David Airey » graphic designer, logo designer

Design agencies vs freelance designers

David Airey — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 13:19:58 +0000

Image copyright: Australian orange (in the mood for one)

Working with a graphic design agency, instead of a freelance designer, can offer many benefits, but it’s not a one-way street. Here I outline the advantages of relationships with one over the other.

As every freelancer and design agency is different, it’s impossible to cover all the advantages, so if you can add to any of these pointers, please do leave a comment.

It’s also worth noting there’s a certain amount of overlap. For instance, my first reason for choosing an agency is because they’re well versed in dealing with large accounts. The same can be true for a freelancer.

Reasons to work with a graphic design agency

Well versed in dealing with large accounts.
You’re not reliant on the health of one person for the successful completion of your design project.
There is often a group of designers collaborating on ideas, offering a broad range of outcomes.
A long list of prestigious, trustworthy clients can be offered.

Here are 10 respected graphic design agencies / consultancies.

400

Brownjohn

Chermayeff & Geismar

FutureBrand

Interbrand

Landor

Minale Tattersfield

Pentagram

Siegel+Gale

Turner Duckworth

Reasons to work with a freelance graphic designer

From start to finish, you’re talking to the top creative designer on the job, so your project specifications don’t need relayed before action is taken.
There are no separate account managers, senior creatives or junior designers, each with differing interpretations of the design brief.
You’re hiring the person responsible for 100% of the graphic design portfolio
Phone calls go directly to the person working on your project — not a sales person or account manager.
With many freelancers working from home, they can often pass on considerable savings made through low overheads.
Design revisions can frequently be made almost immediately after the request.
Billing enquiries and delivery timeframes can be clarified at the same time as specific design discussions.

…it must be clearly pointed out that not all freelancers are created equal. There are too many people who label themselves “freelancers,” who in reality are frighteningly uneducated and sorely inexperienced individuals who can do a lot of damage to the creative industry. A company running into one of these designers can easily be burned, either through mediocre creative work, inappropriate and uneducated charging, or just plain bad business practices.

Quoted from Kevin Potts’ article, Selling yourself: market advantages of a freelancer, published on Creative Latitude.

Making a decision

The aim of this post was to look positively upon both agencies and freelancers. The fact that I list more pros for freelancers isn’t purposely because I’m a self-employed designer, but because I genuinely believe it can be a more advantageous route for clients to pursue.

Whether or not it’s the most suitable option is another question, and depends upon individual projects and needs.

Some of the worlds most respected graphic designers work in agencies, but that’s not to say you won’t find equally respected creatives working alone. Designers are successful because of a love of the craft, and as fantastic as it would be to experience working at Pentagram or Landor, I’m extremely happy working from my home office, with flexible working hours and the fortune of being able to choose my clients.

Should the advantages I’ve listed differ from your own experience, I’d appreciate your input, and if you’re outsourcing a design project, or have plans to do so, here’s an article of mine you may find useful: choosing a logo designer.

The true cost of rebranding?

David Airey — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 23:04:14 +0000

You can only estimate the value of a brand that has lived through four centuries, so at what cost is a name-change from one established more than 200 years ago, to another born this decade?

It’s happening now with UK insurance company, Norwich Union, established in 1797.

In May 2000, Norwich Union merged with insurer, CGU, and in 2002 was rebranded as Aviva. Since then, however, and despite 4,000 jobs being axed in favour of Indian call centres, the company has retained its separate UK identity, as you’d expect from one of Britain’s best-known financial brands.

With almost 23 million customers, this is a risky move, and were it to fail, Aviva wouldn’t be the first multi-national to botch a brand launch.

Mitsubishi, for instance, introduced a range of vehicles named ‘Pajero‘ (known as ‘Shogun’ here in the UK). No-one told the company directors that ‘pajero’ is Spanish slang for “wanker”.

Or do you remember Consignia from 2001?

What could be more sacrosanct in branding terms than the Post Office? Its management hasn’t always seen it that way. In 2001, the company was rebranded as Consignia in an attempt to distance itself from its state history and claim a greater share of international markets. The public was not impressed with this attack on a British institution. The following year, Consignia had been dumped in favour of the more traditional Royal Mail Group.

