describes the work the company in question undertakes. There are instances of logos of a interior designing company which has a roof on top of the logo, which clearly signifies that the company in question are in the home business. In the good old days artists used to spend many days trying to design a good logo design and they used to finish reams of paper before they came out with an innovative design. All these have changed nowadays with the advent of the computer and many applications that have been manufactured keeping logo design in mind.

There is no doubt that even nowadays the professional artists will never use these programs. They might use other painting and designing applications, but not the applications that have been specially manufactured for facilitating logo design. These programs take the creativity away from the artists. They come inbuilt with hundreds of pre-configured logo designs and all that the artist has to do, is to make some minor changes in the design and change the color scheme. They can then add text to the design to make a completely new design. However these programs do not allow the artists to input their creativity hence they are shunned by most professional designers.

You cannot miss logo designs on whose reputation the image of a company depends. Most of them have been seen by millions of viewers all over the world through the print and TV media and have become immensely popular all over the world. These organizations know that people all over the world, despite the languages they speak, will recognize their logo. They know that their company's logo design is something that crosses barriers set by written text. They understand the value of the motif of their organization and the popularity it has with the masses. Hence they select some of the best artists of the world when they are going in for their new company's logo design.

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Selecting the Proper Logo Design Services For Your Organization

It is a well-known fact that a well-designed logo makes or breaks the image of a company. Most people know that all the leading organizations and brands of the world have their own individual logo that sets them apart from the rest of the pack. When people go out to purchase a product, they recognize the same more by the design of the organizations logo rather than by their products. Hence it pays to select proper logo design services to create an eye-catching logo for your company. Just do a bit of research and if required check out on the internet and you will come across organizations that specialize in logo design and most of them have their own portfolio.

They send their representative with a collection of the designs that they have created. For other clients and this will help you to decide whether you can entrust them with the task of logo design services for your organization or not. There are many organizations that depend on the words of the alphabet for their organization's logo design. They just select a font face that is matching the image of their organization and make subtle changes to the same for their organizations logo. Case in point is the logo of the famous PC manufacturer, "Dell" They have used a simple type for their corporate logo design. Just tilting the letter 'E' has given a new dimension to that word and nobody who has seen their logo once will ever forget it.

This is what logo design services should be able to offer. They should be able to dream up and deliver a design that will be attractive and at the same time simple. People should co-relate a product with that logo and once this is achieved, the organization can be sure that an Englishman seeing their ads in China can recognize them. Even though the Englishman does not recognize the Chinese characters, he can be sure that the ad being displayed on the massive billboard is of a particular organization because they have been able to interpret the logo and have co-related it with a particular product and a specific brand image.

Before you select an organization offering logo design services for creating the masthead of your organization, make sure that they have got the capability to deliver logos that speak for themselves. Request them to send their sales representatives along with samples of their work. It is not necessary that the organization you will be hiring for a professional logo design should have done work for reputed international organizations. Check out the quality of their work for that is what goes into making a successful or unsuccessful logo. You will be amazed to hear that professional designers or artists have not designed some of the revered logos in the world.

People who do not hold a degree in painting or draftsmanship have created them. People like you and me have created them. People who have a passion and ability for creating something better than the standard have designed them. The custom logo designs of these organizations started off by simple ads in the papers. People were requested if they were willing to become famous and earn riches overnight. Those who read the ad found out that they could earn millions and a place in the annals of history by creating the custom logo design of a company. Of the thousands of designs received by the organization, one got selected and the rest is history.

You need not believe my story. Get in touch with any leading business logo design agency and tell them this story. They will tell you that this case is not related to just one organization, but a number of famous organizations have had their logo designed in this manner. Logo design services are all about having a creative mind on one's shoulders. The perfect designer should have a spirit of never say die and must be willing to churn out hundreds of permutations and combination using a few pre-selected designs and text and make them into an outstanding work of art. There are many budding artists who want to join reputed logo design services but cannot stay over there for long because they do not have the patience.

