These are the top 12 logo designs of 2009 as voted by you (the awards that won Logo Of The Month) on my other site Logo Of The Day.

What logo do you believe should win the 2009 Logo Of The Year? Cast your vote at the bottom of this post. Voting closes February 12th.

And just so you know, we are now accepting new logo submissions, so go & suggest a logo for a chance to win a Logo Of The Day award.

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson commemorative logo – from a  short video clip shown on MTV.

Winner: Logo Of The Month September 2009
Credits: Agency; bbdo.de Executor; s-farm.de

Lochness

Loch Ness Partnership logo.

Winner: Logo Of The Month June 2009
Designer: Navy Blue Design Group (David Needham)

Talkmore

Talkmore uses symbology in the form of quotation marks to replace the letters A and E, creating a clever image that gives a graphical representation of the words and meaning of the brand. The touch of color enhances this effect making the logo stand out.

Winner: Logo Of The Month Nov 2008
(used this month as no posts were made during December 2009)
Designer: Nido

Coffee

“Logo for coffee house Coffee CUP where high quality coffee is served. Notice that logo of coffee cup is made of letters “CUP”.” See it in use here.

Winner: Logo Of The Month May 2009
Designer: Jan Zabransky

Butterfly

This is a logo for women’s underwear company. Student work.

Winner: Logo Of The Month November 2009
Credits: Sertac Aydogdu

Friedman Psychology

Logo design for Friedman Psychology Group.

Winner: Logo Of The Month February 2009
Designer: Mugar Mihai

Swan Songs

A “non-profit that fulfills musical wishes at the end of life”

Winner: Logo Of The Month July 2009
Credits: Macnab Design

Figure 9

“Figure Nine, Inc. is a small bookkeeping/accounting firm in the Indianapolis area. The logo will be used as the company mark on all marketing materials. The logo was to be clean-looking yet bold, and I wanted to convey Figure Nine’s association with number-crunching without being too blatant. Using a “9? as the g worked out well, and offsetting it in a bolder red makes it stand out so the viewer has to look twice.”

Winner: Logo Of The Month October 2009
Credits: Christian Elden

Arbeitskreis Vernetzung

The Logo is for a group (an organization) called “Arbeitskreis Vernetzung”, formed of 4 different social services in Germany and last had been used for an Event called “Tag der sozialen Dienste” (Day of social services). The logo shows 4 people looked at from above, forming a circle (or holding their hands) in an very reduced way. It stands for the 4 organizations the “Arbeitskreis” (Working-Circle (Workgroup)) is formed of.  It shows the unity of these 4 organizations and the “Teamspirit”, just like a football-team sticking together their hands, ready to achieve something. The perspective from above, stands for the fact, that the Group has a vantage point frome above when looking at problems to solve them.” ~ Dominic Rödel

Winner: Logo Of The Month April 2009
Designer: Dominic Rödel

Youth Forum

“This logo is made for Youth Forum, under the name “Forum of the future”. This forum will be held once or twice a year where the top notch people (including prince & princesses) will be hearing the problems of youth and then following it up to solve them.

Basically as per symbol: it is consists of speech balloons coming from four sides (problems or opinion from all sides). different colors : Different problems/opinions. Making shape and the focus is in the middle : means solution (not just useless discussion but with a shape.”

Designer: Sajjad Haider Syed

Jasmine Star Photography

Logo for use on the Jasmine Star Photography website.

Winner: Logo Of The Month for January 2009.
Designer: Nate Sees

Tap Project New Orleans

“Tap Project required that we align ourselves with the existing brand and create a logo for New Orleans Tap Project. This logo is a juxtaposition of the Fleur De Li, a symbol of New Orleans, and water droplets that allow children to have drinking water.”

Winner: Logo Of The Month August 2009
Credits: Zohrab Gevorkian

Cast Your Vote!

PS. Sorry about the delay of this post, I was meaning to do this at the start of the year, however as you know I had some hosting issues I needed to sort out.

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Some of you may have noticed this website and my other websites being down the past two weeks. Simply put, my old hosts did a runner on me… all of my websites and email stopped working and there was no one to contact for support, my hosts simply vanished. Luckily enough, I had a full back up from just before I left for my trip around the states which meant I had nearly all of articles and comments, bar from a few that I have now salvaged from Google’s cache.

It wasn’t easy restoring the websites as the databases were quite large and had to be uploaded using some crazy back end language that I had no idea how to use. I really owe everything to Kyle McDonald, a workmate from Carrot Creative, for restoring my websites so a HUGE thank you goes out to him! We’re now with the hosts Media Temple though we may have to upgrade our plan soon (just got an email this morning). There are still a few kinks we are working out but I presume everything will be back to normal on all three sites by Thursday this week.

Emails Not Received 11-22nd January

If you have sent an email to me anytime between the 11th and the 22nd of January, I have NOT received it so feel free to resend your email. My apologies for this, it has been outside of my control.

I <3 NY

Some of you may know I’ve just moved from Sydney to New York to start working full time for Carrot Creative, a new media marketing agency specialising in media strategy, design & development. To put simply, the past two weeks have been crazy amazingly great, bar from my hosts vanishing.

From the work (if you can call it that) we do during the day right through to the nightlife there really isn’t much time to sleep and for someone like myself, who doesn’t watch TV, this is awesome. From the bars, to the parties, to the gallery openings, movie premiers, concerts and so fourth, New York really does live up to its name of ‘the city that never sleeps’. I do <3 NY.

I <3 Carrot Creative

I also love where I work… The team that makes up Carrot, as seen above at my welcome party, are not just your work team but your weekend buddies too, which makes Carrot a very comfortable & fun place to work. Add that in with the opportunity to work with the world’s most vaunted brands and I must say, I consider myself very fortunate and am not taking it for granted.

Aside from the social aspects, I’ve also enjoyed learning how an agency works and some of the nifty programs / apps that keep it running smoothly (Jing, Basecamp, Adium, Cyberduck, Google Docs & Gmail) … though there is a lot more to learn.

On another note, this Thursday is Digital Dumbo #12 One Year Anniversary (unfortunately it’s already at capacity) which I am very much looking forward to:

Digital DUMBO was created to bring together the digital minds of DUMBO and the greater NYC area to network, showcase local talent, educate, and facilitate idea exchange. New to Digital DUMBO? Check out our Facebook page for past news coverage, photos and information! You can also follow us on Twitter for the latest updates.

Getting Back To Blogging

The good news now is that after nearly three months of no blogging, I’m refreshed and ready to go. I’m also in talks with a partner to help me run the site which if all works out, will mean more posts for you! And when the time allows, a site redesign! More info on that later.

Getting Back To Design

I’m also getting back to designing and have got some new clients lined up… I am currently (or soon to be) working on a packaging design for a natural energy drink, an identity design for a fitness company, a logo design for an internet faxing company, a logo design for a high frequency sound device that saves animals lives and a truck wrap design for enviro-friendly air cleansing system. It’s good to be back!

Computer Arts Articles

Keep an eye out for Issue 171 of Computer Arts magazine as I’ve written one (or two) typography related article(s) that will be appearing in there. It’s on sale now.

SYA Website Now Online

Late last year I posted some of my recently completed work and amongst some of the work posted was the website for Sikh Youth Australia, which is my largest web project to date. At the time it hadn’t been coded but just last week it was launched. Some of the content still needs to be added, along with some other tweaks but in the most part, it’s completed. You can check out the site by clicking the image above. The coding was done by kiidesign.

Thank you!

Also, I wanted to thank the subscribers and visitors who have stuck around for the past 3 months, I appreciate it! If you haven’t already:

• Join the Just Creative Design Fanpage (keep up to date with my posts)
• Join the Just Creative Design Group (promote your own stuff)
• Follow me on Twitter (get design links tweeted daily)
• Befriend me on Facebook (stay connected)

I Heart NY Photo © Jesse Jacobs.

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It’s been a great break… I loved traveling across the USA, it truly is a remarkable country. I’ll be posting some photos when I get a chance to go through the 1400+ pics.

Today (5th Jan) I will be flying out from Australia to begin my new life (story here) in New York, where I plan to stay for 1 to 3 years, while working for Carrot Creative. I will still be blogging & freelancing on the side.

I’ve found a great spacious apartment to live in, with 4 other creatives (and a dog) who are currently attending Pratt Institute – we had a webcam meeting just yesterday and I consider myself very lucky to have found such a great place to live (and just in time). The apartment is right near by Pratt, in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn so if your in the neighbourhood just give us a yell, I’m always keen to meet new people!

I’m still busy going through the two months of backlogged emails and comments so please be patient while I slowly get through them over the next few weeks. After this is completed I will get back to regular blogging.

I was also asked by Carrot Creative to put together a short ‘n’ quick video for their blog, telling people a bit about myself and some of the reasons why I chose to work for Carrot Creative. I thought I’d share the video with you guys here as well… just try not to fall asleep zZZ, you’ve been warned.

Click here to view the video if you can not see it above.

Hope you guys had a great holiday break and I wish you all the best for the New Year!

Brooklyn Bridge Fireworks Image courtesy of look@j.

Comments

This article was originally published on January 5th 2009, however due to our hosts doing a runner on us we lost a number of posts and comments. I’ve salvaged what I could from Google cache. Below you can find the original comments.

1. Design Informer (@designinformer) on Jan 5, 2010 said:
2. Congrats on the new position at Carrot Creative Jacob! That’s amazing, you already got to travel across the USA. I haven’t done that yet, I live in California, but maybe someday.
3. Allen P. (@brickfieldmanor) on Jan 5, 2010 said:
4. Exciting! I hope to watch the video – when I’m not working too hard! Have a safe trip.
5. Kiren on Jan 5, 2010 said:
6. Again, congratulations on the new job and the big move. I hope one day I can work for a similar studio like Carrot Creative. You’ll be amazed on how time flies when your having fun, who knows what the future holds, maybe they’ll make a movie about you?:) Good luck and don’t lose the accent!!
7. Stella Mayfair (@stella_mayfair) on Jan 5, 2010 said:
8. Wish you the best in this new adventure!
   Hope you have some time to upload all the pics
9. rupam (@xhobdo) on Jan 5, 2010 said:
10. Hi Jacob
    just visit your blog and waiting for more design tips,works…love & regards
    Rupam
11. Lasitha (@crazylasi) on Jan 5, 2010 said:
12. Good to hear from you after sometime Jacob.
    I was following your blog for sometime now. and this is my first comment.
    Actually most of your posts almost all helped me a lot to think differently as a designer. logo designer. think creatively, so after reading few blog posts of you…(What makes a good logo?, How to design a logo, Logo design process, etc)

    thought of creating a LOGO for me and a logo for freelance that i am planing to do later… I got really good positive feedback for those logos that i have done. Those posts helped me a lot. Its Pleasure to hear that you are moving to a place that seems you likes a lot “Carrot Creative” (strange name though).

    Wish you all the best.

    Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us.

    P.S. I will add my new logos to your “logo of the day” site. will see whether you will accept it or not.

13. B. Jones on Jan 5, 2010 said:
14. I’m really enjoying your site. Easy read. Your mobile site is pretty cool. Like your work.
15. Mike (@thatdeadpixel) on Jan 5, 2010 said:
16. Good luck in NY! What’s with the 1-3 year timeframe you are giving yourself?
17. Tyler on Jan 5, 2010 said:
18. Good to hear your moving state side. Good luck on your new job. Killing it as usual.Cheers!
19. Lu (@Mitouch) on Jan 5, 2010 said:
20. Glad you enjoyed the US and i hope you get to see much more while living here, there’s tons of great stuff here. Hope the climate change isn’t too bad, just be sure to dress warm.Best of luck! ^_^
21. margishi on Jan 5, 2010 said:
22. Hey,Jacob…!
    happy new year!!
    love your wb-site..Really njoy!! nice work done..very creative.. : )
    Waiting for other graphics tips….
    And good wishes for ur big moove…. have safe trip!!Love n regards
    Margishi
23. Emily Cavalier (@EmilysPearl) on Jan 5, 2010 said:
24. Hi there, Jacob! Welcome to Brooklyn. You’re moving to my neighborhood – the best one here. So excited for you to work with CC. I think they’re a great crew. Give a yell on Twitter. Be happy to share some spots for you to check out locally.
25. JayPee on Jan 6, 2010 said:
26. Good Luck Jacob…
    If you can make it There – you can make it Anywhere! (Wish I said that)
    Thought I would send you some Sydney fireworks pix – to go with your Brooklyn Bridge ones.
    Enjoy the Big Apple
27. Julien (@juxyfr) on Jan 6, 2010 said:
28. Have fun in big Apple!
29. Mario (@ocondesign) on Jan 6, 2010 said:
30. Best of luck Jacob! Congrats on the new Carrot Creative gig.
31. Craig Scott on Jan 6, 2010 said:
32. That’s awesome man – well done!
33. Jacob Cass (@justcreative) on Jan 6, 2010 said:

    Thank you all for your kind words. I’m sitting here in Beijing waiting for my connecting flight to NY (still 4 hours to go). It’s bloody -15?c outside and even inside my hands are freezing! Annoying that Facebook and Twitter are blocked.

    Kiren,
    Haha, “Designer Down Under”… if that ever happens I know that’s the end of film!

    B. Jones,
    Check out mobify.com to grab your own mobile site. It’s quite easy!

    Mike,
    My Visa runs out in August 2011 though I can extend it 2 years more if need be. Those dates are not set in concrete, but just a rough idea. I hear many stories of people who don’t come back!

    Emily,
    Always up for advice, totally new to the area so I’m all ears! Always keen to meet new people too. Will give you a Twitter when I can (it’s banned in China, where I am atm).

    JayPee,
    The pic isn’t actually mine (see copyright info at bottom of post). I’ve seen quite a few Sydney fireworks pics (my bro and mother were in the city), saw on news as well – looks like it went off as usual!

