I have been a production level designer for over ten years. I have worked in standard desktop publishing, print, signs, the web, and a few other areas over the years. I am more than willing work with your company to achieve the best design possible, in a timely, professional, and intuitive manner. In the thousands of design projects I have had over the years I have NEVER had an unsatisfied customer. It is my belief that everything that I design is strong enough to stand as an example of my work as a whole. While my aesthetic sense may not be the same as yours, through communication, understanding, and effort I believe we can find exactly what you are looking for.
I try to offer a start-to-finish design service for my clients. While frequently the projects I get involved with are components of a larger whole, my favorite type of work is when I start working with a client at the same time they are starting (or restarting) their business. In this manner we can work together to insure that their company not only looks great, but that it remains consistent. Whether it be branding or materials, merchandise or the web, if you have the same person working from the start, you can be assured of a corporate image that is easily recognizable no matter what its application.
Logo design is an essential first step to getting your business rolling, or in some cases breathing new life into your existing business. Through careful consideration, study of your market, and the addition of some personal touches and preferences together we develop an overall aesthetic that will dictate the look and feel of all of the design items to come. I call this process soft-branding. It’s a comfortable mix of traditional branding and simple logo design. Quite a bit of work goes into traditional branding, and while I will do traditional branding, it is best handled by a full-fledged firm with a staff of researchers, copywriters, and art directors. Logo design tends to lean towards a more illustrative method with a client. The client will basically dictate what they are looking for and the designer will execute that vision, with minimal input from the designer. Again, while I will do projects like this, I favor a more verbose approach to design then that of an illustrator. Finally we come to what I try to provide which is soft branding. I do my homework by first talking to you about what your company needs to project, and to whom you will be projecting to. I try to get a solid understanding of your business, competition, and future goals. Then we begin the process of creating a logo for your business. This involves a myriad of questions and answers (which comes in pdf form for those of you too busy to actually talk it over). We decide directions like masculine or feminine, industry palettes, and style. Then I do a series of mock ups to test the waters and see if I did my homework right. Many designers out there go by the “you get x amount of concepts” process. This isn’t for me. I will give you as many concepts, iterations, and revisions as needed until we get your logo right where we need it. This process can take as little as a week or months depending on your availability, timeline, or the amount of time you would like to spend getting to know the designs I send you. For my part I try to get all edits, iterations, and the like done within 24 hours. Though depending on the project, and the deadlines we set at the beginning this maybe adjusted. Once we have finished, you get a complete package with your design. This includes vector formats (ai, pdf, and eps) which are good for print use, signage, and screen printing, or (heavens no!) another designer. There are also a selection of pngs or jpegs for day to day use like blog posts, emails, slide shows, or anything on a screen. I also throw in a few favicons (that little symbol next to your web address) because I hate seeing all our work get abbreviated in a ugly manner. As a rule I offer a lifetime warranty on your logo. If you ever need it in another format, orientation, or other small edits, I will do it for free, again to insure our work gets presented correctly. I copies of all the files we create together, in case you ever lose them. It just seems like the right thing to do.
Once we complete your logo we really get into the concept of soft branding. We start using the styling an imagery we used to come up with your logo on collateral materials. We could start with a basic business package (business card, letter head, power point slide ect.) to get you ready to reach out to customers, and other professionals in a consistent way. Once that is underway, depending on the type of business you own, we can work on outfitting your staff with uniforms, getting some custom signage, or any number of other items. Over my years I have developed a wide breadth of understanding when it comes to collaterals. I not only know how to set up files for these items, but in most cases I am in touch with some solid professionals who create them. If need be I can handle the production end of these materials, or I can provide you with information that will point you in the right direction to get it done yourself. Speaking of which lets talk about your website.
The company website has become the primary face of today’s businesses. Years ago I was primarily a print designer. But as the web has come to dominance, my clients began requesting more and more that I work out their site for them. I have done so, and began to really enjoy this dynamic format. While I am primarily a designer, I have learned so much about what makes a good site a amazing site. From eye path patterns to bounce rate improvement, there are many tricks to this format that the average Joe may not be familiar with. Much like the collaterals and materials, I have gotten to know some phenomenal professionals in the development field. I have a stable of go-to coders, marketers, and SEO people that will help us not only ensure that your site is up to snuff, but that people actually see it, and use it. I do everything from simple headers for blogs, twitter pages, and icon design to full blown site design. If you have your own people, I can work up a “look and feel” to help the process. Like the rest of my process, I want to stay involved with your business. I get a deep sense of satisfaction knowing that I had a part in getting a business started, or breathing new life into an established one. I think you can tell from this massive tome that I LOVE my job. I want to be a part of your business, drop me a line and lets see what we can create together.
Again, here is another place where I am different from most designers. My rates are in the truest sense of the word, flexible. I alter them based on the type of project, the budget of the client, even for how much of a relationship I am going to develop working with you. As I said in the beginning, I am frequently working on single projects, but I prefer to work with someone on a recurring basis and hopefully with a constant goal of seeing results from good design. Give me a good description of what you are looking for and I will either have some questions for you, or send you a quote within 24 hours. I guess that about wraps it up, if you have any questions just fill out my contact form and we can get started.
