Archive for the 'graphic design northamptonshire' Category

Logo Design for the Small/Medium Business by Roskell Design Northamptonshire

Published by Freelance graphic designer based near Kettering in Northamptonshire on May 30, 2008 in freelance graphic design, graphic design northamptonshire and logo design northamptonshire. 1 Comment

If you are a small or medium size business looking at commissioning a new logo design there are a few things worth considering.

If you already have an existing logo design you may want to consider how well recognised it is. If it is already quite well known it may be worth considering evolving your existing logo rather than starting from scratch. This can bring your logo up to date whilst still retaining its recognition. There are different ways this can be done from using more modern typography to refining the image/icon if your logo has one.

If you are looking to commission a new logo try to get a clear picture in your head what you would like the logo design to portray. A questionnaire can be helpful to help you decide what you want. Take a look at the Roskell Design logo questionnaire which may help you clarify your logo design requirements.

A logo design can give a good first impression of a company and can create perceptions of a business. For example a small company which has a well designed logo can (if they wish) portray the impression of being a larger enterprise. This can also work the other way round if a large company deliberately wants to appear a smaller friendlier company.

If you do want to commission a logo design, make sure you use a reputable designer and be wary of designers offering cheap logos. A reputable designer will spend time thinking about your design individually, your logo design will be tailored specially towards your company. I have recently heard a horror story from a fellow freelance designer who took over design work from a company that had previously commissioned a cheap logo designer. The logo designer had used bits of clip art to create their logo which he had also used on other local company logos. It was only after the company had had their logo printed on all their stationery and vehicles that this was discovered. What was first considered a cheap logo had turned into an expensive mistake.

Your logo design will appear on all your literature, stationery and livery so its well worth making sure it’s right for your company.

Graphic Design Tips for Non Designers by Roskell Design Northamptonshire

Published by Freelance graphic designer based near Kettering in Northamptonshire on May 29, 2008 in brochure design northamptonshire, freelance graphic design and graphic design northamptonshire. 0 Comments

If you need to design something inhouse for your company here are a few tips that can help with your graphic design

Colour palette
Keep your basic colour palette to a minimum perhaps stick to two key colours, which will help to give your design a cohesive feel. If you need inspiration for a colour palette try colour lovers

Roskell design near Kettering and Wellingborough in Northamptonshire suggests choosing a limited palette of colours for your design

Fonts
Try to stick again to a couple of fonts for your design and use different weights within that font family. For example you could choose a sans serif font (a font without the curly bits such as Arial or Helvetica) for your main heading and then your sub headings also in the same typeface but smaller and perhaps a different weight (bold). For your body copy (main text) you could use a serif font (with curly end bits such as Palatino or Times). For a main text size I would suggest anywhere around 9 or 10pt (larger if your target audience is mature adults/young children or people with poor sight)

Text Readability
If you are producing a brochure or newsletter you ideally don’t want the line width of your text to be too long, or too short as it becomes difficult to read. If your line length looks too long think about putting your text into columns which makes it more readable.

Images
As the old saying, a picture can tell a thousand words, adding images to your graphic design can enhance the look and create interest. There are many low cost and free options for finding imagery. If possible avoid clip art as it will tend to make your design look amateurish.

morgue file is ideal for finding free images for your graphic design

Grids
In general designs look better when everything lines up. Try to make sure elements of your design line up with other elements. If you are using several columns of text try and make the bottom lines of text line up to give a nice tidy finish. You can achieve this by adding in pictures to make your text fall to the right length. Pick up any magazine or brochure design you can find and you will see how the designer has lined things up.

Inspiration and Reference
If you have not designed much before start collecting brochures and magazines that you think are well designed. Look at why the design works, does it use strong typography, perhaps a large photo? Try and apply some of these elements to your design.

Brochure Design Case Study by Roskell Design, Northamptonshire

Published by Freelance graphic designer based near Kettering in Northamptonshire on April 8, 2008 in brochure design northamptonshire, design case studies, freelance graphic design and graphic design northamptonshire. 0 Comments

Last year I was asked to design a direct mail brochure, DL leaflet, poster and presentation for Perkz Ltd based in Northamptonshire. Perkz offers an online employee benefits scheme, this allows business owners to offer an incentive/discount scheme to their employees to help encourage loyalty.

My brief from Perkz was to initially design the look for an A5 brochure, this style would be then followed through to the other elements. Perks wanted to look trustworthy/serious, but also fresh, modern and approachable (corporate handshakes etc were definitely a direction to avoid).

Stage 1: I began the design work as I usually do by looking at the websites of Perkz competitors, and then starting to brainstorm and sketch out ideas. I generally start looking at cover options first to get an overall feel for the design. Amongst other ideas I thought about the concept of a box full of goodies/the excitement of opening a parcel, employees standing at the end of a rainbow (waiting for the pot of gold) and the use of typography with a face and think bubble.

brochure design sketchs created by Roskell Design a freelance graphic designer based near Kettering and Wellingborough in Northamptonshire.

Stage 2: The next stage was to develop my preferred brochure design sketches into visuals created on the computer. Again I started with the cover designs and then when I was happy with these designed a sample inside spread. I presented cover designs and sample spreads for the different options to the client. The covers are shown below.

brochure cover designs by Roskell freelance graphic designer Kettering, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire

Stage 3: The client chose their preferred brochure design option and with a few minor amendments this option was then artworked, you can see the result below.

A5 brochure design by Roskell Design, a freelance design company based near Kettering in Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire

Stage 4: I then followed through this style to the design of the DL leaflet, poster design and powerpoint presentation.

Posters, leaflets and a presentation were then designed by Roskell Design based near Kettering, Northamptonshire, near Bedfordshire.

David Tedford, Managing Director of Perkz, Northamptonshire, was very happy with the design work and kindly gave me this testimonial - “I was delighted with the work that Tara produced for us. It met our needs perfectly in terms helping us stand out from the competition and giving a more professional look to our literature whilst at the same time not compromising on our desire to remain a fun, fresh-faced organisation. Tara’s work has resulted in our most successful direct mail campaign to date. Tara was a joy to work with and I hope that we will work again soon.”

The Benefits of Using Roskell Design, a Freelance Graphic Designer based near Kettering, Northamptonshire

Published by Roskell Design, Graphic Design, Kettering, Northamptonshire on March 31, 2008 in freelance graphic design and graphic design northamptonshire. 0 Comments

There are many benefits to using my freelance graphic design design services:

  • Over 15 years experience in the design industry - more than many designers working for local design agencies in Northamptonshire.
  • Experienced in a wide variety of design areas including: logo design, brochure and leaflet design, packaging design, exhibition panels.
  • Lower overheads than a design agency - cost effective
  • You speak directly to me, the designer, no talking to a middleman
  • You are a big fish in a smaller pond. Every client is important to me. You can guarantee if you leave a message, or email, you will be called back as soon possible.
  • Down to earth and easy to work with
  • Straight talking - I will stick to your deadlines, I only believe in agreeing to deadlines that I know can be met. So if I promise your design visuals or artwork for a certain day then you can be confident I will deliver.

Take a look at my design portfolio or request a design quote to find out more.