Do you really need a logo?

[fengerflip]

Wonderful!! Thank you for this!! :)

[rhymereverie]

Amazing, what an insightful talk, God give you health and long life Jhon, you are doing wonderful job...

[db19812009]

Hello, I am photography and video student. Needing to design my business cards and i can't seem to do anything that fits me or makes me happy. I need a design that includes both photography and video but doesn't corner one over the other. Any suggestions.

[JawSaLee]

I liked all the of the ideas except the centered type I think it should've been right aligned.

[fezmovies]

Personally I liked her original logo the best.

[phonesgo]

Could u make me one

[neva2muchrice]

Thank you for all the videos! It really helps a lot of common issues that designers run into.

[khoomeister]

Oh wow, massive education in 5 minutes - thanks!

[dizzitoast]

I really enjoy these. I been having the hardest time designing a logo for my company, but a story telling logo... Ah!

[rtoyota]

Great points on the logo design, and I love the argument about whether or not this "business" actually needs a logo, however I'm wondering why you didn't just use the great photo as opposed to a clip-art style image. Although the final card design is nice, I personally still find it a little cheesy and non-professional. In this case, I probably wouldn't fault it because it's a small business, but I think if I saw the photo of Kathy I would find it much more instantly trustworthy.

[bamagazine]

@rtoyota, the photo would work. If you're going to do it, though, it takes an excellent photo to pull it off --- Kathy AND the pets must be photogenic, as they are here, and if they're not, it won't work. Even then, to me it would be less interesting, less charming than the little bedtime-story-style illustration. --- John McWade

[communicatrix]

@bamagazine @rtoyota Agreed on John's follow-up points. To this I would add that the charming illustration (coupled with her excellent tagline) is the solution most focused on customer benefits: happy pets! The illo also lets any pet owner project his/her pet onto the image more easily, as it's abstracted. (What an incredibly useful—and NICE—video!)

[devinepaul]

John, the title question was answered beautifully, thank you. The logo tutorial was a brilliant bonus.

[piercepresley]

Do you really answer the question in your title?

No. The discussion presented is great for illustrating the process of designing a logo and highlights several important considerations, but it doesn't address whether a business of this size and type actually needs a logo.

I'm not really complaining—I love B&A, and this is a really great video for beginning designers—just pointing it out.

[Jimmy073]

@piercepresley I think he did. He ended up using a clipart image instead of a logo.

[piercepresley]

@Jimmy073 You have a point, though I don't think he explicitly called it clip art nor said anything along the lines of "This is more what you need rather than a custom logo." It could have been original work, as a skilled illustrator could whip something like that up very quickly (which is where that style of clip art came from, after all). The lion's share of the video seemed to be focusing on what could have been done better vis-a-vis the original logo.

[howardcallender]

Thank you for the videos.

[grfxboy]

Thank you John for your videos. They not only have great information, but the production of the video is great, too!

[pipalia]

Thank you John for sharing these tips with us, am always looking forward to your informational videos and simple but clever design tips and techniques.

[sandwu]

Merci pour tous ces précieux conseils! A bientôt

[designchik]

John, as always, your work is amazing. I have pets and would also trust the person at the other end of the card you designed. The card captures perfectly the warmth that emanates from the photograph of Cathy with the dog and cat. Beautiful.

[jacqcarlos]

Was the final piece clipart or was an illustrator brought in?

[RealWorldDesign]

Brilliant John. I'm reminded of the adage 'form follows function'. The admittedly amateur designer wanted a 'logo' that worked for the client, but by stepping back and considering the client *first* John demonstrates that in this instance although you can improve the initial logo design, you first want to consider what is really best. Which reminds me of another old adage "Never mind are we doing the thing right ... are we indeed doing the right thing" Bravo John.

[doubledragtap]

Awesome, nice job!

[jagier]

Excellent advice!!!

[meeshell74]

I love the end result! She can babysit my dogs anytime! The two-color recreated logo doesn't work much better than the first. My eye is really drawn to the big round space beneath the cat's chin (and the negative space in general). I think I would've turned them to both face the same direction maybe. The juxtaposition seems unnecessary.

[Quillcards]

JM's standard is always high but this is a guided missile. Great.

[OrdinaryToucan]

Fantastic and fascinating insights! Thank you!

[PhotoDigitale]

i like so much this little gems !!!

hope you'll continue distilling them to us ;-)

[Urbaxter]

so cool as usual... tks!

[BIGORBDADDY]

Awesome

[CrazyShortcutQuilts]

Thank you! :)