They want to create a design in 1-2 days and desire that they gain instant recognition all over the world for the logo they shall be designing. Most artists who posses these mindsets are those who rely too much on professional designing programs. These programs come pre-built with thousands of designs and all one needs to do is select any one of the designs that has got a resemblance to the design the client has approved. These new generation artists then make minor changes to the readymade design and colors and add some text to the same and presto! They have created a logo successfully in less than a day. Logo design services that employ such artists armed with those programs can never strike it rich.

It has taken world-renowned graphic designers up to 3 months to come up with a basic idea and this new entrant is trying to achieve that feat in less than a day? This is not what professional logo design services is all about. One has to visualize the design from the eyes of the general public. The logo should have a mass appeal. It should convey the feelings of the organization it is being designed for and yet it should be simple enough so that viewers can associate it with a brand name or a product. Check out the studios of reputed logo design services organizations. The scraps over there will tell you the story of the pains that an artist undertakes before he/ she is able to come out with a successful logo. Logo designing is not such a simple task, as it seems.

Simon is a graphic designer and creative writer on various business related topics which help others to start up and boost up their business.

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Did You Select a Professional Logo Design For Your Company?

There are some professionals who are over confident about their abilities. Being confident is good, being over confident is dangerous and at times it can create problems that leaves them with no escape route. These professionals try to save money when it comes to get a professional logo design done for their organization. They have no idea of logo design yet the call the professional designers to their office and direct them to use his ideas. One can be rest assured that the custom logo design made as per their directions will ultimately spoil the image of the company in the eyes of its clients. A professional job is best left in the hands of professionals and then nobody should interfere when they are going about their work.

The same stand good for all type and fields of work and it is true for the designing and printing industry too. However, the smart executive thinks he knows more about Professional logo design than the accomplished artists are. When you are utilizing the services of a professional for your organization's logo design services, it is understood that you are the boss and will be pulling the strings. This is understood and accepted by the designing agency that will undertake the job of designing the logo for your organization. These artists know that the executive will make corrections in the logo designs submitted by them and they know that some of the changes will not be suitable for the logo.

They can then suggest what they think is not good for the logo and hope that the executive will agree with their point of view. However, this does not happen all the time. Since the executive has called the agency to do the work, he believes that he knows the entire job, even though he cannot even draw a circle or even a square. Yet he will try to impose his views on the business logo design of the company. Suggesting changes in the design to the advertising agency after they have submitted a few samples is one thing, but telling them how to design the logo from scratch is blasphemy. You can be rest assured that the professional artists will lose all interest in the job and they will not focus their minds on the same any more.

If you are interested in getting a professional logo design made, leave it in the hands of the professionals instead of trying to impose your point of view. They have undertaken many such tasks before are know more about logos that you might ever learn during your lifetime. It will be wiser if you spent you time telling them some details about the company and what it does. This will give the designers a base on which to conceptualize their design. Check out any professional logo and you will find that there is a hint of the work done by the company it depicts. There are some companies whose logo does not portray anything. These companies are so famous that they need no add any other things to their organization's logo.

For the first few days the professionals from the designing agency might bother you to know more about the company. This helps them to provide you with a professional logo design. They might even check the existing stationery of the company to learn about the color schemes used. This will help them to plan the color scheme of the logo so that it's color does not clash with the colors of other elements in the page. One classic example used by many organizations is to use a cream colored paper with the text in jet black and the logo in red. This makes an excellent combination and if the types and logo used are appropriate, they are sure to attract one's attention. Professional logo design means that the logo should be catchy and at the same time it should be simple.

It should not leave the viewers wondering what the logo means. If people start thinking about what you logo stands for, it is high time you got a change over done. While your sales representatives work for 5 days a week, and take holidays during Christmas and summer holidays, the logo keeps on working without complaining 365 days a year. They are the best friends your company has. Is it not their due that they were made using professional logo design? If you are an executive that wants to poke his nose in the initial stages of the professional logo design of your company's logo, here is a hint. There are many books available which have collections of the world's best and award winning logos.

