You Got Some Kinda Problem?

Finding Inspiration and Solving Problems

If you’re like most people, you’ve got problems. Some are big, some are small, but everyone’s got ’em. You’ve heard it said too, “If you don’t have problems, it’s because you’re dead.” So basically, problems are unavoidable.

“Every problem has in it the seeds of its own solution. If you don’t have any problems, you don’t get any seeds.” – Norman Vincent Peale (1898 – 1993), American Author

How to Find a Solution (Easy Way)
While I’m not going to say I have the solutions to even my own myriad problems, what I have found to be the case is that I often find inspiration for solutions while concentrating on things not related to the problem. In my work as a graphic designer, the answer to each individual customer’s visual presentation is the challenge. Visual representation of each client’s identity or message in a way that’s suitable to their personality, and attractive and useful to their customers can be taxing. It’s often when I’m not thinking about what to do with Client X’s project that I run across something that inspires the solution.

“Ideas may also grow out of the problem itself, which in turn becomes part of the solution.” – Paul Rand (1914 – 1996), American Graphic Designer

Sometimes solutions can come from unexpected sources. Movies, museum exhibits, and especially book stores and the public library are places I find the keys to visual solutions.

If you need help with any visual or graphics problems, come see us at AlphaGraphics Providence. Then try my method on other problems you’re facing. See a movie, visit a museum, or wander through the library. You might be surprised to find that a change of context inspires an unexpected solution.

3 Reasons to Design a Professional Logo

by Amy Bowen

Even if your business isn’t show business, you still want to look clever. Or reliable, or fancy, or fast, or tasty… or whatever it is that is your business stands for, you want your logo to communicate that.

At AlphaGraphics, we help a lot of brand new businesses with logo development and their marketing package: business cards, letterhead design and envelope design, basic brochures and flyers. Nearly every businesses need a variety of materials to convey the “Call us when you need [insert your product or service here]!” We also work with a lot of businesses that never really created a formal logo or brand when they started, and so a number of business owners come to us for help well after their grand opening.

The following are 3 really good reasons to have AlphaGraphics’ professional graphic designers create your logo.

Reason #1: Keep Your Friends/Family

Make sure all of your Thanksgiving dinners are this idyllic. Don’t let family members design your logo!

While it might be tempting to try to design your logo and business identity on the cheap, asking your nephew to design your logo and flyers might not be the great idea it seemed like at first. If you come in to AlphaGraphics for professional logo design, you will save yourself from the huge potential for family discord. Don’t forget–this can last for years! If you work with us, you won’t have to hear your sister mentioning “the logo episode” every Thanksgiving. Nor will you have to endure the “ugly factor” applied to your new business identity because you’re too nice to really tell your nephew (or whoever it is who tries to help you) the truth.

Reason #2: Get it Done Right
Every kind of business has its special geeky, in-the-know abbreviations and acronyms. You don’t have to know what a PMS color is, necessarily, but you will want to know why it’s better to design your logo with one. Or without one. We can explain why it can save you tons of hassle and expense later when you start with a logo design that will color-separate properly.

Reason #3: Posterity
Until you make your millions, you’re going to have to get up and get to work for every day. As long as you’re going to be there, you should have a logo you like and that you’re happy to gaze at day after day. It goes on your web site, letterhead, business cards, signs and banners, T-shirts and business forms. You will want to love your logo. Be sure to work with professionals like the ones you’ll find at AlphaGraphics and every time you see your logo, you’ll be happy you did.

No Really, What Do You Think of Me?

Well-Known World Brand Logos and Logotypes

Brand Development
In the communications business, we talk a lot about brands. Much goes into brand development, and the conversation about developing a brand can be a long one. As an “insider,” you as business owner or employee-agent of your company, impact everything that others think of as your brand: the product you provide, the service associated with what you sell, your perceived value, and your reputation.

Your Company in Print and Online
Only part of your brand perception is what your brand looks like. At AlphaGraphics in Providence, this is the part we normally focus on in our role as marketers: your logo, your color scheme, fonts you use, the type of photo images, how people perceive your online presence, how they interact with you.

Your Brand, Your Graphics
When it comes to your brand, maintaining consistency is paramount. Someone at your company should be in charge of keeping your brand elements consistent; always recognizable. You use the same logo in the same color every time, in the type of layout that people recognize as belonging to you. This is a simple definition of your brand identity’s application.

The idea is that when someone sees your logo or brochures or signage, they immediately think of you: your quality, your service, your reputation.

Don’t Go Changin’

The Sun Maid Raisins girl has been re-designed carefully over the years so that the branding stays consistent but still looks modern as times change.

What you don’t want to do is haphazardly change your logo’s color, try a different font, or make the elements of your design completely different and unrecognizable. Sometimes it’s appropriate to redesign your logo, or realign the graphic elements that make up your brand. If you have always been consistent in the past, you will want to tread carefully with your redesign so you don’t confuse your loyal customers. Too drastic of a change can literally cause upset in your customers and in some cases can send them running. That doesn’t mean you should never update your look, but it’s important to keep in mind that your customers may have a deeper loyalty to you and your brand than you realized, so any updates should be made with this in mind.

