Designing for the worst of clients: myself
Originally published at House of Scott. You can comment here or there.
Legend has it that the Pope once dispatched a courier asking Giotto di Bondone to submit a drawing proving his worth as an artist. In response, Giotto took a brush and with some red paint drew a perfect circle which he sent to the Pope.
In every field there seems to be some hallmark, a rite of passage in which, if achieved, that practioner proves his worth. And for a Designer, that perfect circle is successfully designing for themselves. I don’t think I’ve ever met a designer that’s every been truly happy with their own logo, their website, stationary, demo reel etc. Others may see it as spectacular, but the designer only sees what could be better.
I’m finally getting around to designing some business cards and the logo to go on them. We’ll see if I like this one for more than a day. I’m pretty happy with it right now. But to save space, I’ll continue blathering under the cut.
Pro Tip: Always design in black and white first. Once you have a good strong design that works in black and white, then you can take it into grayscale and colour.
If you don’t get what that symbol represents, well, I should really post a photo of my head. But I’m kind of tired and don’t really feel like it right now. But it’s my head wearing glasses.
I like the symmetry and it’s geometric simplicity. It’s precision and clean shapes communicates my style as a designer, and if you’ve met me, it’s an identifiable likeness. Since the logo is working so well I thought I’d do a quick mock up of a business card to see how it works with text.
Seems to be playing nice. The logo certainly holds some potential. The text on the card needs a lot of love in the kerning and leading department. But I like the concept of one line sharing meaning with the next. It simplifies the amount of characters on the card while conveying just as much information. The text to the left of the logo is working far better than the text on the right though.
Let me know what you think of the logo and the card concept. Can’t make it great unless I know what’s wrong with it. So be brutal and be honest. Toss some suggestions my way if you have any. I trust you guys.
And if you have any suggestions for good quality print companies online that make some quality product for a decent price and quickish turnaround, I’d love to hear about them!