34. Kamila – Darc Vanilla Design (@darcvanilla) on Jan 7, 2010 said:
35. Congratulations Jacob in your new life in USA :> Gosh, I envy you Well done!!
36. Melody (@sexidesign) on Jan 7, 2010 said:
37. Wow, pratt institute…I got accepted there for architecture some time ago–wish I took the opportunity but the costs are 45k per year..very cool though, congrats on everything–to continued success for 2010!
38. MieHanz (@MieHan) on Jan 7, 2010 said:
39. congrats on your new job in NY & happy new year!
40. Michael Martin (@problogdesign) on Jan 8, 2010 said:
41. Congrats on finally getting there Jacob! Hope you have a great time over the next few years!

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This is a guest article by Ana Paula Rodrigues*.

In difficult times people get creative — and creative people must find new ways to use resources wisely. Whether you work as an in-house designer at a large company, own your own design firm, or work as a freelancer, the recession has no doubt affected you or someone you know. Thus, creating a need to think outside the box in order to make, and ultimately save, more money .

Here are a variety of ideas to help you through this economic downturn.

1. Create a magazine club

Magazines are a great source of information and inspiration, but they cost money. One way that you can maximize a magazine subscription is to create a magazine club. You can start by contacting designers you know and invite them to meet once a month to exchange magazines and discuss articles. You can eventually grow the club to include other designers, making this an opportunity to network as well.

2. Add new skills for free

When you add a new skill to your toolbox you are opening doors to new opportunities. So why not learn it for free? If you search the Internet you can find many web sites, such as tv.adobe.com, where you can actually stream video and learn techniques directly from the experts! Another thing you can do is subscribe to podcasts like Pixel Perfect. The podcast hosted by digital artist Bert Monroy, offers fifteen minutes of professional and detailed advice on Photoshop and Illustrator tools, and the best part – it’s free.

You should also take advantage of free talks offered from design organizations like the American Institute of Graphic Arts or TED and tap into your local library to see what classes they offer. They may not offer a class on InDesign, but they may offer classes in Excel or Word, and if you’re not familiar with these programs this is a wonderful opportunity to learn.

Another way to learn new techniques is to get a part-time job working for a printer, photographer or another designer whose strength or focus is different than yours. The great thing about going this route is you are learning directly from a professional and getting paid.

3. Teach, tutor, type or talk.

If you can close your eyes and you’re able to recite all the short cuts in Photoshop, odds are you’re an expert. You should take your knowledge and become a, Photoshop “Profit” by teaching or tutoring. Shop your knowledge about particular design programs to local computer training centers, libraries, community colleges and organizations, or create a tutoring program from your own studio. You can also offer to create classes through your company, but check with human resources first. The advantage to tutoring or teaching is you’re helping people attain knowledge and you’re getting paid.

If you’ve been in the design business for a few years, you’ve probably experienced some fun and exciting, or aggravating and nerving, clients, employees, printers, illustrators, photographers etc., so why not write about it? The way you handled a particular situation can be an excellent opportunity for another designer to read and learn from your experience. You can write your article and shop it around to design magazines or design blogs , and if the article gets published you’ll get great exposure and possibly a paycheck!

You can also translate your experiences or expertise into a gig as a guest speaker. Create an informative and entertaining presentation and contact conferences , schools or design organizations to see if the content fits their needs. And don’t forget to check out magazines, organizations or conferences outside of the design world, since graphic design is incorporated into all types of business.

4. Advertise for $0 – Priceless

MySpace, Facebook, and LinkedIn are free networking vehicles to increase your visibility. Even though some of these sites cater more towards youthful socializing, you can still create a page with a portfolio and a list of skills and services you provide. Also, take time once a week and invite people to become “friends” and update them on any new projects you may be working on.

The hot “new” free tool for networking, marketing or micro-blogging is Twitter. (Twitter Tips here) You are able to write current updates on your profile page and have people follow your entries or “tweets”. You can use Twitter to market yourself by writing about current projects, design awards or a new promotion. The marketing opportunities are limitless with Twitter, except you’ll need to get to the point faster Twitter limits the word count to 140 words.

You can also create a video of your portfolio and upload it to YouTube or be a little more innovative like Kyle T. Webster who took viral marketing to another level by creating an original video called, “Original Design Gangsta ” which is very creative, not to mention very funny. The video ends with his Web site address, which helps drive traffic to his website.

Another way to promote yourself or your business for free is sending out a press release. While there are many sites that charge, there are also a number of them that offer the service at no charge. If you recently won a design award or landed a new account you should create a press release, and post it on your Web site. Also, send it to design magazines and send it to free PR sites like pr.com . Even though these sites offer premium services, they still offer free postings that are often picked up by Google News.

Additionally, when you do pro-bono work it’s usually a win-win situation for you, as well as the non-profit organization you are serving. Besides being a tax write off, it can also be a great way to advertise your design services to others. You can ask to include your Web site address on the materials you created, and have a link on their Web site.

Being published in a design book is another way you can garner recognition and exposure. Publishing houses such as Rockport Publications (www.rockpub.com) or Crescent Hill Books (www.crescenhillbooks.com) are always looking for material to include in their latest book. The wonderful thing about their “Call for Entries” is they’re usually free. You should check their Web sites regularly and enter your work.

5. Sell Yourself

Go through all your design books , equipment and chachkas to pick out things you no longer want or need. If the pile includes working or valuable items, then sell them on eBay. Remember, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

If you photograph , illustrate or paint in your free time, then turn your hobby into an additional revenue stream. Sell your work in galleries or on your Web site, and upload your images to stock houses like iStock to reap the financial rewards of a popular image. Another way to profit from your creativity is to upload your images onto Web sites like cafepress.com that sell and print images on t-shirts, mugs, hats etc.

Taking Inventory: If you take the time to evaluate how every aspect of your business is run, you will find there are hundreds, if not thousands of additional ways to save and make money. From lowering the heat and wearing an extra sweater, to using ceramic mugs instead of purchasing disposable cups, all of these little steps can help make a bad situation just a little bit better. If you would like to share your tips on saving or making money during this recession please leave them in the comments below.

*About the author: Ana Paula Rodrigues is an award winning designer who has been working in New York City for over 13 years. Ana has worked extensively in publishing, advertising and marketing.

This article was originally published on Talent Zoo and has been republished on JCD with permission.

Comments

This article was originally published on November 29th 2009, however due to our hosts doing a runner on us we lost a number of posts and comments. I’ve salvaged what I could from Google cache. Below you can find the original comments.

1. Vitezslav Valka on Jan 20, 2010 said:

   Hello sir, I’m just curious, but are you online? Preparing new articles? Thank you and good luck!

2. Callum Chapman on Jan 20, 2010 said:

   Great article Ana!

3. Jacob Cass on Jan 20, 2010 said:

   Yes I’m back, trying to get things all up and running again. Was left high and dry about 2 weeks ago (hosts disappeared).

4. Erik Shultz on Jan 20, 2010 said:

   Advertise for $0 – Great advice to self promote.

5. stephanie on Jan 20, 2010 said:

   that’s really good advice! thx for sharing.

6. Vadim on Jan 20, 2010 said:

   American Institute of Graphic Arts link is broken

7. Jeremy Bolton on Jan 20, 2010 said:

   Great article. The economic times eventually effects us all. I know I have started feeling it. I think the suggestion about gaining new skills is a great way to use this time. I also suggest doing a search on iTunes for design podcasts. Many of them feature great design tutorials and all for free.

8. Mark Brand on Jan 21, 2010 said:

   Faced with no luck, many of my fellow classmates have returned to school for their master’s degree. Sounds like a good use of time to me.

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With over 300+ million members worldwide, Facebook is 2nd most trafficked site in the world, sitting only behind Google. With stats like these, it’s no wonder businesses are turning to Facebook for marketing.

With the right set up, you can effectively use Facebook to gain more brand exposure, traffic and sales and in this article I’ll guide you through how I personally use Facebook to do this, along with some other alternatives.

See First Hand Examples

Before going on you may want to see some examples first hand of how you can use Facebook as a promotional tool. Below you will find my pages.

• Add me as a friend on Facebook.
• Join the Just Creative Design Facebook Group – you can promote your own services, links and design work in this group.
• Join the Just Creative Design Fan Page to keep up to date whenever a new article is published.

Set Up Your Profile

Let’s start at the basics, you’re going to need a Facebook profile. I’ve personally got two profiles, one for business and one for private life. The choice here is yours but you must realise that your followers are going to see photos from you on the weekend, along with other personal details. For this reason, I keep both private and business lives seperate, though I do make my business profile a bit personal too.

You could also split your one profile into two by utilising Facebook’s lists and privacy settings. How to do this is explained in the article How to use facebook for professional networking.

After setting your profile up, ensure you get a vanity URL which is a personalised address. ie. http://facebook.com/justcreative

To read more about the basics of Facebook you can read this guide and also this great article on how to build your personal brand on Facebook.

Fill Out Your Profile + Add Links

This may sound like common sense but not everyone does it. Fill out all of the fields that Facebook provides, taking special note of the sections that get the most visiblity (as highlighted in the picture above). You can see on the left side of my profile I’ve linked to my three websites, along with my other social networking profiles (Twitter & LinkedIn).

As for your own profile picture, ensure that it is the same picture you use on the rest of your profiles. As you can see the picture I use for Facebook is the same I use for my website and other social accounts.

You could also get creative with your Facebook profile picture and also be sure to check out this article on how to optimise your facebook presense.

Set Up A Fan Page

After you have set up your profile you will want to set up a “fan page” (see mine here) for your business. A fanpage is essentially the way your client base can keep in touch with your business – basically a Facebook version of your online presence. As quoted in Mashable’s Facebook Fan Page Guide, a fan page provides a place to provide:

• An overview of your company
• Website and contact info
• Press releases
• Videos
• Blog RSS
• Twitter updates
• Company news and status
• Customer interaction

To set up your fan page, log in to Facebook, scroll to the bottom and click on Advertising. Then click Pages and Create a Page. Select the type of business you own and start filling in all the details. The more info you add, the better your page will be and remember: Google thinks highly of Facebook in its search engine results. Ensure you set up a vanity url for your fan page.

For some examples of great branded Facebook pages, have a look at these 5 inspiring case studies and this article on the elements of successful Facebook Fan Pages.

Below you can see an example of how users have interacted with a blog post that was posted to my Fan Page.

Set Up A Group

You may be wondering, why do you need both a fan page and a group? In short, they both engage with users in different ways. The group allows users to interact on a more personal level where as the fan page is more focused on your business & brand. For further clarification, read this article on what’s the difference between Facebook Pages & Facebook Groups?

Anyway, you can set up a Facebook Group here. As an example you can see the Just Creative Design group here. Notice how users have added photos of their work, linked to their profiles and other news? Just another way users can interact with your brand.

Automise Your Twitter & Facebook Promotion

After you have set up your profile, fan page and group, you will want to automise as much of your marketing as possible to save time and hassle.

Feed your blog to Twitter & Facebook: Whenever I write a new blog article, I’ve set it up so an automatic tweet goes out to all my Twitter & Facebook followers. I’ve done this via the use of the Twitter Feed service though there are many other options.

Send your tweets to Facebook: This may not suit everyone however the way I use Twitter is basically to share quality links with others, which in turn brings more followers, thus maximising the visiblity and exposure of my brand.

Whenever I send a tweet, I’ve got it set up (short tutorial for set up here) for all my tweets to go to Facebook as well. This allows interaction on both platforms. For example, see a recent tweet that went to Facebook below.

There is also a Selective Twitter Status Facebook App that allows you to choose which tweets get sent to Facebook.

Something else worth mentioning is the tool called TweetLater which allows you to pre schedule Twitter posts in advance. Very handy for promotion while your away. For more Twitter tips, visit this Ultimate Twitter Guide.

Promote Your Facebook Pages

In short, getting traffic and exposure from Facebook is relative to how you use it, how you promote your profiles and how you go about integrating Facebook with your other marketing efforts.

I always keep this in mind… do to others as you would like done to you because what goes around, comes around.

I also recommend reading this article: 9 rules of facebook promotion for small business.

More ways to promote using Facebook

There are many other ways to implement Facebook into your online marketing. Although I have not yet ventured into these areas, they are defintly something to consider.

• Paid Facebook Advertising
• Get Facebook Widgets / Badges for your site or blog
• Integrate Facebook into your site using Facebook Connect
• Build Facebook-enabled iPhone apps
• Create an application that runs inside Facebook

For even more Facebook resources see this massive list of 100 Facebook tools and tips.

Conclusion

Your Facebook promotional efforts will be ongoing, so plan to dedicate a few hours each week to getting new fans and updating content. You’ll quickly appreciate the instant ability to connect with customers and future customers through this valuable social media tool!

Think of your Facebook profile as a digital asset and grow the equity in that asset over the rest of your life. Also be sure to monitor your brand’s reputation.

If you have any further Facebook promotional tips, questions or comments please leave them in the comments below.

Comments

This article was originally published on November 2009, however due to our hosts doing a runner on us we lost a number of posts and comments. I’ve salvaged what I could from Google cache. Below you can find the original comments.

1. Shurandy Thode (@shurandythode) on Nov 25, 2009 said:Great post! Nice tips, I’m definitely going to have a look at some of them on my facebook account.
2. Geeee (@geeee) on Nov 25, 2009 said:very detailed and informative post as usual but I think that setting up your twitter to post to your FB account is not necessary anymore because most of the desktop applications can post separately to multiple account either fan page or personal account like TweetDeck & Seesmic. Thanks again for the good effort; you keep adding more value to our career
3. Preston Lee (@prestondlee) on Nov 25, 2009 said:Great post, Jacob. Thanks for sharing! Branding in general is something we all need to worry about whether via facebook or other means.Perhaps your readers would also be interested in this post:

   “Three brand awareness tips from the pros”

   Cheers!

