Businesses are slowly moving away from brick and mortar stores to more robust solutions, such as online stores.

One of the main reasons of this is because they are easier to run and also have the potential of doing business globally.

Etsy is one solution and gives people the ability to run online stores at the comfort of their living rooms.

But even for the online stores, the basic concepts of branding and marketing remains.

If you want to attract more clients to come to your online stores, you have to stand out from the crowd with effective branding strategies.

Below are the various tips and tricks you can employ to design a logo for your Etsy store and bring you all the benefits you need.

Simplicity rules

A glance at the world’s leading eCommerce store will be a clear testament to the fact that simple logos work well for online stores.

Amazon’s logo is nicely designed and it has been a major driving force behind the company’s branding success.

Etsy store owners can be pick few tips from this logo and implement them in their designs.

For instance, the logo is largely text-based and it is clearly formatted and well organized.

If such a design is adopted, the logo will be memorable to the current store users and potential customers will also notice it quite easily.

Optimize for mobile

It is no longer a convenience but rather a necessity for online stores to be mobile friendly so that mobile users can also have a chance to access the stores online.

It will interest you to know that the number of mobile users has grown so immensely, thus making mobile traffic a major source for most of the eCommerce stores.

In regards to logo design for Etsy stores, the logo should have the versatility to render in mobile devices as well, so that mobile users don’t miss a chance to recognize the store simply because the logo is not mobile friendly.

But the logo shouldn’t be just optimized for mobile alone.

The versatility should also be depicted when you need to scale it up or down.

For instance, you may be interested in creating various marketing materials such as posters, flyers, business cards, email signatures etc.

In putting the logo in such materials, it is imperative for it to maintain its legibility and not lose any of its qualities.

Use images or tagline to reveal your unique selling points

To run a successful Etsy store or any other eCommerce store, it is imperative to distinguish yourself from the competition by providing a truly unique selling point.

Since there are several stores competing for the same audiences in the internet, your logo should inform your target audience of the kind of value they will get when they purchase from your store.

The best way to do this is to use images or your tagline to reveal your unique selling points to the target audiences.

Because the potential customers may not have time to go through your website in detail, by revealing your USP in the logo, they will feel compelled to check out your store.

Consider horizontal designs

When designing a logo for your Etsy store, it may be tempting to keep the design to just one corner of the website, usually the top left corner.

Whereas this is the norm and almost every store is doing it that way, to attract more attention, you should consider using as much as possible the horizontal length of the web page.

If you minimize the vertical space and instead stretch the text and the graphics of the logo to cover the horizontal plane, the logo will be easily recognizable, thus contributing to the branding efforts of your Etsy store.

Additionally, such an alignment will give you the chance to showcase more of your products on the store.

Use images properly

Finally, you should make good use of the images.

From well performing online stores like Amazon, it is not possible to think about the logo without the upward pointing arrow coming to mind.

Again, such logos use art minimally, hence it is important to use images that are unquestionably related to the kinds of goods you are selling on your Etsy store.

Look for a clean and a minimalist image that is simple enough and will have the ability to stick in the minds of your customers or potential clients who visit the website.

These tips, if used religiously, will enable you to create an outstanding logo for your Etsy store.

Remember, the competition among fellow Etsy stores is very high and you need to do everything necessary to stand out.

One of these ways is to have a nicely designed, unique, and original logo.

Use these color tools with your logo!

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The creation of this visual representation of a brand goes beyond just possessing graphic design skills. Presented below are certain essential rules which should be applied in the design of logo meant for the web or print. If followed correctly, the result will be a stunning logo with the ability to spearhead the success of the company’s branding efforts.

You must do preliminary work

The first step towards designing an effective logo is to do a thorough preliminary work. It is out of the preliminary sketches where you will get the initial design sketches and move forward with the rest of the process. For the preliminary work, you can simply use paper and pen drawings or you can make drafts using a vector program such as Adobe Illustrator.

