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I am starting a T shirt biz in the fishing industry and I am in need of some advice on the logo. I have a semi mentor/competitor that is giving me advice and I don't doubt that it is great advice.
We are in the midst of coming up with ideas for our logo, and once we get an idea, we have a friend (free) that said he will help us. My fear comes from my mentor, who is saying that if we are not going with a "Logo only" designer then we are wasting our time. He said that if we ever want to embroider then we will more than likely end up redoing our logo with a "logo guy" and spending around $500.00 at least. Is this right? The guy who is doing it for free doesn't design logos for a living, but he said he is familliar with vectorization and such. Anyone have advice on logos? Our logo will be pretty simple.
if you want to use the logo for embroidery...a vector image is not enough...the image must be digitized after than..perhaps that is what your 'mentor' meant...in any case, I would take the freebie for now and worry about digitizing later
I tend to agree with your mentor. A good designer will create a logo that can be used on various marketing materials without major modification. I have a customer who's logo is about 20,000 stitches and is ridiculously expensive to embroider. A good designer would have never of done that. Plus your logo is the first thing that your customers will see. Many will judge you just on the look of your logo. I personally think it's best to spend the money and work with a good designer who understands embroidery, screen printing, etc. from the start (if your serious about being in business).
I was looking on the web, and even some of the big places that do embroidery charge a small fee, seems like most were charging an extra $15 or so on top of the embroidery. Hopefully this helps, I seen some sites that also showed Illustrator is coming out with an embroidery plugin that can change digitize vectors..
__________________ INTEGRAL APPAREL - "Color outside the lines" Spawned Ware: :Malicious Intent:: Spring/Summer Line
The guy that designed my logo is a web designer, and also designs his own t-shirts. All you have to do is tell your designer friend that you want something without an extreme amount of fine detail. It's not that big of a deal.
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Hard labor kills, make t-shirts instead.
''scpromos'' is giving you good advice. Most Graphic Designers don't have any concept of what is involved with reproducing the logos they create. Business cards, banners, brochures, websites, t-shirts, all need your logo and the more complicated, the more money it takes. (generally) They don't have to pay for it, they just want to create cool logos. Find someone who understands marketing or better yet, write down the first five corporate logos you can picture in your mind. i bet most of them are simple 1 or 2 color logos. IBM, NIKE, HP, SEARS, etc. Your t-shirt designs don't have to be simple, but your logo should.
Thanks everyone! I really appreciate the advice. We are trying to go simple with the logo anyways because I think it is marketing 101 to have a simple logo that is recognizable. Its just tough to come up with one! If it is really simple, would you still get a pro to do it at 1st? I am thinking so, but not sure if it's necessary yet?
Thanks everyone! I really appreciate the advice. We are trying to go simple with the logo anyways because I think it is marketing 101 to have a simple logo that is recognizable. Its just tough to come up with one! If it is really simple, would you still get a pro to do it at 1st? I am thinking so, but not sure if it's necessary yet?
hey its always good to make one yourself, just to get an idea like a blueprint.. u dont have to be a designer.. you can use a computer or just a marker. try to do some designs of what you are looking for and then you will have your logo idea
''scpromos'' is giving you good advice. Most Graphic Designers don't have any concept of what is involved with reproducing the logos they create. Business cards, banners, brochures, websites, t-shirts, all need your logo and the more complicated, the more money it takes. (generally) They don't have to pay for it, they just want to create cool logos. Find someone who understands marketing or better yet, write down the first five corporate logos you can picture in your mind. i bet most of them are simple 1 or 2 color logos. IBM, NIKE, HP, SEARS, etc. Your t-shirt designs don't have to be simple, but your logo should.
Just one guys thoughts.
This is the best advice.. I can tell you I work with companies logos all day long.. and alot of designers have no idea what a logo really is..
You need a design that is basically simple but memorable that can lend itself to many types of print..
without being so complex that it cant be vectorized.
My worse night mares at work is when i have to convince a client that no they dont want for example a queen holding a basket with cookies and icecream in it for a logo..lol
This is the best advice.. I can tell you I work with companies logos all day long.. and alot of designers have no idea what a logo really is..
You need a design that is basically simple but memorable that can lend itself to many types of print..
without being so complex that it cant be vectorized.
My worse night mares at work is when i have to convince a client that no they dont want for example a queen holding a basket with cookies and icecream in it for a logo..lol
yeah lol, todays modern logos are more likre a simple text with a little twist to it, thats it, simple and nice
It took us almost 6 years to settle on our logo....it had to have impact.....be visible.....simple...yet complex....and easily adaptable to what we would need from it....it can be used as a whole....or broken into different elements....our artist did an outstanding job of gettin right the first time......what do you think?
__________________ The Shirt Shak-TSS Grafx-TSS Sporting Goods...Gettin it done since 2001
It took us almost 6 years to settle on our logo....it had to have impact.....be visible.....simple...yet complex....and easily adaptable to what we would need from it....it can be used as a whole....or broken into different elements....our artist did an outstanding job of gettin right the first time......what do you think?
You're off to a good start, Vince. Logos should be simple. Have you come-up with any ideas yet? Has your "free" friend come-up with any ideas?
Ask your friend what they're thinking. If they come up with something like mystysue mentioned earlier ("I'm thinking about a fish holding a basket of cookies...), then you know that's not the person to work with.
new logo fears!!!!!!! 
that is giving me advice and I don't doubt that it is great advice. 
