Creative Hustle and Flow

I can appreciate creativity in everything. It's everywhere, especially here in the Big Apple. I can sit and admire a well conceived campaign in a subway car, or take in the myriad of outdoor sculptures that adorn many a Manhattan building entrance, appreciate excellent architectural styles from Harlem to the Bowery and beyond, check out galleries, cuisine and museums, sidewalk exhibits, the list goes on. It's just wonderful to just sit somewhere and absorb all the buzzing culture and rhythm that permeates this place. I feel as though I live and breathe it from dusk til' dawn.

But mostly, I like to doodle and lose myself with great books on design or art or anything that stimulates ye olde senses. When I take a bike ride, walk or drive I can't help but pick a scenic route...nature's beauty is the best and I'm always motivated when I'm somewhere with nice atmosphere. When I'm lounging at home I lose myself in Home and Garden channels. Can't get enough of good interior design. I often enjoy cooking a good meal or take photographs (although developing them is another matter). I don't take up an instrument like I used to, but I certainly appreciate a good beat. And I'll give whatever craft that catches my fancy a shot at least once. Lately for example I've been "gettin' knitty wit it." Made a pretty neat bag after a slew of scarves.

I also collect things. I have a massive comic book collection, for example. And I like to write. That's pretty obvious for those who know how often I support my forum habit as well as blog.

A stimulating workspace is also key. I've got a few posters and nice or meaningful chatchkas that adorn my desk (among the clutter, which is why I'm not posting an image of it...oh, the "humanity"). For example, Crayola™ recently re-released a series of "vintage" 64 color crayola boxes. I kept one on top of my DVD drive, behind the little ceramic Met™ bag which has one of my Google Guys™ dangling from the strap (remind me to post a "how-to" on that one day).

So that's just a few ways on how I draw upon the creativity around me to stimulate my own without the need for a tropical getaway or participating in a cultural event. I see it just by taking a minute to stop and take in my immediate surroundings.

Who to Be, or Who Not to Be...That is the Question

The topic of naming one's independent (freelance) business has come up quite a few times during my forum romps lately. It usually unfolds like this: a grad or in-house designer wishes to branch out on their own and are seeking sources of inspiration by asking folks who are already entrepreneurs on how they decided on their business names. I thought I'd journal my own process here because a name...though not the most important factor in one's business, bears as much thoughtful "tailored" consideration as designing the identity itself. It should to some degree be a reflection of one's aspiration, motivation or personality as well as service. That said, I considered several factors:

1. Who do I want to woo? If I came up with a name that's too cute, kitschy or quirky, it might scare off corporate prospects because it didn't exude enough professionalism. If I decided on a name that was too stale, it would rub against the creative grain. I knew I couldn't appeal to everybody, but I did want to toss as wide a net as possible. That said, I decided that "clever" was going to be the operative word.

2. I wanted a name that would come up high in any alphabetized directory listing. My former incarnation of "Seahorse Productions" left me way too low—it was doubtful that any prospect looking for a designer wouldn't find someone else before reaching the "S" listings. I wanted a name that was high up enough to come up (hopefully) in the first page of any given listing.

3. I didn't want to use my own name. Why? Partly because I thought "Dagmar Designs" or some such name was too silly sounding to even consider, partly because it wasn't creative sounding enough to satisfy me and because I also wanted a name that was versatile enough to grow with my business' goals.

4. The domain had to be available. Just a given these days that a dot com denotes professionalism more than any of the others. Either way I did buy the dot net as well. Incidently, that's one reason why I settled on Archetype Design Studio..."Archetype" was bought by a broker and I didn't want the dot net. I also thought it was more descriptive of my services (see 5).

5. It had to be understood what I did for a living to a degree. I can't tell you how many times I had to explain my services with my former, more vague incarnation. Just felt it did more harm than good for enticing any "window shoppers," aka potential clients.

So with all that in mind, I searched dictionaries and domain availability. I finally settled on "Archetype" because it worked on so many levels for me. "Type" implied my niche of design to a degree and "Arche" can be easily interpreted as "Architect" therefore "Architect of Type" (many who are familiar with design jargon have told me that they also refer "type" as a shortened form of "typography"). What really sold the deal for me was the actual meaning of archetype (the original pattern or model of which all things of the same type are representations or copies : prototype; also : a perfect example) which vibed quite well with my personal creative ambitions.

Here are some examples of clever and distinct name solutions within our industry. I tried to show a nice variety of typographic and pictorial graphic solutions.

I wanted to add that for Jeff Fisher's Logomotives, (lucky for us) he wrote about the evolution of his own identity not too long ago. It's worth including a link. I would also be remiss if I didn't mention that a good old fashioned google search would probably yield volumes on the topic.

Everyone has their own personal criteria for settling on a name—as such, there is no standard formula. So long as the name is one that in some way reflects not only you as a designer, but also does it in a way that will generate interest from the target market, as they say, "let it flow."