It is recommended you create between twenty and thirty sketches or ideas to give you variations to use for the final logo. This process may sound a bit difficult, but it is a very fundamental one and skipping it might end up compromising your final results. Remember, that the more time a graphics designer spends on the preliminary sketches, the higher the chances of coming up with a great design.

Always create balance

The next essential rule in designing a logo for both web and print is to ensure balance in the design. The importance of having balance in the design is because the human mind has a way of equation balance to nice visual appeal. It implies that without a good balance in the design, the logo won’t appear as beautiful as it would have appeared with the right balance.

In this regard, therefore, you should keep the weight of the fonts, colors, sizes and graphics equal on each side. In certain occasions, you may be allowed to break the rule on balance, but just have in mind that the logo will be seen by multitudes, and not just those who have a keen eye for design, therefore, you will be safer by creating a balanced logo.

Never ignore the sizes

The next important rule for creating logos for web and print is the rule on size. This matters so much because all the components must look good and readable in all sizes. A logo ceases to be effective if it loses its definition when scaled down to fit into letterheads or small promotional items. It is important for the logo to appear the same whether displayed on a billboard, a television ad, and email signature or on the website. The best way to test if the logo is of the right size it test manually to see its behaviour on different mediums.

Wise use of colors

The color theory may sound complex, but to a designer keen on creating killer logos for web and print, there is no other way but to understand the theory and be proficient in its application. The basic rule when it comes to using color in logo design is as follows-:

• Use colors that are near each other on the color wheel
• Avoid very bright colors which may make the eyes strain while looking at them
• The logo must also look good in black and white or grayscale or in just two colors
• You are free to break the rules, but you must have a good reason for that.

It also pays to understand how different colors evoke various emotions or feelings. For instance, the color red might evoke feelings of love, passion, aggression, and strength while white on the other hand might evoke feelings of cleanliness, purity or simplicity.

Adopt a design style that suits the company

There are various design styles at the disposal of every graphics designer. When working on other graphics, any other style which suits the needs of the designer can be preferred. However, when working on logos, whether for the web or for print, the style adopted must be in tandem with the needs of the company. To get the style right, it is recommended to do a background check about the company so that you have a good understanding their operation and the nature of the businesses they do. You should also do a research about the target audience of the company then identify the best style that will give greater results. Preferably, you should identify the right style when working on the preliminary sketches.

Learn how to create a consultancy logo here!

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Unlike other industries, branding needs for contractors are slightly different. The contractors are faced with the task of passing across the message that they are ready for the next assignment while at the same time distinguishing themselves from the hundreds of similar contractors competing for the same jobs. Additionally, contractors who are still new in the industry face a massive task of getting established.

However, it is important to remember that confidence is grounded in the image. Through the creation of a solid logo, a contractor can create the perception of trust and start to win the hearts of potential clients, and by doing so, the business will be well on its way to growth. Below are some tips any contractor can use to create a logo guaranteed to stand out from the crowd and bring them immense marketing and branding success.

Use symbols associated with the trade

Proper use of symbols is imperative in the design of logos across all the industries. For contractors, appropriate choice of symbols is needed depending on the specific industry being plied. By using images relevant to the industry, it becomes easy to tell the potential clients about the kinds of services offered and they won’t have to struggle to figure out what the business is all about. As a general rule, the images must be simple and clear to understand and preferably, a single dormant image or text should be used. No need to cram three or four images in one logo.

Be niche specific

In as much as you may be one out of a thousand contractors in your niche, you may be providing an add-on service not being offered by most of the other contractors, thus differentiating your from them. For instance, you could be offering more personalized service, 24/7 emergency services, or competitive pricing amongst others. These extra services have the ability to create a huge difference in the client’s perception and so they should be clearly indicated in the logo. They will act as the strong selling points you will use to attract most of the clients interested in your services.