Ahh, Love!
Imagine logos you know well. When you see the Ford logo you think one thing, you see the Mercedes Benz logo, you think of another. It happens almost automatically, and it happens with any kind of brand that has a lot of exposure. Dairy Queen, Tide, Wonder Bread… what do you think of? Bank of America… what do you think of now?

It All Comes Down to Experience

Perception of a brand is tied to the way it operates.

Brand perception is determined by the collective of what your customers’ actual experiences are with you and your product. If you claim to be on time, deliver as promised, and provide a fair exchange, people will be watching to see if it’s true. No doubt there are brands you know well wherein the company behind the brand is repellent to you. BP (British Petroleum) is a good example of a very consistent brand that many people find exceptionally distasteful.

What’s Good for Them is Good for You
Brand perception develops over time and is subject to many levels of evaluation. This is true whether you run a restaurant, a shoe repair shop, a contracting business or an industrial manufacturing facility. If you are working hard to maintain your business as an attractive brand, you will want to maintain your logo and all of your brand elements so that when people see your image out in public, they will immediately think of the great experience they’ve had, or the other good things they associate with you.

Am I Your Type?

At both of our AlphaGraphics locations, Waltham, Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island, we design a lot of logos. Our design staff has created hundreds of logos over the last  10 years. Some logos highlight graphic shapes or renderings, and some are lettering only. There is a tremendous amount of variation, and the single biggest contributor to a logo’s personality–even more than graphics–is typography.

A logo can be just about anything, but it’s generally helpful if it contains the name of a business. Consider Nike, one of the most well-known brands. Their typeface is a part of their logo. However, Mercedes need only use their circle with three intersecting lines, and you know exactly what brand that is. Generally for small businesses, you should include your actual name in your logo–at least until your business becomes a household name.

When designing your logo then, you will likely want a graphic and your company name. Logos that are words-only are perfectly acceptable too. There are thousands of examples of word-only logos. What’s important to keep in mind in designing a logo, whether you have a graphic image with your company name or just the company name, there’s nothing more revealing about you than the typeface used in your logo.

Some people call them fonts. Some call them typefaces, but in any case, the personality of your brand is revealed by the personality of its font. All fonts were designed at a particular point in time or for a specific purpose, and they all bring their particular baggage along with them wherever they appear.

What you might have thought were just letters actually have a lot more to say than you may realize. This is obvious in some faces more than others, and if you consider the examples, you see how different the personality of each logotype is.

If you didn’t know what kind of business each of these logos was for, what kind of business personality would you think they had?

Consider the following examples, and my gut reaction to what kind of business these would represent:
1: Fairly playful, lighthearted. Child care. Take out sandwiches.
2. Masculine, active, unrefined. Bait shop, bowling alley.
3. Formal. Tuxedo rental.
4. Exotic, Persian. Oriental rugs.
5. Ritzy, formal, special. Jewelry store, fancy restaurant, specialty clothiers.
6. Goofball. Miniature golf, playground equipment.
7. General, straightforward, kind of boring. Could be anything.
8. Outgoing, emphatic, pleasant, something to say. Hardware store, outdoor gear.
9. Geeky, digital, cutting edge. Computer store, high tech products.
10. Off-the-cuff, casual. Boating supplies, casual cafe.

When you need a logo design for a new business or you want to redesign a logo that you think needs refreshing–and many businesses of all sizes do this–you can rely on AlphaGraphics to help you find the font that reveals the personality you want your business to convey. When you need a logo design for a new business or you want to redesign a logo that you think needs refreshing–and many businesses of all sizes do this– AlphaGraphics Providence or Waltham Mass have the design expertise to help you find the font that reveals the personality you want your business to convey.

A word of caution. While the personalities on the surface may seem really straightforward, sometimes there are historical references that you may or may not pick up on. The following military-font example is very obvious, but others, to the uninitiated, may not be. Think if you met Marilyn Monroe at a party, she might just look like a pretty blonde, but if you really knew her and her history, you’d be a lot more affected than if you thought she was just another pretty face. Same thing with fonts. Some might look good to you, but they might have stories that you might not want to associate with your brand. This is where experts like us come in.

Here are even more personalities revealed by these fonts. What do you think of when you look at each one?

11. Military. Rifle range, Army surplus store.
12. Circus. Tattoo parlor, fun and old-timey bar.
13. Formal, Roman, serious, refined. Steak house, high-end anything.
14. Casual, easy-going. Crab shack, barber shop, deli.
15. Fun-loving, exuberant. Balloons and party supplies, gag gift shop.
16. Formal, refined, special. White glove services, fancy anything.
17. Eastern-European,  turn of the century. Loaded with art house zeitgeist.
18. Casual, no-worries, nautical.

19. Fun, outgoing, playful. Mexican restaurant.

If you’re about to undertake a logo design or redesign project, give us a call and we’ll help guide you through the process. You can rely on our graphic design, typography and logo design services. Of course we can set you up with business cards and all of the marketing materials where you can show off your personality!