We've been doing design online now for three years and it's been overall very successful. It's a process that can work most of the time and we are able to deliver a product at a reduced rate to clients worldwide. Like any business there are challenges to be overcome, they have been outlined below.
When we first started we offered free logo design samples. This was one of those things in life that we found out the hard way... The word "free" is a potent marketing device that attracts attention. We quickly found out that people who weren't even interested in buying a design were sending requests: they just wanted to see what the logo looked like. We had one heartbreaking case where a man from Hong Kong sent us his requirements. We worked with him for a week (with no billing information taken) and when we finalized the design he told us that the company didn't actually exist. He just wanted to see what the design looked like. That was the end of our free logo design sample policy. There are always new design firms coming online and they always seem to start out with a policy like we had. It's a learning process that we all most go through.
The dreaded high-maintenance client, who mistakes our service as an open-ended commitment to basically keep creating designs forever. We usually get one or two of these a month. When design projects keep going on indefinitely, that is a sign of a problem. Often the root of the problem is that the client does not understand the constraints involved in making artwork that has to be used for multiple purposes. Often they write with comments like: "it's too abstract, not realistic enough." We are very good in making vector-based representations of images. There are limitations though when using vector-based programs. Vector drawing programs cannot create photo-realistic results. These concepts can be hard for people without a firm understanding of digital designing to comprehend.
Sometimes there simply is no substitute for hiring a full-time artist to create your design. If there are multiple parties involved in the decision process, then this is the best way to proceed. Also, if you come from a design background you will probably be very demanding in your requirements. This is another area that has been problematic: accepting orders from third-party graphic designers. It's best for the artist to do his/her own work, or to work directly with a local artist. The Internet isn't the best method to design in this circumstance.
This is an area that normally does not present a problem. We give the final product in so many different file formats that there's almost something that the print shop can use. There is one issue that occasionally crops up and it's something that we dread. It's a fairly complex design issue called "trapping." In a nutshell...when two or more colors overlap it creates issues where the image might print incorrectly. Trapping means creating small gaps between overlapping colors to remedy this. This process is almost always done automatically with proprietary software. Occasionally, some older print shops do not have the capability, and they require the designer to do the trapping. If we do the trapping we open ourselves up to responsibility for any printing problems created by our manual trapping. In other words: we have to pay for reprints if any problems occur. In this rare circumstance when the print shops requests that we do the trapping we redesign the logo so that there are no overlapping colors. In this circumstance no trapping is needed.
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Styles for Your Logo |