More rebranding disasters at the foot of the following article from The Independent: Norwich Union name to disappear after 200 years.

Here’s the high-budget Aviva TV commercial that’s currently being aired in the UK.

View the Aviva commercial on YouTube if you can’t see the video above.

I’m sure Aviva directors will say the change heralds a bright future, and I can see the benefits of having one single international brand, but unlike Ringo Starr, Elle Macpherson, Alice Cooper and Bruce Willis, Norwich Union had already achieved top-of-mind positioning.

200 years of trust is a long time, and we humans are creatures of comfort. 23 million customers are going to need a little comforting.

25 fantastic design articles from 2008

David Airey — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 23:03:08 +0000

Image copyright

As a little thank you for reading my blog, I asked what your favourite design blog post was from 2008. A fitting way to finish off the year and to bring in the new, here’s what you chose, and why.

1/ Steven Snell, of Vandelay Design

12 realities of pricing design services

This post stands out to me from 2008 primarily because of the response that it received. While it doesn’t get as many visitors as some other posts, readers left a lot of thoughtful responses and several other blogs have linked to the post as a helpful guide for pricing advice. I wrote the post based on the things I’ve seen in my own work throughout the start of my career, so it means a lot to see that others can relate and that my insight has been able to help in some way. Steven Snell

2/ John Boardley, of I Love Typography

15 great examples of web typography

… because, it demonstrates what can be achieved. It’s all too easy to complain about limitations to typography for the screen, when really it’s simply another medium rich in possibilities and potential. John Boardley

3/ Anthony Zinni, of Positive Space Blog

Would life be easier if you weren’t a designer?

This article is my personal favorite of the year because it really opened a discussion about the crazy things designers are willing to put up with for love of the profession. Anthony Zinni

4/ Michael Martin, of Pro Blog Design

The perfect hands-free database backup

It’s not the most exciting topic to read about or the most adventurous post, but it’s simple. In one go, a blogger will never have to worry about their database again, and it doesn’t cost them a penny. Michael Martin

5/ Jon Phillips, of Freelance Folder

5 creativity killers

I chose this post simply because I face those 5 creativity killers on a regular basis and every time I have to remind myself to go back and read my own post. It happens I don’t sleep much because I’m too preoccupied with a project, or get distracted by ’stuff’, sometimes I fear my client won’t like my design mock-ups, and then when I get to the point where I start to worry about money, then I go and read my post. Things always work out in the end. Jon Phillips

6/ Calvin Lee, of Mayhem Studios

Online copyright infringement: 4 ways to remove your stolen work

Most creatives don’t know what to do when their work is ripped off. It’s easier to resolve than they think. It happens often and most don’t do anything about it.

My blog post helps creatives get stolen work taken down in 4 easy steps. Calvin Lee

7/ Chris Spooner, of Spoon Graphics

8 free cute & simple Twitter bird vector graphics

As well as being fun to produce, the vector birds gained some great feedback and exposure, it has been fantastic to see them in use on various sites across the web. With Twitter being a widely used application, I’d like to promote the bird characters a little further in the hope that a few more people can make good use of them on their own website! Chris Spooner

8/ Randa Clay, of Randa Clay Design

Building trust with clients — being honest about mistakes

…it’s somethiing I wish someone had told me early on. As it was, I had to take a rather long road to learn it. Randa Clay

9/ Jin Yang, of 8164

Conformity

I’m choosing it because I feel it addresses a few issues that exist in the web design blogsphere. I feel web designers, especially those who are new to the field, need to learn from inspirations, but not to use them as a crotch. The article also generated some good discussions from readers. Jin Yang

10/ Jacob Share, of JobMob

The 25 most creative designer resumés you’ll see this year

Compiling this list was fun and inspiring. There are some terrific ideas out there about what can be done with something as basic as a resumé. Funny too, in some cases. Jacob Share

11/ Steve Willicott, of Eightyone Design

Why does everyone think they’re a graphic designer?

