Houston Graphic Designers & Houston Web Designers

Graphic Design

Design Makeovers
Do you have a newsletter, brochure, flyer, catalog, website, or other business communications needing fresh appeal? Transform your outdated collateral with
a design makeover! Click on the images for a larger view.

For more information about website makeovers, go to Website Redesign

Full-Color Newsletter
Front, Typical Interior, and Back Pages


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After

Store Fixture Catalog
Outside Front Cover, Typical Interior Page, and Outside Back Cover


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After

Newsletter
Front, Typical Interior, and Back Pages


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After

Downhole Fishing Tools Catalog
Outside Front Cover and Typical Interior Page

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After

Two-Sided Flyer

Image
Not
Available

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After

Black & White Technical Bulletin
Front Page

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After

Four-Page Brochure
Front and Back Pages

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After

Media Kit

Before

After

Time to Overhaul the Letterhead?
What is the life expectancy of a letterhead? There are no clear-cut answers. But if the design has been around for more than a few anniversaries, then it might be time to give it a makeover. Afterall, times do change and looks do matter. You may or may not like the logo, but that's not the point intended in this article. Logo design is a topic in itself, so I'll assume you already have one.

To help you prepare for the redesign of the next letterhead, try building an idea file. For several months, instead of filing original letters you've received, make copies of them and file the copies. Put the originals in a "letterhead" file. Then, when you're finally ready to begin the redesigning stage, you'll have a file full of ideas!

There are many design possibilites for letterheads. Letterheads can be printed in black, a color, or multiple colors. They can be on plain white paper, expensive paper, or on colored paper. Colors can be printed on colored paper. The combinations of paper and color are seemingly endless.

One approach to a letterhead design is simple understatement while another would be the complete opposite.

Other design variables to consider include the:

• Size of elements
• Placement of elements
• Alignment of elements
• Use of boxes and/or rules
• Type of paper
• Paper color
• Single- or multi-color inks
• Use of screen

I Have a Design Project…Where Do I Start?
We are frequently asked this question. So we will have a better understanding of the nature and scope of your design project, please provide answers to the following questions:

What is the due date?
Do you need a budget estimate or quotation?
What is the project? (flyer, brochure, catalog, etc.)
Who will write the text?
Will photography be needed? (stock, studio, or on location)
How many photos will be used?
Will illustration be needed? If yes, how many?
Of that amount, how many are full-page size?
How many are half to full-page?
How many are quarter-page or smaller?
If photos or illustrations will be provided,
how many are transparencies?
How many are photo print or artwork?
Are these flexible or on art board?
Is the layout basic or is design needed?
How many pages?
What is the finished size?
How many colors will be on the cover?
How many colors on the inside?
Will it self-cover?
Will it have a heavier cover and lighter inside pages?
Any special paper weights for the cover and/or text pages?
Is paper stock to be uncoated or coated; gloss or dull?
What type of proofing is needed? (blueline, Iris, electronic)
Will there be any special bindery items are involved?
(scores, folds, die cuts, or perforations)
If it is a pocket folder, how many pockets are there? Will they be glued?
What are the quantities you want estimated or quoted?

Character of Design
The expression of a character, mood, personality, and/or emotional quality comes from the deliberate manipulation of the art elements in creating a design. This character is the visual message that is communicated by the design to the viewer.

The adjectives listed below may be used to describe and/or identify a character. Although a few words may have a negative or undesirable connotation, most of the words describe a character that provides individuality, interest, and/or distinction.

A design lacking in character might be described as “blah.” A design described as mediocre or weak might be considered as lacking much strength or individuality of character and distinguishing traits.

Design Vocabulary

Image Resources
for the Designer
Comstock
Corbis
Creatas
Eagle Stock
Getty Images
Image Source
Jupiter Images
Masterfile
Picturequest
PunchStock
Rubbeball

Abrasive
Active
Aggressive
Airy
Animated
Austere
Awesome
Bewitching
Bizarre
Bold
Boring
Brawny
Calm
Capricious
Carefree
Casual
Chaotic
Charming
Cheerful
Classic
Cold
Comfortable
Complex
Contemporary
Cozy
Crisp
Crude
Dainty

Daring
Dashing
Debonair
Delicate
Delightful
Demure
Depressing Dignified Distinguished Dreary
Dynamic
Earthy
Eclectic
Effervescent Elaborate Electrifying Enchanting Evocative
Exciting
Exotic
Explosive Extravagant
Fanciful
Fascinating Feminine Flamboyant
Flashy
Formal

Formidable
Fragile
Frivolous
Garish
Gaudy
Gregarious
Graceful
Grotesque
Happy
Hardy
Harsh
Haunting
Homespun
Humble
Informal
Intimate
Intriguing
Jaunty
Joyous
Lavish
Lively
Luminous
Luxurious
Majestic
Masculine
Mature
Merry
Modest

Mysterious
Ornate
Peaceful Picturesque
Placid
Plain
Playful
Plush
Polished
Powerful
Provocative
Quaint
Quiet
Racy
Refined
Restful
Rich
Rugged
Rustic
Sad
Saucy
Sedated
Seductive
Sensuous
Serene
Severe
Showy
Simple

Sophisticated
Spirited
Sporty
Stable
Stately
Static
Stiff
Stimulating
Striking
Strong
Suave
Subdued
Subtle
Suggestive
Theatrical
Traditional
Tranquil Unpretentious Unsophisticated Vivacious
Voluptuous
Warm
Whimsical
Youthful

A Logo Primer
Logos are everywhere these days. They're on shoes, on shirt pockets, on cars,
in the newspaper, on the television, on the web, and virtually anywhere civilised man cares to look.

Just what is a logo? When I started to write this article, I thought I'd have a quick, universal answer. Research soon uncovered a complex subject.

