Make Your Own Logo

by Web Master on November 15, 2012

How to Make your Own Logo

If you are venturing on a small business enterprise, it is best to make your own logo, as that will not only cut down your startup costs, but you can do this quite professionally with the many resources available online. Here are some useful ideas and resources, which will be of great help in making your own logo.

Before starting the designing process, first decide what you want your logo to do. Logo can be a symbol of your company, or an identification mark for your product. It is not meant to be a direct selling tool, and it should derive its meaning from the quality of a business or product being symbolized.

Conceptualizing a Design

The first step is of course trying to conceptualize a design for your logo, which will be suitable for the type of business you are doing, or you are going to do. You will want to convey something through your logo, and this can be a good starting point in visualizing a design. It helps to scribble down on paper any ideas you may have. Do not worry if you do not have any artistic abilities, this is just rough work, which only you will be seeing. So, do not hold back and just scribble away. Initially do not try to see any other designs online or from any other source. Draw your heart out on paper, and bring out whatever you feel.

Only if you are stuck, you can find inspiration from existing logos in your business niche, or you could find some interesting designs online. Many websites let you browse through their collection of logo design samples. You need not copy the full design, but you could pick out certain components you might like in a design.

Selecting a Software

Illustrator or Photoshop is the software most people choose for creating a logo from the design they have conceptualized. This software will not only help in creating a design, but you will have access to many different types of fonts, which you will need for your logo.  However, if you do not have Photoshop, you can download Gimp, which is free software quite similar to Photoshop. If you have never used Gimp, here are links to some very useful tutorials that show how you can create a logo with Gimp.

http://www.gimpshop.com/tutorials/how-to-create-a-logo

http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/company-logo-bezier

http://gimp-tutorials.net/prologo_withgimp

http://gimpedblog.blogspot.in/2011/11/gimp-video-tutorial-how-to-use-gimp-to.html

Free Online Logo Creators

If you do not have the patience of learning to use the features of Gimp for creating a logo, there is a much simpler option available online. Many websites provide a free online logo maker where you only have to choose from available logo design icons, fonts and the color scheme. The website provides many tools where you can manipulate the available design elements, fonts, and color schemes to create something unique. Here are some of the websites that provide this fantastic service.

http://www.graphicsprings.com/

http://www.logoease.com/

http://www.logomaker.com/

http://cooltext.com/

http://logoyes.com/

This is definitely the easiest way of creating a logo, but you should also understand that many other people are also accessing these websites, and there are chances you might end up with a similar looking logo that somebody else has created.

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Web Design Salary

by Web Master on October 15, 2012

We habitually take for granted the user interface and design of the online website we frequently visit. The easiness with which we navigate through them to get required information, the overall layout of the website page, the fonts and colors and the numerous graphic elements that grab our attention and make the website appealing is basically the result of work by a web designer. These professionals build websites and give them all the required functionality that makes them accessible to browsers. They are hired by clients to build website that has a user-friendly design, easy navigation, organized content, and audio and video functionality. In addition to this, the job of the developer is to also monitor the performance of the website.  This job requires a technical understanding of software programs, web applications and computer languages like HTML. In addition to this, the developer also needs to have strong background in packages like JAVA, .Net, and database management. Developers can work either as full-time employees for website design companies or as freelancers. The latter would of course require a lot of social networking.

According to the data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), web designers make a median salary of about $77,990 per year. While there are some who earn as high as $124,860, the lowest-paid ones earn about $42,770. The highest paid positions are based out of San Jose, Reading, Pa., Santa Clara, California, and Sunnyvale. Companies in securities contracts and brokerage are usually the highest paying ones for the services of web designers.

Employers generally prefer those candidates who have a bachelor’s degree in the computer field. However, you can snag a position if you are able to impress your employer with your technical skills and experience. There are also a number of certifications available like the Certified Web Developer (CWP), Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW) and Advanced Web Developer. These certifications testify your expertise in web designing.  If you are trying to really stand out from the rest of the crowd, then you should consider the field of mobile application development since there is an increasingly growing demand for developers in this field. There are recognized certifications being given in this field that promise to give you the cutting edge over others.

However, web designing is one such field where experience always holds more value than certifications. This is one field where self-learning and creativity are very critical. It doesn’t matter which university you graduate from or which certification do you hold as long as you are able to show enough evidence to substantiate your skills.

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Web Designer Salary

by Web Master on September 15, 2012

Web Design Salary and The Skills You Need To Earn More

When trying to find out how much web designers earn, you need to appreciate that this is a broad field.  When talking about designing websites, it may be taken to mean the art of converting the layouts into web sites. This may involve converting photoshop layouts made by a graphic designer and creating a website from the layout. It could also mean people with advanced skills to create very interactive and powerful websites using PHP, .NET, C# and can use CMS (Content Management Systems) and IDE (Integrated Developer Environment). This will depend on the job description given by the employer.