4. Ricky Salsberry (@rickyaustin) on Nov 25, 2009 said:Wew hoo – I made it in a screenshot!Nice post.
5. David Korona (@DKRM) on Nov 25, 2009 said:Lots of great pointers here, definitely a reference when I publish a Fan Page. Thanks for the post.
6. Mike Hallaron (@mh1webdsign) on Nov 25, 2009 said:Good stuff Jacob and timely. Just launched our FB business page and still learning new ways to make the page more useful. I agree with your point that it’s best not to overplay the promotions while seeking fan count. Our plan is to continue to add content and attract more fans. It’s more about a pull strategy than a push strategy. As fans grow we’ll gently begin periodic fan emails. Thanks!
7. Abounding (@abounding) on Nov 25, 2009 said:I love the tips, especially about automation. That is a really important point for people who are producing content for multiple sites/accounts. Busy people need to maximize efforts and publish as widely as possible.
8. Kamila – Darc Vanilla Design (@darcvanilla) on Nov 25, 2009 said:Very good post. I was about to write similar I’ve just launched my Darc Vanilla Design fan page and I’m still learning how to make it more attractive to potential readers.
   Facebook is indeed a great tool to quickly increase traffic on the website. Who of you designers don’t have facebook fan page integrated with your blog – I suggest to do it right away.
9. Dave Sparks (@dsparks83) on Nov 25, 2009 said:Hi Jacob, another informative post although managing two accounts it is actually against Facebook user policy – no matter what the usage of the account is.
   http://www.facebook.com/help.php?page=721

   Facebook recommend setting up a page for your business and encouraging users to follow that which is what my company has done http://www.facebook.com/armitageonlinesolutions. It’s not quite the same but it does the job and stops you falling foul of facebook’s user policies.

10. Ann Edwards (@annedwards) on Nov 26, 2009 said:I already spent over 30 minutes on Facebook because of the 2nd section. Lol.Great post, as always.
11. Kiren on Nov 26, 2009 said:I like your Facebook page because you blend business with your personal stuff, which I think is the right way to go. So many people just post random links to articles with no social interaction.
12. Aaron (@photoshopcandy) on Nov 26, 2009 said:Great article. Thanks for sharing.
13. frankzhu on Nov 26, 2009 said:nice article for me ,thank you very much
14. The Pro Designer (@theprodesginer) on Nov 26, 2009 said:Hey Jacob, this is a really great post, another area which people do not take advantage of enough is adding a landing page on facebook. So when someone lands on my facebook page, they go here: -Landing Page – http://www.facebook.com/thepro…..7146470109

    Free Web Graphics Page – http://www.facebook.com/thepro…..4949752878

    Hope you find it useful!

15. Naomi on Nov 27, 2009 said:Great post, great information. Thanks.
16. Michael Martin (@problogdesign) on Nov 27, 2009 said:Nice post! I’ve set up a Fan Page for Pro Blog Design and so far, it’s gone down pretty well! Haven’t quite made the jump to a personal profile as well. For now, I’m keeping that to just people I’ve met. Not sure how I’d keep up with it all otherwise (And I won’t even imagine how you do both plus a group!)
17. Cort on Nov 28, 2009 said:Ive been thinking alot about this topic lately.
    Thanks for the suggestions!
18. Rebecca Wong (@rwsdesign) on Nov 29, 2009 said:Great Article! So much to learn and so much to do! Thanks for the tips!
19. Autonomy (@autonomydesign) on Nov 30, 2009 said:Thanks for the tips Jacob, great post!
20. Bradley Pearce (@bradleypearce) on Dec 1, 2009 said:Ha, just noticed we have the same birthday. Great article and advice as always
21. Laurent JOUVIN (@migratedesign) on Dec 1, 2009 said:Thanks for this post Jacob. I have been using Facebook as well for my business for the past 6 months (http://www.facebook.com/MigrateDesign). It has definitely helped my main site (http://www.migratedesign.com) and increased traffic. The result is a better ranking within search engines.
22. Tyler Maynard on Dec 2, 2009 said:Great info Jacob. Social-Networking sites are great for exposing your business. Big or small, there is nothing like free media outlets!
23. logo design (@bruceslogos) on Dec 2, 2009 said:Thank you for sharing and that was a useful tips and most of us is using facebook as form internet marketing promotion
24. Mindy (@mindysteen) on Dec 3, 2009 said:Hi Jacob, excellent post. I will definitely be referring back to this one.Any idea if there’s a way to make the automatic Twitter posts update the fan page, but not your personal page? I’ve tried this so many times, but I haven’t been successful. I tend to use Twitter just for professional stuff, and don’t want those tweets on my personal facebook (my non-design friends don’t care about the CSS link I posted).

    Thanks, as always. Excellent stuff.

25. A Design Student (@rmdesignstudent) on Dec 3, 2009 said:I think this is a really great post! Really helpful, and just goes to show what you can actually do with social networking sites. Thanks Jacob. Please read my blog and follow me on twitter.
    rmdesignstudent@me.com
26. Benjamin Rama on Dec 4, 2009 said:yeh FB is gonna be big with brands as GV and From the couch had th e forsight to see
27. Hesham @ FamousBloggers (@FamousBloggers) on Dec 7, 2009 said:I have some difficulties on changing my photo at Facebook for branding reasons, but I think it’s better to do it now before more time pass and there will be no return back! thanks Jacob for this awesome post!
28. Goji on Dec 8, 2009 said:Great post, great information!
    Thank you.
29. Jeromy on Dec 10, 2009 said:Thanks for the tips, especially about protecting your brands reputation.
30. Facebook Application Developers (@facebokguru) on Dec 11, 2009 said:Well don Jacob, you don very well. I have also try to explain this process by slides. If visitors like to see this too.
    http://www.slideshare.net/face…..a-facebook
31. Facebokguru (@facebokguru) on Dec 11, 2009 said:This article is great, however some new things are added in the following slide.
    http://www.slideshare.net/face…..a-facebook
32. Stephen Emlund (@stemlund) on Dec 11, 2009 said:This post is a great resource for how to successfully get yourself or business on Facebook.One thing I might suggest to anyone wanting to customize their Facebook fan page even more: Install the Facebook app called ‘Static FBML’. It allows you to add multiple tabs to your page where you can place custom HTML. I’ve not implemented it yet, but you can find more info on Static FBML is here – http://www.facebook.com/note.p…..9520642788

    Has anyone used Static FBML?

33. Chotrul Web Design on Dec 13, 2009 said:Yeah, as mentioned in several comments, thus far I’ve kept my professional life well clear of Facebook, which is strictly for social activity. It’ll be interesting moving the former into the latter, so that my web design and seo work doesn’t suffer from whatever quirkiness there is in my private life .. much food for thought in your article … many thanks for that!
34. Marja Bonn (@bonweb_tweets) on Dec 15, 2009 said:Great article, once again!
35. Dan on Dec 17, 2009 said:Great Stuff! I’ve debated on whether or not to Twitter but the automation helps.
36. viettel adsl on Dec 18, 2009 said:Great info Jacob. Social-Networking sites are great for exposing your business. Big or small, there is nothing like free media outlets!
37. Azterik Media (@Azterik) on Dec 18, 2009 said:Excellent article. This information is really helpful, I have to say I was slow to warm up to using Facebook for business but it really is a traffic driver. With the correct cross promotion of Facebook, Twitter and your main website it can be a real boon to overall business. Thanks for posting these tips!
38. Benjamin Rama on Dec 18, 2009 said:yeh twitter only has 11 million users which is really nothing compared with 200 million – i had a fan page but cant find it anywhere so ill make new one – its just a new way to communicate with your readers and with people whic is really important – there arent too many ways to do this apart from comments its very faceless, happy holidays anway
39. High Internet Savings Account on Dec 18, 2009 said:Great articles, It is right that facebook is the most popular site and its traffic is very high.
40. Eko Setiawan (@camp26team) on Dec 19, 2009 said:This information is very useful for us, we just make a fan page, and try to give the best for the customer.
41. Amna on Dec 28, 2009 said:Great Post! very comprehensive. Thankyou!
42. Bob on Jan 1, 2010 said:Great article.
43. Anime (@anassin) on Jan 2, 2010 said:Thanks a lot! I am going to use this!

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After two strong years of blogging, I’ve decided to take two months off to go traveling. I will be monitoring my three sites throughout this time, but there will be very limited (if any) posts throughout this time.

I am off for a road trip across 22 states of USA for 6 weeks then back to Australia for a 2 week family holiday / Christmas. I then fly back to New York to start full time work at Carrot Creative of which, I hope to continue to blog on a fortnightly basis. I also plan to keep running Logo Of The Day and to a lesser extent, Logo Designer Blog.

Birthday, Graduation & Moving Out

I’ll also be turning 22 years old during my time away, graduating from University, moving out of home (and country) and making the switch from PC to Mac, so it’s all happening!

Judging Roles

I’ve also just been selected to be a part of the judging panel for the 2010 Annual Design Awards along side David Carson, Matthew Walker (ESPN Art Director) and more. More info on that next year.

Update Jan 24th: I’ve chosen to pull out of this judging role due to conflicts of interest.

I’ve also been chosen to be on the judging panel for the 2nd year running for the Project Never competition, a competition that judges the “best rejected designs”. I am also judging “the best websites of the world” over on The CSS Awards and continue to judge logos for my other site, Logo Of The Day.

Computer Arts Articles

Also, keep an eye out for Issue 171 of Computer Arts magazine as I’ve written two typography related articles that will be appearing in there.

Interview

I’ve also had the pleasure of being interviewed for the website Your Hidden Potential, a website that showcases entrepreneurs under 27 years of age. You can read the interview here.

Happy Festive Season!

I’ll take this time to wish you all a great festive holiday season and a Happy New Year!

The Value Of Taking Time Off

I’ll leave you with this video by Stefan Sagmeister about the value of taking time off. Make sure you check out the last minute for a good laugh.

Thanks for your continued support and Bon Voyage!

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.

Comments

This article was originally published on November 15th 2009, however due to our hosts doing a runner on us we lost a number of posts and comments. I’ve salvaged what I could from Google cache. Below you can find the original comments.

1. Marco (@marcofolio) on Nov 15, 2009 said:Totally understand it man, you go enjoy your vacation! Just make sure come back after these 2 months and start writing awesome articles once again .And don’t forget to take pictures along the way!
2. Ebi Atawodi (@ebiatawodi) on Nov 15, 2009 said:Yay! Of all the things I’ve always wanted to say to you “Get a Mac” so so happy about that of everything you’ve said! All sounds great! Love Sagmeister, time off is crucial I think to stay sane and give your brain a juggle!Have fun Jacob!
3. designfollow (@designfollow) on Nov 15, 2009 said:very usefulthanks
4. NBK (@nguyenbk) on Nov 15, 2009 said:Bon Voyage Mr. Cass! You’re truly an inspiration, and I wish you nothing but the best in your future endeavors. Have lots of fun on your Vaca across the States. And remember, it’s just the beginning. Go wherever instinct takes you, and embrace every moment, NOW.
5. Devlin (@devlindonnelly) on Nov 15, 2009 said:Have a great trip! If you itenary deviates and you make to Seattle let me know & we can show you the city.
6. Mario (@ocondesign) on Nov 15, 2009 said:Good luck with your trip to the US and with your new job. I’m glad to hear you are making the switch to a Mac.
7. Design Informer (@designinformer) on Nov 15, 2009 said:Glad to hear about all the great things you are doing Jacob. Very impressive that you are able to do so many great things at such a young age.By the way, let me know when you get here in LA and maybe we can get coffee or something.

   Are you doing the entire trip by yourself?

8. Chris Gabriel (@trampish) on Nov 15, 2009 said:Drop me a line if you’re in NYC and would like to grab a drink. We’ll call it a business meeting and write off the bill
9. Sharon dowdy (@crimsontweets/prior crave2create) on Nov 16, 2009 said:Okay, Im exhausted just reading this article. No wonder you need a break! I wouldnt mind a break like that myself. Im glad to hear that you are moving into MAC land. Hopefully your travels will be bringing you to Tennessee. It’s called “God’s country” if you havent heard. I think you would love it. Be careful and have FUN!
10. matthijs on Nov 16, 2009 said:Great overview, and definitely a nice list of all the things you managed to do. I would say a nice holiday is fully deserved. Enjoy it!
11. Katrin Eiermann (@keiermann) on Nov 16, 2009 said:Thanks for your awesome blog and have a fantastic trip. I did that trip though the US (by car and with the let´s go budget guide) years ago, it´s worth it! Take care!
12. Jessica on Nov 16, 2009 said:Congratulations! You are extremely talented and I can’t wait to read more about your design journey in the future. Jessica-Seattle
13. daphne (@dainen) on Nov 16, 2009 said:Have fun Jacob! Looking forward to your return and can be predicted that you’ll have much up your sleeve from the months off.Hope you have a great getaway
14. Callum Chapman (@callumchapman) on Nov 16, 2009 said:Haha it’s all happening at once! Hope you have an awesome time! I think you have too much money if you can go travelling for 6 weeks, move out, AND get a mac! I’ll be following what you’re up to! Take care!
15. Carlos on Nov 17, 2009 said:Good luck Jacob!I’m a similar situation, while you’re moving to USA in January, I’ll be moving from Peru to Australia.
16. Nadia on Nov 17, 2009 said:Congratulations! Have a nice trip! Hope you will enjoy the United States.
17. Briana on Nov 17, 2009 said:Hope you enjoy my hometown of Albuquerque! It looks like an organized trip, but feel free to email me if you’d like ideas for things to do. Have fun, Jacob!
18. Kiren on Nov 17, 2009 said:Have a great trip and don’t forget about the little people:) I love this site, it’s become so addictive, what am I going to do for two months?
19. Raja Sandhu (@rajasandhu) on Nov 17, 2009 said:Thanks for all you do, and all that you will do brother, enjoy the time off!
20. mariadelsol on Nov 17, 2009 said:buena suerte!!
    i would love see these pics it will be a wonderful travel …… thansk for all by now im learning here…..gook luck enjoy byeeee
21. Cort on Nov 18, 2009 said:In case I don’t see you when you pass through…WELCOME TO UTAH!
22. intext pools on Nov 18, 2009 said:have a nice and safe trip! (wow! two strong years of blogging )
23. Taz on Nov 19, 2009 said:Welcome to the U.S.! Hope Chicago is on your list of places to visit!
24. Damon on Nov 20, 2009 said:Too bad you won’t be coming to Ohio, I’d show you around.. too bad there is nothing to see here!!!Good luck man, you deserve it!
25. Laurent JOUVIN (@migratedesign) on Nov 24, 2009 said:Have fun and come check us out if you’re in LA!
26. w3planting on Nov 25, 2009 said:what can be most exciting thing then visiting the new places around the world!!! cool man , have a nice trip
27. Andrea on Nov 25, 2009 said:Congratulations! Have the best of time! I´m your fan I admire you and I get really inspired of knowing all the thigns that u achief every day, I´m studing design too and about a year ago this was the first design blog I´ve ever visited and based in this one I have known so much more blogs, and webs, and all the best design world on the internet.
    Love your blog, your posts and your love to design and as the others say don´t forget about us!
    Take pictures!!