Stick to the colors defined by your trade

Just as with every other logo design, the psychology of color must be considered keenly when creating a contractor logo. Due to the extensive nature of the contractor businesses, there is a wide variety of colors to choose from, and any color chosen must be in tandem to the trade offered. It has been realized that most of the best performing contractor companies prefer to use bold colors such as brown, black, yellow, orange and red in their logos.

These colors are not only bright and conspicuous, but according to color psychology, they represent safety, trust, friendliness and professionalism – great attributes highly admired in most contractors. For contractors offering services related to the environment, there is a general trend to adopt blue and green colors in their logos as these seem to be more fitting for such services.

Let the logo deliver the marketing message effectively

Due to the high competition faced by the contractors, the winning logo must have the ability to pass across a strong marketing message which the potential clients will relate to by just taking a glance at the logo. Out of the marketing message, you can demonstrate trust, expertise and credibility to make people believe in you. The best way to do this when creating a contractor’s logo is to use a powerful slogan or tagline and position it conspicuously on the logo so that it is easily visible.

Consider the right choice of fonts

If your logo is not decipherable, then people will have to strain when trying to read it. For contractors, this might sound the death knell for the business since no one will be attracted to it. The solution to this however, is to use the right fonts that will guarantee readability. The preferred fonts for creating logos for contractors include Eras, Cambria and Gill Sans. It is also preferred that they should be set in bold typeface to create a commanding presence. Additionally, it is recommended that you combine graphics and type by doing away with letters in the company name and include relevant tools used in the industry.

When used correctly, the above tips will make every contractor come up with a winning logo that will make them stand out from the crowd and get the right kinds of customers needed to grow their businesses.

Learn how to build a logo for a used car dealership here!

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Perhaps you have the urge to become a graphics designer or you already are, but you are still not sure if it is the thing you want to do. You will never know unless you take your time to try out your skills and see what you come up with. In the meantime, you should know you are a graphics designer if you experience or do the following-:

You judge a store based on their logo

If you are the kind of person who will look at a store’s logo and use that to inform your decision of whether or not to purchase from the store, know immediately that you are a graphics designer. Maybe the logo turns you off with the images they use. Maybe they are done in a manner that is not appealing to you hence you don’t want anything associated with the store. When you see the logo, your graphic design mind goes to work. It does a subconscious evaluation on the logo so you can tell if it is a terrible logo and leave the store.

You see design everywhere you go

Are you the kind of person that notices the font and the layout on the menu at your favorite restaurant? Does it bother you that the labels at the grocery store are rather big and user unfriendly? And do you feel that the branding on your favorite clothing line appeals to you in a special way?

If you are such a person, you should probably consider taking a career as a graphic designer more seriously. You know you are a graphics designer when you see designs everywhere you go. You not only see them but critique them and think of better ways which they could have been made greater if you feel that they are of mediocre quality.

You enjoy findings solutions to problems

Graphics designers are obsessed with trying to make the world around them more efficient. They are some kind of perfectionists who prefer to search for clear solutions to the problems they encounter on daily basis. If you are this person who finds that the tables at the bus terminus are rather complicated and, in turn, confusing travelers, then you are a graphics designer.

Also, if you find that the maps are complicated and make it difficult for you to find your way around, then you could make a very good graphics designer. Remember, hundreds of people use those tables and maps every day without every noticing anything wrong with them. And since you can notice the anomalies and think of better solutions, it shows that you are a very instinctive graphics designer.

You naturally appreciate good designs

You also know you are a graphics designer when you can notice good designs and appreciate them for the various elements of greatness they have. You are ready to accept that some designs are better than yours, and you are willing to take inspirations from them to apply and enhance your design skills.

You have a yearning to learn more

Perfection in graphic design comes by blending natural creativity and learning. With the advent of the internet, the graphics design industry moves very fast with many tools and styles being discovered. A proficient designer, therefore, needs to update their knowledge constantly and continue perfecting their natural skills in design. If you are the kind of person that is always eager to learn new things and stay at the top of the industry as far as graphic design is concerned, then you are a true graphic designer.

