colleges with graphic arts dept often have students who need to do assignments of this nature, as well as more advanced students looking to pick up some extra money
you specifically are looking for graphic artists who specialize in advertising and product design
there are even some larger high schools that might have students doing this.
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can also post ads on craigslist, kijiji and the like
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be sure to ask for references and samples of their work
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you'll want them to be able to do a complete "branding" -- ie create all the documents and associated art you need:
stationary
envelopes
biz cards
website design
fliers
brochures
postcards
signage (for building, car, anywhere you can put a sign)
display ads for newspaper, magazines, phone book
quick summaries of concept of branding a business:
http://www.entrepreneur.com/marketing/branding/article35446.html
http://www.thewritemarket.com/articles/index.php?art=fawkner2&title=Branding%20Your%20Business
see step 9: http://www.startupnation.com/steps/55/10-steps-open-start-business.htm
http://www.microsoft.com/SMALLBUSINESS/startup-toolkit/small-business-startup-strategy.aspx
also if you do a google search there are lots of companies out there that do the whole package like Doug was suggesting.
I am still waiting on some information back from some that I found online. I personally like the idea of the ones I have found online because I can have anywhere from 3-10+ designers creating a logo and giving me different prospectives, but of course the more designers the more it cost.
This is the graphic artist who did my logo. I absolutely love her work:
http://jennywolfdesigns.com/
I am still waiting on some information back from some that I found online. I personally like the idea of the ones I have found online because I can have anywhere from 3-10+ designers creating a logo and giving me different prospectives, but of course the more designers the more it cost.
this is why I suggested a college.
It is a typical senior graduation project for them to have to do a complete workup for a business real or fictional.
Contacting the dept. head now could lead to having it made a competition between all the students who have this assignment, thus getting you many different designs at very low cost if not even free.
You can also create your own by using word and just importing clipart and such and add text!
here is one I just did really quick for myself! I wanted the "t" to be reminiscent of a cross to show my faith (not sure if that comes across or not)
Anyhow, I read your post and just messed around a bit after having no luck finding a FREE way to make my own logo lol
I saw on fiveer.com ( i think thats how you spell it, it was on yahoo homepage) you pay 5 dollars to somebody and they creat a custom logo for you. they looked pretty cute so i think that could be a possibility. hth
You can also create your own by using word and just importing clipart and such and add text!
here is one I just did really quick for myself! I wanted the "t" to be reminiscent of a cross to show my faith (not sure if that comes across or not)
Anyhow, I read your post and just messed around a bit after having no luck finding a FREE way to make my own logo lol
to expand upon this idea -- see this thread for a mockup I did a year or so ago for someone else here on CC
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopic-645161-0.html
yes -- you can create it yourself.
BUT --
branding encompasses a whole lot more.
it's deciding the exact placement of everything everywhere.
and FYI -- according the MS legal dept, use of their clip art is forbidden for a commercial venture. It is for NON-commercial/charity/personal use only.
I used LogoMaker.com to make mine. They have thousands and thousands of images that you can rotate, and color anyway you want! You can save up to six of your favorites, and when you decide which one you want, it's only $50 to purchase. They will send it to you in .jpg, .gif, .png, and I think one or two other formats. It also gives you the run down of what each format can be used for. Here is my logo:
LOL! But LogoMaker gives you formats with transparent backgrounds!
The thing about LogoMaker is, that you can look in all the categories, not just the food and beverage one. I think mine was in a science category, and I think it was supposed to be a tornado or something... but I saw cake! LOL!
Tiffany from www.onthespotstudio.com is in middle of designing a logo for me. She has designed a logo for 2 of my photographer friends and they have raved about her. I'm absolutely in love with her entire portfolio of custom logos!! She has amazing talent! Her price for a custom logo is $250, but she has a link on her website for $100 off. Check out her work. $150 for a logo of this caliber is an absolute steal.
My husband is a graphic designer and he occasionally contributes to the site www.crowdspring.com . At this site, you create a "contest" which describes what you want and you set the "prize amount" which is the price you pay for the logo. Then all these designers compete and submit logos and you can choose which one you like the best and work directly with the designers about any changes needed.