Purchase a few of them and go through the different logos they contain and try to visualize which one would best represent your company. Once you have been able to target a few of them, get Photostat copies made of them. This can be showed to the professional designers when they pay you a visit in context with the professional logo design of your company. Do not try to impose yourself on these artists and let them guide you. If you are patient enough you will see that they will soon come down to your wavelength and then you can also make your views regarding the professional logo design understood by them easily.

Professionals are professionals and they take pride of their work. If pinches them when someone who does not know anything about their profession tries to pass on advice to them. It is best to approach them in a friendly manner. Once you approach them as a friend, the entire scene changes. They will be willing to hear you out patiently. If you want to get the best-designed logo for your organization's logo, it is best to leave the entire thing to them, right from the visualization to the printing stage.

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Bachelor of Graphic Design: Degree Overview

Get information about bachelor's degree programs in graphic design. Learn about prerequisites, courses, career opportunities and continuing education, and find out the economic outlook for this field.

Essential Information
In graphic design bachelor's programs, students learn to balance words, icons, colors and perspectives to create aesthetically pleasing and eye-catching images or promotional publications. Applicants may have to present a portfolio of design work or complete prerequisite courses in order to enroll.

Through lecture-based sessions and hands-on practice, students focus on the use of graphic design software and other essential technologies, including cameras, sound machines and industrial printers. Completion of a final portfolio may be required, and a senior project is often required as well. Graphic design programs may be accredited through the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD).
Bachelor of Graphic Design vs. Bachelor of Science

Bachelor's degree programs are available as a Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) Bachelor of Graphic Design (BGD) and Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Graphic Design. BFA and BGD programs are 4-year professional degree programs that devote more than 90% of the curriculum to design-related and graphic design coursework. The NASAD and the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) recognize the BFA and BGD as preparation for a career in graphic design.

B.S. and B.A. programs are considered by the NASAD and AIGA as liberal art programs, because the programs typically devote less than half of their credits toward art and design coursework. The NASAD and AIGA stated that liberal arts degrees are not proper preparation for a professional graphic design career (nasad.arts-accredit.org).

Education Prerequisites

Usually a high school diploma or the equivalent is enough to meet the education prerequisites for enrolling in a bachelor's degree program. However, some programs may require students to complete specific coursework and submit a portfolio prior to entrance into the program, state the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Course Topics
Graphic design is an interdisciplinary field that may explore a wide range of topics, including marketing, visual arts, communications and computer sciences. Most programs require students to create professional portfolios to highlight their skills to potential employers. Additionally, programs may include a senior project. Common courses within these programs may include:

•     Drawing
•     Advertising design
•     Computer graphics
•     2-D and 3-D design
•     Typography

Popular Career Options

Graduates are prepared to create publications, websites, branding systems and posters for in a variety of industries, including advertising, publishing and public relations. Popular job titles include:

•     Computer artist
•     Publications designer
•     Art director
•     Graphic designer
•     Web designer

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Getting Your Graphic Design Degree!

Are you in graphic design? Or planning to be? If you’re considering pursuing new opportunities in graphic design, check these suggestions on securing and thriving in a graphic design job.

Visual expertise counts

As society becomes increasingly visual in nature, projects in interactive media are on the rise, especially for new websites, mobile applications, Web advertising design, and video expansions. And as Internet advertising grows, many signs point to further opportunities for increasing the number of graphic design jobs.
Graphic designers are hired by clients to create interactive content on banner ads, landing pages, social media sites, and other interactive forms. Since every company wants interaction on their webpage and product, a well-designed, well-executed campaign can help to make or break a client's sales. Other areas in which graphic design is used is in film (CGI), TV bumpers (including those pop-ups on your screen and segue ads in between programs and ads), animation and Web video.