    LAQODESIGN?

28. Gavin (@gwipDesign) on Dec 3, 2009 said:Sounds like a great trip, looks like you’ll be passing by my neck of the woods. Hope you have fun!
29. Sam Logan (@sjlwebdesign) on Dec 13, 2009 said:Hi Jacob,I hope the travelling is going well, I’m insanely jealous of your itinerary. Good luck with the new job when you get back too.

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Sikh Youth Australia Website

This is my largest and most recent website to date. It has been built from scratch and is currently in coding by Kiidesign (Now completed: Sikh Youth Australia), using Expression Engine as the CMS. It will feature a rotating article slide show, an article accordion (similar to the left side bar of this site) and a nice drop down CSS Menu along with loads of other user interactivity. The right side bar & footer will be on every page of the site.

Oke Rum Liquouer

This was a full branding job for a Jamaican rum liquouer / cocktail that has been in development for several months now. Work included the identity design, bottle design and a 3D render mockup. The bottle is soon to be manufactured.

Scott Barnes Digipack Album

This is an album cover for Scott Barnes, an musician from just outside Washington DC. The album art plays on the themes of fire and revolution. It is to be printed in January after his EP has been mastered.

Logo Copyright Poster

This is a personal project that I have been working on. The poster features the (reversed) logos of the top 100 top global brands of 2009 as ranked by Interbrand, formed into the shape of the copyright symbol. The bottom right text says: “Good artists copy, great artists steal” ~ Pablo Picasso.

The idea behind the poster was to question the blurring lines between art, design and copyright. Can one just take a whole series of others work, put it into a new shape and call it art? Or is it design? I think Picasso’s quote also draws on similar thoughts… what’s the difference between copying and stealing? What is the secret to creativity?

Anyway, you can interpret as you wish. You can download this free as a PDF here.

Keep Calm and Stay Safe Letterpress Poster

This poster was part of a campaign that was running at Newcastle University raising awareness of student safety. I utilised the use of letterpress to create a poster inspired by a British motivational poster from 1939, titled “Keep Calm and Carry On”.

In the bottom left photo, you can see how I have cut away at lino for hours on end to create the letter forms. Blood, sweat and tears went into this one… well maybe not tears, but certainly blood.

Learnworks Identity Design

This is the rest of the identity design for the Learnworks logo that I posted about a few weeks ago. Learnworks provides on-site training, books and e-learning courses. I also had the fun job of designing their Word and Powerpoint templates.

MEGS Identity Design

MEGS is a program being developed by the NSW Department of Education and Training, TAFE and the University of Newcastle. It aims to bring students to Universities across the State. MEGS stands for “Making Educational Goals Sustainable”. The concept behind this piece was to show the cross roads of life and also to show the concept of bringing students into University… plus X does mark the spot.

Love Christ, Love Life

This was a recent piece of work completed for University for an advertising campaign promoting the life of Jesus. The use of the heart and Christ symbols create a powerful message.

Beolchi Rangel

The identity design for Beolchi Rangel, a business management consulting business based in Brazil. I wrote up a process of how I made this logotype over on Logo Designer Blog.

Morning Fog Album

This was an experimental piece for a fictional client. I was experimenting with mark making, ink, paper and sponges and I really liked how some of the marks came out, so I decided to make it into an album cover.

Experimentation

This was another experimentation with many different mediums – chalk, crayon, pencil, oil pastel, biro, soft pastel, charcoal and digital manipulation. Thought it came out pretty cool, could see it on a club flyer or album cover.

Dr. Reg Edward Logo Design

Dr. Reg Edward is a British doctor who uses innovative targeted regional anesthetic techniques to target pain rather than putting patients on highly potent drugs. The concept is based on targeting the pain, hence the crosshair, however there is also a hidden + symbol inside the negative space.

Opus Grex Logo Design

This is the logo design for a new website that is soon to launch. All I can say is that the site will be a place for people to go to “collaborate on problem solving”. Opus Grex is latin for “the work of the crowd”.

Alexandre Mantacheff Identity Design

This is the logo design for a high end art & antique gallery established in New York who is operating under it’s Parisian endorser’s name of Alexandre Mantacheff. The shape you see in the middle is actually an oil tower from back in the 1880’s, as per the client’s request.

Ford Logo Redesign

This was a personal project, my take on redesigning the current Ford logo.

Biotechnology Logo

This is the new identity design for the Undergraduate Biotechnology Program at The University of Newcastle.

Business Organiser Logo

This is a logo design for a business coach / consultant that organises other people’s businesses via the use of better systems, layouts & management. A minimalist, near zen-like approach was taken here with emphasis on O for organisation. The rest of their identity is still in the works.

Comments, constructive criticism and questions are welcome, as always.

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After much research looking into other Twitterer’s lists and via the use of Listorious, I’ve compiled these ten design twitter lists that are definitely worth following.

No Blab, Just Design Links

A list of Twitter profiles that only post high quality design links and have very little to no other ‘daily life’ tweets. An alternative to your RSS feed reader.

Top Design Blogs

Lists the twitter profiles of all of the top design blogs. Includes such blogs as Smashing Mag, Web Designer Depot, Logo Design Love, I Love Typography and many more. This is a list curated by @behoff who has some other high quality lists worth checking out.

Must Follow Web Designers

Lists the most socially active best web designers in the industry. Includes such names as Paul Boag, Cameron Moll, Fabio Sasso, Vinh Le, Jo Phillips, Johnathan Snook, Jason Santa Maria and many more.

Typography

Follows all the typography related heros, apps and resources that you will need. Also be sure to check out @ilovetypography’s typography lists.

Ad Agencies

The top ad agencies of the world compiled into one big list. Includes names such as OGILVY, Big Spaceship, BBH Labs, Ogilvy Worldwide, Leo Burnett, TBWA\Worldwide, McCann Erickson NY, Draftfcb, Critical Mass, Scholz und Friends, etc.

Logo Design & Branding

This lists the top branding agencies and twitter users that post links to high quality logo & branding resources. A must for logo design lovers. Also be sure to check out this twitter list of freelance logo designers.

Illustration & Illustrators

Lists the leading illustrators in the industry. List curated by @grainedit who also has some other great lists worth checking out.

Agencies & Studios

Lists many of the leading agencies and studios on twitter. Includes names such as Critical Mass, The Duffy Agency, BBH New York, Saatchi Design, Fantasy Interactive, booneoakley,InterbrandNY, firstborn, The Martin Agency, Richard Lent and many more.

Creatives To Watch

This is a list put together by @Behance which compiles a great list of high quality designers & illustrators from around the world.

Designers

If you just want to follow a general range of designers & creatives, this twitter list is for you. A lot of rubbish talk but hey, they all like design. Be sure to check out the rest of @freelancefolder’s lists.

You can view all the lists I follow in my profile. Also check out this massive list of designers to follow on Twitter.

Do you have a twitter list recommendation?

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I recently wrote an article for Freelance Folder about how to get more subscribers by adding an email subscription box and within the comments, Troy Peterson left a great tip on how to optimise the copywriting to maximize subscription signups and I thought it was worth sharing…

One thing that will improve your signups as well, is to replace “Subscribe” with “Get Updates”.

Many people tend to associate “Subscribe” with some type of commitment. This is typically carried over from the old days of Magazine subscriptions, where people had to commit for a year and pay a price.

Even with the name “free” on it, people are still hesitant.

I recommend trying “Get Updates by Email” or “Get Updates by RSS”.

Of course, it’s always good practice to do a before and after testing to find the best results… but, it’s well worth the small effort to make the changes.

Below you can see how I have worded my new subscription box, along with a few other minor adjustments.

Update 6/11/09: I’ve slightly updated the copy to what is seen above.

Could it do better? What’s your opinion?

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Logo design is arguably one of the hardest parts of graphic design though with a little insider knowledge, you may find it’s not so difficult after all. By understanding what makes a “good” logo and the principles behind effective logo design you will be on the right track in no time. In this tutorial you will be guided through the logo design process, from initial brief right through to delivery while being given vital logo design tips along the way.

For the sake of this tutorial we will be creating a fictional logo – for now I’ve gone with a logo that reflects the first and last letters of my name – J & C. Through the use of negative space and a few nifty Illustrator tricks we will combine these characters (J & C) to create an iconic logo design. At the end of the tutorial, you may find that your own initials can be used too.

Skills you will learn by doing this logo design tutorial:

• How to use Adobe Illustrator to create a logo
• What makes a good logo
• Principles of effective logo design
• The logo design process

You will need:

• A copy Adobe Illustrator CS3+ or any another vector editing program
• 30 minutes of time
• This EPS File OR the Helvetica Neue 83 Extended typeface.

Logo design tutorial:

1. Before we head straight into creating the logo you must understand what a logo is, what it represents and what it is supposed to do. A logo is not just a mark – a logo reflects a business’s commercial brand via the use of shape, fonts, colour, and / or images. A logo is for inspiring trust, recognition and admiration for a company or product and it is our job as designers to create a logo that will do its job.

2. But what makes a good logo? A good logo is distinctive, appropriate, practical, graphic, simple in form and conveys an intended message. There are five principles that you should follow to ensure that this is so… In no particular order, an effective logo is simple, memorable, timeless, versatile and appropriate. An example of a logo that achieves all these things is the Apple logo.

3. Now that we know the basic principles behind logo design, we should begin the logo design process. In the real world we would be given a brief, have to do research, brainstorming, etc. though for the sake of this tutorial we are creating a fictional logo design based on my initials, J & C. For now, open the jc.eps file that you can download here.

4. In this EPS, you will find the completed logo and also the outlined version of the J&C. I’ve used the typeface Helvetica Neue 83 Extended with 82pt type so if you have this typeface you will not need the EPS file. You will be needing the Pathfinder tool panel too, so go ahead and open this up. Go to Window > Pathfinder. I also find working in the Typography Workspace is the best for logo design. Go to Window > Workspace > Typography to set this up.

5. If you are using the font directly (not from the EPS), you will need to outline your text as this will turn your text into movable objects. To do this, right click on the text and click ‘Create Outlines’. After you have done this, you are up to where the CD users start off. Now you will have to ungroup your characters – to do this, select the text, right click, click ‘Ungroup’.

6. Now we are going to turn the ampersand into 3 objects rather than just one. To do this we must release the original path of the ampersand. To do this, select the ampersand, right click and then choose “Release Compound Path”. You will notice the two counters of the ampersand go black – this shows that it is now in 3 pieces.

7. From here we are going to turn the ampersand into negative space, ie. using the white space to create an object. To do this, select the ampersand and turn it to the colour white using the swatch panel. Take note not to turn the two inside counters white. Now select the two counters and the ampersand, right click and press “Group”.

8. Now that we have the logo all set up, it is time to position the ampersand. Using the select tool, select the ampersand. Position the ampersand over the J and it should look something like above. Align the left side of the ampersand with the left vertical side of the J, ensure that the J is not broken into two parts.

9. From here, using the select tool, select the C, right click on it, go to Arrange > Send To Back. This moves the letter C behind the other two letters and is necessary for the next step.

10. Select the letter ‘C’ with the move tool and position it underneath the white ampersand. I’ve positioned the ‘C’ just where it meets the middle of the ampersand as outlined with the red arrow above. Zoom in to 6400% and ensure that it is exactly in line, not just close, but exact. Precision is required in logo design.

11. You will notice that the ampersand doesn’t cover all of the C and leaves an unsightly jagged edge at the bottom, as pointed to by the red arrow. To get rid of this you will have to select the Direct Selection tool, click once on the ampersand and then once one the bottom right node. Zoom in as much as you can and drag out the node in a diagonal straight line.

12. You may think that this is the completed logo design though it is not. Although it looks exactly like the finished logo, the ampersand is still white which means when placed on another background other than white, the ampersand shows as white, as shown in the example screenshot above.

13. To counter this what we have to do is use the pathfinder tool to cut out the ampersand from the other letters. We need to make three ampersands to be able to do this. Select the ampersand and go to Edit > Copy and then Edit > Paste In Front. Repeat this twice. You will not be able to tell but there are now three ampersands there.

14. Grab the selection tool, select the top ampersand and then while holding shift, click the ‘J’. From here we want to use the Pathfinder window to cut it away. While they are selected choose the Minus Front option from the pathfinder palette. At this stage it looks like it has not done anything but it has.

15. You will have to repeat the same steps as above but for the letter ‘C’. Select the ampersand, and while holding shift, click the letter ‘C’. Choose the “Minus Front” selection from the Pathfinder palette to cut away the ampersand from the ‘C’. It will still look nothing has changed but it has.

16. There is now one ampersand left. Click on this using the selection tool, right click and click ungroup. This will allow you to select the three parts of the ampersand. Click on the large part of the ampersand and press delete. The shape of the logo is now complete. Highlight the four parts of the logo, right click and click group. This will ensure the logo stays as is.

17. After the logo shape has been completed, you will want to fine tune it and experiment with colours and typefaces. I’ve shown some variations for you just to give you an idea of what you could do, though experimentation & comparison is the key here.

18. After you have finalised the logo design, you would essentially deliver it to the client in a variety of formats including eps, pdf, tiff, jpg, gif and if you’re feeling nice, you may want to include a FavIcon too. Now that you are done, try to see if you can do it for your own initials too.

