The Dingbat's Agenda » Design & Software

Scheming with color…

Adrienne — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:28:09 +0000

Scheming seems like such an appropriate word when working with color on a client’s logo or branding. There are so many elements of color to be considered – personality, hue, tonality, emotion, do you feel that colors are more than paint on a page?

I know I feel a sort of psychological connection to color. Yellow for a long time was a color I despised. I hated its flaming cheeriness (I used to be SO serious). Now look at me – I scream yellow! While brands should reflect more than just something you like or a fad of the moment, there should be some personal attraction to it. A lot of times branding has to grow up. I see many brands start with an unhealthy amount of color (think of rainbow suckers) and then over time neutralize to become more sophisticated. Some brands continue to express their bright colors but mature through typography so as to not loose a target demographic. In the end I like to ask my clients how they feel about their brand. If it is a new business, what drives them? Where is the passion behind the product or the service. Pair that with a target audience and colors start to pop up and fit together.

Below are color explorations for my lovely client Jolynn. These are not where they need to be yet but are getting there! I love seeing the process evolve.

Final logo style guide

Adrienne — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 18:26:19 +0000

You may remember a few days back the logo variations we explored for Josh. Below is the finalized style guide for the branding we did for him. Upon completion of our branding package, we like to put together a style guide indicating pantone suggestions, RGB Hex #s for web matching, typographic notations for continued use on alternate business collateral and some pattern samples on extending the brand.

In addition to the style guide, upon establishing the brand look, we can also apply the brand elements across to other pieces such as business cards, letterhead, notes, product tags and labels, and more.

Part of establishing a style guide is to help grow the brand equity, especially when its a new brand. By establishing color harmony and typographic suggestions, we help that brand (and the people doing the every day stuff behind it) to establish a relationship with it style. If there is a flyer or ad that needs to be placed, they can pull the typography suggestions and color suggestions to keep things in relation to where they want their brand to go. It helps create awareness and recognition across the board.

Whether you have your own logo but need styling help, layout, or want to start fresh with something completely new you can check out our branding section in the shop or request an estimate for a more customized package.

Blog Banner: Balance Studios

Adrienne — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:00:25 +0000

I don’t claim to be a web designer. They have a unique art that I don’t quite grasp but would like to learn more about. As I’ve kept up my blog and coded my own website over the last 4 years I feel like I’m finally able to grasp HTML and basic CSS now. Dreamweaver is my software of choice because I think Adobe understands how challenged I am when it comes to back-end coding/programming. As I’ve dabbled more in the web arena I’ve had the opportunity to see clients brands taken from our initial business cards into their website and it really rewarding for me to see the whole identity come together. Here’s a quick blog banner I’ve been working on and we are implementing a blogsite combo for ease of client content management. This has been a great change of pace for me and reminds me why variety is important in my work. While I love letterpress, I’m glad I have different seasons (wedding season, tax shelter season, holiday season, wholesale buying season) to keep my focused and also to keep my ADD tendencies in check. Enjoy!

Texture in Design

Adrienne — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 07:31:31 +0000

I found this the other day when cleaning out my photos again. Shot in November while on a nature walk with the kids, I was reminded that texture can be applied in numerous ways to enhance design. Interesting how sometimes we forget that it’s all around us, often in the simplest form of nature. How cool would this pattern be as a blind impression in some yoga cards or something?

Free Dingbat tags + cards

Adrienne — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:34:37 +0000

So I missed posting yesterday, too much letterpress jobs going out the door! To make up for it though, I’ve got lots of free gift tag and place card goodies (personal use) for download this holiday season. Click on the image to be directed to my flickr stream where you can download the original image file direct to your desktop – there’s more after the jump so head on over and get some goods!

The original file is letter (8.5×11″) saved at 300% so just scale to size when printing out at home or the local print-shop and have fun! Cards measure 2×3.5″ when trimmed.

eenie meenie

Adrienne — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:00:33 +0000

Saw this and just had to share! I’d LOVE for Baby Charlie to smell like Basil + Mint, then I might just have to eat him up even more than I already do!

Found on ShareSomeCandy
Designastrator: Crystal Barlow | website | blog
This woman is TALENTED, check out her Yoplait, I’d buy those in a heartbeat and save them forever!

Edible Charlie, I can smell the eenie meenie already – now I just need to buy it!

Chalk Animation

Adrienne — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 14:00:34 +0000

This is fabtabular! Every time I see something amazing like this it reiterates in my mind the importance of keeping an active sketchbook. I need to learn how to chalk animate and do stop-motion now. Off to find this song somewhere!

Found on Swiss Miss.