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5 Tips Used by the Best Logo Design Firms

It’s common to take a do-it-yourself or DIY approach to graphic design, especially with the availability of products like Adobe Illustrator. Other small businesses may opt to rely on a family friend or lower-cost graphic design service. The overall goal of both approaches is to save money and reduce your company’s overhead cost. If you’re researching and vetting different logo design firms, you’ll find that many charge similar amounts for their services. Identical price ranges are normal in the industry — it’s usually the services they offer and the quality of those services that differentiate the best logo design firms from others. The services these design firms provide — from revisions and open communication to original designs and in-house graphic designers — make their company stand out from other agencies. They’re also the same factors and features consumers should be considering when looking for the best logo design firm in their area. Check out our complete list of the five tips used by the top logo design businesses to satisfy customers, as well as help you find the right design agency for your company. Avoid Logo Design Templates Design firms that offer lower prices than the rest of the marketplace tend to have a go-to cost-cutting measure: design templates. Templates allow these companies to lower their prices, which they pass onto consumers. And while customers are drawn to the cost-saving measure, the presented logos are far from high-quality or original. Logos from these design firms are built from a pre-existing template, which means designers add colors and fonts with only minor adjustments to the default image or logo. If you sell camping gear, for example, they may use a pre-made vector image of a mountain, which they recolor before adding your company’s name. It’s a simple, unoriginal process that’s similar to a factory assembly line. Many designers at template agencies are burnt-out, which further diminishes your logo’s potential to be more than a pre-packaged product. And because these companies are focused on profit instead of your satisfaction, they rarely exhibit concern for your business goal, brand or personality. It’s an impersonal approach that provides an unoriginal and uninspired logo. The lack of originality in template designs also goes against the very purpose of a logo. A logo is original and unique to your business. That’s why the best logo design firms avoid templates and pay attention to your company’s goals. You’re a client — not merely a customer. Give Unmatched Service and Designs Design firms tend to feature similar price ranges because they provide a similar product. And the best logo design firms? They create high-quality, original designs that are inspired by your business. Their team of graphic designers works with you one-on-one to learn about your company and what makes it unique from competitors, as well as ask about your business aspirations. All these details are essential to graphic designers because they provide them with the information necessary to create a logo that’s original and unique and features key [...]

Business Owner’s Guide to Logo File Types

Once you’ve selected and approved a final logo design from your agency, you’ll probably receive your artwork in several file formats. It is extremely important to understand these different formats, especially as you begin to use your logo in advertising and other mediums. Designers and agencies have varying policies when it comes to the types of file formats that they supply their clients, and if you’re armed with the right knowledge, you can avoid unnecessary changes and charges.  There are two main types of files that you should be given: vector based files and pixel based files. Each format has a number of uses, and knowing which is which can save you a lot of hassle when working with the printers, designers, and media outlets that will reproduce your logo. Vector Files Before you even start working with a designer, be sure that they will send you vector-based files of your logo when it is complete. Vector file formats are the default for almost all design software and they are the number one choice for most print applications. A vector image is simply the raw source of your logo. It is created out of a configuration of outlined shapes, which can be accurately filled in with colors through the Pantone Matching System.  The points on the shapes can be moved around to change the shape of the design. Think of a pegboard that is covered in rubber bands. To change the shape of the design, you simply move a band from one peg to another. This is how vector images work. Vector files can be edited quite easily by designers, and are scalable to any size. They can be printed in grayscale, black and white, spot color, or four-color processing. You can identify vector files by the extensions .EPS, .CDR, .AI, or in the case of flash animation, .SWF. […]