You are competitor

If you discover that you like competing with yourself, and you always want to become a better you with each design, then know that you are a graphic designer. You don’t have to compete with others or take part in design competitions. But you feel defeated when you think that you could have done a better job.

You have a genuine interest in the latest design trends

Professional designers know trends never last and they never form the basis of their designs. However, if you find that you have a genuine interest in learning about the recent trends in design, then you might as well be a graphics designs. Your aim is not to follow the trends and apply them in all your designs, but you are trying to get clues and inspirations and also have a general feel on where the industry is headed to.

Check out the best graphic design books here!

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The Elements of Graphics Design

The Elements of Graphics design is one of those books you will be recommended to as the best to start with in this industry. It is an introductory book on graphics design and it presents you with all the basics you need to have your foot on the right path in the industry. Though graphics design can at times be a technical subject, the book makes it simple in a clear language along with appropriate illustrations to make you understand the contents better.

Making and Breaking Grid

Having proper layout is something very crucial when starting any project in graphics design and most people new to the industry usually have a rough time in getting it right. To take away all the doubts and the confusions, all you have to do is to go through the book – Making and Breaking the Grid. This is one of the top graphic design books that will teach you all you need to know about layouts and grids so that you will have the confidences to do it right the first time and at all times.

The Elements of Typographic Styles

Without the right choice of typography, your design projects will never amount to anything. They will lack meaning and style thus effectively renders your design useless. The topic is such an important one in the field of graphic, and you deserve to give it all the attention it deserves. The Elements of Typographic Styles is one of the best graphic design books that will give you all the basics you need to know about typography. In this book, you will not only learn about the various typographies but also you will understand the various and proper contexts of their application.

Los Logos Series

Logo design is one of the leading branches of graphics design and as such, it is a preference to many budding designers. With the Los Logos Series, you get your ultimate guide to everything you need to know about the developments in logo design. The book showcases logos as comprehensives visual languages as well as the most recent cutting edge logo designs and logo designers in the globe.

With the illustrations in the book, you will understand what goes into designing an effective logo as well as how to get inspiration to design logos that will stand out from the crowd. Even after you become a proficient designer, this is one of the graphics design books you will not want to get separated from.

Designing Brand Identity

This is not just a top graphics design book for those interested in building brands and brand identity, but also those interested in other branches of graphics design as well. We all know that logos play a major role in branding and this book tells all you need to know right from the concept stage of logo design to the application of the logo in creating the brand for the organization. You also get to learn about the inner details of branding and what it takes to create a powerful and a formidable brand through the use of logos.

How to be a Graphic Designer without Losing your Soul

How to be a Graphic Designer without Losing your Soul is like a career manual to guide you in the graphics design profession. It is especially recommended for the young designers who are interested in establishing their graphics design business so that they are not employed by agencies where they will lose their soles in the name of churning out designs.

It offers quality and actionable advice on how you can run a successful and fulfilling business on your own. If you are a designer with an entrepreneurial spirit, then this is a graphics design book which you have to read before getting your feet wet in the profession. This has become added to the required reading on graphic design books for many programs.

Package Design Workbook: The Art & Science of Successful Packaging

A lot goes on behind the scenes in package design. Branding and packaging goes hand in hand and this is rated among the top graphics design books for designers who want to specialize in product packaging. The Package Design Workbook gives detailed explanation on the ins and outs of great product packaging. The books are presented in appropriate and easy to read manner and it also comes with detailed illustrations to make you understand each point clearly.

There are other top graphic designs books you could start with, but these are the best ones as they cut across the entire field thus give you a strong and comprehensive rooting in the profession.

Learn how to stay productive as a designer here!

