There are a whole lot of colours out there, around 3000 solids if you believe the folks over at Pantone, but what colour is best for your brand?

Hopefully the small amount of insight share here can help you decide. Without going every possible hue here is a basic guide on thoughts, feelings and emotions associated with colours.

Violet combines the stability and power of red. It is used to symbolize royalty, luxury, elegance, romance, mystery and magic. Violet is however rarely found in nature compared to the other colours, and can appear artificial at times.

Blue. Stability, loyalty, trust and tranquility. Interestingly, around 70% of children aged 5 – 15 prefer colours in the violet to blue range over any other, something to keep in mind if your marketing to children.

Green stands for nature, health, wealth, safety and the growth. On a less positive note the wrong shade of green can also imply sickness or jealousy. Continue reading...

A test of any logo design is it’s longevity, and while some brands seem to change as often as the wind, many do go the distance. A nip here, a tuck there but the idea remains the same, starting with General Electric.

While the 1900 GE logo featured and embossed circle and monogram, not much else has changed. Their have been half a dozen refinements since then but the original idea is alive and well.

Originally founded as Kwanon, the groundwork for the Canon logo was laid in 1953 and after two tweaks has remained unchanged since 1956.

The original BMW logo designed in 1917. Other that a little stint in the late 70’s where the logo was framed by a trio of semi circles, the basics have remained the same. Continue reading...

It’s been a little over a month since posting my initial experience on dedicated hosting, and so far, its been 40 days, 10 hours and 4 minute of bliss.

Like many, I initially started on shared hosting which was okay to start, but as time went by ( and presumably more people shared the same server ) things went from bad to worse.

With traffic growing and my site being plagued by slow or failed page loads shared hosting just wasn’t cutting it any more, but at 5 times the price I was hesitant to take the next step. I shouldn’t have been.

With my new host Media Temple, the performance and level of support that comes with there dedicated servers has been above reproach.

Two thumbs up.

I’ve spoken with many people who were in the same boat, unsatisfied with their shared hosting but hesitant to move up. What I can tell you from my experience is, I’ll never use shared hosting again.

Like any business, graphic design has its share of good and bad clients. I’m currently discussing a project with a potential client, nothing is set in stone yet so lets call him “Bob”. To sum up a longer conversation with Bob, it went like this;

Q: Typically, what styles or logos do you prefer?
A: Stylish and simple, easy to remember.

Q: Logo concepts would you like?
A: One.

Q: Did you have a budget set for the project at all?
A: Andrew to tell you the truth I don’t even know how much a project like that should cost. Maybe you can provide me with some levels of pricing and the differences between a $500 or $2000 project. Thank you.

Good design expectations, straight to the point, straightforward and honest with the sometimes awkward subject of money. So far it’s been a pleasure dealing with Bob.

On the flip side of that coin, it was surprising to read a discussion fellow designer Mark Biegel had with a potential client. After missing a call while driving, Mark quickly called back to say “Sorry I missed your call, I was driving”.

Only to have said client say “Don’t ever ring me and say sorry, when I call you I expect you to answer! I have 2 other developers who could work for me so your lucky to get my business.”

Not surprisingly Mark declined the project and 3 months later the clients website is apparently still not started, guess that attitude isn’t working for him.

How about you?

Any stories for better or worse?

Graphic design is all about ideas, but for every great idea there is just as often something waiting in wings to squash it. Enter the new marketing director…

Created for the independent film group, Show Off!, each illustration depicts an idea personified ( give or take… ) in the form of a popular or infamous figure and their mortal enemy.

Originally in Portuguese, I’ve done my best to translate the captions but I speak precisely zero of it. Feel free to jump in if I’ve gotten something wrong.

Presenting an idea to the accountants.

The clients lawyers. Continue reading...