Don't try this at home...

Let's clear this up once and for all. There are many many things that I believe should be tried at home as personal DIY projects. And there are many many reasons why Logo Design and Graphic Design is not one of them...

I can't count the number of times I've been asked to use a poorly designed logo that was created in Word or PowerPoint and create a business card, brochure, website from it...Or have a DIY business card printed....Granted I could make a living out of the number of PowerPoint 'logos' and 'business cards' I've had to fix in a last resort to supply a print ready file to the printers.

But to save you time and the inevitable, here are a list of reasons why not to attempt your own logo or business card using PowerPoint, Word or less than basic Photoshop skills:

72 dpi

1. The image will need to be 300dpi - dots per inch. PowerPoint is primarily a presentation program which is viewed on screen at 72dpi. Word is a (oddly enough) word processing program that focusing on formatting words and letters. So think about it, why would you use a word processing program and a presentation program to create a visual identity? Don't do it.

2. Your image needs to be in CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) to be printed at a Litho (Lithographic) printers. Should you need 500 cards or more, Litho is more cost effective and is always the more accurate printing process when compared to instant Digital Printing. When printing on paper, you should stick to CMYK or Spot Colours. Screens are viewed as RGB (Red, Green, Blue). Ergo - a presentation is viewed on a screen and therefore your presentation program (PowerPoint) will use RGB. Word focuses on documents containing many many words...which are usually in black and white...no real concern for images or their colours...RGB. Word and PowerPoint work in RGB. Don't do it.

3. Unless your document has a generous amount of white space all around the edges, your document will need BLEED. After your business card is printed it will need to be cut....by a guillotine....that often doesn't cut completely straight. Imagine trying to cut a stack of 20 sheets with a pair of scissors - your cut pages will not be the same size. Guillotines are a million times better than scissors and reduce the error to a micromillimetres. Which might not seem like much, but when you were wanting a slick, elegant black business card you do not want white outlines to your cards. Word and PowerPoint don't give you the option of bleed. You could think out of the box and fake it but even after 10 years of experience - I don't have that kind of patience.

4. Just because you own a copy of Photoshop does not mean that you have 4 years of training and 10 years of experience in the ins and outs of the programs capabilities. Did you create a document at 300 dpi? Did you include at least 3mm of bleed? Will your text print as crisply as possible when you flatten and save it as a Jpeg? Don't do it.

5. And considering all of the above and quite a few secrets that are only ever learned through trial and error, you'd still like your logo or business card to be well designed with a professional look.

You could settle for a business card that looks like this


So what do you do? Invest in professional design programs at around R10k a pop, a basic 3 month course to learn to use the programs and wait for your printer to reject the design because they didn't cover pre press tricks and tips in your course.

Or you could hire an experienced designer who will put energy, focus, creativity and experience into designing a beautiful and appropriate logo, business card, flyer or brochure using the array of professional design programs at her disposal...and that are accepted by ALL printers around the world.

Save yourself time and money and focus on what you do best - running your business and selling your product.

And be proud to own a logo like this one for Alison Channing Architect




http://www.leolovesdesign.co.za

Design advice for your start up company and new business...

START UP COMPANIES AND NEW BUSINESSES.

So you have a BRILLIANT idea that just HAS to be done....I know that feeling very well. You've bounced the idea off of everyone you know and trust and they all agree that you have a winner? You've written your business plan and it still seems viable even after your marketing projections? You've secured the funding or have funded the idea yourself (it's that good an idea!)? Now what do you do?

WELL, LET'S START WITH A LOGO...

You're product needs a brand. Whether you're baking the best darned brownies Nigella will ever dream of, or built the next great social marketing site that will surpass Facebo..you know who; your product will need a brand. A visual representation of all that your company and product stand for and everything they hope to achieve. An instantly recognisable symbol emblazoned on every possible medium. Don't stop at just your business card. There's the letterhead, the company shirt, the car, the flyer, the back of the envelope, the website, brochure, billboard, aeroplane, cellular network, space travel...perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself.

Hire a professional designer who knows how to take your brief, understand your brief and interpret your brief correctly. A professional designer with tertiary education and years of experience in honing a fitting logo. A designer who has invested time and money on industry standard software that is accepted by all print houses. And lastly, a designer who is as excited about your product as you are.

AND THROW IN A BUSINESS CARD...

Using that logo as inspiration the same designer can create a unique and customised business card design for you. A business card is usually the first physical introduction to a company's corporate identity and brand. You want to be proud of that design. You also want to be able to take the artwork for the card and send it to any printer without any mishaps.

WE'RE GOING TO NEED A WEBSITE...

In this day and age can you afford not to be 'googled'? Websites are the easiest way to distribute your company's information too a large group of potential clients. Having a web presence exposes your company's services to anyone with internet access...and in this day and age that includes almost everone - mobile phones, internet cafes, work and ADSL at home. And the website is usually the first visual introduction to a company's identity. It lends credibility to your business and allows you a cost effective opportunity to update and share information about your company. If you don't already have an email address, the website will give you an opportunity to grab a few professional email addresses linked to your company (info@yourcompany.co.za)

And that's really what you need to get started. You can add on a letterhead, perhaps a flyer...