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There are five basic logo design styles, each with its set of different strengths and weaknesses, and it is necessary for the designer and the client to be aware of these styles so that they can make the right choices when designing logos for their businesses. Below is a brief definition of each of the types as well as a few tips on how to make the right choice depending on the nature of your business-:

Woodmark logo design style

Woodmark logo style is also known as text logos. On a study organized on the top 100 brands in the world, it was discovered that 35% of them consisted purely of text, with most of them styled uniquely using different fonts. These logos are known as woodmark logos and can also be referred to as logotypes.

Woodwork logo design style works wonders when the name of the company is quite distinctive. For instance, the Google logo is an example of a woodmark logo design style featuring a simple, minimalist design. But it has worked well for the branding of the tech giant because the name also is simple, short and memorable. Other examples of big brands which have used this logo design style effectively include Yahoo and Pinterest amongst other brands that use relatively simple texts as the name and the logo.

This kind of logo style design is accordingly recommended for small companies or small businesses that are just starting to get their feet off the ground. This is because at this stage, getting the word out about your business is very important and you need to have a logo that will clearly communicate the name of the company.

Emblem logo design style

With this logo design style, text is used inside a symbol in creating the logo so that the two are inseparable. In most of such designs, they look like official badges or seals, and they are predominantly used by political and government organization. However, they have also been used for branding by some well-known corporate entities like Ford, Starbucks, Harley Davidson amongst others. These logos are flexible and also look more compact thus giving strong graphical representation of the image of the company as well as the name.

Brandmark logo design style

Symbols have been used by some top brands to express an idea more effectively than words or text. This is the essence of brandmark logo design style. This logo design style uses just a symbol or an icon to give the target audience a clear image of the company’s identity without using a single word. This is has been the secret behind the success of some global companies whose products are easily recognized by consumers in multiple countries, irrespective of the language.

Brandmark logo design style is also appropriate in instances where the company’s name is very long and does not provide appropriate letters for creating simple and clear initials. Some of the companies which use brandmark logos include Windows, Target, Toyota and Twitter amongst others.

Combination Mark logo design style

56% of the logos of the top brands in the world use a combination of mark and symbol in their logos. Combination Mark logo design style gives a taste of both worlds hence their popularity in most of the iconic logos in the world. They give out the name of the company while at the same time associating it with the image of the brand. Examples of such logos include Pizza Hut, XBOX 360, and Adidas.

Lettermark Logo design style (use of initials)

Simplicity is always critical when it comes to branding in general and creation of logos in specific. Lettermark Logo design style is here to help designers and clients achieve this with their logos. This logo design style is similar to woodmark in the sense that it also uses text, but it highlights the initials of the company and not the entire name.

This is the preferred logo style if your organization’s name is difficult to pronounce or if it is comprised of a very long name. For example, “IBM” looks simple and catchier compared to the full name which reads “International Business Machine”. If you anticipate that you will have a minimal space for branding, lettermark logo style would be a convenient way to maximize on size while still providing a good indication of the name of your company.

Additionally, lettermark logo style has a unique way of assigning equal visual weight to all of the letters used in the initials of the company’s name. This, in turn, makes the logo to be easily remembered by customers, thus further enhancing the effectiveness of the logo. Examples of logos designed in this style include EA Sports, CNN and IBM amongst others.

Learn if your restaurant should have a logo here!

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Therefore, as a small business, it is imperative to take all the measures needed to set your foot right with regards to branding. Presented here are sure ways for igniting your small business brand so that you get the momentum needed to achieve growth and success in your small business-:

Unique

The basis of branding is to set your business apart from the competition and position yourself to the potential audience as the provider of a particular solution to their problems or needs. The solution in most cases is a unique service or a unique product that will help them solve some of their pressing needs. This cannot be achieved by using a concept that is already existing or being used by another business in the market.

This is where uniqueness comes in. Ensure that your line of products or services is not the same as the ones already being offered and if this is the case, try and add something new that will give the potential customers a reason to come and buy from you. Without something unique about your business, it will be nearly impossible to establish a great brand for your small business.