Draw the interactivity

To be a graphic designer, it helps to have a great eye, and good artistic and technical ability. The main focus for a graphic designer is to elevate the visual aspects of a certain project (in those categories mentioned above) and control the process and eye direction of the user (i.e., the reader). Bringing a person's attention to a particular part of a webpage, video, or animated piece is crucial to drive interactivity, responses, and enjoyment of a project. After all, that's what clients want. Poorly designed pages or projects can make people lose interest or divert their attention to the wrong area on the page.
This might seem obvious, but it's an art and a science to design. Good design isn't decoration; it's more like problem solving. The trick is to be effective in design, without looking hackneyed, cheesy, or outdated.

Graphic design degrees

On average, graphic design graduate degrees take about two to three years to complete. Undergraduates can complete the program in the typical four years. Once finished, graduates usually qualify for a variety of graphic designer positions, depending on the area chosen. As you pursue different  degree programs, figure out which aspect of graphic design appeals most to you, and then look into the aspects that are most employable. Animation and website design experience present top opportunities.
There are many in-person and online graphic design degree programs to choose from. (Full Sail, Parson’s School of Design, and Art Institute are some of the better-known online school options.) Common courses one can expect to take during this phase include principles of design, studio art, commercial graphics production, computerized design, website design, and printing techniques.

Working with clients

Once you have your work in graphic design, it's time to learn about master the concepts of collaboration, creativity, and communication.

• Make sure your professional portfolio features your best work. Show it online so others can see your work in a few clicks. Clients will want to have access to your designs for assessment of your abilities. The right pieces on your website and portfolio can make the difference between a "when can you start?" phone call or a "no thanks."
• Learn to be comfortable selling. Designers need to communicate well. If you cannot explain your work to clients, who will? GraphicDesignBlog.org suggests that good, well-rounded people skills are an important factor when choosing to pursue a graphic design degree. It’s something you can’t learn in school, but something innately a part of this job.
• Lastly, as a little bonus: learn quickly that time is money. The quicker you get quality work back to a client, the more work (and money) you'll receive in return. Businesses expect good work, on time. Budget your time and direction well.

Your work alone may bring you clients, but to keep them, you need to be open to suggestions and open to collaboration. Develop a well-rounded relationship with your clients, understanding their likes and dislikes, according to the scope of the particular project. Get the right results to your client. Collaboration is the key to your success.

The great thing about graphic design work is that it incorporates much of what makes us creative beings: visual acuity, creative imagination, coherence in structure, economy of elements, and more. If you work in graphic design on a daily basis, your senses are engaged all day, every day. With that mental energy abounding daily, the sky's the limit for taking your graphic design degree to a fulfilling career.

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Hagerstown's High Rock Studios acquires 3D animation firm

High Rock Studios, based in downtown Hagerstown, has acquired Baltimore-based Pylot Studios, a firm specializing in three-dimensional renderings and animation, the company has announced.

"High Rock always strives to be at the forefront of technology," said Rich Daughtridge, founder and president of High Rock. "By acquiring Pylot Studios and their team of talented, award-winning 3D designers, we are creating new possibilities and providing broader services for our customers and their future growth."

The acquisition adds the expertise of former Pylot Studios owners Yavuz Goncu and Len Sullivan into the mix as High Rock advances its advertising and marketing solutions with the integration of 3D technologies, the company said in a July 31 news release.

Goncu will serve as creative director of 3D technology and partner in the foundation of the new 3D division, which also will include Sullivan as a partner and senior account executive.

"High Rock and Pylot have successfully partnered on many high profile projects in the past," Goncu said in the release. "Ultimately, we decided that our combined services allow us to quickly and efficiently respond to the increasing demand for new technology in marketing."

As a result of some recent hiring and the acquisition of Pylot, High Rock is planning to expand its Hagerstown headquarters and add some staffers to its recently relocated Baltimore office, company officials said.