What Does a Logo Do?
In a nutshell, a logo is an identifying symbol used for advertising. It provides a method of identifying a company. The purpose of the logo is to have people remember the name and the product/service. There isn't any company that can't benefit by having customers remember its name or product.

For example, you've seen sanitation trucks (garbage trucks, if you will) with the company logo boldly and proudly painted on their sides. After a few years of having those trucks on the road, the company has tremendous name recognition in the area. When people think of garbage, they think of that company.

Logos: Who and How Much?
You may be surprised to know that some firms have paid hundreds of thousands
of dollars, if not millions, for logo design. That's right — millions of greenbacks!

Small firms usually don't want anything fancy and expect their printer to design a logo for them free of charge. Most commonly, a small company will go to a graphic design firm for logo design. A bottom line of $500 might be typical and many thousands of dollars would be more common.

As you can see, there is a lot of latitude in what people pay…and as much difference in what they get for their money.

But what if you merely want a simple, no-frills arrangement of a few letters of the alphabet? Should that cost you both arms and legs, and your first-born child?

The only way to find out is to get estimates. While one firm will want to research the market, the competition, and every legal infringement that your logo could possibly snare, another firm will slap up a functional design for little more than a handshake.

Then too, some people choose to design their own logo. Although this route isn't recommended for the novice, a stop at any art supply store will yield a wide variety
of transfer lettering that can be used to create a pleasing image. Or sit down at your computer and play with the word processing program.

Whatever route you choose, take this bit of advice: show the logo possibilites to your lover, staff, grandmother, uncle, and the wino on the corner. What might look good
to you or a graphic designer must also look pleasing and make sense to the unedu-cated, unbiased person who will later see the logo in use.

What Makes a Good Logo?

It is simple. It's easy to get carried away, but fewer elements will create
a stronger image.
It is appropriate for the business.
It is bold. Fine lines will often break up or disappear when reproduced.
It works well in all sizes. A good solution is to have a second logo with less detail for use in smaller sizes. (See Tips That Work below.)
The logo and company name are integrated as a unit.
It is distinctive. Don't settle for ordinary.
It is timeless. Avoid trendy typefaces. Unless the logo is for the fashion industry, standard, low-key typefaces such as Helvetica, Palatino, or Times are best.
It is proportionate in size. Avoid extremely tall or wide logos. Generally, odd shapes aren't pleasing to look at and are difficult to fit on standard size business cards.
It has a strong focal point. The circle, and its cousin the ellipse, are strong design elements. The soft edges are often more pleasing than angular shapes

Methods of Logo Design
Logo design can be broken down into four categories that will be discussed in further depth below. If your company already has a logo, this article may help you critique why it works (or doesn't), and how you might approach a new design when the time comes.

If you don't have a logo, you will benefit from looking at the major categories into which your new design will fall.

Category 1: Plain Vanilla
The main characteristic of this group is simplicity. This design utilizes standard typesetting with little ornamentation or imagination. They do not tell a story about the company, and they are not terribly cute or unique in their presentation of an image. They are deliberately simple.

Do not underestimate the power of such simplicity, however. Take for example, the 3M Company (Minnesota, Mining, and Manufacturing) design. This huge multi-million dollar organization has chosen the utmost simplicity. Virtually everybody in related industries has immediate recognition of the 3M logo, whenever and wherever it is used. It serves its purpose.

Category 2: Letters as Graphic Element
This group utilizes a slightly different approach than the ultra-simple designs. Here, the letters are modified, altered, or changed to create an integrated graphic element. In other words, the letters are creatively arranged in a graphically unique shape that cannot be found on a keyboard. Although unique, these graphic shapes usually do not tell a story about the company nor tell the consumer what the company sells.

These logos serve the purpose of identifying the company to consumers, who after seeing the logo repeatedly, will hopefully associate the graphic image with a quality product or service.

Category 3: Letters and Designs Combined
To come...

Category 4: Letters Tell a Story
To come...

Summary
So which style of logo is best? There is no easy answer. The 3M logo can hardly be challenged for its simplicity. At the other end of the spectrum, most everyone must have some admiration for the integrated letters of the Bank of America logo.

The only answer is that logos serve a purpose. Millions of dollars are spent each
year in their design. Countless more millions are spent to paint them onto billboards or print them onto disposable hamburger wrappers. One might assume that they are pretty powerful…or there are a lot of fools tossing their money to the wind!

Tips That Work: The Universal Logo
Logos, as you know, are used in a variety of places, in a variety of colors, and in
a variety of sizes. For example, consider the logo printed ever-so-small on the side
of a pen…then printed several inches tall on the side of a cardboard box.

Consider the printing processes themselves. One firm might silk-screen the logo onto a paperweight, while another will lithograph it onto letterhead. These printing processes have different attributes. One of them has the ability to print fine detail and screens.

In addition, if the logo requires the use of color in order to be recognized, then its use would be restricted to only certain products.

The following "rules" of logo design will help the novice graphic designer and new business owner alike avoid the some of the common pitfalls that await them.

Make the logo size flexible. A design that looks great one-foot tall might be impossible to recognize when printed one-inch high. The designer should produce proofs made at every possible size the logo will be used. If the logo
is not functional at a small size, scrap it, or don't use it at small percentages.
Make the logo print universal. Can the logo be rubber-stamped onto a box? Lithographed? Photocopied? Silk-screened? I can't describe the limitations
of each process here. If you have doubts, ask a printer. Ask someone and keep asking until you get all the answers, but DO get the answers.
Make the logo color independent. Although a design might be well suited
for printing in more than one color, what happens to it when it absolutely must print it in black and white? Again, have proofs made to prove that the logo will hold its own in a single color.