Participate in the community

Most of the multinationals and big corporations whose brands have become household names are actively involved with their communities. For a small business, you may not have the financial muscles to engage your community in the manner that the big dogs do it, but you can still find subtle ways to take part in the community events.

With the advent of the internet, this can now be achieved so easily through the use of the social media with platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and many others. In this manner, you won’t just be announcing your presence to the community members, but also, you will be giving them a strong reason to work with you since you have shown that you too are concerned with their affairs. Therefore, expend some of your resources and time in working with the community as part of building your small business brand.

Have a good name and a great logo

Customers of a strong brand will recognize the brand easily whenever they the name or the logo. It implies that recognition, hence branding begins with the name and the logo. It’s thus imperative that you have a good name and a great logo for your small business. These two will also in most cases appear on your branding materials such as letterheads, business cards, social networks, products, promotional materials and anywhere else where you would want to have the presence of your brand felt.

While thinking about the name and the logo, have in mind certain components such as the simplicity, versatility, timelessness, and uniqueness. The last thing you want is to settle for a name that is either too difficult to call or remember.

You also don’t want to have a logo designed based on fashion whereby you will have to redo the logo again when the fashion is over because it shall also be outdated. You can discuss more with your graphic designer how you can have a quality logo that will help in driving your business brand to another level.

Use a consistent brand voice

What you tell your audience is important, but don’t forget how you say it. Your small business brand voice refers to the language as well as the personality that you together with your employees will use in delivering your brand message to your customers and potential clients. For you to have a successful brand, you must find and develop a unique and consistent voice. Without this, there won’t be any coherence in your marketing and branding efforts, thus jeopardizing your chances of creating a strong brand for your business.

Consistency in marketing materials

Finally, you need to be consistent with all your marketing materials and across all your marketing channels. The quality of the various marketing materials must also be the same and be reflected across the board. For instance, the message passed to your audience in the social media should be the same message that the audience will find when they get redirected to your website. If you don’t have any consistency, everything will be disjointed, and this will confuse the customers in addition to making you appear less professional thus losing a chance to create a strong brand.

Learn who needs a logo here!

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Quite often, designers rely on color combination to create various effects in their designs. This is not always a joy ride for most designers since a wrong combination would spell doom for the entire project. Whereas there are graphics design color tools and other resources to help designers get the color combination right, some are still not able to come up with the appropriate color shades. As you juggle your way around with the colors, here are some of the terrible color combinations you should always avoid-:

All green backgrounds with green, yellow or purple on the foreground

You might be tempted to think that having two colors with almost similar hues is a long gone concept, but you will be surprised to find tens of designers still doing it at this present time and age. Green and yellow colors have always been nice choices for landscape graphics, but using only these two colors in the design will compromise its visual appeal and readability. Green and yellow are two close together and will never give any great results. It becomes even worse should you decide to add a green background to it.

Light colors against a white background

Using light colors on a white background is another poor color combination that many designers like making in the course of their designs. It needs no special sense to know that the color white is already a light color, and so there is no way you can lay another light color on top of it. Such a design will require a lot of straining for people to read the content, even if all the text were to be made bold. This is where you need to remember the use of contrasting colors in design so that you come up with combinations that will be legible enough to all that see the design.

Rainbow or neon colors

You may wonder how eye-catching colors such as neon and rainbow colors can make a poor color combination. Well, it is true that they are very bright and easily recognizable, but only when used for lighting adverts at night. In graphic designs, neon and rainbow colors are irritating and very aversive. They make the eyes get tired quickly leading to lose of focus and attention on the design, and this takes away some of the reasons behind effective graphics design. Additionally, they will end up causing more negative feelings instead of the positive ones that designers want associated with the designs.

