Aviatrix Design

Content Design & Infographics

Injury Prevention Centre

The U of A’s Injury Prevention Centre (IPC) wanted to present their bullet list of highlights in an interesting way, and have the piece work as a friendly intro to the organization. It was intended for the website, but they also wanted a convenient print format.

Using a sketch, I pitched a way of organizing the content so it could fit on one double-sided sheet — super easy to print off if they wanted. I sometimes show rough sketches beforehand; for complicated layouts, this lets the client and I agree on an overall plan before I spend hours building the polished version.

Brochure Design

When I get a brochure gig, it’s an exciting technical and narrative challenge. Gatefold brochures are especially great for telling a story, which is what I proposed for the University of Alberta’s Injury Prevention Centre. Their team excels at creating strong, clear messages and it was fun to make them visual.

T-Shirt Logo Design

Pocket logos! I worked with Curitus.org to create some typographical logo designs for The Joyful Project t-shirt company. The idea was to make a compact little design for the shirt pocket area, featuring their name and tagline. The Joyful Project then put the logos to a vote on their social media — this yellow design was the winner!

Screenprinted Drawstring Bag

For Edmonton’s Lindy Harvest dance workshop we made these one-colour drawstring bag designs. They’re perfect for dancers to tote their shoes around!

Ad Campaign Design

In this ad for Beaumont Credit Union, we opted for some hand-drawn doodles to create a youthful look. BCU was looking to advertise its no-fee student bank account, which is meant to help young people get started on their financial future. As they look out at the hand drawn landscape, each hiker sees a different “adventure” — post-secondary, moving out, buying a car, travel, etc. We felt that illustration helped convey the idea of dreaming about the future. It was a very collaborative process and I love how it turned out!

Postcard and Event Promo Design

Starfox! This is the design for Lindy Harvest, a dance workshop hosted by Sugar Swing. The playful fox constellation is another take on the event’s old country almanac theme.

Dance Logo Design

A recent logo design for Masani, who specializes in African dance forms. Her classes are truly one of a kind in Edmonton, sometimes even featuring live drummers! We wanted a design that represented dance but could also work with other aspects of her business — which includes dance as therapy for kids and adults. The goal with this design was to create a feeling of movement and flow (and I snuck the letter “M” in there too). The feet are different sizes to suggest two different people standing side by side; as a consultant and teacher, Masani takes her clients on a journey. Find her teaching @sugarswing or on Facebook @masaniconsultingservices.

Logo and Graphics for Film

Excited for Productions Loft’s release of How to be French en Alberta: North! It’s a French language series of documentary shorts exploring the rich cultural history and unique lifestyle of Franco Albertans. I got to help out behind the scenes with the logo design plus some promotional graphics. For this series, co-producers and directors Steve Jodoin and Marie-France Guerrette wanted a modern, minimalist, but colourful look to convey the diverse stories being showcased. Visit www.howtobefrench.ca to watch.

Tourism Magazine Design & Layout

Fresh off the press! Devon’s new Visitor Guide is in the bag, and it was a real big job. My editor Pat wrote all the content, and I did design and layout for the whole book. This tourism guide showcases hidden gems and attractions in and around town. They let me do a fun illustration overlaying the cover image, plus experiment with some unconventional layouts! But we know it’s the happy doggos that really sell this piece.

Why are logo prices so insane?

People looking to get a logo designed will make this frustrating discovery: they can get a logo for $5, $500, $10,000, or anything in between. If you’re trying to launch a new business or brand, this is maddening. What’s a fair price? Why the crazy price range?

I’ll break down what’s happening at each pricing tier. But in short:

1) At the higher end, you’re getting extra services bundled in. 2) At the lower end, the price range is because graphic design is hard to succeed in, but very easy to dabble in. This creates a huge pool of artists to choose from, which means a wide spectrum of skill levels. And a very competitive industry!

What you’re getting for different logo prices, very generally speaking:

~$5-$30 — I mean, how motivated would you be if you were earning a few dollars an hour? At best you get a logo with no effort put in. But you’re more likely to get someone else’s logo in a different colour. Plagiarism is rampant, and the digital files provided are barely usable.

~$50-$100 — You’re likely working with a hobbyist or amateur with no commercial experience. Not necessarily a bad thing! It might work out, but it’s a big gamble. They probably won’t have the background that would help them do the job efficiently or strategically.

~$500-$1000 — Expect to pay somewhere in this price range for a good logo. An important thing that’s happening here is research: the designer takes time to learn about your company, vision, and preferences. On the high end of this range you might be getting multiple concepts to pick from, or a tagline included, or some other extra. Also, at this price range, you’re working with someone who has real world experience with both design and customer service; you’re making a safe bet and the designer will deliver exactly what you want.