I have been working on this for a while...I even had a college student to help (that option didn't work out too well...their professionalism needed some experience). I finally found an amazing situation! On etsy.com there are several freelance graphic designers that will create your logo. The lady I used was Camille Chung, she was so professional it was unbelievable. For about $100 I received a custom (copyrighted) logo, letterhead, and a business card design).
I was really nervous about this option however it was perfect. Camille was professional and attentive to my needs. Her package allows for unlimited revisions. She had to have made at least 10 different revisions until we got it just right. I highly recommend her (and she is cost effective!!!) But, there are several ppl on etsy that can help!! Check out our new logo..
I got it via the net searching for free clipart.........wonder if there is any infringement?
depends.
it can be a VERY murky area.
so much is up and so easy to get without any kind of rights management.
Clip Art is only free use for private use, like a homemade greeting card or flyer for the office. It cannot be used in any kind of direct market branding for profit, meaning Logos.
If you want to use a piece of clip art in a training manual for your business, that' ok. If you want to use it on your business card as a decoration, that's ok.
If you want to use it as your market identity/promotion, then it is illegal. You can't copyright or own a clip art image, and logos are always (or should be) copyrighted property of the business. That's where the difference lies.
Also...telling someone to go to a college student to get a free logo is the exact same as telling someone to go to a novice hobby baker for an Ace Of Cakes level wedding cake that serves 500 people and have them do it for free. If you get a college student to do your logo, please pay them something decent for their time and creative efforts!
http://www.thevisualrealm.com/
This guy does amazing work and he is one stop shopping.He can print all the marketing items you can dream up from business cards to t-shirts to koozies to window decals. Check him out!
I'm a graphic designer/illustrator at my current full time job (want to be moving into cakes full time but! haha) and I really think its very important to have a professional logo and branding package as it can be the first thing people see of you business.
If you just take a look at different cake logo's for example Ron Ben Israel's logo its quite corporate and smart. (To me it doesn't exactly give off the kids birthday kind of feel, more of a professional image) where as a more cutesy logo with maybe a cartoon cake can be more appealing to a more wider audience or general public?
Sorry if I am just rambling here I think there is just a lot to consider with logo's from fonts to colour choices to size.
I created my own logo with the help of my fiance (who is also a designer) I am still not positive about it and I may change it in the future.
Also be VERY careful with grabbing fonts/clipart off the net Shareware and free fonts do NOT mean you can use them on your website or business cards/flyers!
If you want to do your own, there are sites where you can purchase the copyrights of images and clipart. I use these different sites for work all the time. Istockphotos is just one of them. Read the agreements on them, most will state what the copyright will include and how you can use it.
Etsy is the way to go. I used the option where you can state what project you need completed and asked for bids. I had over 20 designers contact me in on day detailing what they could do for me, time line of completion, and their prices. I just got the final proof of my logo today. Next we are working on signs and the business card. I was able to get a custom logo, sign, business card, and twitter background for 125!
If you use a service like Etsy make sure that you have unlimited revisions covered in your price!
There's a site called elance.com. You can set up projects and people bid on them. You really have to go through the responses carefully though. A lot of the people aren't in the US, and they just bombard you with mail. I went through all of my responses carefully and someone actually posted to me how they liked to watch Food Network Challenge and see all the cakes. I knew that was the one for me!
Some other links that might help someone who wants to do-it-yourself:
Downloadable fonts. You have to go in "more options" and choose FREE for your search and it will bring up fonts that are free to download, and many are free for personal and commercial use. Check the Read Me file after downloading to be absolutely sure.
http://www.dafont.com/
Free miscellaneous icons for personal and commercial use. Most of these are more like web buttons but the Magic Marker icons are nice and simple and I have opened them in Gimp and changed their size, color etc.
http://icons.mysitemyway.com/
And for the tech savvy person who doesn't want to buy photoshop, this one is an amazing find! This is a free downloadable image manipulation program. I am not very tech savvy and I have been able to fiddle with it enough to do the simple logo I wanted. Those who know what they are doing could really get some use out of this baby.
http://www.gimp.org/
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