It’s amazing the time and energy a company will invest in a logo. I can understand the need to be picky and the constant requests for changes as this will be an images that will need to stick around for a while.  Not only will it be imprinted on letterhead, brochures, business cards, web sites, products and product packaging but also in the minds of current and potential customers.

Think of the logos that come to your mind. Why do they come to your mind? I bet the first one that popped into your mind has a very simple yet elegant design the completely identifies the company or company name.  A great temptation in logo design, especially to the client is to cram as much information and design ideas into has possible because the charges for logos are usually more than a lot of other projects?  Why do so many designers charge so much for logo work?  It’s not the complexity but rather the time spend with the client to get it right in such a way that matches the company and their mission.  Probably the biggest mistake I have made in the past is charging too little for logo work. Often logo designers are charged to create logos even though they don’t really know the company. They may have the skills to create the finished project in under an hour but often to get it right and to satisfy the customer it can literally take months. No, Joke.

If you want your logo to be right in a reasonable amount of time make sure your designer clearly know what your business is all about. The logo may not have anything to do with your product but it can quickly identify the name and mission.  A great example of a logo that works is the logo of Apple Computer.  It’s the simple shape of an apple with a bite taken out. Of course the apple itself is a no brainer but how it is presented, especially in it’s current form is the key. The company is know for producing products that are easy to  use in a very visual way.

All that being said if Apple did not have the reputation it did for the quality and design of it’s products it would not be worthy of the logo. It’s amazing how many people love to sport the little Apple stickers on their car bumpers, notebooks, etc.  Yes, some do it as a status symbol but many are just proud to announce they are a user of the product.  Branding begins with your products and/or services.  Are they worthy of your logo or marketing designs.

When I was younger the logo of Izod was a big status symbol.  People wanted to wear the shirts just because they had the little alligator on them but I was one of those people who hates to advertise for another company for the sake of status and nothing else.  The blog, Marketing Environmentalism has an interesting article called, Tattooing Your Brand Love.   If someone loves your brand so much to get it permanently  etched in their skin says something.

What is your company doing to make a logo worthy of the brand? Are you clearly communicating your mission to your designer? Are you willing to spend time and money before the first lines are drawn to get your message across? If you are looking for a cheap solution to get some quick artwork what does that say about the attention you give to the rest of your business?  Conversely can the fact you are spending way too much time and money on a logo show “too much attention” to perfection.  Often a logo will not be perfect or adhere to the most current design trends but if people identify it with a quality product it is often best to leave well enough alone. A good example is the controversy of the new Xerox logo.

This is the last official article in this series unless I decide to crank it up to 11. The current mission statement of my company is organizing and securing your information with the most up-to-date portable media and web technologies. (I may change that slightly in the near future to say compelling content instead of the generic term, “information.”) One of the most overlooked or last things that come to mind in regards to design is preservation or in a broader term, security. Is the first thing that comes into your mind when you hear security someone stealing your assets? That is certainly a consideration but it’s important to remember all of the following;

• Preserving original files
• Backups
• Protection from theft
• Legal Precautions

Before you even consider official backups you need to consider if you are deleting or throwing away assets that should be saved. It’s tempting to throw away original material once a project is done in order to save space or even get rid of things you think are not worthy of being saved.

Backup media is cheap. If possible, save original files and even if you think something is junk it may have a use down the road. This goes beyond digital assets. If you are restoring an old photo that is scratched, yellowed, torn, etc. hold on to it! Yes, You may be able to restore it nicely in Photoshop but who knows what kind of technology advances in the future might be able to do an even better job? Scott Kelby has a great book out called the 7 Point System for Photoshop CS3.  It’s amazing what can be done with seemingly mediocre files however a lot of the tips in the book require using the original file in the original RAW or at least the original image size.  Look the the 7-Point Flickr group to see what people have done with images that otherwise may have been deleted.

