JS Graphics, Inc.
Crafted Communications for Small & Emerging Companies
|
|
|
Creative License...
Take All You Want!
|
|
- The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines branding as a "name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers."
If you want an easily understood overview of what branding is and why it is important, I suggest The Brand Gap: Expanded Edition by Marty Neumeier. It's simple and straightforward approach unites the strategic and design approach to branding.
|
Share
|
| Hi,
You may have heard of web sites that offer CHEAP! logos for your business or promise a logo designed "just for you" in under two hours. Often for less than the price of lunch, they claim to provide a custom-designed identity or offer a choice from the submissions of dozens of designers.
|
|
|
If It Sounds Too Good To Be True...
- If you think about this, though, it should be apparent that creating a unique logo with no input from and little or no information about a business is an oxymoron. Designing an effective identity for a company involves discovery, research, collaboration between designer and client, and the ability to interpret all of this into a workable creative solution that is uniquely representative of a company. When you remove this crucial interaction from the process, there is no meaningful flow of ideas between client and designer to create an identity that represents a company best. You remove any hope that the identity will stand out as the recognizable logo of just one business.
|
|
|
...It Probably Is!
 And that's just the beginning. There's no guarantee that the use of a logo from these sites won't infringe on copyright or intellectual property rights, often by the use of clip art as part or all of the logo.- A logo purchased from one of these sites by one business could also be bought by another. To prevent that, be prepared to pay more if you want exclusive rights for the logo you like (and to possibly pay these fees on a yearly basis to retain exclusivity). And it still won't protect against the logo design being altered just slightly so that it can be offered for sale again!
|
Does your Company Deserve Leftovers?
 I recently received an email from one of these on-line logo services with the enticement to recycle my "unused" logos for extra money on their site, i.e.; logos I've created for my clients that didn't make the final cut. Leftovers being represented as unique logos to buyers?? I design identities carefully for each of my clients, and while not every initial concept can be "the one," they're definitely not designed with any old business in mind.- I would not even know how to go about designing a generic logo...there is just so much a designer needs to know about objectives and goals...business culture and personality, and the greater understanding that goes with the interchange between company and designer as the identity develops.
- A logo is much more than just a pretty picture- it is the visual representation of a business- the public face presented to clients and prospects consistently every day. It requires so much more than a few dollars, a few minutes on-line and the click of a mouse to fulfill. Isn't your business worth more than that?
|
|
| At JS Graphics, we have the resources of marketing mavens and expert designers, writers and other professionals ready to help your business achieve it's goals through custom crafted communications. We deliver fresh ideas daily- no half-baked or leftovers for our clients!
Happy National Design Week,
Jody
Jody Shyllberg
JS Graphics, Inc. |
|