Textured, colored backgrounds with colored text

Using textured or colored background with a colored text is another irritating poor color combination that should be avoided at all costs. It’s not only in design that this happens but also it is a common occurrence in advertising. The problem with this type of poor color combination is that it jumbles up everything in the design making it impossible to see the images or read the text. If you have to use such a combination, then it would be advisable to play around with the opacity, or probably turn it down completely so that the colored text written above the textured background may become legible. However, this poor color combination should be avoided at all cost.

Purple, blue or red with a black ground

Colors red, blue or blue will never work well against a black background. If you use a text with these colors against a black background, no one will ever manage to read them. As a matter of fact, no text of any color will ever work against a black background. Preferably, you may consider using white or colored boxes if you have to adopt this poor color combination, but only for a line or two. Black is a very strong color and will overpower any color on the foreground making such a combination very terrible and poor combination.

Using white gradients with white text

Using white gradient with white text is another recipe for poor color combination. If you use gradients well, they will give you terrific results, but you have to be careful when using them so that you don’t hurt the entire design. It is not advisable to use the same gradient with the same text on the same design. It is true that the design might end up begin readable, but the overall look with be awful. It will also demonstrate that you lack creativity in color combination since you could only use the same gradient and the same text in the design.

Learn how to update your logo with a few subtle changes here!

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However, there are certain instances when the designer can really get mad. In most cases, it happens when they get a feeling that their intelligence in graphics design has been insulted or if the client if being unnecessarily stubborn. Here are some of the ways by which a client can really annoy their graphic designers-:

Ask them to work for free

The fastest and the easiest way a client can get their designers mad is to ask them to work for free with the promise of a positive review or helping them build their portfolio. This is not just derogatory but also insulting. The designer has taken his time and resources to learn his trade with the main reason of using the skills for financial gains and here you are asking for free services! However new or inexperienced the designer might appear, their intention is to give the client value for their money, and they will always be mad if you ask for free services.

Compare them with other designers

This is a complete turn off for many designers and if you ever try to compare them to other designers, they are likely to reject your offer. It is a fact that there are millions of other designers in the world, and you need to understand that each one is unique regarding quality and pricing amongst other attributes. Before you tell a designer about others offering $5 services on the internet or producing ten logos in one day, take a moment and look at their portfolio because you annoy them with such comparisons.

Haggle Forever

It is okay for a client to haggle so that they can services at rates which they can comfortably afford. However, haggling is only allowed at the beginning of the project. Once the designer has completed your work, you should know that you will be getting what you had paid for. Certain clients are fond of haggling even when the project has commenced and the designer is already deep in the design. Understand that the design industry is a creative market and not some fish market where you can haggle and make changes as much as you want.

Ask them to edit flat files

This usually arises from the client’s ignorance of the various files formats with regards to the ones which can be edited and the ones which are not editable. Most of the flat files are not editable so don’t send them over to your designer and ask them to edit them. The way to avoid annoying your graphic designer in this manner is to send original files with the editable layers. Most of the final artworks will be saved in PDF, some of which are editable but most of them can’t be edited. JPEGS and PNG files are also not editable.

Send them low-resolution images

In most of the graphic design assignments, the graphic designer may need to scale images and it is very difficult to do so without compromising on the sharpness of the image. To avert this, it is imperative to use high-resolution images. However, most clients send their graphic designers images in word formats or ask them to download from websites on the internet.

This is annoying because the customer may to ask that the logo be made bigger, yet the image sent can’t allow for that. Due to this, the designers are usually very mad when they receive low-resolution images from you, yet you will expect high quality work from them.

Ask them to make the logo bigger

Related to the above, a graphic designer does not like hearing the clients asking them to make the logo bigger. It is important to understand that the logo is part of the artwork and the whitespace at times may be a deliberate move by the designer to give the design some breathing space. Therefore, asking the designer to make the logo bigger is like guiding them on how to do the design yet they are the professionals. They find this to be demeaning to them, and most of them will get mad.