It only started out as a bit of a rant but it seems everyone has an opinion on this subject — it is by far the most viewed post on our blog and has put us in touch with many new friends. Steve Willicott

12/ Antonio Carusone, of AisleOne

Introducing The Grid System

…my favorite post of the year is the one where I introduce The Grid System because it’s something I’m very proud of. A lot of people find the site very useful and it’s educating more and more people on the benefits on using grid systems in their designs. Antonio Carusone

13/ Gino Orlandi, of You The Designer

6 people every designer should know

I picked this post because I always try to stress the importance of networking. Its much easier to accomplish goals and better yourself as a person and designer with a good network of people supporting you. If you surround yourself with quality, ambitious and like-minded people you will go much farther in life, much faster! Gino Orlandi

14/ Brian Ling, of Design Sojourn

30 essential books for industrial designers

I have always seen books as a “window to someone’s personality”, and for me this post was not only a reflection of my multi-disciplinary and varied interests, but a way that I could share a little about myself with my readers. Brian Ling

15/ Yeal Miller, of The Dieline

Eye Candy

What I found really notable about Eye Candy is the use of packaging itself to convey added layers of meaning. Clever use of of a transparent printed overlay/sleeve reveals a changing message as the sleeve is moved across the package. Yael Miller

16/ Eli Burford, of Design Blurb

Photoshop tutorial: designing a creative blog footer

I’m happiest with this one because of the outcome, obviously. But as I stated in the tutorial, inspiration comes from Alexandru Cohaniuc’s portfolio, but he gave me permission to use his footer as inspiration. The great thing about this was after I emailed Alexandru, he even sent me the PSD file for his footer design. Goes to show how really nice some people in the Blogosphere can be. Eli Burford

17/ Brian Yerkes, of BrianYerkes.com

50 reasons why you will not make it as a freelancer

I enjoyed writing this post, and I was happy that it caused designers trying to succeed to look at themselves a bit, and really understand why they may or may not be failing at becoming a freelancer.

The post title was inspired by a close friend of mine who just doesn’t understand what it takes to become a self-employed designer. I have tried to encourage him and pass on advice from my own experience, but he is still struggling to apply himself correctly. I think there are a lot of designers out there like him. They have a lot of creativity and art skill, but struggle to apply that to the business / marketing world. Brian Yerkes

18/ Andrew Kelsall, of AndrewKelsall.com

Large-format foamex design for Next Distribution

I chose this article because I think it sums-up what I do best as a designer. Whilst many freelancers concentrate on brochures, logo design and websites (which are all great to do), I love to focus on producing custom works that both stimulate and challenge me in a different way. Andrew Kelsall

19/ Andrew Houle, of My Ink Blog

A very snowy tutorial

This tutorial covers so many useful techniques in Illustrator and Photoshop. The skills learned here will help you optimize your workflow, and save you time, which inevitably is a goal of every designer. Andrew Houle

20/ Mirko Humbert, of Designer Daily

44 tools to help you in your design work

Complete designer toolbox, classified by tasks. I think it will be most useful for designers and webworkers out there. Mirko Humbert

21/ Sander Baumann, of DesignWorkPlan

Dutch Government introduces corporate typeface

I chose this blogpost because of the great discussion that started with the topic of visual communication and branding on a government level. Sander Baumann

22/ Vivien, of Inspiration Bit

Meticulous design: dramatic headlines

I’m always inspired by small details that initially may go unnoticed but subconsciously make a great impact, and I’m always intrigued by how one tackles attention to details in design, hence my research on meticulous design, that many others find helpful as well. Vivien

23/ Adelle Charles, of Fuel Your Creativity

Is minimalistic design more effective?

This was one of the first articles I wrote for the Web Design Ledger, I am a very minimalistic designer myself and thought it would be great to show examples, and the discussion that followed in the comments received a great response. A good article for the experienced & upcoming designers. Adelle Charles

24/ Vitaly Friedman, of Smashing Magazine

Smashing highlights 2008

We had so many good articles this year, so it’s really hard to pick the best one. We certainly love all of the articles linked here, though. Vitaly Friedman

25/ Last — and most probably least — Logo Design Love

33 logos in 33 minutes

A look at the brands I interact with first thing each day, and a taste of how much we’re all subjected to branding.