Computer Arts Photos

This logo design tutorial was originally written for Computer Arts, Issue 167. Below are some snap shots of the tutorial in print.

Update: 4/11/09

Computer Arts has just posted the PDF version of the tutorial to their website.

Recent articles I’ve written elsewhere:

• Vero logo design process from start to finish in Layers Magazine
• How to create a vector font monster using the glyph panel in Layers Magazine
• Get more subscribers with an email subscription box on Freelance Folder

For more logo tutorials visit this page of 70+ logo design tutorials.

If you have any questions or comments, please do leave them in the comments below.

• Winner Of The Free Professional Logo Competition (18)
• Why logo design does not cost $5.00 (237)
• When is a logo too simple? (43)
• What makes a good logo? (79)

Inspired by Von Glitschka’s simply awesome Zazzle store, where I just recently bought his Tickles “Evil Clown” t-shirt, I thought I’d see how opening a store of my own would go. You never know, right?

Though before I did that, I thought I should wait to check out the quality of Zazzle’s products and overall service. I didn’t have to wait long – just 5 days after ordering I received my shirt (and I’m down in Oz). I was also pleasantly surprised at the high quality of their products, especially considering their very competitive pricing.

Anyway, I’ve compiled a few products for you below, though the best thing about Zazzle is that you can customise the product to anything you want – ie. you keep the same graphic and then you can change its sizing, spacing, alignment or even change the product itself to a women’s hoody or mouse pad, among hundreds of other products.

If you want to take a look at my store, click here or click on any of the shirt photos below. All the shirts are on sale from a small $12.95.

Sultan Of Sultans

‘Sultan of Sultans’ means King of Kings and is a mixture of elements relating to this theme. Lion (King of the Jungle), Crown (Symbol of Leadership) and Space (King Of The Universe).

Excelisor Bot

This little robot is created entirely out of the Excelsior typeface. I recently wrote a tutorial for Layers Magazine on how to create your own font monster if you’re interested. There is an angled version (1st pic below) or a straight version (2nd pic below). Remember you can change the t-shirt colour to anything you like! You can also change the sizing, alignment, etc.

Just Creative Design Logo

This one I am really curious about but I thought I’d chuck it in anyway. Judging by some of the emails (one marriage proposal so far), you just never know.

Love Christ, Love Life

Although I am not a Christian, this was a recent piece of work I completed for University for an advertising campaign promoting the life of Jesus (as above). After I shared it on Twitter I had a couple of requests to actually make it into shirts, so I thought why not. Here are a few combinations below:

The below version features a small logo on the back, as well as a larger version of the “Love Life” text on the front.

Comic Sans?

This little character, like the Excelsior Bot, is created entirely out of Comic Sans. The idea is that he is saying “What!? Comic Sans?”.

Below is a version without the text.

Lightning Bolt

This is a minimalist retro t-shirt design of an electric lightning bolt coming down from the skies above.

Love Life

Similar to the other Love Life shirts, but without the cross.

My Zazzle Flash Store

You can scroll through the products using the Flash application below.

If you find anything else in my portfolio you would like made into a product or if you have any requests at all, just let me know and I will put something together for you. Anyway, interested to see how this goes.

If you have your own store, tips or suggestions, please share in the comments below. Thanks!

• 6 Great Tips On How To Prepare Artwork for T-Shirt Printing (32)
• 30 Sweet Handpicked Designer Tshirts (30)
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• 18 Truly Awesome HandPicked Designer TShirts (63)

With such a plethora of choice it may be hard to find the right designer for your specific needs. Below is a short guide to help you make the right choice when choosing a logo designer. These points could also be useful when hiring a web designer, graphic designer, or any designer for that matter.

I don’t want this post to come across as self promotional, however, I’ve linked to my own examples to show you how I personally communicate to potential clients the value of my design work. For other designers, I hope this in turn, gives you an idea of how you too can communicate the value of your work.

In no particular order:

1. Success & Experience

Do they have a proven successful track record? How experienced are they? Previous identity projects will give you a good idea of what skill level your designer is at and what you can expect though this is not to say that a new designer can not produce top quality results – this point has to be considered with all of the other points mentioned below, in which case a strong portfolio is probably the best indicator.

For examples of some quality identity design, please check out Logo Of The Day, where Jeff Fisher and I feature a new talented logo designer every day.

2. Positive Testimonials

Have they got positive testimonials from past clients and colleagues?

Ensure you check the testimonials validity which can be done by looking for a web address or even by emailing the company. It’s a good idea to check if the company even exists.

3. A Thorough Design Process

Do they have a logo design process in which they follow or are they simply producing logos like fast food? A typical process does not take under 48 hours to complete which is why I wrote the article How NOT To Design A Logo which tells you to avoid design contests, logo factories, etc.

Think for how long your logo design will be in use – would you want that to be designed (let alone researched) in under 48 hours? Logo design is not a take away food store and this is why logo design does not cost $5.00.

There is no ‘typical’ time frame as every client will have different needs but for small and medium businesses a rough guide would be around 2 – 6 weeks.

4. Awards Won / Published Work

Have they won any awards for their work? Is their work published in any books or magazines? How recognised are they in the industry?

5. A Strong Portfolio

How strong is their portfolio?   What is the make up of real to ‘fake’ logo designs? When I say ‘fake logos’ I refer to the logos made for fictional companies, rather than for real clients.

6. Price

The costs of the service is usually quite evident of what you are going to receive. In most cases, you will get what you pay for but don’t take price as the only indication.

How much does a logo design actually cost? In my experience, this is the most frequently asked question and the hardest to answer. This is because every company has different needs… the best approach is to draw up a customised quote for each individual client.

7. Design Affiliations

Are they affiliated with any design associations or publications? This is a good indication of how dedicated they are to their craft though is not at all essential.

As an example, I am a member of NAPP – The National Association of Photoshop Professionals and Logo Lounge, an online gallery for logo design professionals. Other affiliations could be AIGA, HOW or even a local design group.

8. Great Customer Service

Do they respond to your emails quickly? How do they communicate & present themselves? A designer should provide great customer service throughout the whole process, from the initial email right through to after sales support.

9. Business Professionalism

Attention to detail, trustworthiness, strong communication skills and time management are all vital and go hand in hand with great customer service.

10. Appropriate Questions

A designer should ask a variety of questions to find out your needs in relation to your business goals. Questions should revolve around the companies history, target market, competitors, company goals, etc. For an example of the questions asked, check out my logo design questionnaire.

In summary

These are 10 things you should take into account when choosing a logo designer:

1. Proven Success & Experience
2. Positive Testimonials
3. A Thorough Design Process
4. Awards & Published Work
5. A Strong Portfolio
6. Price
7. Design Affiliations
8. Great Customer Service
9. Business Professionalism
10. Appropriate Questions

Do you have any further points to add?

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

• Winner Of The Free Professional Logo Competition (18)
• Why logo design does not cost $5.00 (237)
• When is a logo too simple? (43)
• What makes a good logo? (79)

As part of this year’s Blog Action Day focusing on climate change, I have Simon Owens from CARE come to talk to you about the effects of climate change and what you can do to help. I’ll pass you onto Simon now…

Climate change is not only about melting ice caps and polar bears. Climate change is about people.

Swinging weather patterns are creating disasters on a scale that human civilization has never before witnessed. For the world’s poorest people – the ones least equipped to deal with its effects – climate change is devastating their crops, livelihoods and communities.

“Climate change is worsening the plight of those hundreds of millions of men, women and children who already live in extreme poverty – and it threatens to push hundreds of millions more people into similar destitution,”

says CARE International’s Secretary General Robert Glasser.

“A concerted international response to this unprecedented challenge is required if we are to avoid catastrophic human suffering.”

CARE is working toward a world where poor people can create opportunity out of crises like climate change. But the current reality is that climate change makes poor people even more vulnerable.

For instance, agricultural production will likely decline in the poorest countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Less reliable rainfall will likely affect planting seasons, crop growth and livestock health – and lead to increased malnutrition. In other parts of the developing world, flooding will likely further diminish the quality of already-marginal soil and could cause outbreaks of water-borne diseases such as cholera and dysentery.

Climate change also is hurling many poor families into “Catch-22″ situations. For example, they may select crops that are less sensitive to rainfall variation, but also less profitable. As incomes decline and people are not able to eke out a living, children are forced to leave school, assets are sold off to afford essentials, malnutrition rates increase and large-scale migration ensues. The end result? Deepening poverty for tens of millions of people around the world.

What Must Be Done?

At the international level, negotiations to develop a new treaty to guide global efforts to address climate change will take place in Copenhagen, Denmark in just a couple weeks. The United States must help lead those efforts, and forge a strong agreement that caps emissions, stops global warming and responds to the effects already in motion. We must do this for the sake of all of humanity.

What can you do to help?

First, you can make a tax-deductible donation to CARE to help poor families access the tools and education they need to adapt to the effects of climate change, make efficient use of their existing resources and overcome poverty for good.

Second, if you live in the Unites States, you can write your senators and urge them to pass the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, a critical step toward U.S. leadership in tackling climate change. U.S. leadership is critical to making the Copenhagen negotiations a success.

Third, you can join the CARE mailing list to be kept up to date on CARE’s activities and other ways you can take action in the days counting down to Copenhagen.

To donate, take action and join our e-mail list, please visit http://www.care.org/climate.

Thank you once again Simon. Image courtesy of Shutterstock.

• Blog Action Day: Stand Up To Poverty, October 15th (5)
• Blog Action Day 2009: Climate Change (8)
• Save The Earth Campaign – 100% of all proceeds go to charity (10)
• I Will Donate 10 Cents For Every Comment That Is Left On This Post To Help Rid The World Of Poverty (248)

“There are now about as many different varieties of letters as there are different kinds of fools.” Eric Gill

Choosing a font for a project isn’t always an easy task but hopefully this list of professional classic and elegant serif fonts will make the task a little easier… or maybe not.

Nimbus Roman No 9

ITC Garamond Light

Minion

URW Antiqua

Times

Baskerville

Baskerville No. 2

Mrs Eaves

Cheltenham Old Style No 2

Cushing Std-Book

Aldine 721

Plantin Std

Sabon

Arno Pro

Palatino

Centaur MTStd

Bookman Light

Perpetua Std

New Century Schoolbook Roman

Berthold Baskerville Book Regular

Scala Pro-Regular

Garamond Premier

Bembo

Times New Roman MTStd

Adobe Caslon

Bodoni

Goudy 38

More Typography & Font Resources:

• 30 Fonts You Must Know & Should Own
• The Top 100 Best Fonts Of All Time
• 20 Beautiful Free Serif Fonts
• Top 7 Fonts Used By Professionals In Design
• 20 Typefaces To Start A Designer’s Career
• FREE 27 Page Type Classification eBook
• Designer’s Favourite Fonts & Why

Have you got a favourite classic serif typeface that was missed in this list? Let us know in the comments below.

• The Top 100 Best Fonts Of All Time (121)
• How To Choose A Font (15)
• Designer’s Favourite Fonts & Why (82)
• 30 Fonts To Last A Life Time (253)

One a similar note, I’ve just recently reached another milestone – I’ve now had a client from every continent of the globe, except Antarctica. This is something I never would have dreamed of 2 years ago when I started this blog and I find it amazing how small the Internet makes the world. Thank you for all your support and if you know a penguin, please do let me know.

Learnworks logo design – Learnworks provides on-site training, books and e-learning courses. The concept is based on the initials L and W making up books on a bookcase. Gotham Black is the typeface. Learnworks is based in the Netherlands and I am currently in the process of designing their other marketing material.

Redwave Systems logo design – Redwave is a provider of telephony systems, Windows servers, and general IT services. Notice the wave? Myriad Pro is the typeface with customisation on the D, W and A. Redwave Systems is based in California, USA.

Mindful Construct logo – Logo for a blog that focuses on empowering users to lead a more healthy life. Avenir LT Std 95 Black Oblique, 35 Light Oblique, 35 Light are the typefaces used. Melissa also kindly wrote a rather large testimonial for her time working with me – below is a snippet.

“Jacob is a pleasure to work with. He is courteous, patient with questions, reliable, and a great communicator. He is very focused on the creative process and he completed my project well before the deadline. And not only did Jacob deliver logos that I could emotionally connect to and identify with, he went out of his way to kindly advise me on how best to integrate one of the logos with my website.

Anyone who takes that extra care to help you succeed is someone worth sticking with! Jacob truly cares about his clients, and even though the project is finished, I still feel supported by him in continuing to build my business! …” Read full testimonial here.

DiCarlo Coaching logo – A male life coach, teaching men how to interact with women. Typeface is Avenir with custom illustrations for the silhouettes. DiCarlo Coaching is based in Massachusetts, USA.

Beolchi Rangel logo – This is a logotype for Beolchi Rangel, a business management consulting business based in Brazil. I wrote up a process of how I made this logotype over on Logo Designer Blog. Gotham Black typeface with customisation to the letters E, L and A. The letterhead and business card are being printed as we speak.

Matisia logo design – A Seattle based management consulting firm who deals with clients such as Microsoft & Starbucks. Typeface is Dynasty Heavy. The concept is based on profiling the fruit Matisia in which the business was named after. Matisia is based in Washington DC, USA.

Rehab Massage Website – This was a website I completed for Dennis Jablonski, a remedial therapist based in Queensland, Australia. The website is still currently being coded and the content added. The logo was designed elsewhere (not a huge fan).

Here is what Dennis said about his time working with me:

“Jacob absolutely nailed my website in his first draft, delivering a perfect result much faster than I expected!

When I contacted Jacob about designing my website I was highly unorganised, lacking vision, ideas and actual content – possibly a ‘designer’s nightmare’!

Jacob’s excellent communication skills and wealth of experience in dealing with small business clients meant he could quickly identify my needs and business image and provide much needed guidance with minimal fuss.

I consider myself very lucky to have met Jacob and highly recommend him!”