When an employer talks of web design, he could mean a number of things that can be summarized into three main job descriptions; web designer, Web developer and web programmer. A web designer is responsible for turning layouts into web sites. He may get a job with a small company whose job is to provide services for other small organizations that need a website that is not too elaborate. This job requires HTML/CSS, XHTML, Javascript, Photoshop (or other photo editing software like Gimp) and other related technologies like JQuery. The web designer salary for this job is about $30,000 a year. This is the entry level which will go up after a few years experience working with the company.

A web developer is more skilled than a web designer. His job is to develop and maintain websites that  are interactive and have databases. The skills required for this are MySQL, PHP, ASP and ASP.NET. These programming languages take time to learn and require dedication and discipline if you are going to learn them on your own. Most employers will be looking for one of these top languages, but being skilled in more than one of these, can help your get better prospects.

A web programmer is more skilled than the other two. He may have skills in C#, JAVA, C++. He is as skilled as a computer programmer and understands aspects of programming such as algorithms and data structures which a developer may not be conversant with Server side programming as well as some knowledge of algorithm and data structures is equally important.

A web programmer will get an entry level salary of about $50,000 which may increase to about $150,000. Some states have a higher salary average than others. Among the highest paying states are Washington State, Pennsylvania, California and Massachusetts which have an entry level salary of close to $80,000. The lowest paying are Puerto Rico and Alabama which have an average entry level salary of about $50,000.

Many employers will want someone who has gone through college and has some degree in Computer Science or a related course that puts emphasis on software and web development. There are some people who have no degrees but they are self taught. If you learn from web sites and books, then you’ll have to prove that you have the skill to do the job. You may do this by designing websites and creating a small portfolio that you can use to demonstrate your abilities to the employer.

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Graphic Design Companies

by Web Master on August 15, 2012

A Review of Top Graphic Design Companies

Graphic design is a tough industry to be in, what with the ever-changing marketing landscape. The top graphic design companies have held on to their lofty positions because of their strong portfolios and trendsetting designs. Most of the best graphic design companies work with specialists in marketing and advertising, or are beefed up by experts in corporate branding. Here’s a look at some of the best graphic design companies in the world.

Teehan + Lax

Teehan + Lax is a firm co-founded by digital media designers Geoff Teehan and Jon Lax. Both founders are veterans in the field of digital media designing, with Teehan having started in 1995 and Lax a year earlier. Both Teehan and Lax are award winning designers who joined forces in 2002 to provide designing services to companies like Bell, BMW, Logitech, Telus, The Weather Network and Sun Chips. Their designing services vary from content and publishing, marketing programs, social media marketing and mobile apps, among others. The company’s website address is http://www.teehanlax.com.

Wolff Olins

Wolff Olins is a brand consultancy firm that employs more than 150 graphic designers, strategists and account managers. The company has been in the business for more than 40 years, with offices in New York, London and Dubai. It was founded in 1965 by designer Michael Wolff and advertising executive Wally Olins. Through the years, it has worked with several top companies in developing corporate designs. Some of its top clients include GE, Unilever, Sony Ericsson, Apple Records, Volkswagen, NBC Universal, Windows and USA Today. The company’s website is http://www.wolffolins.com/

Landor Associates

The company has been around since 1941, when Walter Landor founded it. It has pioneered numerous design and consulting methods that are now considered as standards in the marketing industry.  Landor Associates is more than a graphic design company, as the copmany also offers branding services like brand research and evalution, positioning, corporate identity and consumer design, brand equity management and digital branding.

The company is well-respected around the world, having 23 offices in 17 different territories. It has an impressive list of clients like Hilton Hotels, Jet Airways, HP, Verizon, Panasonic, Procter & Gamble, Microsoft, PGA of America, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, and MillerCoors, among others. The company’s website address is www.landor.com.

Pentagram

Pentagram is a company  with a flat corporate structure- with no executive officers or a board overseeing its operations. The company’s set-up focuses on the equal collaboration of designers. There are 16-partner designers in four cities, with each partner designer managing a troup of designer. Incomes are shared equally by each partner as well as overhead and staff resources.

Pentagram has provided designs for products of top companies like Nike, Timex, Tesco, Swatch, Netgear, Dell, Tiffany & Co, and Boots. The group has also developed corporate identities of Citibank, United Airlines and updated the visual identity of Saks Fifth Avenue.  Founded in 1972 by a group of designers in New York, Pentagram has offices in New York, London, San Francisco, Berlin and Austin.

 

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