[chips]

looking for logo inspiration.
links appreciated.

thanks

[Bill Posters]

www.logoed.co.uk
www.logos.eatpixels.com
www.brandsoftheworld.com
www.logotypes.ru

Should get you started.

[chips]

nice one.

[andrewparker]

http://www.goodlogo.com/

[flatcat]

the logo god: Joe Finocchiaro

high-end identity specialists like Pentagram and the like usually send their stuff his way before turning the final versions over to their clients.

[chips]

thanks guys. great links.

I'm knocking around some ideas with the client about what kind of imagery they want on the logo...going quite well so far.

But I haven't produced a logo for a business before & normally don't work in this area.....is there anything I should be aware of before signing this off?

It's a new start up company & potentially going to be quite big I think

for instance - are there any copyright issues with the font I choose?

do the business need to sort out copyright/trade mark for the logo?

plus there's the issue of payment - I know this subject crops up quite a bit on this forum, but as I said, I've haven't really produced logos for anyone before.,...and this business is going to take off to be pretty big.
I don't want to sell myself short, but the work won't take me that long. I don't think hourly rate would be appropriate here.

I'm going to produce the final logo in illustrator...and do a few verions for them.

[jihef]

oh hi chips

i still do need to respond on our lomography pm. first thing on my list tomorrow morning.

( i feel like one of those losers who respond to ads in the employment section of the forum and just reply "pm sent" )

[flatcat]

as far as the copyright stuff, if you own the font than you can legally use it to create the logo, and there will be no problems with the font issue for the client because the logotext will be converted to outlines before it's turned over to them, right?

however, if they are looking to use the font that you branded them with in advertising campaigns and such down the road, then their design firm will need to own a copy of the font, or if it's internal documentation or something they will need to hold a license for the font. If they're just using the logo and then a standard Times or Verdana or something that comes with your base system then it won't matter...

copyrighting/trademarking of the logo will be the companies responsibility.

And it doesn't matter if it's not going to take you *that* long, the client doesn't have to know it took you 15 minutes (unlikely), you still charge him a full logo development fee, otherwise he'll think he's getting short-changed somehow.

[beebolbod]

I may be wrong but charging isn't just for how long you sit at the pc with photoshop open.

You're developing a concept, exploring avenues, trying things out etc etc. You are making their image. That could be a very powerful thing for them if it's done right.
It's a grey area but i think that you should be charging them for more than the digital work that's involved.

Obviously this throws up questions about whther you umming and aahhing about this and that is chargeable or not.
Bear in mind that all the time you spend on it is development time. To a certian extent, reading this thread counts (a small extent tho).

Dont sell yourself short.

Go for the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[Pascal_]

http://lancewyman.com/

To me this is great logo designs, good concept, visual harmony and symbolic power.

P_

[seen.to]

Originally Posted by Pascal_

http://lancewyman.com/

To me this is great logo designs, good concept, visual harmony and symbolic power.

P_

Now that's what I call logos. Nice site too.

Originally Posted by Flatcat

the logo god: Joe Finocchiaro

high-end identity specialists like Pentagram and the like usually send their stuff his way before turning the final versions over to their clients.

How much do you reckon he gets paid for shit like this and this - Big bucks for selecting a font! I want clients like that On the other hand some of his stuff is really nice sooooo...

Originally Posted by Chips

plus there's the issue of payment

I'd love to know! Much better than my current method of asking ''what's your budget?'' Remember when BP paid 2 million to have a serif added to their logo?

[flatcat]

man, it's just not *selecting a font*. He probably spent hours tweaking the kerning on those logos, let alone the time spent tweaking the letter shapes and forms so that they look just right. There's so much to those logos that you obviously have no concept of....

Half of those projects where companies pay extraordinary amounts of money for what seems like a minor change is as much about selling the concept to the company as it is designing it. You have to know your color theory, composition, symbolism, etc. to come up with that stuff, and it has to be *perfect*. It probably took an entire team to develop it, let alone the time spent conceptualizing and shit.... people get payed that kind of money not only for their knowledge of design, but their ability to sell an idea. There's so many precision tasks that go into making logos like that, let alone the hours they spend developing the logo useage guidelines which they usually spend time printing out into overt breakdowns of x-heights, dimension specifications, min surrounding white space, color useage, etc. It's not simply adding serifs to a logo....jeeez.... companies that pay that kind of money for logos get inundated (sp?) with tombs of information on their logo....

It may not seem like a dramatic change to you, but branding is a strategic practice and companies can't afford to change it dramatically without due reason, their brand allegiances rely on that, and that my inexperienced friend, is money.

[seen.to]

Well of course there's gonna be messing about with kerning and getting the letters looking just right with maybe a bit added here and a bit removed there - I do this for a living you know - note my own logo and, like it or not, it is obvious that I am aware of letter spacing and adjustments. What I was mainly saying is that I wish I could get clients like that - blatant jealousy if you like! And like you say it's all too often down to the sales pitch rather than the design.

I stand by my statement that that particular version of the Bank of America logo is kinda shit - looks like a variation on Arial Black / Helvetica / Franklin Gothic Bold or something similar tho I don't recognize which. As far as letter spacing goes I don't like it on that, the e looks lost, the c looks pissed, the a is too close to the B etc.

That's just my 'inexperienced' opinion of course - incidentally I was first paid to design 19 years ago when I designed sales material for Jaguar and a major supermarket which no longer exists (FineFare) amongst other smaller projects so I wouldn't really consider myself to be inexperienced.

I by no means claim to be expert or amazing of course - I am continually dissatisfied with my own work. In the interests of fairness feel free to rip the piss out of my latest logo design project which can be seen here. The top version is a re-draw of their current logo and the rest are ideas I am throwing at them. Letter spacing is a tad messy in places because these are only mock-ups to discover which, if any, they best like the feel of before I give them a finished product.

Apologies for insulting your god - like I said, I think a lot of his stuff is really nice.

I can't find examples of the BP logo serif and sans so I can't really comment on that further - my main reason for commenting on it in the first place is that I remember it costing them 2 million, and regardless of the very basic changes that were made or if it had been the most amazing thing I'd ever seen in my life, that's a particularly nice wedge of cash.