Greatwall Studios is a boutique design studio that works with medium to small sized companies across Canada. There are more design firms than I would care to count, so how do we add value to you as the consumer, along with our top notch service? Well, I’ll let you know. Up front, we’ll break down how the process is likely to unfold, and when and where and in what format you can, should or will be required to provide feedback.
A case in point for anyone looking for a logo for a start-up or a mom & pop type business. The first steps we’ll ask you to do is find logos that you are drawn too. Look at other logos that relate to your business, look for any trends or reoccurring graphics & icons. Take some time to think about the colour scheme, as this logo will eventually find its way onto everything. If it is only going to go on a business card, there is minimal risk in having to reprint 1000 business cards if you go off of the design in a year, but if it is going onto uniforms, labels, packaging, vehicle wraps, the side of your building then you absolutely must be certain of the colours you’ve chosen.
Once you’ve done those things, then we would have a meeting and we would discuss the next steps. Discussions regarding your audience or any key demographics you wish to high light or are wary to alienate. We’ll discuss logos that you do like, things that you hate, what makes your company different, what sets you apart. We’ll build a strategy for a collaborative creation of your brands logo.
Then we hit the pavement and do some research of our own. Then comes the thumbnail sketches, where we just play with themes, positioning, font choices, layout, colour and composition are really taken for a spin as we tackle the solution from every angle we can think of. Those thumbnails get narrowed down to a solid set of 7-10 ideas which then get fleshed out in greater detail. This leads to our first round of review. A good rule of thumb to keep in mind is that most agencies will include **3 rounds in the price tag, and anything outside of that and you’ll begin to pay for overages, that will quickly **double if not **triple the original price (Not always the case, but it has been known to happen). This is where you get to hold the designs in your hand for the first time, and really should take a few days to mull things over. Look at what you do like, make notes of it, look at what you don’t like, make notes of that too. But explain it in terms of:
• Colour choices • Icons • Layout • Composition • Fonts & Typefaces • Size of elements contained within design • Is it too minimalist vs. Too busy • Is it cliché • Too similar to something you think you recognize from somewhere else?
These are criticisms that are easily deciphered and can be corrected with ease. Coming back with statements like “I don’t know, it just isn’t working for me. Or, Seems off, it’s weird.” Are comments and criticisms that will cause you aggravation because they don’t identify any portion of the design, and are wholly subjective to you.
So you’ve had a good look at the designs, you and your team have looked them over and argued for and against certain designs. Now you deliver to us your review notes, typed out alongside the logo options, and discussed in person.
We take those notes and we rework those designs that were greenlit and delete the ones that weren’t. Rinse and repeat for Rd 2 & Rd 3. It’s at this stage where you should find yourself with a finalized logo, and it will then be put through for finishing so that your logo package can be sent to you. Depending on your agreement terms, you may be asked to pay 50% up front and the other 50% 30-60 days after you’ve received the logo package. As a visual representation, please look at Noble v1 – v5.
In our case the logo package usually contains (but is not always) Primary logo, secondary logo, 1 col option, outlined .ai file, live type .ai file, EPS, PDF, PSD, Tiff, Jpeg and png versions of your logos for various applications. We will provide you with appropriate colours in CMYK, RGB, LAB, and Hex Colours if you are also using these designs to update your website.
I hope this has been helpful to you, and is just one small value add we provide to our customers and partners.
Cheers! -M
Greatwall Studios Graphic Design 
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