Plus, there were 24 answers to the question behind this blog post, and 25 somehow seems more balanced. Some Irish chap

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my RSS subscriptions this past year, and am sure it’ll continue into 2009. Thanks very much to everyone who answered my question, and keep up the great work!

A holiday thank you

David Airey — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 11:43:47 +0000

You’ve helped make 2008 a fantastic year. Without your visits, comments, encouragement and constructive criticism I wouldn’t be where I am today. Thank you.

I hope you’ve had an equally great year, and if there’s anything you think I can do to help, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Logo design client appreciation

A special thank you to a few recent logo design clients (those I’ve had time to feature). It has been a pleasure working with you all.

Ecometrica website // logo design process

Berthier website // logo design process

Komplett Fitness website // logo design process

Hilcon website // logo design process

I’m currently working on a number of exciting logo projects, with clients in England, Greece, Canada and the USA, and you can expect more identity design features throughout 2009.

Again, thank you very much for helping me achieve success in self-employment. I couldn’t have done it without you.

Your favourite design blog post of 2008

I’m rounding up the year by featuring your favourite design blog post (one you published), so if you want me to give your blog a mention, send me a message with a link to your favourite blog post of 2008, with a sentence or two about why you chose it.

Have a wonderful festive holiday, and an even better new year!

10 Guinness ads from years gone by

David Airey — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 23:03:36 +0000

Image copyright

Guinness® is an acquired taste, and in my younger youth I’d always have opted for a fizzy beer. Nowadays, however, I’m more partial to a pint of black, and here I showcase 10 Guinness ads from years gone by.

If you’re reading via email, and can’t see the video clips below, you’ll find them here on my website. Thanks for subscribing too.

1. Guinness Dreamer (watch on YouTube)

2. Guinness Surfer (watch on YouTube)

3. Guinness Tipping Point (watch on YouTube)

This Guinness ad, named ‘tipping point’, is reported to have cost the stout manufacturer a mere £10,000,000 to produce (USD $15M). Created by AMV BBDO, it drew a lot of comparisons to the more impressive Honda ‘cog’ ad.

4. Guinness Evolution (watch on YouTube)

Cannes Grand Prix TVC winner.

5. Guinness Hands (watch on YouTube)

A short film called hands.

6. Guinness Swimblack (watch on YouTube)

As a young man Marco won a medal in the Olympics and now each year the villagers gather to watch him race against the pint. It takes 119.5 seconds to pour the perfect pint of GUINNESS® Draught so that’s how long he’s got to swim from a buoy far out in the bay back to shore and sprint to the bar.

The ad — known as ‘Swimblack’ — was shot on the remote Italian village of Monopoli and used local villagers for the crowd shots. It won the Creative Circle Gold (1999) for Best Editing and a gold in the British Television Advertising Awards (1999) among others.

7. Guinness Dancing Man (watch on YouTube)

8. Guinness Hurling (watch on YouTube)

Just one minute of injury time left in a knife-edge hurling match in Ireland and a vicous foul creates a chance. Over the bar and the game is tied, but into the goal and the game is won…

9. Guinness Tom Crean (watch on YouTube)

10. Guinness Snail Race (watch on YouTube)

In this lighter execution from the ‘Good Things Come to Those who Wait’ campaign, the snails demonstrate that speed isn’t everything. There’s enjoyment in anticipation.

Music from Babarabateri / Beny More (with Perez Prado and his orchestra). Agency: AMV BBDO

Guinness facts

Pint-for-pint, Guinness Draught actually has fewer calories than most other premium beers and lagers.

Guinness Draught – 196 calories per pint
Semi-skimmed milk – 260 calories per pint
Orange juice – 220 calories per pint

Although Guinness may appear to be black, it is officially a very dark shade of ruby.

Guinness may be unsuitable for a vegetarian diet, as the production process involves the use of isinglass, made from fish. It is used as a fining agent for settling out suspended matter in the vat. The isinglass is retained in the floor of the vat but it is possible that minute quantities might be carried over into the beer.