~$1000-5000 — You’re getting a more robust branding package, plus some other services. So in addition to a bunch of logo concepts, you’ll probably get a mood board that captures the aesthetic of your brand beyond the logo (colour schemes, fonts, and photos supporting the feeling of the brand, like this), mockups of the logo in action (photoshopped onto t-shirts, billboards, etc.), and a branding style guide. On the high end you’ll probably get additional marketing materials like business cards, a simple template website, or a brochure. Freelancers are perfect for this and the previous tier, as they have the flexibility to scale to your specific budget and needs.

~$10,000, $50,000 and beyond — With high end logo design you’re getting an entire team of marketers and designers working on your brand and your marketing in general. The research is extremely thorough, often involving focus groups and engagement with the client’s staff. Beyond a logo and visuals, the team might be coming up with the company name, designing products, creating an advertising campaign, making a communication plan, and generally figuring out your marketing strategy for the forseeable future. The pricing goes “and beyond” because the team and scope of work can be any size — such that big brands like Coke and Apple have projects costing millions.

Your logo is the face of your business. Even if you don’t need all the frills, it’s worth spending more to get it right!

“What Graphic Design Program Should I Get?”

I read an article where a hairdresser answered a question she always got: “Any tips for cutting my own hair?” Her response was a two-parter. Part one: Don’t ever. Part two: You’ll probably try it anyway, so here are some tips for avoiding disaster as much as possible.

Creatives get asked a similar question. Sometimes resourceful people need graphic design on a budget, so they consider doing it themselves. Snarky cartoon aside, I totally get it. After looking at the professional design programs out there – usually Adobe Creative suite – they say to me, “I want to design my own stuff. Which Adobe program should I get?”

Part 1

My first and best piece of advice is that you weigh the pros and cons…and probably not make that purchase. For folks who don’t do graphic design as a career, or don’t love it as a hobby, investing in pro tools is usually a waste of time and money.

Time more than anything: the learning curve on these programs is very steep. Instead of cutting your own hair, you’ll be pulling it out. For context, design students at tech schools spend hundreds of hours learning these programs so they can be useful enough for an entry-level design job. If you’re the type who enjoys a learning challenge, then try a free, open-source design program like GIMP or Scribus and see how it goes.

As for money, pro tools are pricey! There’s a monthly subscription of $80 USD, and $600 USD for the annual plan.

Tally up the money plus the hours and days you think it will take to learn the software and create something serviceable. Unless you have nothing but time, and/or you enjoy this kind of tinkering (which some people might!) you’ll probably be way happier paying a freelancer to make you something perfect and painless. I am biased, but this isn’t a sneaky bid for your business. The job is more complicated than it looks; it’s seldom worth attempting to learn someone’s trade in a week – whether it’s welding, haircutting, or graphic design – just to save some money.

Part 2

Now for my follow-up answer: If you’re going to try it anyway…here’s some other advice.

In most cases you can’t get away with picking one program. Adobe is crafty and designed each Creative Suite program with an area of specialization. Each excels at one thing, and is bad enough at other things that you’re forced to get the other programs. Anyone looking to do their own graphic design, professionals and laypeople alike, will need The Big Three: Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator.

Photoshop: Photoshop is mostly meant for editing or enhancing images, such as photos or scanned drawings. Some artists use this program for digital painting, making the art from scratch right in the program. Most people import graphics they made in another medium and enhance them here. Photoshop is not meant for laying out text! Neither can it prepare layouts for printing. Please don’t use Photoshop to make business cards.

InDesign: The name does not give it away: InDesign is a layout program intended for any project that involves text plus images. Brochures, flyers, business cards, magazines, etc. Its features are for making large amounts of text look nice, helping text and pictures coexist, and preparing documents for print. It’s known for handling print projects, but is used for documents that get displayed online as well.

Illustrator: This is where you make graphics that will be part of a composition in Photoshop or layout in InDesign. It’s another place to make digital art from scratch. In this case, Illustrator shines at making “vector” graphics – a kind of graphic that can be blown up to any size and not become blurry, like a photo does. Logos are made in Illustrator, along with diagrams, clipart, and of course, illustrations. It can handle text better than Photoshop, but is still bad for layout.

It is technically possible to do an entire design project in one program. This is what my clients have tried in order to save money. It is incredibly time-consuming, because you are missing crucial features that make it easier to complete the design. Adobe doesn’t intend for any program to be a one-stop shop. They want their money!

If you really want to test drive graphic design, subscribe to all three programs for best results. But think it through before you jump in! It’s probably better and cheaper to hire a pro.

This article previously ran.