Guia de formato de archivos de logos

Una vez que haya seleccionado y aprobado un diseño de logo final de su agencia, es probable que reciba su obra en varios formatos de archivo. Es muy importante entender estos diferentes formatos, especialmente en lo que se empieza a utilizar su logotipo en la publicidad y otros medios. Los diseñadores y las agencias tienen diferentes políticas cuando se trata de los tipos de formatos de archivo que suministran a sus clientes, y si usted está armado con los conocimientos adecuados, se pueden evitar los cambios y las cargas innecesarias. Hay dos tipos principales de archivos que se le debe dar: archivos de base de vectores y archivos de base de píxeles. Cada formato tiene un número de usos, y sabiendo que es lo que le puede ahorrar un montón de problemas cuando se trabaja con las salidas de las impresoras, los diseñadores y los medios de comunicación, que reproducirán su logotipo. Los archivos vectoriales Incluso antes de empezar a trabajar con un diseñador, estar seguros de que le enviará los archivos basados ​​en vectores de su logotipo cuando se ha completado. formatos de archivos vectoriales son el valor predeterminado para casi todo el software de diseño y son la opción número uno para la mayoría de aplicaciones de impresión. Una imagen vectorial es simplemente la fuente prima de su logotipo. Se crea a partir de una configuración de formas resumido, que puede ser llenado con precisión en los colores a través del sistema Pantone. Los puntos en las formas se pueden mover para cambiar la forma del diseño. Piense en un tablero que está cubierto de bandas de goma. Para cambiar la forma del diseño, sólo tiene que mover una banda de una clavija a otra. Así es como funcionan las imágenes vectoriales. archivos vectoriales pueden ser editados con bastante facilidad por los diseñadores, y escalan a cualquier tamaño. Se pueden imprimir en escala de grises, blanco y negro, color plano, o la transformación de cuatro colores. Puede identificar los archivos vectoriales por las extensiones .EPS, .CDR, .AI, o en el caso de la animación flash, SWF. Los archivos de píxeles La mayoría de la gente está más familiarizado con los archivos basados ​​en píxeles. Casi cada imagen tomada con una cámara digital o se muestra en la World Wide Web es un archivo de píxeles. Un archivo pixelada se compone de una red de millones de pequeños puntos que, cuando se ve desde una distancia, forman una imagen completa. imágenes de píxeles se pueden visualizar como mapas de bits en blanco y negro, logotipos, CMYK o paletas de color RGB. Su nitidez y dimensiones dependen de la resolución y las imágenes deben estar preparados específicamente para el uso previsto. Por ejemplo, las imágenes digitales requieren normalmente un 72 dpi (puntos por pulgada), mientras que las imágenes impresas requieren típicamente 266 dpi o superior. imágenes de píxeles utilizan un gran número de colores, y requieren el uso de procesamiento de cuatro colores. Pueden ser identificados por el .JPG extensiones [...]

Design Copyrights–What They Are and Who Holds Them?

When you hire a graphic designer or agency to develop your company’s logo, do you know who owns the rights to that design? It’s important to understand copyrights before you sign a contract. The Muddy Waters of Intellectual Property Rights Intellectual property rights can be murky territory when you hire someone else to do creative work for your business. Copyright is typically used to protect the creator of a piece of work that is written, drawn, painted, or recorded in some fashion. Copyrights typically lie with the person or entity that created the design. For example, if a designer develops sample logos that is used in a portfolio, they own the copyright – other people cannot swipe the design and use it for their own purposes.  However, when a company works with in-house designers to whom they pay a salary, the employer owns the copyright to those designs. Things get tricky when a company hires an outside person or entity to create artwork. In those cases, the copyright can lie with the person or company who contracted the work. Why? Because the design is being produced for the company’s use as an identifying symbol for that organization or its products. However, there is no guarantee that the hiring company will retain copyrights. In order to define just who owns the rights to the logo or design, a contract must exist that defines the relationship between the hiring company and the contracted design firm. […]

Differences Between Hourly and Flat-Fee Design Pricing Structures

Choosing a designer for a logo or other critical project can be overwhelming and understanding the fees and schedules for before you get started with a graphic design company is important. As a business owner, you want to connect with talented designers who can capture your vision, but you don’t want to break the bank. Some designers and agencies charge by the hour, while others charge a flat-fee schedule. What are the major differences between these two graphic design fee schedules and how do you know which is right for you? Hourly Fee Schedules Some clients shy away from flat-fee billing because they believe that they may end up paying too much for design services. However, it is often hourly fee schedules that actually lead to excessive charges.  Let’s say a designer estimates eight hours of work on a project before revisions. If it ends up taking that designer six hours to complete the work, he may feel compelled to drag his feet and milk the full eight hours in order to receive the full fee. Not all designers engage in this type of practice, but hourly billing sets designers up for this temptation. Revisions can also add to your bottom line when working with a designer who charges by the hour. The odds that a designer will turn in a project that 100 percent captures your vision on the first try is very slim. Hourly fee schedules allow designers to charge you throughout the revision process, driving up the cost of your project. Flat-Fee Schedules On the other hand, with flat-fee service, you know precisely what your final bill will be. Most agencies that charge flat fees include revisions in their total price. That means that you won’t be nickeled and dimed as you and your designers work your way through to the final product.  Always be sure to read the fine print, however, as some agencies will limit the number of revisions you are entitled to. To get the most for your money, choose a firm with a fee structure that does not limit revisions. Design is a creative process that cannot be forced or hurried along. If you’re unwilling to pay extra for the hours required to tap into that creative process, look for design firms that offer a flat-fee schedule so that you can work with your designers to receive a finished product that matches your needs, your vision, and your budget. […]