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Gender affects a Graphic Design Project – Is HE right or is SHE wrong?

Charlie B. Johnson — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 12:32:10 +0000

One thing I admire about graphic designing is that there is no dearth of talent and flair in this field. Regardless of the gender, the graphic design field is crammed with both, male and female, talented graphic designers. But socializing with a gathering of both male and female designers, I have observed some variances that relate to the human gender.

Now don’t get me wrong here, I don’t intend to entice gender discrimination. This is my personal observation as a graphic designer and I would appreciate if you would share your views on the subject as well. By discrepancies in male and female designers, I don’t mean the colors, fonts and shapes that male and female designers adopt. There are certain characterstics of both male and female designers that make them unique and distinct from each other. These personal traits have a certain influence on how they work on a graphic design project.

Characteristics of Female Graphic Designers:

Let us start by first discussing the common traits of female graphic designers and how they have an affect on graphic design projects:

1. Organized & Punctual

In my opinion, the best habitof a female graphic designer is punctuality. In comparison to male designers, females by nature are more organized and disciplined. In most cases, you will witness the workplaces of female graphic designers to be more organized and structured, unlike their male counterparts who (including myself) are generally disorganized. If you’re working with a female graphic designer, you can rest assure that your work will be done on time.

2. Equal Attention to Every Project

The next trait of a female graphic designer is that she will give equal attention to all her graphic design projects. Since females are known to practice the concept of equality more than men, they make sure to treat each of their clients equally. Irrespective of the size of the graphic design project, a female designer will not prioritize them. Instead she will give fair share of attention to all projects.

3. Tend to Panic

Speaking in relative terms, women are more emotional and finicky than men. From what I have observed, female graphic designers are a perfectionist. Their satisfaction lies in perfection and for that they can be extremely finicky about the details of the design. They can be irritating at times as they are eager to get each and every element of the assigned project. Although, it is a good practice to obtain feedback from the clients beforehand but being overly finicky can frustrate the clients at times.

4. Easy to bargain

As I mentioned in my earlier points…female graphic designers are relatively more emotional than their male counterparts. This is why they tend to have a soft corner for their clients as well. Although you may think this is a good thing to be considerate but it has its own drawbacks. A friend of mine once narrated me how she slashed her fee halfway down after her client sobbed in front of her whining about his financial problems. My point here is that female graphic designers are relatively easier to bargain with since they can be convinced emotionally.

Characteristics of Male Graphic Designers:

If you think that I was biased in describing the female graphic designers, wait till you read the male side of the story. Like I said, both genders have their pros and cons that influence a graphic design project. Here are a few traits of male graphic designers:

1. Cool-Headed:

The first thing that you will observe in male graphic designers is the level of patience and endurance. Men are relatively more cool-headed than their female counterparts when it comes to enduring client criticism. Like I said, women are more sensitive than men hence they tend to lose patience when criticized. Although this is not 100% true but I am sure many of the clients will agree with this difference.

2. Lazy Procrastinators:

This is one point that I’m sure most of the male graphic designers will agree to. You must be wondering women are also lazy, but as far as I have observed, male designers tend to postpone tasks relatively more than their female counterparts. Don’t know if it’s a male specific trait, but men can be awfully lazy at times. They can pass on a minimalist design just to meet a deadline. But this doesn’t mean that all male designers are indolent and sluggish, rather you will find more incidences of procrastination with men.

3. Rational Minded:

Like I mentioned in the female section of the post, women are emotionally more sensitive than men. Contrary to that, men are more rational and logical than women. They will prefer using their brains more than their heart. Everything they do will hold a logic behind it. They don’t let their emotions control their decisions while working on a graphic design project. Hence, the point of easy bargaining isn’t true for male graphic designers.

4. Easily Distracted:

I have to admit something here…while working on a clients project, I have several such tabs open on my PC that are irrelevant to my work. I get easily distracted by the social media and instant chat with friends. At first I thought it was only me, but after observing many of my male designer friends, it seems as though distraction is a trait more prone to men. You will also find male designers easily distracted by sports, news and other activities while at work.