6×3m Billboard – This was a university project where we had to create a creative billboard targeting obesity. We had 2 hours to come up with a concept & deliver it. Man image courtesy of Shutterstock.

A3 Play Poster – This was an A3 sized poster for a play being held at Newcastle University.

Pip’s For Hair Logo Design – This was a logo I created last year for Pip’s For Hair – this is a photo of the logo applied to the store front. Typeface is Interstate with customisations to the two p’s.

As for now, there are 4 more logos in the mix, a website for Sikh Youth Australia, a van vehicle wrap design, a CD Digipack Album design and a rum liquor bottle on its way! And there is only 5 more weeks till I leave for a 6 week trip across 22 states of USA. Eek – but loving every bit of it.

Comments, constructive criticism and questions are welcome, as always. Have a good weekend folks!

• Wolda 2008 Annual Arrives (24)
• The Past, Present & The Future (45)
• The Logo Design Process From Start To Finish (91)
• The Design Process Of Creating A Creative Billboard Campaign (30)

Does being a starving artist suck? Even if you are not starving, you should get yourself familiar with the books & resources of Jeremy Tuber, a designer & author based in Arizona, USA.

Jeremy and myself have been in contact via email & twitter in a very on and off fashion, though over the conversations we have had, I’ve found Jeremy’s pragmatic & practical knowledge in business to be quite profound and this is clearly shown throughout his books & resources.

About four months ago, Jeremy kindly sent me two of his books (Verbal Kung Fu For Freelancers and Being A Starving Graphic Artist Sucks) and over these last four months have found them very handy – below are two short reviews of these two books.

Verbal Kung Fu For Freelancers

Although I am not overly fussed by the design of the book itself, the information inside is invaluable and I have referred to it many a time. This book tells you how to talk and deal with your clients needs, but done in a very to the point way. It’s basically a ‘questions and answers’ book.

For example, pretend you have a client asking you to lower the price of your original quote. How would you respond? If you refer to the pricing section of the Verbal Kung Fu book, it would tell you exactly what to write and in some cases, it gives you two options to choose from.

Verbal Kung Fu For Freelancers is essentially about “how to talk to clients” and if you’re like me and the vast majority of your communication is done via email, you have all the time in the world to refer to this book to find out how to appropriately & effectively deal with your clients needs, without jeopardising your income or dignity.

I haven’t come across a book like this before and I highly recommend it. Its 166 pages are well categorised for easy referencing and is a ‘keep in your top draw’ kind of book. You also read what Steve from LogoFactory had to say about Jeremy’s books.

Being A Starving Graphic Artist Sucks

Being A Starving Graphic Artist Sucks (500 pages) is the second book I received and is much larger than the Verbal Kung Fu book. It’s a “complete resource” on how to be a successful freelancer.

It deals with such things as how to find clients & how to run your design business including thorough expert advice in areas that designers struggle in: pricing, marketing, negotiations, customer service and sales.

Although I didn’t read this book from front to back (I’ve already read similar books) it is clear that Jeremy knows how to run a design business and is certainly a book worth checking out. It really is a “complete resource”.

Discounts & Freebies

Readers of this blog can get 25% off any of Jeremy’s digital products OR get a free ebook when you purchase a printed book from Amazon.

You can click through to view all products & discounts.

Jeremy also offers free email support to any and all questions that you may have! How many authors offer that?

Free Giveaway

Update: 13/10/09 – Competition Closed

Congratulations to Jaz who will be receiving the prize pack below. Thank you to everyone else who entered – there are many questions here that will provide good ideas for posts in the future.

Jeremy has also been kind enough to donate a grand prize to one lucky winner. This will include the digital copies of:

• Being A Starving Graphic Artist Sucks
• Verbal Kung Fu For Freelancers
• Work Smarter, NOT Harder: Contracts & More

To win: simply let us know what area you find most troublesome when freelancing and a question you would like answered relating to that area. The winner will be announced in this post on Tuesday 13th October.

Good luck!

More book recommendations:

• 12 Design Books I’ve Read & Recommend
• Logo Lounge Volume 5 Book Review
• Logo Design Book Recommendations (+Video)
• Becoming A Successful Freelancer: The Unlimited Freelancer eBook Review

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Throughout June and July I was on vacation travelling through Japan, Cambodia, Vietnam and New Zealand and as usual, with any major trip, I share the photos and stories with you.

I posted the Cambodia & Vietnam photos a few weeks back and now I’ve finally had the chance to go through the Japan & New Zealand photos.

The Japan leg of my Asian themed holiday was spent with my mother and was a gift for my 21st birthday. It was great to spend some quality time with her while experiencing the Japanese culture and it also gave me a chance to do things that I wouldn’t have done if I was traveling with my mates.

In Japan we went to Tokyo, Shinagawa, Yokohama, Shizuoka, Nagoya, Kyoto, Hikone, Miyajima, Okayama, Hiroshima and Takayama. Click the map for a larger view of where we travelled.

Enjoy the happy snaps and sorry for not being more descriptive, I’ve forgotten a lot of the names since the trip back in July.

Update January 25th 2010:

Due to a recent outing with our hosts, we lost a lot of files. We are currently in the process of restoring the photos, please be patient while we do so. Thank you.

New Zealand Ski / Snowboard Holiday

After I returned from my Asian themed holiday I went for a ski / snowboard holiday with 16 of my mates in Cardrona, New Zealand. Below are a few snaps.

Top of the mountain – perfect conditions!

Believe or not this is the same day! It went from slush / chains at the bottom of the mountain, to perfect at the top.

Me doing a jump – I did land it for the record

The serenity!

We went paint balling as well, which was deadly fun.

Me on the left and some of my mates.

The lake near to our hotel. Beautiful scenery indeed.

Future Travel Plans

My original travel plan for November / December was to travel through South America however I have since decided to travel through USA instead. The reasoning for this was because of the very competitive airfares, great AUD to USD exchange rate and I thought I should get more acquainted with the USA before moving to work there.

As for the trip, I am going on another Contiki tour – this time across 22 states of USA starting from Los Angeles going East, right through to New York, where I will meet my employers, Carrot Creative, for the first time.

I will leave mid November, travel around for 6 weeks, return to Australia for 2 weeks for a family holiday, then fly back to New York again in early January where I will have to settle down and get back to the real (working) world.

You may be interested in my photos from: Fiji, Europe, Australia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia or me SkyDiving. Have you been to Japan? Have any stories to share?

• Want to guest write on Just Creative Design? Now is your chance! (37)
• Vietnam Holiday Photos (29)
• Taking Time Off & Other News (1)
• Photos From Thailand Trip (56)

This is breaking news in Australia – we’ve released a new ‘creamier’ version of our much loved Vegemite (a vegetable yeast spread similar to Marmite). No joke it was on the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald website.

Kraft Foods yesterday announced the winning name: Vegemite iSnack 2.0.

West Australian web designer Dean Robbins, 27, beat more than 48,000 entrants to come up with the winning name. Other entries suggested were Ruddymite, Wow Chow and 2ritemite.

“It was all a bit tongue-in-cheek, really. The ‘i’ phenomenon and web 2.0 have been recent revolutions and I thought the new Vegemite name could do the same.”

Simon Talbot from Kraft Foods said: “The name Vegemite iSnack2.0 was chosen based on its personal call to action, relevance to snacking and clear identification of a new and different Vegemite to the original. We believe these three components completely encapsulate the new brand.”

When I first saw it I was like “Oh no, this has got to be a joke” but nope, it’s the real deal. A half smart marketing ploy but I wonder how long this name will last?

Update 29th September:

There may be a legal battle on for the name ‘iSnack’ but not with who you may think.

Update 30th September:

Kraft is considering axeing the name of   iSnack2.0. (Thanks to Cameron for the tip.)

What are your thoughts?

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• Do you need to rebrand? (20)

It’s that time of year again – October 15th is Blog Action Day.

Blog Action Day is an annual event that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day on their own blogs with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance. Blog Action Day 2009 will be the largest-ever social change event on the web. One day. One issue. Thousands of voices.

This year the topic is Climate Change (of which I voted for back in August) and am glad it was picked as this years topic of choice as Climate Change is effecting us all (and our children) whether we like it or not.

I don’t want to bat on like some Greenpeace activist but Blog Action Day is for a good cause and you should consider getting involved – at least check out the video below.

Only last year did this blog raise USD$1620 in funds for the Blog Action Day Poverty Fund so it shows that you can help.

What can you do now?

Blog and Twitter about it, let others know about Blog Action Day and line up a story to be posted on October 15th too. Register your blog and get more information by going to the official Blog Action Day website.

You could also add a banner to the side of your blog such as the one you see on the right side bar of Just Creative Design.

• Climate change is about people (11)
• Blog Action Day: Stand Up To Poverty, October 15th (5)
• Save The Earth Campaign – 100% of all proceeds go to charity (10)
• I Will Donate 10 Cents For Every Comment That Is Left On This Post To Help Rid The World Of Poverty (248)

Thought I would share with you a recent project of mine: the rebranding of The Murray Raine Puppets logo and website.

Murray Raine grew up in Newcastle, New South Wales. His initial interest and love of puppetry was triggered at the early age of six. Following a performance by the iconic “Marionette Theatre Of Australia” at Waratah Infants school, he new a career in puppetry was his destiny! Now four decades later Murray is regarded as Australia’s leading “cabaret” marionettist.

Please feel free to have a look through the old and new websites and let me know what you think. It was a real pleasure designing for Murray and his star studded cast.

Website Before – Click to view old website (opens in new window).

Website After – Click to view new website (opens in new window).

The 960 Grid

When designing for the web, it’s often a good idea to follow a grid based approach. I personally use the 960 grid system and highly recommend it. Below you can see how I have used the 16 column grid system to build a structured and stylistically coherent web site.

You can click on the images below to see them at full resolution.

960 Grid System – 16 column grid with guides.

960 Grid System – 16 column grid with guides & coloured columns.

Front page without guides.

Front page with guides.

Front page with guides and coloured bars.

Further Web Design Resources:

• 9 SEO Tips You’ve Probably Forgot About
• How To Make Your Next Website Design POP
• Top 7 Most Cliche Stock Images Used In Web Design
• 9 Of The Best Ways To Present A Website To A Client
• 10 SEO Rules for Designers
• Designing an Accessible Site Without Losing Your Mind

Comments and questions are welcome, as always.

• Web Design (1)
• Top 7 Most Cliché Stock Images Used in Web Design (130)
• Portfolio (44)
• Popular Articles (12)

Image courtesy of Shutterstock

Over the past few months I’ve been storing the emails that have made me raise my eyebrow. Some rude, some funny, some odd and some you just can’t help but cringe at.

I’ve left all formatting as it was received and it goes with out saying, I’ve made each email anonymous. I’ve also provided some general commentary just in case any of the authors are reading.

Please note that my comments are all just for a bit of fun are not meant to offend.

hey jacob
i wanted a logo redesigned for General motors or the superman logo
how much would it cost.
could it be sent by wedenesday

Certainly! I’ll have the Superman logo sent to you by Wednesday!

Hi. I really would love to know what software you used to design your website. I am thinking of being a website designer and I really like the feel of your website. I just have a copy of Frontpage 2002 and it seems out of date. Thanks!

Ps I really enjoyed the blog about advertising through google business/maps. Very innovative approach at using the free tools out there. Excellent page there, ill check out your links.

Yes, he said the F word.

The first [logo] I have a small budget for. The second, which I can guarantee I will come back to you for if you give me a deal on the first, I will have a larger budget for, at least double. If you produce really good work and the stars align, larger partner opportunities may exist, which would offer you enormous exposure.

Wow. Think they need a bit of talking to from Henry Ellison.

dear Jacob Cass!

i wana a job. actuly do a job in uae as graphic designer in a signage company.

thanks

Sur, cum round Munday and u can strat straight away!

Hi ?
i’m look’n 4 a phoney creative newspaper that will print my phoney artical
in a Phoney newspaper
4 me ” its a April Fools
Joke”
can U tell me the name of such a Company ?
Sincerely Frank

I’m sorry, I can not name such a company. Sincerely Jacob.

Will you marry me?

I’m a fellow Graphic Designer…a little older than you. Just thought I’d throw that out there.

No, but seriously, great website.

“I do.”

Would you help me to grow me up? I’m chirdlike in my ideas. I’m not absolutely aware of my shorteness wh! en I thought. How I grow? By what? I have known you from “UKE”. At that time, I relly like you although I don’t know anything about you. Today, my friend give me your website ’s adress, when I come in, I recognize you and I feel happy. what’s a coincidence.

I am a father now?

Hi Jacob,

I work for a government department that doesnt have alot of money in the budget. We have a conference in Nov that i would like a logo designed so people can associate it with the conference. I am want to score some brownie points with my boss, and in return you can have a government department on your portfolio. Basically wat i am looking for is a freebie.

If you interested please let me know.

-1000 brownie points for you.

hello. I am Tom from the US. I am 14. I am starting to think of a carrer to do. I have been really thing about a grapic deisgner. Would you tell me if it is a carrer you can enjoy, or is it a carrer you just can’t wait to leave everyday? How diffucult is it? My one big quistion is what sould I do to prepare for college? What sould I buy, like a computer, photoshop(which i have and been trying to practice) and so on. and what other things. Is there any websites u suggest going to? For anything and for photoshop practice? Anything to help me! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Email: tom122323334444@gmail.com (not exact but very close)

Tip#1 Address the receiver by their name. Tip#2 Get a new email. Tip #3 Use spell checker or at least try to spell correctly. (I still replied to Tom nicely though.)

this is to inform about Nasty cartoon porn sites( i have a sick roomate) Cartoon Pornhouse & Famous Facial Toons.

Rather interesting spam message that got through the filter.

Okay ~~~~~~~

I need your photo !!! (Make CD)

Tommorow make start !!! ^^

complete product is for you ^^

just gift ! ^^

and Visit in Korea ! please ^^*

invited call in my university ?

Bye ~

Okay ~~~~~~~ indeed.

I want to write my crush with a logo designer in my local.

