Mistakes That Can Kill Your Logo Designing

New logo designers may be under the notion that the more complicated and colorful a logo design is, the more it will be appreciated. This is one of the first mistakes that can be made. When these designs are used to participate in logo design contests and none of these initial designs are accepted by clients, some are left confused and disappointed.
Amateur logo designers tend to make a few mistakes at first, which can become disastrous for them in the long run. Two other mistakes some designers make is avoiding to learn the basics of design and/or they don’t have a creative design process to follow. In today’s post I’ve decided to educate fellow designers about the 13 critical mistakes that can kill any logo design. Read on to make sure that you are not guilty of these mistakes.

1. Lack of Process & Planning

Very few logo designers spend time doing research about the industry of the client they are working for. Even fewer realize the importance of a creative logo design process. In professional logo designing, research and sketching comes before creating a logo on the computer. Jumping on the computer without sketching and basic planning is a failed design waiting to happen.

2. Neglecting the Essence of Logo

A logo represents the essence of a company, what it stands for and what message it wants to convey to its audience. Be sure to think from a potential customer’s perspective. What would a certain image mean to you? What will your first impression of the logo design be? Focus not only on the design, but on the meaning.

3. Following Trends Blindly

Following all design trends will most likely lead to outdated design concepts. Create designs that can stand the test of time and will look great even a century later. Example: The Coca-Cola logo still looks good a hundred years after its creation.

4. Creating Complicated Designs

Filling your logo design with too many colors and shapes is a big mistake. Simplicity is the best way to go. If you think that creating a complicated design will win you a logo design contest, at times, you are wrong. Simple logos tend to be the most memorable. Want an example? Think of the logos of McDonald’s or Nike.

5. Being a Copy Cat

Are you an inspired designer or a copy cat? Inspiration is when your original idea had influence from things around you, all while keeping in mind the client’s perspective. To be a copy cat means you have copied pieces of another person’s design work. Copying another designer’s concept is dishonest and shows your lack of creativity. Be Original, Be Creative, Be Unique!

6. Using Clichéd Images

Using airplane images for a travel logo design, hammers for construction logos or books for education logos is seen as redundant and clichéd. Try to be innovative. Use special characters, unique metaphors or abstract symbols to create an identity. You don’t want your client’s design to become lost in the crowd.

7. Adding Special Effects

Graphic design expert Jacob Cass says, “If a logo requires color or special effects to make it a strong logo, it’s not a strong logo.”
If your design is strong it will look great in black and white, as well as in full color. Lose the colors and see where your logo stands.

8. Using Clipart & Stock Images

Successful logo designers never use clipart or stock. Clipart images are visually poor and will give the design an unprofessional look. Avoid clipart, stock vector images or anything similar and create your own, custom images. The client will fully appreciate your design’s individuality.

9. Typography Issues

Using the wrong font and inappropriate style can ruin a perfectly good design. In a logo design, the typography has to be industry specific. Otherwise the meaning could be completely lost. For instance, using Comic Sans for a law firm logo has more of a childish feel, it does not portray a serious, successful and professional law firm.

10. Hurrying to Create a Logo

Most logos fail when designers do not spend quality time to create and ignore the importance of having a design process.  A design that is made in a short amount of time tends to be unsuccessful. Your speed doesn’t determine your efficiency. Logo designing is an art that requires understanding and research, which requires time.

11. Lack of Communication with Clients

Most amateur designers do not understand the importance of communication and get offended at the slightest bit of criticism. They don’t discuss their ideas with their clients and give no creative input. This is not healthy if you want a client to understand your point of view. Communication is the key to success. Explain to the client what you are trying to achieve in your logo design concepts and take their criticism positively. Remember, criticism is just another person’s opinion.

12. Sending Raster Files

Raster files tend to become pixilated when scaled or sized for various printing needs. Always send your client the vector format file of your design. This will allow your client to print the logo on a small business card, a large billboard, t-shirts or any other item without affecting the quality.

13. Not Cleaning Up the Logo

Before sending out the design to your client, make sure that it is neat. Any extra twirls or any excessive colors must be removed. Sending out a messy design discredits you as a professional, thus you want to spend time with the finishing touches and in finalizing it.