Reading the above mentioned positive & negative characterstics of male/female graphic designers, do you think that gender has any influence on a graphic design project? Being a client, have you ever thought whom you want your project to do…a male or female graphic designer?

8 Famous Brands and their Rebranding Cost!

Charlie B. Johnson — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:35:33 +0000

We all know giant multinationals and famous brands invest heavily in their brand identity design. But most of the time costs incurred are kept a secret. Bear in mind that a rebranding cost is entirely different from the cost of a logo redesign. A complete rebranding includes changes to the logo design, package design, marketing campaigns and the cost incurred to expose the rebranding into the market.

As graphic designers, we ought to know how much do famous companies and brands spend on their brand identity design. When a company posts an outrageous figure for its corporate rebranding, people tend to become judgmental over the ridiculous price incurred. But branding is not all about designing a logo, there are other aspects of the branding process that need to be fulfilled in order to deliver a revamped identity. In the field of graphic design, there are various tools that complete the branding process.

The logo and stationary design
Package and label design
Website Design
Designing the marketing campaign (Advertising, Billboards, Flyers, Girt Items)

Following are the branding costs of 8 famous brands that were rebranded at a fairly excessive cost.


Pepsi		Anz


BP Helios		BBC One


Accenture		TranLink


Starz		Posten

Some Exorbitant Logo Prices:

Below are some of the prices of only logo designs that are outrageously lofty:

Designer: Wolff Ollins	Designer: L.N Agency	Designer: L. Associates	Designer: -
Logo Price: £400,000	Logo Price: £400,000	Logo Price: $240,000	Logo Price: £1.020.00

Do you think that such exorbitant prices are acceptable for a rebranding?

A New Community of Graphic Designers – Mycroburst.com goes live!!

Charlie B. Johnson — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:01:46 +0000

Today, I announce the launch of a new logo design contest site but hopefully you won’t tag me a spec work supporter by the end of the post. There are two sides to every coin and I believe this subject to be a matter of perspective. If you are a well-established designer with number of projects lined up, then you surely don’t need to participate in such contests.

However, considering the striving graphic designers, crowd sourcing sites are a blessing for them. They get a platform to promote their work, improve their skills, communicate with peers, and win new clients. Cutting the long story short:

Main Advantages of Contest Sites:

•	It gives confidence and experience to the new talented graphic designers to move further into the design world.

•	Although, many designers leave from such sites without earning a dime but talented designers looking for the right exposure, can get a terrific start here.

•	It is a bitter fact that many big names of design industry are not capable designers but make good money as they have their name out in the market. Doing small projects or winning contests is all part of marketing yourself.

Main Disadvantages of Contest Sites:

•	Big designers, who are earning their living in design field, get insecure because of young designers doing work much cheaper.

•	These types of sites damage the reputation of career designers as they already have strong clients on list.

•	Client get to see all the entries for their project and instead of rewarding a designer, they do it themselves.

Anyhow, getting back to the topic….couple of months back, I mentioned a “New Warehouse for Graphic Designers” which was in beta version but now it is LIVE, finally. Yes….MycroBurst.com brings a genuine platform for designers to introduce their talent in the world of graphic design.

Launch or Submit: MycroBurst.com allows a client to come and set up a “contest” where designers can drop their designs and enter the contest. Presently, 2 contests are running live accepting entries from graphic designers all over the world. The good part is that the contest holders’ offer guaranteed prize money within the defined time of the contest.

Your turn to talk: For my readers, who strongly believe crowd sourcing to be a blemish on the design community, I want to remind them of designers in remote areas—even third world countries, where they have very few means to support their families. Always remember, “Me and My Work” should not be our tagline …it’s time to think for others too Still, I am open for all kind of responses.

A New Warehouse for Graphic Designers – Go for it!!

