Hi Everybody,
We're having a "Gothic Ball" at the local dance club this weekend. I'm friends with the people organizing it. They needed a banner for the event. I told them I'd "donate" (I hate the phrase "do it for free") a banner in return for the "shameless plug" of mentioning where the banner came from.
I'm just starting out and trying to get my name out there.
I took the original event flyer and figured out what fonts they used and reproduced them on the banner. I found clip art of a gargoyle and vectorized it. The banner ended up being 2'x6' once I layed things out.
Attached are files of the original event flyer and the banner design. I can upload a photo fo the actuall banner this weekend.
Opinions?
I think your banner looks great. As it is a donation I can't see why you couldn't put your promo info on it too.
I have just started doing banners also & would like to know if others put their website, business name on all their banners. (whether donations or not)
Thanks!
I was going to put my URL on the bottom of the banner, but was asked not to. I figured having it mentioned during the even would be better for business...
It's going to be dark.. how many people would see 3/4" lettering on the bottom of a banner hung on a wall???
I find "word of mouth" seems to go further...
I think your banner looks great. As it is a donation I can't see why you couldn't put your promo info on it too.
I have just started doing banners also & would like to know if others put their website, business name on all their banners. (whether donations or not)
Lar
We do not put our web address or shop name on the front of any banners, or signs..
the only time we did it was for a golf tourny and we put our name really small in the artwork on the golf tee signs.. That was because they asked us to..
But we do make stickers on our versacamm that go on the back of everything we make..
The name on the front of somthing.. mite actually lose you business.. if people saw it.. and said.. Hmm I like the banner but i dont want the name of who made it on the front..
Or.. could cause you to get more people looking for freebies.... We have a standard rule.. We NEVER donate signs or banners..
Once you do one and word gets out.. others will want it free and get offended when they cant have .
Your right Sue, If you donate to all you make no money and what does "JB" always say " PROFIT IS NOT A DIRTY WORD" . I can't stress this enough. .... JB
Well the only people who know it's a freebie are the people organizing the event. There will be no mention of me doing it for free... just that I did the banner...
Like Sue said, I will be putting a sticker on the back of the banner so people will know I did it.
No... profit isn't a dirty word, but I find people want to see what you can do before they want to give you their money.
I look at this as a way to showcase my product/work.
I ALWAYS wear a t-shirt I made to the club normally... and people ALWAYS ask where I got the shirt from...
thats cool lou..
and my response was more along the lines or putting your name on the front and letting people know you donated.
back to the matter at hand..
how are you producing the banner..??
Is it gonna be printed or layed vinyl..
and what size is it..
The one suggestion design wise i would do.. is to see if you could mabe bring the gargoles all the way to the side.. or something .. when you put clip art on banners.. if you just sit it there not touching anything.. it tends to look clip arty.. instead of being designed.. ( i hope you know what im trying to say.)
Other than that.. great effort and the banner looks nice..
Im sure you will get some business.
Lou,I think you made a sound investment in advertisement. I just want readers to know if you give away your product,your giving away your income. If a product cast you $20 and you retail it or $40 dollars and you donate it, you have given away $20 dollars in product and $40 in sales . This is a way to go broke quick. ..... JB
When I used to work at a sign shop the owner would do a standard 10% discount for charities and non-profits. It's a good way to give a little and not go broke. He also did sponsor some events with free signs but usually at very big events where a lot of business owners would be attending, people who would be likely to become customers.
I like the banners, but your white font on the 1st banner is too hard to read. I would use something more visible and perhaps make the gargoyles gray so they don't compete with the text so much.
For the 2nd banner, ditto with the text, try to find some fonts that are more readable. I know it will be more readable in a larger size but it's still making it look cluttered.
The "first banner" with the gargoyles.. is the banner I made... the "second" banner isn't a banner. It's the flyer that was made up for the event. Sorry for the confusion... I thought it would be cool to reproduce the fonts used on the original banner.
The banner was done in cut vinyl. A black 2 foot by 6 foot blank. I was going to do the gargoyles in gray, but decided on the white. The brightness of the white and the red actually make the vinyl standout against the black.
Biggest thing.. it took me about an hour and $20 in material to do a simple banner, they like it (the important part), it was good practice, and it get my name out there.
Sure... I'm "giving away" a sale... but I'm not making anything now... If I get business out of it... all is well...
Hi Everybody,
We're having a "Gothic Ball" at the local dance club this weekend. I'm friends with the people organizing it. They needed a banner for the event. I told them I'd "donate" (I hate the phrase "do it for free") a banner in return for the "shameless plug" of mentioning where the banner came from.
I'm just starting out and trying to get my name out there.
I took the original event flyer and figured out what fonts they used and reproduced them on the banner. I found clip art of a gargoyle and vectorized it. The banner ended up being 2'x6' once I layed things out.
Attached are files of the original event flyer and the banner design. I can upload a photo fo the actuall banner this weekend.
Opinions?
Lou,
The banner looks nice. If it was me I would had turned the two bottom gargoles to where their back's are on the bottom of the banner or maybe put 2 tail to tail in the corners.
I really like both pieces. As mentioned, the fonts on the flyer are hard to read, but I think that's par for the genre... it's a Gothic ball, so they def. need to look Gothic.
Like the others, I'm not too sure about the gargoyles on the banner, but I don't think they detract from the overall feel.
What font is the red type on the banner?
Wish I could attend... I bet you get some pretty wild characters to come to something like this in LI.
We do not put our web address or shop name on the front of any banners, or signs..
the only time we did it was for a golf tourny and we put our name really small in the artwork on the golf tee signs.. That was because they asked us to..
But we do make stickers on our versacamm that go on the back of everything we make..
The name on the front of somthing.. mite actually lose you business.. if people saw it.. and said.. Hmm I like the banner but i dont want the name of who made it on the front..
Or.. could cause you to get more people looking for freebies.... We have a standard rule.. We NEVER donate signs or banners..
Once you do one and word gets out.. others will want it free and get offended when they cant have .
You are absolutely right. The back is the way to go. I love the sticker idea. I just started making banners with a versacamm so that is what I will be doing now also.
I like your banner. Will this be cut vinyl? If you are planning on printing it, Id add something around the red lettering to make it pop off the black a bit better. If you have some red reflective that would work awesome if you are doing cut vinyl.
I dont see anything wrong with putting your info on the front of the banner. Especially if it is donated.......you could always put.....Donated by:
We have done a couple "donated" banners. Each banner was for a very good customer who has spent quite a bit with us in the past. One banner inparticular was for a park restoration for the city, several companies had donated their time for the restoration.
We wont do banners for folks who just walk in off the street and we dont know anything about them. It has to be from someone we have already established a relationship with. The fact that they have been good customers always helps their cause.
Opinions on banner design... 
If I get business out of it... all is well...