Daughtridge said the firm recently added Greg Mills as chief operating officer of High Rock Holdings and Melody Belotte as account executive to increase response to client needs.

"We're excited for the opportunity to grow our team and expand our menu of services to include 3D technologies, in addition to strategic marketing, creative services, web and mobile development, and video production," he said.

Daughtridge said he plans to hire up to four additional employees by the end of 2014, likely to be two new jobs in Hagerstown and two in the Baltimore location.

Both locations will be full-service, but back office operations will continue to be headquartered in Hagerstown, Daughtridge said.

With the additions, the company's workforce stands at about 25 people, he said.

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Making the Woodkit typeface system

Ondrej Jób is describing the process of designing Woodkit, a playful fixed-width display series of typefaces inspired by wood type.

Woodkit is a type system inspired by wood type and letterpress consisting of three families — Solid, Print and Reprint, each with six distinct styles covering various alphabet designs, components and miscellaneous ornaments. Woodkit supports Latin, Cyrillic and Greek scripts.

From both aesthetic and functional reasons, the most important feature of Woodkit is that every single glyph fills a square, not just horizontally, but also vertically. This is a reference and an homage to the physicality of the real life wooden blocks. It didn’t only induce some new and unexpected constructional solutions, it also gave the final font broad versatility, mutual interchangeability, many visual treats unavailable in proportional typefaces and most importantly — playfulness. Some of the fonts and shapes are outright inspired by wooden blocks and alphabets for kids. Therefore with Woodkit, typing also means building.

By now, it’s probably no big surprise that Woodkit originated as a custom logo for one of my friends. In March 2014, Zolo Kis of Mr. Wood asked me to design a logo for his new online store with wooden interior accessories. I came up with a logo constructed from simple blocks. I don’t know about kids these days, but the blocks were one of my most favourite things to play with. And apparently, I still have it in me today, even though it’s only on a computer screen. Just for fun, I quickly ‘built’ a whole alphabet, then a second and a third set, then numbers and I only stopped after Greek and Cyrillic were done.

I love quick and simple projects like this one, but I tend to complicate them for myself. And this was no exception – once I got the idea to actually release this, more styles started to pop up in my head, resulting in a rather extensive kit of letters, shapes, ornaments and patterns. There are six styles in each of the three Woodkit families: Letterpress, Alphabet A and B, Blocks, Figures and Ornaments.

Even though Letterpress style was the last to be added, it has the prominent first spot in the family as it is probably the most ‘typographic’ of the bunch. It draws inspiration from the 19th century wood type posters that literally competed in typographic overabundance of styles, colours and sizes.

I tried to capture just that in Woodkit Letterpress fonts. Every glyph seems to come from a different printer’s case with only a handful sharing a similar style. With everything mixed together and combined with the print artefacts and small defects, the text set in the Letterpress style appears warm and friendly.

When typing with basic ligatures turned on, the font automatically rotates between three different versions for each letter or number. When two same glyphs are typed together, the font replaces them with their narrow variants so they fill just a single square together, adding a little bit of spice into the mix. With contextual alternates turned on, five different versions are being rotated, three full square and two half square wide. And finally, when discretionary ligatures are turned on, the font rotates only between the two half square versions. All this combined together allows for a rich setting where no two words look alike.

The Alphabet A and B styles are as simple as they sound – they are inspired by the basic ABC blocks used by kids who are learning to read. Available in positive (A) or negative (B) versions, they are great for marking sections, typographic mosaics or as drop caps. Simple!

As mentioned above, the Blocks style represents the very essence of Woodkit. Every glyph is a unique stack of various blocks, there are no closed counters, no sharp corners and no complicated shapes that would be difficult to make in real wood.

With the basic ligatures feature on, the font rotates between three different versions for each letter and number.

I couldn’t resist including the Figures style in the family. It is the best demonstration of the playful character of Woodkit. I started to build first figures while drawing the Blocks style as it was a very natural thing to do. I stacked the blocks on top of each other to create letters, so why not try something else too? The result is almost 400 thousand possible figures – there are 78 heads, 8 arms, 8 legs and 8 trunks to choose from and 10 different hats to top it off.