Charlie B. Johnson — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 11:14:29 +0000

“Exhibit your work and grab lucrative opportunities”

While growing as a graphic designer, we keep on discovering such authentic resources which can play a crucial role in our success. You all will agree that the creative skills of graphic designers need a continuous patronage, so they keep on coming up with exceptional ideas. Therefore, I always keep on searching for new resources to submit and share my design work…it helps us earn a bright future.

However, today I have something really exclusive to inform my ingenious designer friends about. Lately, while surfing the net I stumbled across a design submitting site named “MycroBurst.com”. Although it is still in “beta” but its impressive interface and features really clicked me.
The exclusive features of the site:

It is a platform where design contests will be held. You can get anything designed…logo design, business cards, website, posters or anything related to graphic design.
Designers will be submitting their designs, trying to meet the needs of your design project.
As the design contest reaches its last date, a winning design will be selected and the designer will win the prize amount.

The design contests are not live yet but they are accepting registrations from designers. I think it’s the high time to get ourselves registered, so our creative juices get flowing as soon as the contests are announced.

It is very important for freelance graphic designers to promote their work properly but they should be doing it on right places. Design contest site is an ideal choice…don’t you think so?? However, this reminds me of a David Aireys’s post where he claims Design Contest Sites to be Bad for Business…I disagree with his opinion to some extent.

He thinks designers on such sites come up with look similar logos and not much professional designs. However, I personally think such sites are a unique resource for aspiring designers who have freshly graduated or aim to launch themselves in the world of Graphic Designing. Don’t you think such design contest sites provide great opportunity to gain potential clients or you agree with David’s words?

So gear up guys…no time to waste

Welcome to the New Category of Creativity – GRAPHIC DESIGN CONTESTS!

Charlie B. Johnson — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 13:25:46 +0000

Lately, lots of friends and regular readers have been insisting me, that I should share latest happenings and exciting activities of other blogs. They think it will help me achieve healthy terms with my fellow bloggers, making my blog more welcoming and friendly.

I couldn’t agree more! Therefore, I have created a new category named; “Graphic Design Contests” Here; I will be updating you with latest contests being held in the World of Graphics. In short, I aspire to become a source for my creative friends, backing them to introduce their talent and creativity to the World.

However, which contest should get the first chance, became a million dollar question for me. At last, I decided of giving the honor to Logoblog.org as it catches my attention with hard to resist gift offers.

This contest throws an opportunity for designers to drop in ideas for their blog’s logo redesign and win some amazing BIG Prizes. 1st place is a brand new 13” MacBook! 2nd place wins an 8 GB Apple Ipod Touch! 3rd place will receive a 16 GB Ipod Nano!

I think it’s not a bad deal…start sending in your doodles from 21st March to 13th April; maybe you might be the lucky one. (Read More)

Last, but not the least…Do share your views about this new category on my blog and don’t hesitate to send in details of any interesting graphic design contest you come across.

Do keep coming in to check other latest happenings!!

MTV Graphics Design Reality Show – Do you have what it takes to be the best?

Charlie B. Johnson — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 09:47:20 +0000

MTV and HP have joined forces for a new series of reality called “Engine Room”, which will be aired on MTV worldwide. This spanking new show will pit creative minds from the world of digital art to prove their mettle in includes graphic design, animation, mixing sounds, film making and more.

So, what are you all waiting for? Start putting up your best samples of creativity. They want to see your graphics, short films, web pages, songs, mixes or anything else cool you have created. The experts will judge the team work, commenting on the quality of the final product and the way different mediums have been used.

Entries will be accepted until June 30, 2008 and later from July 18, 2008 to August 16, 2008; the chosen entrants will be flown to New York to compete. It says, winning team will take home $400,000 USD in cash and HP products. I guess that means $100,000 per person, doesn’t this new dose of reality sounds really gr8?

Visit www.mtvengineroom.com to learn more.