The first thing that pops up in graphic designers mind, when they get a project is how to get started? Should they start searching the internet for ideas or grabbing a paper and pencil will be a better way to kick off? Should he solely rely on inspiration to start with a graphic design project or should he work hard from scratch to conceive an original idea?

Based on the process of accomplishing a graphic design project, there are three major types of graphic designers. The first are the ‘Lazy Workers’ who directly scavenge the web for ‘inspiration’ and try to pass off the work as ‘original’. The other type is the ‘Hard Workers’ who toil and sweat to drain out original ideas from their brain. The last type of designers is what I would like to call the “Smart Workers” who combine the effects of both inspiration and hard work. Which type of graphic designer should you avoid being?

But before you reach to a conclusion, let us analyze the dual outcomes of both aspects… ‘inspiration’ and ‘hard work’.

• Outcomes of Inspiration in Graphic Design:

Each day, more and more sites are evolving that provide access to graphic design inspiration. No doubt, these sites provide graphic designers a lot of help to get their creative juices flowing, but they also pose some disadvantages. Following are the positive and negative effects of inspiration on graphic design.

1. Saves Time and Effort:

For those graphic designers who are looking for a quick guidance for their graphic design project, inspiration is a wonderful tool to save time and efforts. Although it is not prudent to rely solely on inspiration, nonetheless it does save your time on brainstorming and conjuring up logo design ideas. For those designers who like to procrastinate or run short of time, it is a shrewd way of getting the job done.

2. Limits Creative Power:

As said earlier, inspiration has its advantages but also yields some drawbacks too. When you become overly reliant of ‘inspirational sites’ to give you design ideas, your creative and thinking power becomes restricted. For any graphic designer, it is not a good sign and also limits your ability to grow as a designer.

3. Higher Chances of Plagiarism:

On the downside, using inspiration can cause serious issues of copyright and plagiarism. Since you are just amending some aspects of an already existing design, there are chances that your design will look similar. One of the biggest personality types of graphic designer is uniqueness. This cannot be achieved by solely using inspirational material.

4. Learn About New Trends:

Regardless of the fact that inspiration limits your creative thinking, it gives you a lot to learn as well. Since thousands of creative designers upload their design concepts and ideas on inspirational platforms, it gives you a diverse spectrum of graphic and logo design trends to learn.

5. Causes Distraction:

The thing about using internet for ideas is that it causes a significant distraction. Considering the myriad blogs and websites that offer design inspiration have chains of ‘related stuff’ on each page, graphic designers are bound to keep on clicking one after the other. Moreover, the social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook will always be a constant waste of time.

• Outcomes of Hard Work in Graphic Design:

Having discussed the dual effects of inspiration, let us now turn our focus to the other side of the story. Those designers who work hard using their brain to generate a concept from scratch also reap various benefits. But there are a few drawbacks to this as well. Following are the dual outcomes of only using your head in graphic design:

1. Generate Unique Ideas:

Firstly, when you don’t take aid from any source, you are bound to generate ideas that are unique, fresh and distinctive. The concept that you create using your head will be something that hasn’t been done before.

2. Boundless Creativity:

As I highlighted earlier, inspiration bounds your ability to think as a graphic designer. Hence, by working solely on the basis of your own intellect you can employ boundless creativity and ingenuity. Since your thinking is not limited to the designs you search on the net, you will have freedom over your creative though process. You can brainstorm for novel and fresh ideas, which is an important stage of developing a creative design idea.

3. Sense of Pride:

4. Create Your Own Trend:

Design inspiration is all about following already existing trends and movements in graphic design. But when you use your intellect and brain power, you create an entirely new trend. Instead of being a trend-follower, you will become a trend-setter.

5. Requires Relatively More Time:

On the downside, relying solely on your intellect is relatively more time taking. Since these types of designers follow a comprehensive process, it involves more time that the designers who directly take inspiration from various sites and finish off the project.

Lately, I came across a project posted on the inspirational site behance.net termed “The Greatest Brandversations”. This incredibly creative assignment was completed by Stefan Asafti, a designer from Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The project visually portrays a sort of a brand war between famous brands. The designer has taken two top rivals from 5 different industries and switched the logo design of both rival companies to make a sort of visual confusion for the brand lovers.

The project revolves around the idea that the modern day brands have established a history among their customers. There have been several famous brand rivalries like the one between Coke and Pepsi. These brands used to visually communicate this rivalry through their creative and conceptual ads. Stefan, in his project, has shown this visual communication by showing how the logos of both rivals influence one another.
Stefan has successfully demonstrated that he is among the talented and creative graphic designers. I thoroughly enjoyed watching these mind-boggling brandversations of 5 famous brands and surely hope that you guys will also be amazed to watch them.

1. McDonalds – Burger King Brandversation

2. Pepsi – Coke Brandversation

3. Nikkon – Canon Brandversation

4. Apple – Windows Brandversation

5. Internet Explorer – Firefox Brandversation

The logo design industry is growing rapidly, with several options spawning in the field of logo and brand identity designing. One of the emergent and novel options available on the web is the trend of getting free logo design. Many companies are offering logos absolutely free of charge. But there is a big disadvantage of obtaining free logos…you cannot customize them according to your requirements.

This is where logo-logos.net takes the lead in providing customized logo design services for FREE. Logo-logos.net, unlike other free logo design services, offers you the freedom of customizing the logo of your desires at no cost.