Lincoln MKZ Concept: Future Vision Today +VIDEO

The new Lincoln MKZ Concept, revealed today at the NorthAmerican International Auto Show, signals a significant step in Lincoln’s reinvention, providing a clear visionof its next-generation vehicles.
“With the Lincoln MKZ Concept, we are not introducing a new car. We areessentially introducing a new brand,” said DerrickKuzak, Ford Motor Company group vice president for Global ProductDevelopment. “The MKZ Concept is the next step in the reinvention of Lincoln, something we’ve been quietly butaggressively pursuing.”
Watch the complete Lincoln Press Conference at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show
Lincoln MKZ Concept: Exterior
The MKZ Concept strongly hints at the production model arriving indealerships later this year, as well as Lincoln’s design future.
“The MKZ Concept’s shape is a vision of simplicity completed with just afew strokes,” said Max Wolff, Lincoln design director. “Our movement as abrand is toward something we call elegant simplicity. It’s something warmerand more restrained, which is moving away from complex designs andtraditional luxury.” (View a video highlighting the main design elements ofthe Lincoln MKZ Concept here.)
Warm hues are evident in every aspect of the new vehicle’sCognac-colored exterior. The deep finish is achieved with a rich base coatcovered in multiple layers of tinted clear-coat finishes.
The sedan’s profile is dominated by a long, sleek and sweeping rooflinethat allows the design to break away from the traditional sedan three-boxshape. The lengthening of the roofline enables a more flowing, elegant andmore naturally aerodynamic appearance. (Access Lincoln MKZ Conceptspecifications here.)
A panoramic glass roof spans uninterrupted from the windshield to thetop of the backlight. Integrated into the sedan’s aluminum and boron steelsuperstructure, the fixed-glass expanse extends to the side roof rails ofthe cabin, creating an airy, open interior. (Click here for gallery.)
LED technology enabled an extremely thin and distinctive full-widthtaillamp graphic. Exhaust tips are cleanly integrated into the rearfascia.
Lincoln MKZ Concept: Interior
The Lincoln MKZ Concept’s four-seat interior is open, warm and inviting.”The front graphic is repeated in the dramatic sweep of the instrumentpanel, helping tie the interior to the exterior. These flowing forms createa comfortable and functional interior that particularly appeals to theyounger, more diverse customers we are targeting,” said Wolff.
Innovative interior features include push-button transmission gearselection, an open, tiered center console and liquid crystalinstrumentation. The reconfigurable 10.1-inch Thin Film Transistor (TFT)LCD positioned ahead of the driver operates with the latest version ofMyLincoln Touch as does the nearly flush-mounted center8-inch LCD touch screen.
Responsibly harvested poplar wood, aluminum in bright and satin finishesas well as leather help create a sculptural, luxurious and comfortableinterior space. Champagne-colored leather seats with dark taupe accentsfeature a champagne perforation pattern, so-called because the perforationson the seat backs conjure the image of champagne bubbles rising from thebottom of a glass.
Lincoln MKZ Concept: Engineering
The Lincoln MKZ Concept is a styling study that rides on an all-newmidsize platform. The sedan is capable of utilizing multiple powertrainoptions in front-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive configurations.
Like the recently introduced MKS and MKT withEcoBoost, the Lincoln MKZ Concept features LincolnDrive Control and the sophisticated Continuously Controlled Damping (CCD)adjustable suspension. (Click here for information on these Lincoln technologies and here for background onthe Lane Keeping System, another feature integrated into the MKZConcept.)

browser like website the best Firefox And Google Chrome

Most community have strong thoughts about their internet browser. It used to be Internet Explorer loyalists versus Mozilla Firefox geeks, but a number of new browsers have muddied the water a bit. Browserlike allows people with strong opinions in this area to vote once and for all for the browser they like best. even though it only allows you to choose between Google Chrome and Firefox, this should settle a few arguments once and for all.
This website is a hobby site, but it is a well designed one. Vote for your favorite, and if you have a comment feel free to leave it.