Write away!

Jacob, You R Proven Tht U r Gr8. Ur Creativity Is Really Cool.Wht I Find In U Is Ur Design R Simple & Unique. All The Best For Ur Future.
Dan.

Y do Ppl Write Lke This? (But thanks and all the best to you too!)

HELLO THERE, im Hari Haran from malaysia>>> Same like you i started designing since a young age>>> im 16 now so yeah GOT FEW CLIENTS>>> juz keep in touch>> i might wana ask few questioNS.. AND I GO
.. IM launchin mah website>> ill keep u UPDATED..

Up and atom!

apart of your job, I really like you. just jacob!

Blush.

I have a design that my exboyfriend created on photoshop and I would like to use it as a design on a t-shirt or hoodie if i can…?

Sigh.

helo sir wel i’ve seen ur portfolio wel its too fantastic i mean masterstroke… wel me too i’m a graphic designer actually undertaking in mauritius university.. wel i got my first deal to create a magazine for a college … wel sir i wanted to know how to deal wiz the price of the magazine… i mean its my first work n its gr8.. so sir i wanted as u r a successful grpahic designer i wanted ur xplanations plz sir can u hlp

u deal wiz de price of de magazine by checkin out dis article. hpe my xplanation was hlpful.

I like to go to school with you online. Do you know how to build action figures?

Yes, I know how to build action figures and would love to go to school with you online! How do I get started?

your a c**t and you look like a c**t lol
dont know why your doing well your
logos are crap
and your full of yourself
learn some respect
and humility
what a prick -

My second piece of hate mail, I couldn’t find the first. Oh the humility.

I love your work very much and i find you in twitter. i want to be a web designer.
I have a question about me. Please answer me:
I am continuing my web designing course should I join video editing and 2D and 3D design course. Your answer is my final decision.
i hope u will give me the right answer. Awaiting ur reply.
Thank You Very much

My answer is your final decision? Is there even a right answer?

Jacob!!

Oh my gosh! What are the odds? This is Courtney from our Contiki trip summer of ‘08.

I am taking an advanced graphic design class at the University of Georgia (in the US) and my teacher suggested we look at YOUR website as a guide when we create logos! Small world. I knew you did graphic design but I didn’t know you were this good!!

Just wanted to let you know because it was so funny!!

Courtney

It is a very small world.

- hi jacobcass
- i visited your site and found lots of interesting thing.
- i became a fan of you.
- i am an instructor in a reputed art college of eastern india.and busy in teaching product campaign design.
- i have attached my biodata with this mail for your necessery information about me.
-
- can you let me know that how can i purchage these following books for my reference.
-
- Graphic Design Down Under (ISBN: 978-3939998099) – Euro 14.95
- Logo 2 (ISBN: 978-3-939998-17-4) – Euro 19.95

Yes, they sent this email with dash points all down the side and yes they did attach their ‘biodata’ (CV).

Anyway, hope this brightened up your day! Have you ever received a funny or odd email? Please do share with us in the comments below.

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© Shutterstock

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
~ Lao Tzu

20,000 subscribers… it’s just another milestone but that’s no reason to let it go unnoticed. With help from a few generous sponsors, Just Creative Design is holding a small competition to celebrate & thank you for being part of the journey.

Thus far, there has been just under 300 articles and over 10,700 comments left on Just Creative Design so once again, I thank you for your support.

What Can You Win?

• 2x PSD to XHTML Conversions from Snobby Slice. ($299 each)

Winners: Alexander Koolen, Kevin Gamble

• Motion +61 DVD from Heavy Backpack. ($39)
  A DVD collection of work from some of today’s leading creative talent in broadcast, motion graphics, animation, film and effects; all working in the Australian industry.

Winner: Andrew Odri

• $150 to spend at RSRVS.com. ($150)
  Your to download any choice of typefaces, stock and images.

Winner: Steven

• 500 Free Business Cards from our affiliate UPrinting. Shipping not included. USA only. ($30)
• Get 10% off printing by using the affiliate link.

Winner: Snowpato

2x One Year Shared & Reseller (RS2) Hosting Plans from RockStar Communications. Plan details here. ($120 each)

Winners: BebopDesigner, Frank

To Win

To win one of the prizes, simply leave a comment telling us what articles you like / dislike most on JCD and / or what you think could be improved.

All winners will be drawn at random and announced in this post on the 19th of September.

Update: 19th September

As I haven’t had a chance to go through all of the comments (very overwhelmed by the response) I will announce the winners on the 20th or 21st. Feel free to enter until then.

Update: 21st September – Competition Closed

Congratulations to the winners! Please find the winners names under each prize. Thank you everyone for your kind comments & suggestions!

Thanks again and good luck.

• FREE Lucky Dip Draw – Comment and Win (109)
• Winner Of The Free Professional Logo Competition (18)
• Win Prizes + Logo Designer Blog Follow Up (5)
• Win A Free Logo Contest + Our Achievements So Far (73)

Chris Green from Freelance For Money has put together a short video clip showing how you can get clients from LinkedIn. I’ve humbly been “picked on” for the ego boost.

If you do not see the video below, click through to view it on YouTube.

Please do connect with me on LinkedIn, or if you do not have a profile, I recommend you to sign up now – not only is it a great way to network, show your experience and recommendations, it also helps you get your name at the top of search engine rankings – plus a lot more.

As for my advice, I say fill out your profile, build your network up and get recommendations – it’s really as simple as that.

Also, please feel free to join the Just Creative Design LinkedIn Group – a group for design discussion, advice & promotion.

Recommended LinkedIn Resources

• Ten Ways To Use LinkedIn To Find A Job
• LinkedIn Profile Extreme Makeover
• 100+ Smart Ways To Use LinkedIn
• LinkedIn Resources on AllTop

How has LinkedIn worked for you? Have you any more LinkedIn advice to share?

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Simplicity in logo design is what makes a logo memorable and easier to recognise, but is there such thing as a too simple logo?

There has been a discussion over on Logo Of The Day about this logo in question, many love it, many hate it. What is your opinion?

Background Info

Below is the information that Anne Wehr of iCVBook submitted to Logo Of The Day. Tom Skipp is the designer of the logo.

“iCVBook is a new generation of professional network, including an innovation called iCV : a revolutionary professional identity for people and companies. It gathers together your online and professional, social and personal identities to give everyone the best image possible. The logo is for representing the brand.

We needed two different types of logo: the brand one and an icon that will be used by users for their iCVs. So this concept allows to decline the logo.

One represents a kind of sheet of paper, a Curriculum Vitae, a file to fill in. Simple and qualitative. With the possibility to play with the color of the corner (using the colorful pantone of the website) for gif animation or declination.”

So, when is a logo too simple?

• Winner Of The Free Professional Logo Competition (18)
• Why logo design does not cost $5.00 (237)
• What makes a good logo? (79)
• Tutorial: How To Create An Iconic Logo Design (27)

This is a guest article written by Nicole White*. Image courtesy of Shutterstock.

Stepping out of college and into the world of design can be a big change for many with little real-world experience in the field. Learning how to deal with clients, manage projects, and find work can be challenge for the rookie designer, especially with freelance work. These basic business tips can help prevent major disasters and set the stage for future success in the field.

1. Always get a contract.

It isn’t uncommon to get hooked up with a friend of a family member and in these cases you may not feel it’s necessary to ask for or get a contract, after all, you know the person. This is where trouble can start. Always lay out what the expectations for the client are and your fees ahead of time so there can be no question later as to what the agreement was.

• 12 points to incude in your design contract
• Graphic design contracts & agreement forms
• How to write a killer contract
• How much to charge for design work?

2. Ask for a down payment.

Inevitably you will have clients who are reluctant to shell out for the work that you’ve done for them, offering a myriad of excuses. Getting half the money up front will ensure you’re not left penniless while trying to get what you’re owed and that the client won’t leave you hanging partway through. 25-50% is a fair amount.

3. Limit revisions.

As with any creative project, there are a limitless amount of revisions that can be made. Some clients will be very picky and involved in the process and want to see numerous revisions of an idea. While there’s not necessarily anything wrong with wanting the best, make sure you’re getting compensated for it by placing a limit on the number of revisions or charging if they go over a certain number.

4. Get organized.

It will be incredibly difficult to manage one project, let alone multiples, and your life to boot if you don’t get organized now. Set up places to file important paper, organize your email inbox and make sure you’ve got plenty of room to store all your client work.

• 35 Online Tools That Make Your Freelance Career Easier

5. Work your network.

Finding work can sometimes be the hardest part of working freelance. When you’re first starting out, try using your personal connections to find yourself some work. Ask family, friends, classmates and associates if they know anyone who could benefit from your services. Most of the time, this will turn up at least one lead and get you started working.

There is no guarantee of entrepreneurial success in any venture, but taking steps to plan for the future and better manage work today certainly won’t hurt even the most experienced designers and can be a great way to start a career for newbies. Start to market yourself.

Recommended Reading

• One Year Out Of Design School: 10 Valuable Lessons
• 16 Designer Job Descriptions
• 10 Things They Don’t Tell You In Design School
• Advice For Design Students
• How To Get Your First Job
• How Much Does A Graphic Designer Earn?
• 15 Signs You’re A Bad Graphic Designer
• Top 10 Design Questions from Students
• A First Hand Guide On How To Start Freelancing

Have you got any other great business tips to share?

*Nicole White can be found on her website Web Design Schools Guide where she writes about online web design degrees.

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I’ve recently had the pleasure of designing the A-List Blogging Bootcamps logo for Mary Jaksch of Write To Done and Leo Babauta of Zen Habits and in this article I will guide you through my design process of creating the logo as seen above.

This article was originally written for those enrolled in the A-List Blogging Bootcamp and has been edited for display on Just Creative Design.

A Brief Introduction

A-List Blogging Bootcamp is a website that offers series of short, live, online training courses for bloggers. For more information, please check out the A-List Blogging Bootcamps website.

Getting The Job

Mary first approached me after getting a referral from James Chatrand about my design services. After Mary had checked out my logo design portfolio and told me what she needed, I directed her to my logo design questionnaire which allowed me to accurately quote for the job at hand.

Research

After the paper work was out of the way, it was time to start researching for Mary and Leo’s logo design. This included looking up their competitors, researching their industry and searching for other logos of similar context.

Brainstorming & Conceptualising

After the majority of the research had been completed, it was time to get creative. Based on the design brief and research conducted, this is where I let my ideas run wild. I brainstormed and sketched down my ideas and then experimented with them on the computer. I also had breaks between these sessions so I could reflect on the designs and have a fresh perspective – this is a crucial part of the logo design process.

When conceptualising, some designers get too concerned with the graphic style and image of a piece (ie. try to depict exactly what the business does) while others such as myself try to convey a deeper meaning or some sort of visual puzzle into the logo. A good example of this would be the well known FedEx logo, designed by Lindor Leader… did you know about the hidden arrow found between the E and X?

For the A-List Blogging Bootcamp logo I also wanted to create a visual puzzle. Before reading on, try having a look at the completed A-List Blogging logo below… what do you see?

Do you see a star? A man? The letter A? A man above a podium? A light shining onto a man? A globe? These things mentioned are all open to a matter of interpretation though I am sure you will see at least a few.

All of these symbols have meaning that relate back to the A-List Blogging Bootcamp’s purpose. The star symbolises being a star (think A-List celebrity), a man symbolises a blogger, the letter A is a reference to the blog title, the light shining down onto the man shows that the blogger is the limelight, etc. You can look into as much as you like – it’s all up to your interpretation.

Logo Variations

When creating a logo design, there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes that one usually never sees… below you can see some of my many experimentations and logo variations. Please keep in mind that these are just my experimentations and were not shown to Mary or anyone except myself.

At this stage I work without colour to ensure I focus on the shape and concept of the logo, not the subjective & distractive nature of colour.

Colour

After a lot more experimentation and liaison with Mary, the logo was narrowed down to six variations. From here, I experimented with colour choices and narrowed it down to a burnt orange, grey and white colour scheme which Mary loved. The colour scheme reflects the site’s purpose quite well making it fresh, vibrant and authoritative.

Above you can see the logos in black and then the burnt orange variations below.

I presented what I thought was the strongest logo (the middle bottom logo) to Mary & Leo and this was their reply:

We both love it!

Typeface

After the logo was completed it was time to work on the typeface. After a lot of experimentation, I opted for the skillfully crafted FF Meta Bold Caps. This typeface was chosen to complement the rounded logo and to show that the blog was authoritative, not via the use of capital letters but via the use of Small Caps (a way to prevent capitalised words from appearing too large).

The emphasis of the text was placed on the words “A-List Blogging” with a complement colour of grey for the word “bootcamps”. This was done to split the rather long name up into easier-to-read sections which in turn, make the logo easier to implement on the A-List Blogging Bootcamp’s website. (The web designer slightly adjusted the logo on the website so it appears different to what you see here.)

Final Logo Design

Below you can see the final A-List Blogging Bootcamps logo. For those interested you may also like to read the article “What makes a good logo?” or “Why logo design does not cost $5.00“.

Testimonial

Here is what Mary had to say about her time working with me:

“I struck lucky with Jacob Cass: his logo design process is intelligent and intuitive. The finished product is a splendid logo with many layers of meanings – all condensed into one image. If you are looking for a logo design, entrust yourself to Jacob. The end result will be not only a striking and beautiful logo, but one that carries all the subliminal messages you want to convey. It doesn’t get any better than this.”

Comments are welcome, as always.

• Winner Of The Free Professional Logo Competition (18)
• Why logo design does not cost $5.00 (237)
• When is a logo too simple? (43)
• What makes a good logo? (79)

Image courtesy of Shutterstock

What do you believe are the top commercial fonts that every print designer should own? Issue 166 of Computer Arts magazine suggested these ten below and I thought they were a good pick. What about you?

In no particular order…

Excelsior

Excelsior is good for magazines, newspapers, posters and signage.

Perpetua

Perpetua is good for displays with fine lettering and heavy text pages.