10 million glasses of Guinness are enjoyed every single day around the world, and 1,883,200,000 pints are sold every year - that’s 1.8 billion, to put it another way.

TV ad quotes and FAQs can be found on the Guinness website.

What’s your favourite Guinness ad? I particularly enjoy the Surfer, Dreamer and Swimblack ads, and I don’t consider it a coincidence that all three were directed by Jonathan Glazer — who has also directed music videos for Massive Attack, UNKLE, Blur, Radiohead and Jamiroquai.

Focus on reader comments #4

David Airey — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 10:10:44 +0000

You all know a lot more than I do, and it’s often shown in the quality of your comments. So from time-to-time I like to feature a few of your thoughts, both for the benefit of those who don’t follow the discussions, and as a small thank you.

Here’s the fourth in my ‘focus on reader comments’ series.

Blair of biz-R, on, “Affiliation in the design industry”

The DBA events are almost always available to non-members at a slightly higher cost. Unless you’re going to all of them then it’s far more cost effective to pay the premium and save yourself a few bob by avoiding the membership fee.

Julie Oakley of Julie Oakley, also on, “Affiliation in the design industry”

My 15 year membership of the Chartered Society of Designers was the most pointless waste of money ever. I left about 10 years ago and don’t regret it in the slightest. I think it’s partly to do with the fact that organisations like the CSD are attempting to ape the professional bodies of other professions. You might say that you want a Chartered Accountant or a lawyer that’s a member of the Law Society, but quite frankly which of your clients has ever given a damn about whether you’re a member of a professional body? If they all combined, their size might be able to make some impact in informing potential clients about the superior service they might receive from a ‘chartered’ designer. But let’s face it, anyone can claim to be a designer and many talented people without any formal training have done so, so really this kind of organisation for designers is probably rather silly.

Steve Yakoban of SPIA Media Group, on, “Spec work in the internet age”

It comes down to business advantage. When someone asks for a spec. job, they either have an incredible opportunity that allows them to manipulate the situation in their favour, or they’re testing the contractor’s will. Whoever has the most confidence in these situations tends to prevail… In a way, it’s an exercise in human nature.

Jonathan of jfleck, on, “Typography tips and advice for design students”

…having just completed my 3rd design project on the anatomy of type, I’ve found that none of my sources covered every anatomical element, and sources often conflicted… The sources I used were: Thinking with Type (Ellen Lupton), Type and Typography (Baines / Haslam), Graphic Design School (Dabner), I Love Typography, fonts.com (Monotype Imaging), about.com.

I see the anatomical diagram you have (view the type image) continues this trend, and again, is incomplete, and contradictory to other sources. What’s a ‘VisComm’ student to do? It was suggested that we rely more on printed books than websites, yet when the printed books contradict one another, then clearly there’s something wrong somewhere!

Have you had a similar experience to Jonathan?

Raja Sandhu of Raja Sandhu, on, “Designing through a recession”

At every down-turn there is always someone in an up-turn looking to capitalize.

…I have been getting a lot of logo design requests from new (rather fly-by-night) debt consolidators and loan assistance type businesses… For them, business is through the roof…

Sigurdur Armannson of font.is, on, “How designers charge their clients”

There are some very interesting articles to be found about charging for freelancers and small studios online. To name a few, look at:

http://thegraphicmac.com/how-much-charge-design-work

http://thegraphicmac.com/designers-how-much-charge-how-get-paid

From there you can jump to other good articles.

Rob Russo of Robert F Russo, on, “The 30 month evolution of my online graphic design portfolio”

I’ve enjoyed reading your journey here from “New Dawn” to “David Airey” and wonder what would be best for me.

I already have a personal site up, but I’m not doing as much with it as I thought I would and I’m not happy with it. I’m starting to get serious about branding myself and churning up business, so now is the time to re-focus or start fresh.

As funny as it may sound, I’m considering the “big company name” route because I’m not loving my name right now. Or at least people’s perception of it. My domain, robertfrusso.com, includes that little ‘F’ in there for my middle initial. I registered this because 1) other name variations weren’t available and 2) I was using ROBERT F RUSSO on resumes and other materials to match.

