Category Archives: Tips

In 2012 dip your toes into the cloud

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Usually at the end of December I try to review the year that has gone by and anticipate the year that is approaching. There are usually several trends to watch, and this year the most notable thing that is billowing ahead is ‘the cloud’. The cloud is like an unstoppable steam train and your competitors are climbing aboard.

There is a lot that has been said and written, and there are quite a few detractors and vested interests such as local IT companies that see the cloud eating their lunch. I thought I would give you just one example.

We have a PC sitting in our office that acts like a server. We store backups, images, artwork, office bits and bobs such as proposals and client details. Every so often we need to reboot it, update the antivirus and hope that it does not go bang. And in the unfortunate event that it does decide to go bang, we are left with the only option of running for Mr Dell, Mr Microsoft and probably Mr Norton, line their pockets substantially and spend a good chunk of our potentially billable time hoping they would succeed in grabbing all our precious data before they disappear into the black hole.

Do I really have to go through all the trouble? Take a look at this invoice from our friends at Torix MSP.

We pay £14.66 per month and all our office stuff is on “jungle disk”. That would mean, as long as I can get onto the internet I can literally work from anywhere in the world. More importantly, Marcin who is out in Poland can also access the same stuff, as if he were sitting in the next bay. With all our data mounted on the cloud, we can in fact easily survive without an office.

Now contrast this £14.66 per month to the alternative “old” way. Buy a PC – several hundred quid! Spend time adding all that antivirus stuff and all that comes with it. And if I want to work from home or from Poland, add to it another bucket load of IT stuff! VPN this, open that port, firewall this ……….. Yawn……..boring…… get a life.

And, what after going through all the hassle – a hefty service bill and lost productive time!

Well, that was one simple example. As with most things new, it takes a bit to get your head around the cloud and it certainly takes a bit of effort and planning. But, once you are there, believe me, the advantages and cost savings are sure to woo you in!

We believe that now is the time to start using it. Get to learn it and work out how it can help your business.

Heck, if all you did was to get drop box and only use it to share photos with yer gran, well that would be a good start!

Methinks it is time to mangle a bit of JFK.

“Ask not what your PC can do for you, ask what the cloud can do for your business”

What to look for in a logo designer

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Like the iconic bitten-in apple on our iPhones and Macs, a logo can tell tales of inspiration, drive and passion, and a talented logo designer can weave in these hues into a powerful symbol that speaks for itself.

Ironically, there is no dearth of talent, designs and designers in the era that we live in now. And all it takes is a few strokes on your keyboard before you have a zillion logo designers listed up on your screen, with promises of the most lucrative offers and showcasing the best imaginable portfolios and credentials.

But, choosing a logo designer is no trivial task because this is a person you are investing in to sculpt a powerful identity for your business, transforming your business to your ‘brand’. The real task lies in sifting through the huge array of choices, and finding the one right designer or design firm who can bring you results.

We all know the story of the simple ‘swoosh ‘that transformed an upstart shoe company to the global brand that revolutionized the industry. Just as the ubiquitous ‘Nike’ logo testifies, a brilliant logo isn’t about complicated designs or a wild play of colours or graphics.

Simple, meaningful, unique and powerful – the perfect logo should be one that is capable of etching a place for itself in people’s memory. Considering that novelty lies in the thought process, it takes a talented logo designer to produce a striking logo that stands apart from the sea of run-of-the mill designs, shapes and shake a bake logos.

This logo of the interlocking  ‘F’s that Trevor Baker designed for our client ‘FlexiDry’, is one such demonstration of an original, simple and powerful logo that subtly describes the product. FlexiDry is a fast drying floor screed, and changes from a dark grey colour to a lighter grey as the screeded surface dries. The interlocking ‘F’s subtly represent ‘FlexiDry’ while showing the transition of colours over two sections of a drying screed- all the while keeping the logo simple, unique and meaningful.

Now, here are some of the few important things to look for while choosing a logo designer.

The thought process matters: While getting a logo designed, you are literally making a huge payment for a simple line, curve or geometrical design that obviously should have a story to tell. And to make sure you are not swindled into accepting some uninspired rip offs, it is worthwhile to look for logo designers who give portfolios of their work, explaining the thought process behind the logos they have designed in the past. This is important because the line of thought behind a design is clearly indicative of the designer’s capability to come up with a meaningful and relevant logo design. You do not want some obscure logo designer to sell you a dot and a line as a highly abstract piece of art, which has hardly anything to do with what your business stands for.

‘Quicker’ isn’t always ‘the better’:  As simple as the Nike ‘Swoosh’ might seem, logo designer Carolyn Davidson did not come up with the ‘simple, fluid and fast’  swoosh logo in an hour. It took days of conceptualization, research and drawing, before the logo designer could come up with the ubiquitous ‘tick mark’ representative of the wing of the statue of Nike-the Greek Goddess of Victory.

A good designer requires more time for conceptualization and research than for execution, and it might be days before the designer can come up with a distinctive logo, customized entirely for your brand. Do not fall for the ‘quick turnaround offers’, as you might end up with some sub-standard cookie-cutter designs that might bear more than a passing resemblance to standard clip art logos.

Do not fall for the low-price snare: Quality does come with a price. And if it doesn’t, it is hard to spot from the crowd. You can get a logo designed for a few pounds to a few thousand pounds. From amateur and off shore logo designers who offer logos at unbelievably discounted rates to professional design firms who charge thousand s of pounds an hour, you can choose from a wide array of designers depending on the budget you are willing to set apart for your logo. However, it is important to remember that, as always, you only get what you pay for!

Experience: As far as experience is concerned, talent can sometimes outweigh experience in the creative industry. It is likely that a newcomer can sometimes come up with fresher and novel ideas than experienced designers who have been exposed to too many design influences.  Nonetheless, experience does always bring with it better skills and reliability, and it is always reassuring when you know the designer you have chosen has an impressive portfolio to vouch for his skills.