How does one go about preserving and securing your designs or the creative assets of others? As far as digital assets go the most important thing you should be doing on a regular basis is creating frequent and dependable backups. I tell people over and over that insurance can cover and replace equipment but no amount of money will ever bring back data lost through natural disasters or more frequently, accidental over writes and deletions. While it’s important to have a good local backup to quickly retrieve data it’s even more crucial to store your backups “off-site.” This can be done by manually taking backups to another location or better yet using an online backup service.

Finally, theft can take many forms. The first thing that comes to mind is a sneaky individual coming into your home or office and running off with valuables like televisions, stereos, laptops, jewelry, wallet, etc. Of course the worst of those things to be stolen, in my personal opinion, is computers like laptops or wallets, because they contain valuable information that can lead it identity or intellectual property theft.

Yes, it’s important to protect yourself and company in such instances but the greatest danger doesn’t come from your typical crook. That sad and scary thing is most intellectual property that is stolen is actually “given away,”  maybe not given away on purpose but it’s really easy to put things on the Internet without thinking of how it will be used.

I’ve told clients if they are concerned about someone accessing their creative works and using them then don’t put them on the Internet in the first place. Even by putting things in a password protected area is not a 100% guarantee your assets will be safe. A lot of people think that by just converting a document to the PDF format will make it non-editable. That’s not exactly true. Converting a document to PDF makes it harder to edit unless you take extra security procedures.

Are you taking the legal precautions by registering copyrights and trademarks, etc?

Look at your practices.  Are you preserving assets for potential future work?  Are you backing up to secure location, not only away from your computer but also away from your home or office. Are you taking legal precautions? and finally are you keeping thinks you don’t want people to access away from the Internet?

Every heard the old saying, “You can’t judge a book by it’s cover?”  It’s a lie.   Yes, the content, the stories or facts you may find inside may be a gold mine of knowledge and fun but if people are not drawn to it in the first place I at least have to judge the thinking behind a poorly designed cover.  A “poor” design doesn’t have to be simple or plain either. The first thing people think of when they hear the old saying is something plain and ugly but a needlessly flashy or inappropriate cover or design can turn people away as well.

You often hear people complain about how complicated computers are but around your house I bet you have other things that are equally difficult.  I’m almost ashamed to admit it but I seem to have more difficulty interacting with my “all-in-one” remote control or microwave oven when it comes to more than the most simple tasks.  No I take it back, it’s not my fault. The people who design such devices never seem to consider how people will actually use them or rather “interact” with them on a daily basis.   It can be fun for the geeks to take pride in the fact they know their way around a device or user interface but why make the majority of your customers frustrated?  I admit I take great pride in the fact I can do what I consider easy tasks in Photoshop. I often forget how long it took me to get a grasp on such “simple” concepts as layers and masks.  As much as I love the program it could be made easier. In fact Adobe does make a program called, Photoshop Elements which is for the general consumer as opposed to the power user.

One of the biggest complaints I often have and have heard other people is, “I can’t find the link.”  on a web site.  Why is this? Often things can be buried amongst a bunch surround material or design elements that distract instead of attract. Sometimes something needs to stand out but instead it’s in a sea of things that are the same.

Remember, services or products will sell easier if they are pleasure to use or understand.

One of the most popular electronic devices of all time, the iPod became a best seller because of it’s uncluttered user interface and contextual menu system.

Automobiles with automatic transmissions have sold better to a mass population (In the United States at least) because they are easier to drive than what is considered the more efficient manual transmission.

The Nintendo Company staged a great comeback in the gaming console industry by creating a system called the Wii that was both fun and easy to use without having to bother with cumbersome controllers.

Tivo is a great example of responding the the crazy choices we face with the glut of Cable or Satellite TV menus and on top of that the Tivo web site is an example of right way to use flash in the mist of so many web sites that are flashy for the sake of being, well… flashy.

If you are interested in reading more on this topic I’d like to point you to a book called, Designing Interactions. Which can be bought via Amazon.com .  It covers more than web and multimedia.