The problem? More often than not, people pair my middle initial with my last name and call me Robert Frusso. Well, Mr. Frusso has left the building. I have a sense of humor about it, but it has happened so much that I’m back to thinking I should start fresh with a different approach.

Further thoughts anyone?

I suggested that Rob play off his sense of humour — perhaps pointing out on his website that it’s Russo, not Frusso. Showing a light-hearted approach may help endear you to potential clients.

Zafir Slavov of ICDSoft, on, “GMail security failure leaves my business sabotaged”

In the comments it is mentioned that it is better to use a managed hosting solution than a shared host in terms of security problems, and that a shared host means lower security. I definitely disagree to that. The updates of the server software depend on the administrators / staff managing the server and not on the type of hosting. Our admins here monitor server software 24/7 and make updates ASAP when needed (especially when it comes to server security)…

…Moreover, 99% of the hacks against hosting servers occur through software, installed on the customer site. So if your blogging software or CMS, or some plugin has a security vulnerability, it would not matter what type of server you are on. For more than eight years history of ICDSoft, all hacking issues on our servers are connected with software, installed by a customer on his / her site.

Zafir goes on to discuss how ICDSoft (my web host) helped when my domain name was stolen. It’s an interesting read, and you can view the entire comment here.

Again, thanks very much to everyone who comments on my blog(s). You help keep me motivated.

Affiliation in the design industry

David Airey — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 14:07:53 +0000

AIGA, D&AD, Icograda, DBA… just a few of the many trade associations for graphic designers, but how useful are they?

Graphic design industry veteran, David Hyde, publicly questionned the use of his Chartered Society of Designers (CSD) membership — prompting insightful debate through his blog post comments.

David went on to document his subsequent resignation from the CSD after 30+ years as a member:

…my concern was that my subscription over the past few years was simply allowing the Society to exist: nothing more, nor less, than that.

…fast forward to yesterday evening, when I attended the 33rd Annual General Meeting. I thought this might be the opportunity to re-engage, and to raise my concern in an open debate with those members who govern and take an active interest. And, do you know what? I might just as well have stood up and announced “the King is in the altogether“. This isn’t what the Society wants to hear, apparently, and I was called to be ‘out of order’ several times.

…now I must resign, not because I’m getting nothing in return for my subscription, but because the governing Council has made crystal clear that it doesn’t want dissent. And it doesn’t want to hear uncomfortable truths. As such, I represent an impediment to the aims and aspirations for its hoped-for flourishing future. In short, it doesn’t need members like me.

I’m not as familiar as I should be with graphic design trade associations, so I’m hoping this post creates discussion around their individual qualities (and shortcomings).

Here’s a snippet about some of the larger trade bodies.

Design Business Association
“The Design Business Association (DBA) is the trade association for the UK design industry and helps design consultancies become more professional and profitable by offering a range of industry specific membership services, training courses and events.”
Annual membership fee: £1040 + VAT
DBA website
Chartered Society of Designers
“The Chartered Society of Designers (CSD) is the professional body for designers. With over 3000 members in 34 countries, it is the world’s largest chartered body of professional designers and is unique in representing designers in all disciplines.”
Annual membership fee: £150
CSD website
AIGA
“AIGA, the professional association for design, is the place design professionals turn to first to exchange ideas and information, participate in critical analysis and research and advance education and ethical practice.”
Annual membership fee: £212
AIGA website
D&AD
“D&AD is an educational charity that represents the global creative, design and advertising communities.”
Annual membership fee: £190
D&AD website
Design Management Institute
“DMI members have access to the most up-to-date information through DMI publications, educational events, training, and networking opportunities.”
Annual membership fee: £270
DMI website
Graphic Artists Guild
“…creatives who have come together to pursue common goals, share their experience, raise industry standards, and improve the ability of visual creators to achieve satisfying and rewarding careers.”
Annual membership fee: £135
GAG website
Icograda
“Icograda promotes communication designers’ vital role in society and commerce and unifies the voices of graphic designers and visual communicators worldwide.”
Icograda website

There are many others, and I welcome your experience of them, but the UK organisations from this small sample would cost a self-employed designer like me upwards of £1,400 ($2,000 USD) per year in membership fees.

