Official Luthiers Forum!

Does anybody know or can they recommend a service for logo/graphic design? I've been messing around with ideas for awhile, but I think it's time to call a pro. I'm mostly looking for a logo to use on headstock as well as labels. What does it cost to have a logo designed? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

John

Hey John. I had a business logo done by www.logoworks.com and they do a good job. I am sure if you tell them that you are looking for a logo for headstocks that they can accomodate that. I think you can fill out a form and get an estimate. I know the business one was a few hundred.   

I have been messing around myself with logos and can't come up with anything either. Actually, if I could come up with a good name, that would be a good first step.   

Dwight Knowlton. http://www.73ideas.com

He does a great job.

_________________
Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

My best friend can do a pretty inexpensive job...he's pretty good. Tell him you are a recommendation from me. He designs websites too.
jazz graphics

_________________
Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

What you're looking for is called branding. I've been fortunate to get a
little notoriety with it, but I'm not taking on work any more so I feel like I
can say a few things without feeling schmarmy.

The idea is to take the invisible and make it visible. And you just need to
give people a notion. What I did here when I was thinking about doing
wedding photography was try to use the language of looking to say, "hey,
I'm interested in your story, not my poses." And so to simplify it, I said,
"hopefully it seems relational." http://www.languagepool.net/webs/
theophany

You want someone who will ask you about your story. Who are your
guitars. Who do they admire? Are they gritty or highbrow? Do you want
them to seem gritty or highbrow? What's your personality? They should
try to get an idea of who you are and what your guitars are.

They should ask about the scope of the project and that should factor
into the price. If it doesn't, don't work with them because they're not very
professional. They should wonder if this is a hobby with some
professionalism, or if you're hoping to make it a nationally recognized
thing.

May be I can help. Like Fank said the pro's arnt cheap for in body lables as Lance and John How about my work. as far as a log Im sure between the tow of use we could get it done mych less than the pro's will charge

Yeah. All you need is a good logo. We've been trained in what looks ok
in print from the time we were born. All you need is a good logo to place
and a decent font to fill in the rest. But the logo (I'm assuming headstock
here, too) is important not to DIY if your DIY looks like something from
Publisher.

And those 3D illustrations I saw of yours were pretty freaking awesome.

[QUOTE=James Orr] What you're looking for is called branding. I've been fortunate to get a
little notoriety with it, but I'm not taking on work any more so I feel like I
can say a few things without feeling schmarmy.

The idea is to take the invisible and make it visible. And you just need to
give people a notion. What I did here when I was thinking about doing
wedding photography was try to use the language of looking to say, "hey,
I'm interested in your story, not my poses." And so to simplify it, I said,
"hopefully it seems relational." http://www.languagepool.net/webs/
theophany

You want someone who will ask you about your story. Who are your
guitars. Who do they admire? Are they gritty or highbrow? Do you want
them to seem gritty or highbrow? What's your personality? They should
try to get an idea of who you are and what your guitars are.

They should ask about the scope of the project and that should factor
into the price. If it doesn't, don't work with them because they're not very
professional. They should wonder if this is a hobby with some
professionalism, or if you're hoping to make it a nationally recognized
thing. [/QUOTE]

To add to this...

Branding is really the art of shaping people's impressions about you. It goes FAR FAR FAR FAR FAR beyond the look of your logo, or your ads, it is everything... how you answer the phone, how you price your products, what you say about your gutiars, what OTHER PEOPLE say about your guitars, and the million other "little things" that go into shaping people's perception of you an your products.

The activity of branding is determining what you want people to think and know about you, then crafting a very consistent message in every way that leads people to that "obvious" conclusion.

I think this is the absolute most important marketing activity guitar makers should focus on... but sadly (and quite unfortunately) most see marketing as a substitute for a sales plan.. (If I only had a buck for everytime a builder told me that a particular ad, publiction or marketing venue "didn't work".... )

For products like ours brand is our A#1 goal.Brock Poling38829.8789814815

_________________
Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

thanks James