1. Vast Industry Categories:

2. Customize the entire logo:

3. Unlimited Revisions:

Minimalist logo designs are preferred more by graphic designers because of their ease and simplicity. But the difficulty in designing simple logos is to incorporate an effective message within the design. This can be achieved either through the technique of negative spacing or by interweaving the symbol within the typography.

But sometimes…too simple becomes too complicated. Some of the greatest brand identities have logos with hidden messages. For example, the FedEx logo, designed by the famous logo designer Lindon Leader, appears to be a simple and straightforward. But on close examination, you will notice that there is an “arrow” between the “E” and “x” that signify the company’s aspirations for progress.

1. Logo concept

2. Lantex Transfer

3. Kolner Zoo

4. Interduo

5. HIDE

6. Hidden Cork

7. Helping Hands For Pets

8. Games for Children

9. Fiska

10. ELECTRIC

11. Effective sports

12. Countercurrent

13. Child of the king

14. Bullet

15. Blanco’s Construction

16. A_MAZE_ING

17. Zoorganic

18. Screw

19. PIE (Pi)

20. Pengu Constructions

21. ONE UP

22. NO ONE

23. Neolica

24. Negavite Way

My recent post showcasing male and female logos speaks volumes as to how new categories of logos have evolved. For a logo guru, there are literally no bounds when it comes to designing a logo. Today I have put together yet another unique collection of logo designs featuring the rivalry between geeks and bullies. The geeky or nerdy logos carry the intellectual and obsessive tone while bully logos emit a dominating and intimidating vibe.
Have a look at how these 20 inspiring logos displaying the geeky and bully impact in a rather comical but clever fashion.

Data Dork by Jeff Fisher

Nerd Camp

Geek Shock

All Time Geeks

Nirdie

Geeko

Geek Squad

Codigo geek

Css geek

Greedy Geeks

Boardwalk Bullies

Bull Worth Academy

Club Bullies

Big Bully Studios

Speak up

An Apple a Day

Troublemaker Band

Troublemaker Studio

Bad Boy

Bad Boy Eyes

Selecting the right man for the right job at the right time is an extremely difficult task. Clients, who are looking for graphic designers to do their work, often do not know how to select the appropriate graphic designer. Since the selection of a graphic designer is a very daunting and tiring process, clients tend to get frustrated and select the graphic designer they can easily locate.
There are several ways that clients go about searching for a graphic designer. Some of these include:

1. Checking design companies and freelance graphic designers.
2. Contacting established companies and their hired graphic designers.
3. Asking your business associates and relatives who have previously hired a graphic designer.
4. Posting free classified ads on online design forums.
5. Selecting a graphic designer through an online design contest

Criteria for selecting the graphic designer:

While there are numerous people who are offering their services as graphic designers, they differ in the level of experience, skill and professionalism. Searching for a suitable graphic designer can be quite a cumbersome process and cause an awful confusion for clients. Therefore, look out for the basic attributes of a graphic designer before selection. I have listed some of them below

1. A Strong and Dynamic Design Portfolio:
   A strong portfolio is the foremost attribute that you should look for while choosing a graphic designer. An experienced and talented graphic designer can be judged by their design portfolio. Graphic designers who have a weak design portfolio or simply don’t have one are signifying their low level of experience. The more dynamic the portfolio will be, the more versatile the graphic designer will be.

2. Good Interpersonal Skills:
   A very important quality of an experienced and adroit graphic designer is the ability to interact with their clients. Good interpersonal skills include listening intently to the clients and then suggesting ideas to spell out that they understand what is required from them. Graphic designers who cannot place their ideas clearly to their clients demonstrate their lack of experience.

3. Strong Marketing Skills:
   While it is not necessary for a graphic designer to possess a degree in Marketing, but to be able to market the clients’ products and service efficiently is important. While choosing a graphic designer, always ask for the ways in which the graphic designer will promote your products and services through his design work.

4. Say No to Nepotism:
   One of the most common practices prevalent in corporate hiring process is the nepotism. Many a times, designers are hired on the basis of favoritism, which is bad for the corporations. Selection of graphic designers should be made purely on merit basis. Hence, when you are hiring a graphic designer, you should set aside personal issues. It doesn’t matter to which ethnic, religious or political orientation the graphic designer belongs to as long as he/she is talented and qualified.

5. Professional Approach:
   An expert and experienced graphic designer can be identified by the way they talk, the way they walk and the way they deal with their clients. An able graphic designer will work with professionalism. They will work with contracts to safeguard the clients’ and their own interests.

6. Impressive testimonials and referrals:
   Another factor that is crucial in determining the ability of a graphic designer is the testimonials and reviews from previous clients. If majority of his previous clients are happy and content with his design work, you can rest assure that you will also get a similar treatment.

In the end, I would recommend that no matter how you choose a graphic designer make sure that both you and the graphic designer are on the same wavelength. Choose wisely or you will lose badly!

Presentable Personality:

During your search for a graphic designer, do keep an eye on the personality of the designer, as well. While one should not judge a book by its cover, sometimes minor details can warn you of major problems. For instance a well presentable graphic designer will signify that he is organized and will be able to handle your design work with responsibility. On the other hand, graphic designers with dirty shoes, untidy fingernails etc can point towards their carelessness and negligence to minor details.   ]]> http://www.graphicdesignblog.org/selecting-graphics-designer/feed/ 17