Does your web site and print material for your business engage potential customers? Are your products more complicated that they should be? Does it attract them to go to where you want them to go or take some kind of action.  Is your media a pleasurable experience or a puzzle?

One disadvantage of starting a design career as a web designer is fonts tend to take a back seat to other considerations at least in terms how the actual text of your content is displayed. Thankfully I had friends and mentors in my early days of design who taught me the value of fonts. Web designers generally have to design for the broadest possible audience and that means taking into account a lot of people will only have a select series of fonts installed on all computers be they Windows, Mac or Linux. Yes, in the text of a web site the choices can be more limiting but greater consideration can be taken when it come to general graphics, logos and print design. Why are fonts so important? Fonts are an interesting and compelling mix of pure text and imagery. Fonts can look and feel to the eye totally different in print as opposed to an electronic device like a computer screen, TV or cell phone. Also the purpose can dictate the font.  Is this a professional document or something more radical or fancy? Is it meant to be read from a distance or up close?

They are many things to consider when working with font and it’s not just about finding a “pretty font” in fact that’s a big mistake a lot of people made when desktop publishing on a personal computers became popular. Just as early web site creators would put anything on their web because they could and they often did and also made a mess of things.  choosing a font without thinking about why you should use it defeats the purpose.  Yes, the proper font should draw attention but with clear meaning as opposed to making people go huh?

Think about the fonts you see everyday.  Some are even lifesaving.  Yes, lifesaving.  Imagine if someone decided to abandon the Sans Serif style and accepted fonts of street signs just because they thought it would look cool.  I’m reminded of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer decided to bring home street signs and paint over the lines in the road as a “service” and special attention to the part of the highway he adopted.  Needless to say while a nonfictional comedy the results were disastrous.

The fonts you chose for your projects may not cause a wreck (unless you poorly design a billboard) but they could lose sales of your company or organization.  If you want to use something just because it “looks cool” think twice and ask someone who works with fonts daily what you should do especially if it involves your companies brand and identity.  Trust your web developer when he or she recommends keeping certain documents in the PDF format if it means preserving the originally intended fonts. Text on a web site is usually restricted or defaults to a limited set of sans serif fonts that everyone has as is easily read.

Want to learn more about fonts and reasons for using them?  Here is a list of helpful resources;

• Typeface - wikipedia
• Type 101 - Fonts.com
• The Principles of Beautiful Typography

As you may have read in an earlier blog post about a week ago I just finished reading and reviewing Meatball Sundae by Seth Godin* and in a couple of weeks will be featuring an interview I did with him on this blog so don’t forget to subscribe to this blog to be notified when the article and other compelling content from this site is available. Seth made a very good observation on his blog a couple of days ago of how more of his books were sold by other authors than his own promotion. He also wondered why books are often promoted by other authors but movies don’t get blurbed by other directors and actors.

I’ve often made the off-hand comment that I wish Apple Computer paid me a direct commission because I certainly sell a lot of their computers!* It’s true, I will tell others the benefits and features I value in the products Apple makes and they will buy them. I also will give Adobe a lot of credit for the work I do when I receive a complement on my graphic design work. Other products I value and sell are Toyota, Oreck as well as local restaurants like Saskatoon and Portifinos in Greenville, SC.

What sold me on the T.V. show lost? It wasn’t ads ABC showed on T.V. but rather my brother and another friend of mine had some DVD’s* I borrowed and an online Friend, Cliff Ravenscraft produces an excellent podcast about the T.V. Show that made me want to tune in more. Finally I have to ask, How many T.V., radio or magazine ads did you see or hear to get you to try out the search engine, Google? If my guess is correct I would say, none. I heard about Google from other people online as well as friends and I was quick to tell other friends and family about Google. Does your product or service have something so special that others will want to “sell” it for you and not even get paid? Even if your product is a “commodity” can you make it unique enough to engage a “volunteer” sales force?

*Thankfully Amazon has an affiliate program the will pay me a little for recommending products they sell.