And last but not least, there are Ornaments, a selection of 500 symbols, shapes, mid-century-inspired dingbats and seamless patterns to complement the other Woodkit styles.

Author’s tips

    • Use 100% leading (i.e. 20pt text size/20pt leading) to make the gap between lines and the space between glyphs equal.

    • Use the Glyph palette in your graphic application to pick from all available versions of each glyph (click and hold on a letter with a tiny arrow in the corner)

    • The style of each glyph always depends on the previous glyph. That means that changing the first letter in a word will affect all other letters following it. Quick and easy.

    • Every glyph is 1000 units wide and the tracking setting in your graphic application uses the very same units. That means that setting the tracking, e.g. to +500, will create gaps between the glyphs that are exactly half-glyph wide.

To wrap it up, here is a visual overview of the whole Woodkit system. All fonts are distributed in OpenType TT format (.ttf) and available for purchase exclusively from Typotheque.

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Animator: Required Education For a Career in Animation

Learn about the education and preparation needed to become an animator. Get a quick view of the requirements as well as details about degree programs, job duties and career outlook to find out if this is the career for you.

Essential Information

Most employers require prospective animators to have a bachelor's degree in animation or a related field, as well as a professional portfolio, though some animators hold only a certificate or an associate's degree. Students typically take courses in drawing, 3D programming, computer graphics, video effects and graphic design. Programs may also provide training on sound and video editing, as well as kinematics.

Required Education	Bachelor's degree
Projected Job Growth	6% between 2012 and 2022 (for all multimedia artists and animators)*
Median Salary (2013)	$64,470 annually (for all multimedia artists and animators)*

Source: *U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Portfolios

Through their coursework, students may begin to build a professional portfolio of their work. They may also take specialized courses, such as design studios, to help them improve their skills in animation. Some of these courses may also cover portfolio presentation and self-marketing to help students find jobs after they graduate.

Job Opportunities

Upon graduation, students may look for employment with motion picture and video production companies, as well as advertising and public relations firms. Animators may also find work with software publishers and computer system design firms. With additional training, these professionals may also become:

• Sketch artists
• Graphic designers
• Painters
• Cartoonists
• Illustrators
• Computer game developers
• Computer game programmers
• Visual artists
• Web designers
• Multimedia designers 

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Graphic Design Industry Role Descriptions

If you’re a recent college graduate or if you’re just now entering the workforce, you’ve probably looked at and applied for dozens of design jobs. You’re probably aware of most of the popular job titles in the design industry including everything from junior art director, senior art director, art director and beyond; but after reviewing all the descriptions for each, you might still be a bit confused as to what each position does and how these positions fit in to the office hierarchy. This is because job titles and descriptions are confusing. Responsibilities differ from company to company and can depend on several factors including size, type of company, and even the skills of the employees that work there. For this article, I spoke to several designers, art directors, and creative directors hoping to learn how these roles differ from company to company. What I learned was that each company tends to use their creative teams in different ways. It is my hope that by sharing what I’ve learned that I can help to better prepare you for your transition into the workforce.


The Junior, Mid-Level, and Senior Designer

When you first start looking for a job as a graphic designer, it’s likely that one of the first things that you will do is visit a website like Monster.com and run a search for “graphic designer.” Your results will vary but it’s likely that each of you will see several listings for junior, mid-level, and senior designers. At a glance, these listings might appear to be quite similar but in reality you may find these positions to be quite different in terms of experience and responsibility.

So what exactly are the differences? The terms junior, mid, and senior typically refer to seniority. Designers with many years of experience typically hold more senior level positions while designers with less experience hold more junior ones.

A junior designer, for instance, is an entry level position, usually a college graduate with exceptional talent. Junior designers typically require heavy direction from a more senior designer, or art director to develop a project to its conclusion.

