Category Archives: Web design

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.

 

What is it about the web that makes people lose all common sense?

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We have been building websites since 2003 and there is one thing that never ceases to amaze me. What is it about the web that sometimes makes even the smart and astute glaze over and falter over simple, common sense stuff?

Let us take ‘domains’ for instance- the website domain is an extremely important aspect of a business that could well be worth a fortune. It is extremely important to keep your internet properties secure and ensure you own your domain, as the loss of a domain can virtually ruin your entire business. I recently spoke to some of my clients regarding this issue, and asked them if they have all checked if they own their domains. They replied in the affirmative. And business leaders that they are, I was sure they would have, too. But I was in for a surprise when I returned to base and did a quick check. A good number of them had unwittingly left their businesses exposed and vulnerable, when a few simple precautionary steps were all they needed to keep it secure.

I have often noticed, people outside the IT industry generally seem to have this perception of websites as some “digital” hocus pocus stuff that runs on complicated technology that is outside the purview of understanding of untrained minds. It is surprising that normally intelligent and clever people, who are experts in their own professions, have an altogether different approach when it comes to grasping the media of the web. They just seem to create a ‘mental barrier’, filtering out the unfamiliar bits and keeping their vision focused on what they can see easily.

Well, I would say creating a good website is more or less like getting your message clearly across to old Mr Magoo. Your task is to convey information effectively to an audience, who can only see the surface bits of your creation. They only see what is clear and evident to them on the outside, and follow the paths they can find easily and without assistance. It should be remembered that they are not always able to dig in deeper and see the larger picture. So, the only way to prevent them from stumbling is ‘simplicity’- simple, accurate, well expressed content with an easy and logical path, and easy navigation that would help them find their way around your site.

However, this somehow is a point that people from the creative industries- journalism, copywriting, PR etc. – just seem to miss. They can look at a brochure and talk the hind legs off a donkey. But put the same material on to a website and there is silence!

What needs to be understood here is- even in the web world you are dealing with the same old elements of communication, words and pictures as in the print media; but with the difference that it needs to be presented in a more simple, concise and quickly comprehendible manner to an audience who are not used to seeing it presented on a medium that is not quite as familiar to them as the good old medium of the pen and paper.

Just see to it that you don’t get intimidated by all those terms and jargons and the ever so serious sounding ‘digital’ expressions (I personally have never liked the use of the ‘digital’ term because it implies some sort of machine magic that is beyond the levels of comprehension of the non-tech-savvy individual).

All you need to do is treat your website with the right approach and you will find your website hits the right note with your audience, without anyone telling you it is complicated stuff.

I once had a Motorola phone with a menu system so bad that I could not as much as figure out how to send a simple text message. I was struggling with the technologically handicapped contraption, when Mr Jobs came along with the smart invention of the iPhone. And needless to say, the navigation is such a breeze and just about anyone can operate it without having to call up technical support for sending a simple s.m.s.

Like with all designs, ‘simple’ is the key here…and the very same principles apply to the web, too. As it says in the old project management cartoon, what chance does the audience have of understanding what you have to say, when you are not sure of what your web project is supposed to convey.

When you have a complete understanding of what you are working on, it is easy to keep things simple and there is no need to hide anywhere. Whatever you have created can easily be placed under the spotlight, and whatever you have to say will be conveyed to the intended audience in all its depth and clarity. If you have a message, it will be seen, heard and understood; and will not be lost or masked behind any of the technological boulders strewn around to block your way.

Thank you Mr Jobs!