When I started O’Dell Graphic Solutions almost two years ago…
I wasn’t exactly sure where it was going to take me or what, if anything, I would actually be designing. At the time, I feared the last 13 years of designing and developing for the financial publishing world had narrowed my field of vision so much that I had lost all concept of what other industries or businesses needed. What were their design needs? What were their designers doing? How were these industries using design to reach their goals? Ultimately, this feeling of being a bit too specialized and out-of-touch was the emotional push I needed to branch out and start OGS.
Now, Almost two years later, OGS finds itself with a satisfying list of clients in the retail, non-profit, business services and educational industries. We have completed projects ranging from small scale marketing materials to full on e-commerce websites and everything in-between but, what shall we say has been our niche, our bread-n-butter over that time?
Building brands for small businesses…
So far the majority of our clients have been small business that need it “all” — logos, websites, social media channels, email marketing platforms the list goes on, but no matter what we are designing or developing we approach every project as a branding project. Every asset needs to accurately represent your brand and convey your unique service and message.
For these types of clients we usually take them through the exercise of defining what makes their business unique, we create a visual representation of that unique quality, and then we design and develop the various assets to expose and re-enforce that brand.
In most cases our small business clients already have an established business, and some sort of identity or online presence, but rarely have either been conceptualized or developed with a proper understanding of brand building or more importantly, how their brand will fit into modern web-based marketing techniques.
Being hired for a logo design is a privilege…
Obviously the visual representation of the unique service is the logo. So, how do we design sharp, creative and recognizable logos… and better yet, how do we become better designers in general? What processes do we use, and how do we interact with our clients?
Jordanna Yap, owner of Anthem Craft & Designs in Asheville, NC, looks at logo projects like this:
Being hired for a logo design is a privilege that allows both my clients and me to learn a ton about each other’s expertise in a very short time and possibly create opportunities for future projects down the road. As designers, our jobs become more than just creative and artistic—we bridge a gap, solving not only graphic design problems, but also fostering better practices in communication and creating exponential possibilities to work creatively with burgeoning local businesses and organizations.
Exactly!
In her recent article for InBlog, she provides tips that have helped OGS communicate better with its clients, build seamless workflows to show off our craft, and become the designers our clients will rave about to their peers. Plus she gave us links to a refresher course in fundamental design principals, just in case we forgot.
Anyone who is involved or interested in the creative process will surely get a few nuggets out of this quick read.
Thanx to Jordanna and InBlog for bringing it to us.
We look forward to our next logo project! If you’re in need do hesitate to reach out to O’Dell Graphic Solutions!