All design identities are copyrighted by their respective individual authors.
William Shakespeare's Identity Crisis cartoon by Dagmar Jeffrey. All rights reserved.

Forum Anecdotal Nuggets—How to Estimate Time Well Spent

I very recently came across a thread from someone who was inquiring how much she should charge for logo design/stationery package. Upon reading some suggestions in calculating an accurate method for as she put it, "a one-word mark" she decided that coming up with a price is "up to interpretation" and deadpanned, "guess I'll have to figure it out..."

Arriving at an estimate is not quite as difficult nor "open" to interpretation as one would think.

I told her to think of it in this way. If two people were both working on the same project, it's doubtful that both would complete it simultaneously, or even close. One might be faster, or vice versa.

Another thing to consider is region. Cost of living in one person's region may not be the same as the cost of living in another's. So if in response to her query I were to suggest, "Charge him roughly $10,000.USD for the logo" some folks may find that difficult to comprehend why so steep. Meanwhile here in my home town it just might even be considered a low figure.

So in that respect, that's where the "relative" comes in.

Easiest way to arrive at an estimate is to base your calculations on your hourly rate. How long will it take you design a one word mark? That includes how many concepts you plan to ultimately present to the client, how many revisions allowed thereafter, perhaps even including a "redo" if he/she doesn't like what you've presented...see? These things start to add up in valuable time and effort. No matter what anyone will tell you, the intangible creative process is often more valuable than the final digital execution—anyone with a computer, some "acquired" software and a couple of manuals can learn to use the programs to create, but to develop a mark that meets your clients promotional criteria and is effective in representing and stimulating interest in his business? Priceless.

So once you've factored how many hours you'll relatively spend researching and brainstorming...let's hypothetically say one week (40 hours in a regular work week) to research, brainstorm and sketch out three to five nearly finished good concepts.

Then after the initial concept presentation, let's suppose the client decides that he/she likes two—albeit with a few revisions—plus a third (only he/she didn't like the other ideas, meaning that you will create a completely new one based on the exchange of ideas during the meeting). P.S.- it helps to create an informative brief—basically a client questionnaire that will give you some insight on the client's target demographic, likes, dislikes, details on the business location/market, style, favorite color, etc. that you can use as a guide as you tailor the mark. Lets say all of this will take you another 10 hours or so.

This is when you can turn on the computer and start digitally rendering in black and white (not greyscale) your approved concepts. Figure that you end up spending another 12 hours, give or take (always best to err on the side of caution and not calculate your minimum time, because you will end up going over at some point for whatever the reason). After the second client presentation, he/she accepts one for final development. After a few more tweaks here and there, that is. Applying color palette variations and revising "tweaks," say 4 hours. Include the itemized expense of proofs and a spec sheet, another fifty bucks. Then finally when the client is happy, signs off on the proofs (one copy for your records, another for the client's) you burn a high resolution pdf disk of the spec sheet (that's "specifications" not "speculative," which is "s-p-e-c" bad, btw). Include that price as well (Whatever it costs for you to buy and burn a cd for him as an itemized expense) and voila.

So what have we got in this particular little hypothetical process for logo design from start to finish? 66 hours total plus a couple of itemized bills? Now let's suppose that your hourly rate is $50.USD per hour (depending on your region, cost of living, etc. this could be seen as a pretty low rate, but it's just an example). That would come out to $3,300.USD plus $45.USD bucks for itemized bills, $3,345.00USD, plus a 10% mark up (again, I'm erring on the exceedingly modest side) $3679.50USD plus about 2X that for the sale of rights to the client (because the design is yours until you transfer rights in a transaction...or give them away which isn't exactly a common "business" practice, but I digress). Suppose that this fictional client is a "mom and pop." That comes out to $7,359.USD total. If the client is in a somewhat better, good earning business with 5+ years, mark it up to 3X your total cost instead for a total of about 11,038.50USD.

As you can see, there is a lot to factor in (there are probably steps which I have missed as well). And when the client gasps in alarm at the ticket price (because they almost always seem to), the non-business designer's first inclination is to lowball themselves. I know, I've been there. But as you can see, even using very modest figures, the time is not ill calculated or drawn form thin air. And as I said, chances are your time will end up exceeding your estimate depending on your client relationship and how many revisions they will end up making during the course of it's development. These reasons and more are why logo design is the most lucrative niche in the creative industry.

And this of course, didn't even include the business card and stationery system design, which is far easier to calculate and normally far more inexpensive by comparison. If you're working out a package, I'd probably try to work in any "deals" here rather than the logo design.

PS- Remember to work with a contract that includes "kill fees" as well as details on how many revisions, comps, etc. to allow. Work without one at your own peril, even if it's for a friend or relative.

Hope this little scenario helped organize what's in store and how to somewhat price accordingly a bit. Another forum frolicker offered some wonderful resources from folks who have been there and back, which I'll post next time.

"Dollar Sign Question" image source: Vinfolio
"Calculating" image source: Piper Report