Mid-level designers generally have a couple years of experience in the industry and although they still require supervision from a more senior member of their team, they are typically more than capable of completing most tasks.

The senior designer should be one of the most experienced members of the creative team. They should have several years of experience and should be capable of executing projects with minimal direction from an art director. In addition, senior designers should be able to manage their time as well as the time of more junior level designers. In addition, senior designers should have a firm understanding of all levels of production and be capable of not only contributing to the design of a project but also communicating with the client.
While all of this seems rather cut and dry, it’s not. The role of the designer can change depending on the size of the company. A smaller studio, for instance, might be more hands on, relying on more junior level designers to interact with clients and make decisions regarding the direction of a project whereas a larger agency may have stricter guidelines and a clearer division of labor.

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Design How-To: Working with Photos

The popularity of digital cameras, coupled with their relative ease of use, makes it easier than ever to incorporate images into documents. But unless you've spent some time developing a photographer's eye, chances are the snapshots you take are general scenes filled with lots of unnecessary background and filler. The central focus -- and message -- of the image is diffused.

But you can add impact to even the most mundane image by judicious cropping and placement in your page layout.

In this feature from "Before & After Magazine," learn how to crop images for focus and position them for unity in a page layout.

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What Does a Graphic Designer Do?

A graphic designer, also often referred to as a graphic artist, wears many different hats while using an equally diverse number of media to create numerous types of designs. Graphic designers work to visually convey a particular message or idea that has noticeable appeal and the respected profession is highly sought out for promoting and displaying a wide variety of products, activities, ideas, and communications.

Graphic design is used every single day in the world of advertising, including everything from books and magazines, health and personal care, food products, automobiles, clothing, computers, and just about everything else you could think of in between. Product packaging is a huge part of any type of business and requires the expertise of a graphic designer who understands not only the general marketing aspect of business, but also the client's main objective.

Working closely alongside the client, a graphic designer begins expanding upon an initial concept, asks pertinent questions as to the end goal, discusses budgets and deadlines, then agrees on the finalised design, fee and due date. Many designers successfully juggle more than one project at a time, allocating a certain portion of their time to each. Some duties of a graphic designer may include:

- Meeting or communicating regularly with clients to discuss the aspects and goals of a project.

- Staying abreast of the latest technologies in terms of computerised media and common design programmes such as Dreamweaver, Flash, Adobe Photoshop, and Quark Xpress.

- Designing a product from rough drafts, sketches and vague ideas while still knowing how to reach just the right audience.

- Demonstrating excellent proofreading skills while also showing high attention to quality and detail.

- Working with other professionals in the industry such as copywriters, photographers, marketing specialists, web developers and printers.

- Effectively managing time in order to meet deadlines while staying within budget constraints.

An experienced and knowledgeable graphic designer has the uncanny ability to take a general idea and turn it into a visually compelling product that garners not only attention but favourable results as well. Somehow they instinctively know when to use clean lines and muted tones and when to instead use vibrant designs with bold hues that grab your attention.

Graphic designers may work for themselves on a freelance basis or may be employed full time by someone else, whether it be a small organisation or a large corporation. If self-employed, a graphic designer must work diligently to market themselves and their skills in order to build their portfolio and client base as well as making continued learning a large part of their career.

The CSD, the Chartered Society of Designers located in London, offers a number of programmes providing graphic designers with the opportunity to pursue continuous professional development, or CPD for short. Designers can learn the latest in illustration, typography, corporate identity and interactive media design for websites and computers.

When working for a design firm or similar entity, the opportunity for advancement is definitely there in this exciting and ever changing field. Within just a few short years, one may progress to senior designer, obtain a management position such as creative director, or even venture out on their own or create a partnership with another like-minded designer.

Derek Rogers is a freelance writer who represents a number of UK businesses. For the very best in innovative Graphic Design Services he recommends Hampshire-based Studio Republic.



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