Browserlike is a hobby website and we are still trying to figure out what the designers get out of the deal. No advertising or other money-making opportunities clutter the pages. There are links to Twitter and Facebook and you can opt to ‘Like’ the website, but it is indistinct who stands to profit or how. This could be the foundation of a beautiful business opportunity if the admin figures out how to capitalize on a pretty impressive amount of interchange.
You don’t need movies and videos to show how you feel about your browser, so why bother? Here is how we ranked this site in our favorite five categories:
creativeness: 3 stars. While the concept of an online ballot box is relevant and appropriate, the designers need to get on the ball and add a few more features.
simplicity of use: 5 stars. This may be the easiest site to navigate that we have ever reviewed, because everything you need is fit neatly on a single page. Kudos for avoiding the common trap of thinking that more pages is always a better choice.
Functionality: 5 stars. Facebook and Twitter both have strong presences here. If you care enough about your favorite browser to make this presence part of your own internet presence, here is your chance.
Content: 4 stars. We want to hear more about why the site exists and what the owners think about the browsers as well.
suitability: 5 stars. The old fashioned voting motif is cute and shows at a glance what the website is for.

Optimizepress – Is It Any Good?

If you are thinking about trying out the Optimizepress WordPress theme, you will find this a very valuable post.
The creator James Dyson has really leveled the playing field with this new WordPress theme.
In this post we will look at what Optimizepress is exactly, why it was created followed by an exclusive Optimizepress discount bonus for trying it out through this website today. Lets take a little look at the creator James Dyson.
When you are building a website, customers will not stay on your page if you do not have a professional squeeze page that captures their attention.
Optimizepress if a software program that offers 10 different squeeze page templates so you will increase your opt-in rate quickly.
This means that this WordPress theme has been actually proven to improve conversions unlike many themes which just claim to do so.
Before Optimizepress, you would have had to pay about $2000 for a website that had this level of design. You can now get it for under $100 and you can make as many websites as you like!
For the first time a completely new Internet marketer can compete and look just as good as a pro Internet marketer.
Those are only a couple of the features that you will enjoy using when you invest in OptimizePress. As you use it, you will learn about many of the other great features that it offers.
For example, it allows you to integrate FaceBook comments with your webpages and videos. This integration brings more attention to your product and ultimately more money to you.
OptimizePress will earn you a very high return on your investment for the lifetime of your website. You will make a one-time payment for the software package and you will enjoy all of the benefits for as long as Internet marketing is around.
To see more on how to get a special bonus, see below now.

Affordable Online College for Graphic Design

Graphic designing is a lucrative career and one which bears many rewards. Information technology has flourished considerably and the information technology industry is experiencing tremendous growth and the field of graphic designing falls into this category as well. The employment opportunities for people who have an advanced degree in graphic designing are really good. And some of the best online schools for graphic design can be easily found in the country.
Graphic designers are professionals who create commercial arts in a number of medians used by business to sell their products and services for example T.V, newspapers, websites and etc. These are all the medians of advertisement crucial to a business to succeed in attaining its targets. Most professional graphic designers apply for their jobs as soon as they have completed their bachelor’s in graphic designing.
Web designing is also a related field which most graphic designers aim to focus on. In the coming years it has been estimated that many jobs in graphic designing will be in related areas such as digital design, media, social networking and etc. The median salaries of graphic designers are $33,000 to $57,000 an year. And you can now too become a part of this growing trend if you are interested in becoming a graphic designer. Check out some of the best online schools for graphic design that suit your needs.
You can now study your degree in graphic designing completely online without any problems. The main coursework in a bachelor’s degree contain subjects like art courses, color theory, typography and etc. There courses that will be taught to you online. In distance education you don’t have to go to a university to attend classes instead the university comes to your door step. Yes, all the education you will be getting will be via the Internet. All the courses, the guidelines, and the study materials everything will be provided for online.
The creativity and art of graphic designers is almost visible everywhere you can see it on books, magazines, CD’s, advertisements, product packaging and etc. It takes a lot of skill and talent along with proper education to become a good graphic designer.
Graphic design degrees are available at all levels, but getting a higher degree will improve your chances of climbing the ladder of success in the corporate market. Graphic designers with enough experience can also start up their own business if they have the resources. This career has a lot of employment opportunities. So hurry now and apply for the best online schools for graphic design.
Do you know that you actually can look up all the info along with admission specifications regarding graphic design schools right here.

Macromedia Dreamweaver vs. Fireworks, whats best for web design?

Ive just finished learning these two programs and while dreamweaver is supposed to be the web design and fireworks is supposed to be the graphic design, it seems so much easier to just design your entire page on fireworks with links and all. I know that technically you are just supposed to create images and buttons in fireworks and insert them in your web page on dreamweaver, but the tables in dreamweaver are hard to work with. Any thoughts, suggestions, or perhaps tutorials explaining the best way to integrate fireworks over to dreamweaver to design basic web pages?