Expect unlimited revisions

The other way to annoy your graphic designer is to expect that they will offer you unlimited revisions. Before every project, there is a brief. The designer uses the brief to quote the project and give timelines depending on how long the project would take. Once you mutually agree on the terms of the project, how then can you expect unlimited revisions, unless you want to annoy the designer?

Use these 10 tips for better logo designs!

The post How a Client Can Really Annoy Their Graphic Designer appeared first on LogoMaven | Easy Logo Design Software & Logo Maker.

While it can be difficult to say whether or not a logo will be iconic, classic or successful there are certainly some brand elements that carry over through popular logo designs. If you are getting a logo designed or you are a professional graphic designer you need to keep these essential design elements in mind. Here are some universal elements that should be included in every logo design.

A symbol of culture:

Most quality iconic logos have some type of symbol or pictorial reference that states the intentions of the company and helps to build the brand. Symbols are usually something extremely simple and they showcase some of the traits that you want associated with your corporate culture. Picking out a simplistic symbol design to go into your logo makeup is important. When we look at some of the most iconic logos like apple or Nike, there’s no need for text an iconic symbol can actually be the full face of your logo.

Color swatch:

All iconic logos need to have clearly defined colors. Remember that any color spectrum can have a distinct psychological effect when it comes to your clients. Picking the right colors on the right elements for every part of your logo as well as making sure that they fit into a specific color swatch can create a uniform nature for your logo and ensure that your logo will create a specific feeling when people see it. Never forget the use of color in the logo design and why color is so important to producing the best iconic logos.

Slogan/name:

Many iconic logo designs also include logos as well as potential slogans across the design. These slogans or your company name will need to be displayed prominently and using an easy-to-read text format. Don’t be afraid to try several different types of text and many different messages in your logo design. Create something with staying power and something that is instantly catchy. Remember that along slogan often won’t be read by the audience so don’t be afraid to do a little bit of testing to see what type of text you might be able to read in just a quick glance. If you have a long company name you could also consider using an acronym or shortening the name specifically for your logo design.

Font types:

Font types and type settings are also extremely important to creating a good logo design. Experiment with a few different type settings and work at finding a set of fonts that work to accomplish your goals as a company. Certain fonts will create a specific feel for your products and this is important to consider. Using the wrong fonts may not reflect your corporate culture well and may spread of very poor message about your company.

Simple shapes:

Many designers today consider designed to be more of an element of assembly rather than a finicky process of creating art. Adding simple shapes and symbols to a design can help to provide emphasis on certain design elements as well as draw the eye across the logo design. Including a triangle, square or circle in specific areas can draw the eye around the logo design and potentially even place emphasis on a particular slogan or design element. By laying out a few simple shapes off to the side of a logo design in in design, a designer can mix and match these essential elements to draw the eye in various directions. Simple shapes are commonly used in conjunction with patterns and the main symbol of business culture for a logo design.

Clarity:

Any logo design needs to have a well thought-out premise and a clear message. This is perhaps one of the most essential elements of logo design. Without a proper clear message it’s possible that the message of the logo can get very confusing and that the message may not resonate well with the target audience. Have an honest and clear intention for your logo and a message that you want to convey. Declare what the company is about and what you are trying to portray with your branding and advertisement. With a clear picture of what you want to accomplish, often a logo can come out much more planned and improved.

Unique creativity:

Showing someone a logo design that they have never seen previously or a unique design element that has never been done before can create a huge impact when it comes to actually reaching an audience.  Creating something iconic means putting some of yourself into it. Remember to carefully balance all of the other design elements but includes some unique inspiration to really separate the logo design that you are making from other logo designs in the marketplace. While all of the previous design elements are important to creating a successful design, creativity creates longevity.

Learn if it is a good idea to crowdsource a logo design here. 

The post The Universal Elements of a Successful Logo appeared first on LogoMaven | Easy Logo Design Software & Logo Maker.