In this post, I’m going to take a recent design that I’ve added to my portfolio and show the evoloution from conception to a completed design. Let’s get to work:

The client, velocIT, is an IT company. With a name like velocIT, the first thoughts that came to mind were movement and speed. I began with some simple sketches and found myself being drawn to the use of arrows. So I opened up Illustrator and went to work:

1 - First, I drew a quick arrow. I launched Photoshop and used one of the pre-made shapes…then copied & pasted it into Illustrator.

2 - Second I used the pen tool and drew a triangle shape over the top of the arrow to create a “V - like” shape. Once the “V” was made, I rotated the arrow accordingly.

3 - On further inspection, I felt like the “V” arrow had too much weight, so I simply made the white triangle larger.

4 - At this point, I choose a font and started to integrate the “V” with the rest of the company name.

5 - To give more of a separation of the “IT” from the rest of the name, I made the letters bold. This also gives a more balanced feel to the design, countering the weight of the arrow on the other side.

6 - After integrating the arrow and the bold ‘IT’, the other text looked rather plain. So after a lot of experimentation, I ended up using a different font.

7 - Once the text was in place, I began to experiment with a few variations on the arrow.

8 - After sleeping on it, and getting some feedback from others…this is the final arrow that I decided on.

9 - This is the final arrow incorporated into the logo text.

As I said in my post on about my design process, I only add color once my design is finished. If you’re design has to have color to stand, then its probably not a very strong concept. Initially, the buyer said that he likes orange and blue. In the final design, I decided on a light orange and teal blue. When adding the color, I was careful to add a small amount of teal to the arrow to give an added sense of balance. I’ve also added a reflection as a bit of “eye-candy” and to bring attention to the “V” icon. If you look closely you will also notice that I’ve added a very small amount of negative space between the tail of the arrow and the “V”. Here is the final result:

Hope you’ve enjoyed this post, and I will probably do something similar in the near future. I’ll be sure not to throw my sketches away so that you can see those as well. Happy creating!

I DON’T KNOW alot more things than I DO KNOW. And the same is true for you. So why is it that so many of us stop learning once we learn a few design tricks? One new idea can open a whole new world of creativity, One new idea can save you hours on a design project, One new idea can make you excited about design again. If you’re in a rut, then just learn something new. Instead of eating lunch in front of a TV or with friends, watch a tutorial or read a blog while you eat. The benefit of learning one new thing can be HUGE! Personally, I follow many designers and blogs and 90% of what they say is of no use to me…but if I can get one new idea its worth reading through all the rest. So put on your learning cap…I dare you.

Just wanted to give a quick update on this site’s progress. A Portfolio page has been added where I will post recently completed designs. Also, I’ve been working on a system for managing my online orders and I will be giving away 3 FREE LOGO DESIGNS in upcoming days to test out the system and work any bugs out before taking it live. In the mean time, please continue to bear with me as some links may not function correctly…and if you run across something that makes you particularly frustrated then please send me an email.

Check back often, and try and be one of 3 winners of a FREE LOGO DESIGN for your business or organization.

In the highly competitive world of graphic design, how can a newbie even get in on the action? You’re sitting there with the latest versions of Illustrator and Photoshop and maybe you even bought a sketch pad. The only things missing are a project and a buyer. So how do you get better as a designer if no one will hire you? The answer is in crowdsourcing, my friend. There are hundreds of projects that you as a novice designer could be working on and possibly getting paid for RIGHT NOW! Read on for more information:

• crowdSpring - This is my personal favorite, because of the variety of projects to work on. You can spend 8 hours a day just working on the new logo projects that continually pop up…but if t-shirt design or web design tickle your fancy, there are lots of those to work on as well. (I would highly recommend subscribing to crowdSpring’s RSS feed to stay updated on new projects, as there website is usually pretty slow)

• 99designs - Definitely the better looking of the two, 99designs seems to attract more professional level designers…so the competition is usually pretty tough. On the other hand, 99designs also seems to attract more projects so there are lots of clients to choose from. 99designs recently took over Sitepoint’s crowdsourcing so there is no shortage of activity there.

On both of these sites, a buyer will list a project with his/her instructions and requirements along with any supporting artwork that you might need. On every project I’ve ever been involved in, the buyer has to prepay before they can post a project so you don’t have to worry about getting paid. It’s 100% free for designers so HAPPY HUNTING!

If you know of any similar sites that I’ve missed, please let me know.