ShopForDesigns – Logo design marketplace, website design, corporate identity design, banner design, crowdsourcing.

We at ShopForDesigns have thousands of talented designers on board but there are some who are just beginning their career and are straight out of college. They do not have so much experience in the field of designing. Logo design is one of the toughest arena in the designing world. While designing a logo you have to know where to stop. Designers generally learn from their mistakes but to save you some time and to make you learn from others’ mistakes we have compiled a list of 10 tips that might help you in a big way.

1. A logo doesn’t need to say what a company does
It is not always a good idea to put tools of the trade you are depicting into your logo. Meaning :
Don’t show a plate or food in hotel logos, doctor’s logo or a hospital logo does not necessarily need to show a stethoscope or a red cross. Just because it’s relevant, doesn’t mean you can’t do better.

Nike logo does not show a shoe neither the Mercedes logo shows a car.

2. Not every logo needs to be an artistic marvel. Simplicity speaks a lot.
Its not always true that a logo has to be an artistic marvel. Sometimes all the client needs is their logo to make a statement and identify their business. So its best to talk to your client and ask them what exactly they are looking for.

3. Two-way process
Sometimes a client may disagree with your ideas and might not like the logo you made for them at all or may reject the direction in which you are aiming. They might go as far as requesting diametrically opposite. First, give them what they want and thereafter show them what you think would work out to be a better idea. If you idea has food for thought then is highly probable they will like it and take it up. This is passive persuasion. They will definitely come back to you when they need any artwork in future knowing the potential you have.

4. Use sketches wherever possible
Sometimes a little sketch can work wonders in a logo. For a change try using a sketch and see if it goes with the theme of the company you are making the logo for. Line drawing can also be considered.

5. Under-promise, over-deliver
This applies for all kinds of design work and not just a logo design. Try to ask for more days and then deliver before time. Never ask for little time and then take more time under some plea. Its always better to ask for some more time. Design projects are like artistic work, you never know how your thought process will work.

6. Don’t be afraid to be non-conventional
Don’t blindly follow what others are doing. Stand out. Don’t be afraid to go out of the lot. If you go beyond the normal tastefully then surely your creativity will be appreciated.

7. Try out black initially
Best is to make our design in black first. If your logo looks good in black then it will definitely look good in good colours. Conversely a poorly designed logo will never stand out even if beautiful colours or gradients come to its rescue.

8. Keep in mind the mood
Designing a logo for a hospital? Forget funny approach. Be serious and try to represent wellness with colour and shape. In other words try to be appropriate and try to keep with the mood of the organization or individual. Designing for a kids school would definitely involve a lot of colours and shapes like cartoons.

9. Make it scalable
While designing a logo keep in mind that it might be printed on an envelope or a hoarding. So it should be scalable. It should be recognizable in any background or any colour. Though a logo has a particular colour but experience says that you sometimes might need to print it in grayscale or various backgrounds. So keep that in mind while designing a logo. Also remember that your logo should even be able to scale down to half an inch without total loss of detail. Look at giants like FedEx, Nike, Reebok. Their logos are simple and hence recognizable!

10. One thing to remember
Do not make a jam packed logo. Make it simple. Simple things make a long lasting impression.  Give people one thing to remember in your logo design work.

Just One.

How much money should be appropriate for my design projects?

If you study the model as to how www.shopfordesigns.com operates, you will find that it follows a marketplace model. Buyers like you are looking for good quality graphic design and graphic designers are working on your projects to offer you the best deal for the price you have to offer for their work. Now before you decide the project valuation you have to consider certain things like :-

• What is my budget for the project?
• How many quality designers to I want to attract?
• Do I need entry level designers to work for me or do I need ace and experienced designers?
• What are my competitions offering? What is their price range?
• How much details do I need to provided in my design description?

If you need a logo then its best for you to study other logo design projects on the site and see what others are paying. Also to get good number of submissions you have to remember to feed your design description with fair amount of details about your project. Your requirement details, your likes and dislikes etc.

How do I get more submissions for my projects?

Amongst a lot of factors involved in determining the number of design submissions in your project I would like to outline a few important ones.

• Clear and to the point project description.
  • A clumsy and vague design project description will give you lower number of submissions since designers will wonder which direction to head. If you yourself do not know what kind of logo (say) you want then surely your designers wont. So our tip is be very clear and form a vision in your head before you submit a project and describe exactly that in your project description.
• Browse other projects in the same category and find out some designers you like.
  
  • Another trick is to go through other design projects in the same category and send private messages to good designers to work on your projects. Suppose you like the work of a particular designer in website design category. So if you are submitting a web design project then feel free to send him or her a private invite to work on your project. You can do this by sending a private message to that designer by going to ‘contact’ link in his or her profile.
• Provide constant feedback during the course of the work
  • Maybe feedback is the next big motivator after project value. If you are in constant touch with your designers and constantly guide them with feedback then they feel more involved with the process. They feel that they have a direction and move towards it with conviction. We also advice you to use the star rating system judiciously to motivate the designers. Also remember to give complements to designers using the project message board.