Student designers and those new to the profession often ask me for advice on topics related to branding and visual identity work. The following resources from around the web have been collated with the intention of saving everyone a little time.
Pricing
The dark art of pricing (by Jessica Hische)
Bill for it (by Eric Karjaluoto)
No more day rates (by Mike Reed)
Nobody bought the cheapest option (by Peep Laja)
Pricing strategy for creatives (by Jason Blumer)
Responding to spec work requests
Why I need to know your budget (by Mike Monteiro)
How to price your design services (by Chris Do)
Picasso and pricing your work (by Ellen Rohr)
It’s not always about the money (quoting Ivan Chermayeff)
Contracts
Let’s simplify legal jargon (by Alan Siegel)
Contract Killer open-source contract (by Andy Clarke)
AIGA standard form of agreement for design services (by AIGA)
Research
Focus groups are worthless (by Erika Hall)
Go to a dry cleaner and sit there (paraphrasing Bob Gill)
Advice on making ideas happen (collected wisdom on 99U)
Strategy
Branding: In Five and a Half Steps (by Michael Johnson)
Mistakes in brand strategy (by Stef Hamerlinck)
Using strategy in logo design (with Marty Neumeier)
Marks and Maker (the brand strategy website of Melinda Livesy)
Naming
A naming handbook (by Wolff Olins)
Eight principles of naming (by Nick Foley & Matt Gordon)
Naming a business (by Seth Godin)
How to get a name right (by Naresh Ramchandani)
Brand New Name (by Jeremy Miller)
Flexible brand names (on Logo Design Love)
iwantmyname.com (helpful for domain searches)
WIPO Global Brand Database (search trademarks internationally)
Online Etymology Dictionary (the history of English words)
Onym (by Greg Leppert & Willem Van Lancker)
Royalty-free photos
Unsplash (by Mikael & the team)
Burst (powered by Shopify)
Pexels (by Bruno & Ingo Joseph, & Daniel Frese)
Morguefile (founded by Michael Connors)
Depositphotos (free photos & videos from the commercial firm)
ISO Republic (various CC0 photos & videos)
The Pattern Library (a small project by Tim Holman & Claudio Guglieri)
Icons & symbols
The Noun Project (founded by Sofya Polyakov & Edward Boatman)
Symbol Signs (by Roger Cook & Don Shanosky, on the AIGA website)
Type foundries
Bold Monday (The Hague & Eindhoven)
Colphon (London & LA)
Grilli Type (Luzern)
Hoefler&Co. (NYC)
House Industries (Yorklyn)
Klim Type Foundry (Wellington)
Milieu Grotesque (Santo Isidoro)
Newlyn (London)
Okay Type (Chicago)
Process (Golden Valley)
Typofonderie (Paris)
Typotheque (The Hague)
Village (a type co-op founded in NYC)
PSD mockups
LiveSurface (by Joshua Distler)
Mr.Mockup (by Noeeko)
Envato Elements (by Collis and Cyan Ta’eed, and Jun Rung)
Presenting
An insider’s guide to the design presentation (by Michael Johnson)
The train is leaving the station (by Dave Trott)
Brand identity style guides from around the world (on Logo Design Love)
Ways designers screw up client presentations (by Mike Monteiro)
Showing sketches to clients (on when it helps and when it doesn’t)
Trademarking
Trademark basics (by the United States Patent & Trademark Office | USPTO)
Intellectual property: Trade marks (by GOV.UK)
Trade marks (by IP Australia)
Global Brand Database (by the World International Property Organization | WIPO)
Logobook (searchable by letters, numbers, shape, object, nature, & business)
Printing
Paper Sizes (for international paper sizes, dimensions & formats)
Inker Linker (for finding recommended print companies, mostly US)
UK commerical printers (an old one of mine, still useful)
Life
A short lesson in perspective (by the late Linds Redding)
The School of Life (founded by Alain de Botton)
Anything else?
Recommendations (& corrections) much appreciated.
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