Cat, from Designers who Blog, advises that you get out of it what you put in, so if you don’t go to meetings, or become involved with other members, paying the fee is pretty much useless.

Your thoughts

Is there really a need to have so many trade organisations? Can’t they pool their resources for the greater design good? If I was to join just one, how — and who — do I choose?

Have you seen these posts yet?

Logo design process for Ecometrica

David Airey — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 23:03:59 +0000

Ecometrica is an independent business bringing together experienced analysts and world-class scientists. It’s based in Edinburgh, Scotland, and Montreal, Canada, and it was my role to design a distinctive logo for the new company (started in October 2008). Here’s a brief insight into my logo design process.

To give you some background information, Ecometrica provides the following science-based information products and services:

Assessment of corporate and product greenhouse gas emissions
Assessment and monitoring of land use change, deforestation, carbon stock changes, ecosystem
Viability, bioenergy resources and other ecosystem functions
Monitoring the delivery of ecosystem services
Policy advice based on ecometric analysis and interpretation
Combined economic and ecometric studies
Training and technology transfer

Most of my logo design clients are based overseas, so I don’t often have the pleasure of meeting them face-to-face. It was different on this occasion, however, with both parties based in Edinburgh, so an initial meeting was arranged with Managing Director, Dr Richard Tipper, Operations Director, Gary Davis, and a silent partner from the Ecometrica team. We discussed both our businesses, what was required from the new logo design, and the provision of corporate stationery.

Mindmapping and logo sketches

Logo design options

Typeface used: Knockout, from H&FJ

Typeface used: Calibri, a specific client request

Logo rationale

The outlined circle signifies the surrounding environment, with a hinged section forming both the letter ‘e’ and indicating a closer look inside — indepth ecosystem reporting — and a ‘breaking’ of the ozone layer (I did question, however, if this was too negative a connotation for representing the business).

The three intersecting ellipses convey a number of ideas. Dr Richard Tipper, Ecometrica’s MD, explains using more appropriate terms than I can:

Mapping of ideas and physical space: a lot of our work involves the analysis of “contested space” for example there may be differing views about the best use for an area of land — nature conservation; food production or biofuels. We are often exploring ideas through different lenses or viewpoints [carbon, biodiversity, incomes].
Remote sensing of ecosystem changes: we use various satellite based sensors to gather data on changes in land use and vegetation. The ellipses represent orbits.
Petals of a flower: flowering plants are the largest components of terrestrial ecosystems. The style references representations of maize in mesoamerican art.
Our three areas of business activity: greenhouse gas assessments, ecosystems and policy research.

Keeping print costs to a minimum

The Ecometrica logo uses just one colour — Pantone 655. The three ellipses appear different due to the transparency settings (50%, 75%, and 100%). Using one colour can save on printing costs.

Business card design

Image copyright: Sassen

Client testimonial

David’s combination of creativity and professionalism was exactly what we needed. Our team of professionals had strong opinions on the project. David was able to take on board their ideas and steer us towards an outcome that we are proud of.
Dr Richard Tipper, Managing Director, Ecometrica

Your thoughts

Comments are very welcome.

Google report GMail problem as phishing

David Airey — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 23:01:44 +0000

One year after my domain name was stolen, Google’s Chris Evans has published a blog article reporting the theft as a phishing scheme, whereby the victim is tricked into sharing their email login details.

Several news stories referenced a domain theft from December 2007 that was incorrectly linked to a Gmail CSRF vulnerability. We did have a Gmail CSRF bug reported to us in September 2007 that we fixed worldwide within 24 hours of private disclosure of the bug details. Neither this bug nor any other Gmail bug was involved in the December 2007 domain theft.

I’m sure Chris meant November.

Google’s blog post came in response to the more recent theft of MakeUseOf.com. Aibek, the MakeUseOf owner, has subsequently, and thankfully, had his domain name returned.