Stempel Schneidler

Stempel Schneidler is good for display work, high-class publications and posters.

Trajan

Trajan is good for books and magazines, aged and classical looks.

Walbaum MT

Walbaum is good for magazines, journals and corporate communication.

Akzidenz Grotesk

Akzidenz-Grotesk is good for large signage and all printed material.

Avenir

Avenir is good for book sleeves, headlines, logos and posters.

Leitura

Leitura is good for signage, posters and displays.

Meta

Meta is good for text, numbering and corporate communication.

Akkurat

Akkurat is good for text, editorial and posters.

Typography Resources

• Top 100 Fonts Of All Time
• 30 Fonts All Designers Must Know & Should Own
• How To Choose A Font
• Designer’s Favourite Fonts & Why

Miss a favourite font of yours? What would your top 10 commerical print fonts be? Please let us know in the comments below.

• The Top 100 Best Fonts Of All Time (121)
• How To Choose A Font (15)
• Designer’s Favourite Fonts & Why (82)
• 30 Fonts To Last A Life Time (253)

Image courtesy of Shutterstock

This is a general update of my future plans, articles I’ve written elsewhere and links to connect with me.

It’s Official – I’m Moving to NYC!

I posted about my new job in NYC at Carrot Creative a few weeks ago though only on the weekend did I get my US Working Visa approved. Everything is set (except accommodation) and the flight is booked for January 2010 which is when I will begin work. An exciting move indeed!

Articles Written Elsewhere

I’ve written a rather extensive article on Vital Tips for Effective Logo Design over on Smashing Magazine.

In the latest issue of Computer Arts magazine (Issue 166), I wrote their feature cover article on Cross Media Design including tips for using Photoshop with Illustrator, Dreamweaver and InDesign. The tips for After Affects, Premiere & Flash were written by someone else. The magazine is on sale now. Stay tuned for the next issue of CA too, as I’ve written a logo design tutorial.

I’ve also got an article in the latest issue of Layers Magazine (August/ September Issue) that goes through the design process for my Vero logo and bottle design. I’ve previously written for Layers, including the cover article Negative Space back in January and an Illustrator tutorial on ‘How To Create A Font Monster‘ in July. I was also featured as their Designer In The Spotlight in the May / June issue.

I will post each of the articles on this blog after the magazines go off sale.

Connect With Me

• Add me on Twitter
  On Twitter, I post design links on a daily basis and keep you up to date with what I am up to in the design world. No pointless rabble.
• Add me on Facebook
  For those that prefer Facebook or just want to befriend, please do!
• Add me on LinkedIn
  Join my business networking profile.
• Browse my bookmarks on Delicious
  I use Delicious on a daily basis, why not share?

Just Creative Design

Join the JCD Facebook Fan Page to get updated each time I write a new post!

Join the JCD Facebook Group. You can leave links to your own portfolio & promote your own designs!

Favourite JCD on Technorati – Not sure how many of you use Technorati but the link is here anyway!

Logo Of The Day

For those of you who do not know, Logo Of The Day is my other website which features a new logo each day…

Logo Of The Day is now on Twitter so you can get updated each time a new logo is posted. Follow Logo Of The Day on Twitter.

Become a Fan of Logo Of The Day on Facebook to keep updated on Facebook.

Enjoy the rest of your week!

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Earlier this year I had the pleasure of rebranding Luke Arms‘ photography business One Fine Day Photography and as part of the rebrand, came the job of designing his car.

In this article I will guide you through how I designed a “custom car vehicle wrap” along with tips I learned along the way… but before I launch into that, I would like you to meet Caroline, Luke’s new company car.

© Photos copyright of One Fine Day Photography. Larger photos here.

Now that you have been introduced, let me begin…

1. Do The Research

Before you start any new project, you should get familiar with the process and subject matter and as this was my first time doing a car vehicle wrap, this was even more important.

As I couldn’t find much information on the web or have any idea where to begin, I asked my Twitter (follow me) followers if they had any tips or resources and that was a huge help, along with asking the print shop directly.

It was also handy to read the FAQ’s on these three sites: MotaGraphics, AdsOnWheels, SkinzWraps and the getting started section on CarWraps.net. Remember that your printer may have different requirements than these shops so it’s best to ask your printer for their special requirements.

2. Buy / Create The Outlines

The first step of the process is to create the outlines for the car to scale, as this is what you will need to provide to the printers.

I asked my Twitter followers if they had the outline for Luke’s Toyota Carolla 2009 Hatchback though this was to no avail (though 4 people did send the 2003 version) so this meant I had to create the outlines myself.

Before you go about creating the outlines yourself, check to see if these places stock your particular car.

Places to find car vehicle outlines:

• 6000 Free Car Outlines
• The Bad Wrap
• Car & Truck Pro Vehicle Outlines 2009
• Digital Auto (send them an email)

If you can not find the vehicle wrap for your particular car model you will have to create the outlines yourself and to scale.

Below you can see how Kyle Anthony explained the process to me.

Ok, basically, when I layout a vehicle I’m doing a wrap on, if the vehicle isn’t already in one of my templates from a collection of vehicle templates from a company called The Bad Wrap, I’ll take a good side profile photograph of the vehicle and bring it into Photoshop.

Below you can see the original side photos of Luke’s 2009 Carolla that he took himself.

Kyle continues:

Once you’ve taken the photos, here are the steps to laying it out so you can design at a reasonable pace with such a large file. This is for car wrap designs that are in raster format as apposed to vector.

1. Measure the distance of anything you can use as a reference point for scaling on the vehicle, this could be the distance of a door handle, door window, wheel, anything that you can use as a measurement.

2. With the side photograph of the vehicle in Photoshop, and all of your measuring tools set to inches, (also make sure your info palette is up F8) measure with the ruler tool, the distance of whatever you measured in the 1st step in one tenth scale. Do this by scaling the image size of the photograph down to make it match up. Not the canvas size.

3. So if you measured the wide of a door handle as lets say 7 inches wide, your info palette with the ruler tool active should measure the door handle to be .7inches wide.

4. Once you get this done, change the ppi of the document to 720ppi. When designing a wrap, a popular way to design at an appropriate scale without slowing down your machine is at 1/10th scale. Once the wrap is done and the design is ready to be set to print, flatten the document, and save it as a non compressed tiff. When you send it to print, or “rip” it, make sure to print it at 1000x scale.

5. Once you rip it at the 1000x scale, the wrap will print at 72dpi, the minimal acceptable resolution for printing a wrap so that you get acceptable results, and acceptable performance when designing and printing it. This also cuts down on the ripping time, or the time it takes from when you hit “print” and from the time it actually starts printing. On very large jobs, I’ve had ripping time take excess of 4 hours.

6. That’s pretty much it, the same process can be used for all sides of the vehicle, just make sure you work off of good square photographs of the vehicle, and if you have any questions at all, email me!

If you are designing in vector format, you will not have to worry about the DPI, but the outlines should still be to scale.

Below you can see the outlines of the 2009 Carolla Hatchback to scale.

Below you can see the comparisons of the car to the outlined version.

Below you can see the aerial view of the car with the red rectangles showing suggested print areas of the car. This was for my guide only and did not reflect the final print.

3. Gather Inspiration

As with any project, it’s a good idea to know what is out there first before you begin. I’ve found a few car wrap galleries to be of assistance:

Car / truck vehicle wrap inspiration:

• Car Wrap Gallery
• Vinyl Vehicle Wrap Gallery
• SkinzWraps
• AltaPac Car Wrap Gallery (the print shop we used)

4. Create The Design

It’s probably a wise idea to sketch out some ideas before you jump straight onto the computer. Print out a few thumbnailed copies of the outlined car and start working on your designs.

After you have some rough ideas, you can go into Illustrator and draft up your proposed designs on the car. Personally I found working on the photos a bit easier than the outlined versions of the car. I also set the photo opacity at 50% so I could see the car and colour at the same time.

Below you can see the mockup with the photos set at 50% opacity.

Below you can see the mockup set at 100% opacity.

5. Recreate To Scale

After you have finished with the photo mockup, you should create it to scale on your outlined version and send it to the print shop. This step may or may not be necessary depending on your print store.

The print shop will take it from here and create the file ready for print.

6. Prepare For Print

After giving the mockup files to the printer, they create the design into a 2D format, ready for print. Below you can see what a similar project for a Ute looked like, just before going to print. The green lines are the separate sections that got stretched or wrapped around the Ute. Below this you can see the final result.

Graphics below created by Matt from Altapac.

Caroline had a similar process and after the project was complete I asked Matt if he could explain exactly how he went about doing the wrap for Caroline. Matt kindly obliged and below you can find his tips and explanation.

Here are the file I used to print and the files I used to set the files up ready for print. [Matt attached several PDFs]

I can’t say how I did it, is the way it is done through-out the industry (not really sure how they do it elsewhere) but I have found this method the best for myself and for our applicator. I will explain a few things just here and some of the things we normally do in case you need to do a design for next time.

Above you can see how each section of the car was applied, to scale.

Matt continues…

Firstly as you will be able to see that we had to include the rear bumper bar into each side section print [1]. This is because you had a gradient coming out from the rear wheel going over the rear bar and up and around the rear quarter panel. As you can see it is able to be done but we had to run a center join line in the rear bar to accommodate for this effect [2]. We normally print the rear bar as one piece so there is no need for a join line as we trim it off where the bumper bar meets the body. Because of the gradient effect we could not do this as it would have been impossible to match the gradient sections up at the wheel and where the body meets the rear bar because of stretching of the material and the like. We then had to cut the slogan in vinyl lettering which is no big deal but if we could have printed the rear bar in one section, we would have most likely included the slogan in the print to avoid applying it later.

The gradient sections [4] that were in the design I could not oversize properly as they were cropped images so I reproduced them myself so I could over size them. We have to oversize the print so it can wrap under sections and not fall short in parts as the many curves in cars can bring you unstuck and can cause headaches in the application process. I know firsthand from my mistakes thinking that I over sized enough but when it came to but it on the car it has just made it with some stretching. Like the piece I printed up for the rear tail gate of the corolla. I thought I gave them heaps to play with only to find out it only just fitted with some more stretching. Whoops.

You will notice this in the files I have sent you where and how much I over sized the print [See how far the print goes over the edge of the car & wheels, in particular the bottom edge]

Another point to look out for in parts of the car that are difficult to wrap. Bellow the doors and complex cut outs and deep recesses in front bumper bars. They can be done but possibly not and may require the design being cut up into a few pieces. In the instance of your design I tried to keep it much to your specifications as possible. This meant laying part of the design over the door handles. It’s not a big problem in cars that have flush fitting door handles but with the corolla and many new cars the door handles protrude out meaning there is a bit of conforming to do around and on the door handle with the sticker and not to mention the wear and tear that comes from grabbing the door handle all the time. If possible I try not to run the design over the door handles or place parts of the writing around the handles.

Hope that gave you an insight into how the car wrap was applied.

7. Apply The Graphics

After printing, the print shop will literally wrap the 2D graphics around the car, section by section. For the One Fine Day Photography car, it was split into 6 separate wraps; one for each side, two for the bumper, one for the tailgate and one for the top of the car. The text and the logo on the front of the car were not wrapped but were stuck on like stickers.

8. Admire

As when any work comes back from print, you just have to admire it… but sadly, I am yet to meet Caroline or Luke for that matter though I hope to do so very soon – they only live one suburb away after all.

I should also take this time to send my congratulations to Luke & Michelle (Luke’s wife) for their newly first born son, Josiah!

A Cohesive Brand

You can see how the whole brand works together – car, business card, website, twitter profile, etc.

Below is Luke’s Twitter profile, designed by Luke himself. A nice job I’ll say!

Testimonial

Below you can read the testimonial Luke gave after completing his logo design.

I hired Jacob to design a new logo for One Fine Day Photography. It was my first time working with a professional designer, and I couldn’t have been happier. From beginning to end, it was clear that he wanted to deliver a logo that would achieve my aims for it while providing a tangible connection with my current branding, encapsulating the core values of my business and designing a piece of art that we could both be proud of.

None of those things can be rushed, and although I was impressed with Jacob’s turnaround, I had no doubt that he was extremely thorough in researching my business and market, experimenting with a variety of designs, and preparing his concepts for my feedback. I wasn’t easy to please when it came to finding a design I loved, but Jacob was exceptionally accommodating with all of my requests (including the silly ones) and within a few days we had arrived at a design I could accept without hesitation.

Jacob might only be in his early twenties, but his giftedness as a designer and his command of doing business in the 21st century are clearly evident in the international following he has gained within the design community. This speaks volumes of the quality of his work and the passion he has for it. I cannot recommend him highly enough.

A Final Word

I would like to close with this quote from Jennifer Sims found in Issue 165 of Computer Arts magazine.

Take on intimidating projects – fall into holes and you’ll learn more when you’re forced to claw your way out.

When I first took on this project, I had never done a car wrap design before, though after putting my claws into it, I really did learn a lot! So yeah, take on intimidating projects – the worst you could do is improve.

What do you think of the final car wrap design? Have you ever worked on something similar? Have any questions or tips to add?

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“Those who stand for nothing fall for anything.”
~ Alexander Hamilton

Getting paid the fair amount is something that a lot of creatives have to stand up for and in some cases, fight for. Doug Cloud, a friendly designer who I had the pleasure of meeting back in early 2008   (& later interviewed) recently left this comment on the article Why logo design does not cost $5.00?:

I always get emails from people wanting design work from me either for free or next to nothing. This is quite an insult, since I am a professional designer. Personally I think a lot of people really don’t understand what a graphic designer does, because what we produce isn’t a tangible object you can hold in your hands (like say groceries or a new HDTV) and so it’s easy to assume that it doesn’t have much value or that it’s easy to do. My hope is that people will read Jacob’s article and come away with a better understanding of the designing process and the people who make such designs.

A few hours later Eagle Imagery replied:

Doug C. Next time you get one of those, send them this.

The moral? Pay the creator what they deserve.

Update 23/08/09:

The Vendor Client Relationship Video (Thanks to Billie for the link.)

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