Personal Business Card Designs
I recently made some new, modern personal business cards featuring my new logo. I thought it would be nice to make a few variations (5 in total), with the background of the back being different artwork that I've created over the years. I wanted to keep the front – where my name, phone and email address is – nice and clean. Legibility and cleanliness are two big factors, for me, for this particular side of the card.
These cards are printed on a 300gsm substrate in a standard size for Australia. I went for a gloss finish, with a laminate over the top. It allows the colours to appear rich and vibrant, even though they're generally monotone looking for the most part.
A special thanks to Simprint Digital in Dingley, Victoria, Australia for getting these printed or me. They always do a fantastic job and I'd definitely recommend them.
Above: 'Day 7' business card design featuring artwork created in Adobe Illustrator.
Above: United business card design featuring the artwork created for Desktopography.
Above: Heights business card design featuring the artwork from the Depths / Heights series.
Above: Inifinite business card design featuring artwork created in an isometric, 3D style in Illustrator.
Above: Flow business card design featuring artwork created for EvokeOne Digital Art Group.
New Logo and Website - A Graphical Insight
New Logo and Website - A Graphical Insight
With my brand new website and logo now live, I thought it would be nice to show them both off in a graphical visual representation. This series of images allows you to see a snapshot of my personal logo design process, history of my logotype, concepts and ideas and web development.
I believe my new CK logo is an evolution of my previous logo, which is what I set out to be the case right from the beginning. The change was one, I felt, I had to make. I want to take my business in a slightly different direction and have a somewhat fresh start. The new logo is far more brandable, a bit less style specific and appeals to a wider target audience than the existing one did. As much as I liked my existing logo, I didn’t feel like I could achieve this. Furthermore, it was important for the design of the logo to be relatable and relevant to my existing design style.
Visually, I wanted it to be accurate. I considered a lot of things such as angles, line weight, visual balance and complexity. Whilst I executed a wide range of different styles, I was the most happy with this particular concept as it felt like it was me.
I’m really happy with the way its turned out and I’m super excited to start using it and adapting it to different things.
You’re welcome to ask any questions you might have about the logo design process or branding in the comments section below!
Anatomy of Typography - Letter features and characteristics
Sometimes it can be difficult to explain and identify the different features of a typeface. So, let's take a look at the anatomy of typography!
So, I've put together a poster, which I have hanging up in my office! It contains all the significant features of type, pointing out features such as a stem, eye, bowl, counter, arm and so on. I've also included x-height, leading and baseline, which identify features outside of the characters themselves.
I have excluded a few features, but the everyday, common features have been included.
You're welcome to download the file as a reference or bookmark this page.
Have fun with type!
You can download the image below.
Recreating a logo design in vector format
Often I'll get approached by companies asking whether or not I can recreate their logo in vector format – typically created in Adobe Illustrator, for print production. This could be for stationery such as letterheads and business cards to bigger prints such as posters and even billboards. The fact of the matter is that a company needs to have generally have an EPS (Encapsulated Post Script) file in order to print their logo at different sizes.
Why the original logo wasn't created in a vector format to begin with is difficult for me to know. It may be the inexperience of the designer in creating a logo. Or, the client may not know what file format they required at the time. The most common problem is that their logo was initially designed in raster format within Photoshop (or similar) and is now in a JPG or GIF file format which is definitely not recommended.
Logo conversion from JPG / GIF to Vector (AI / EPS)
The difficulty in conversion from JPG / GIF to AI / EPS typically depends on the complexity of the logo design. The more intricate the logo, typically the more difficult the logo re-creation process. Another major factor is the quality of the scan or JPG of the logo itself. If it's unclear or low-resolution details may be lost in the conversion process. Typography can also be a challenge to trace if the original typeface isn't known or available.
You can see how pixellated a .jpg logo can be when resized. A vector logo, on the other hand, has no quality loss.
Converting a logo from photo to Vector (AI / EPS)
Another request I receive is to recreate a logo or illustration from a photograph or a scanned image.
In the example above, I've taken a photograph (left) of the logo design which needed to be printed on several more leather seats. Using Adobe Illustrator, I recreated this intricate logo (right) so the client could use the print as often as required. With the new logo now in a vector format, no quality loss will be made no matter what size the client decides to print the logo design in the future.
Why have a Vector Logo Design?
It's extremely important that a logo be created in vector format, using a program such as Illustrator (AI and EPS file formats). The logo, when created in Illustrator, then has the ability to be infinitely scaled from as small to as large as you desire.
If your company needs a new logo or if you need a logo recreated for vector, please contact me to discuss your project.