I like to think I’m cautious enough not to open a strange .exe email attachment, nor enter my login details on a fake website, but if that’s what happened, so be it.

I do, however, find it a little odd that a thief would gain access to my GMail account, then choose to add email forwarding filters rather than simply change my password, thus locking me out. I published what I believed happened in my previous GMail hack article.

Regardless, I’m glad Aibek of MakeUsOf had his domain name returned, and that Google have publicly acknowledged the previous Gmail CSRF vulnerability, even if it is over a year after the incident.

Aibek and I are two of the lucky ones. Many other domain theft victims contact me asking for help. Sadly, there’s little I can do except refer them to my account of what happened.

Designing through a recession

David Airey — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 13:34:15 +0000

Image copyright

Here in the UK it’s all doom and gloom — at least that’s what the politicians would have you believe. As a self-employed designer, however, I’m in a great position to take advantage of the credit crunch, and with the right preparation, you can be too.

In this article I share the thoughts of some talented designers who are discussing the pros and cons of today’s economic climate.

My advice to you: learn how to run projects, learn how to run a business, learn about and adopt uncompromising professionalism. Whether you’re a freelancer or an agency designer, there’s an opportunity here for you to leverage your online blog/portfolio reputation and build yourself a strong place in the profession.
Andy Rutledge

Andy writes a compelling piece on why we should be optimistic, and I find myself agreeing with much of what he has to say.

How do we go about replacing clients or gaining new ones at a time when people are at their most cautious? Does being a studio with premises give you an advantage over someone who works from home? Being a freelancer at this point could give you an advantage over a studio as you have fewer overheads, but studios have the physical presence which acts as a 24/7 billboard advert to draw in new clients.
Sarah Parmenter

Sarah goes on to mention how some of her clients are taking longer to pay, as they tighten their purse strings. My most common payment structure of taking 50% in advance, with the remainder upon completion — and just before original artwork is supplied — has meant I’ve not seen any of this, but I wonder if you’re experiencing anything different.

Image copyright Aaron Russell

The truth is, as freelance web designers we have good reason to be optimistic. With slashed budgets, marketers may increasingly turn to email, viral and web marketing as they seek better value for money and return on investment. And when companies begin to lay off staff, it is often the freelancer who benefits when they step in to complete the work that starts overflowing.
Aaron Russell

Regular readers of davidairey.com, Shaun Barnes, Brian Yerkes and Andrew Kelsall briefly share their own credit crunch experiences in the comments of Aaron’s article.

…though we are in a hard and trying time, I feel that it is the businesses that strive to be innovative and market their products well that will see through the current economic downturn. Whilst businesses that bury their heads’ in the sand and ignore the situation will fail.
Scott Mallinson

How the recession has affected me

I can increasingly attract logo design clients who place significant value on my service, but I believe this has more to do with improved online visibility, and less to do with the current financial climate. I receive one or two solid enquiries per week (completed logo design questionnaires). There are normally five or six short email approaches in the same time period, but the majority of those are looking for cheap(er) design.

The third and fourth quarters of 2008 have shown a significant upwards curve, and given the international reach of my online business, I’m quietly confident this trend will continue into 2009.

I am, however, remaining cautious, and not spending outwith my means — though to be honest, that’s my usual approach to finance.

Further graphic design-related articles about the recession

Recession: simple advice for designers, part 1: new business // part 2: accounts // part 3: running a design firm // part 4: printing, from Noisy Decent Graphics.
Tips for business development in a recession, from Rebecca Caroe.
Design and marketing in a recession, from Rob Cubbon.
Spend your way out of a recession, from Amanda Vlahakis.
Why freelancers are best equipped to survive a recession, from Bruce Byfield.
10 best things about coming depression, a more humorous take on things, from Jeffrey Zeldman.
10 cost-saving strategies for troubled times, from Design Sojourn.

The recession and you

How have you been affected recently? Have you noticed a change in the way you or your clients are doing business? If you’re clever about your marketing, and don’t turn design into a commodity, you have much to look forward to, and can prosper in the tough times ahead.

David Airey » graphic designer, logo designer

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