Logo's - The Book-keepers Forum (UK)

additionsbookkeeping · Veteran Member

Logo's

Susie Sue · Senior Member

I'm same as you - no idea! But I think logo's etc need to be saved as a JPEG file (I think!!)

ICBUK · Guru

Hello,

Depending on how fancy you wanted your plus to be, you could just do it in MS Paint (included with Windows). Save it as a JPEG (.jpg).

Then design your stationery in MS Word, from the Menu click Insert -> Picture -> From File, select your logo.

You can then move it around your word document as you like it.

kjmcculloch · Guru

There are a number of applications you can use to design a logo. Probably the main ones used for this are Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator. Both of these cost more than it would cost to have a logo professionally designed, so unless you are going to do a lot of artwork it is not worth it financially. Corel Paintshop Pro Photo (previously JASC Paint Shop Pro) is worth a look, corel offer a free trial version.

There are a number of easier to use packages specifically for logos. AAA Logo Design is worth a look.

Logo file formats will be determined by how they were designed. There are two main types of logo. Vector and Pixel based. All professional logos will start their life as vectors, these can easily be scaled up or down without losing integrity. These are formats such as .eps and .ai.

Pixel, or raster based are better for the web. They are not as easily scalable and when blown up too much will suffer from pixelation, where the individual pixels become visible to the naked eye. If you choose a raster format (which are easier to design) then you will be looking for a DPI (dots or pixels per inch) of 72 for online images and at least 300 for print. The most common formats for these are GIF, JPG and PNG.

I would strongly suggest you look at getting a logo professionally designed, you can get this for as little as £30.

If you are determined to do it yourself I would look at PNG (provided you are not intending to have anything offset printed) which has some big benefits over the other two. They employ a lossless based compression. The main benefit of PNG is their ability to incorporate a transparent background, which you can't do with JPG and GIF never really got right.

I know there's a lot here, but I hope it helps.

Kris

kjmcculloch · Guru

I've just noticed Jame's response. He must have been typing at the same time as me. Although it is possibe to design a simple logo in MSPaint, save it as PNG rather than JPG.

Because of JPGs compression technique if you have a simple line drawing based logo or text jpgs can throw a lot of your image away in it's lossy compression methods. JPG is by far best left for photographs or complex graphics.

Kris

BackOfficeGroup · Guru

Logo's are a representation of your business, they don't have to be fancy but they do need to be consistent in all you print/websites etc

I would go for a professionally designed one, it really does make the difference and it does not have to be that expensive.

Or....do something yourself now, then in about a year have a revamp and its a good excuse to do a mailshot!! Always think marketing....

P

ProBowlUK · Senior Member

Hi

There are a few alternatives to the "PaintShop Pro" and "PhotoShop" software.

Open Source is the way to go, these software have been developed the same way as the "professional" stuff, but probably with a lot more User input.

take a look at the Gimps ... http://www.osalt.com/gimpshop
and ... http://www.osalt.com/gimp

Google "Open Source PaintShop PhotoShop alternative"

biggrin

-- Edited by ProBowlUK on Saturday 23rd of October 2010 08:58:05 AM

jerohm · Veteran Member

Yep, The Gimp is great :)

Official website : http://www.gimp.org/

Of course available for linux systems (like ubuntu) but for windows systems too there : http://downloads.sourceforge.net/gimp-win/gimp-2.6.11-i686-setup-1.exe?use_mirror=

-- Edited by jerohm on Friday 22nd of October 2010 08:21:44 PM

Quentin Pain · Senior Member

If on a budget, I would use Vista Print, the online service. You can get free business cards, then pay only a small price for the rest. You don't need anything fancy, just choose from their designs and add your business name etc.

Take a look at most big companies. Tesco, Sainsburys, Boots, WHSmith etc etc. Notice something? Their logos are simply their names. Easy to read and professional. I highly recommend it.

Omer_FCCA · Newbie

here are few nice site you can use to create good pro logo for free
http://www.logomaker.com/
http://www.logoease.com/

Hope that helps

eciur · Newbie

You can use color pencil and plain paper :)

Scan picture and use any software tool you like to make your picture look computer like.

The most apropriate format is png

Good luck!

HendyPhilhendy · Guru

It really is important to get one professionally done. Mainly because you want it to represent you and your business. The most important thing is for it to be consistent across all formats i.e. if you have a banner stand you want to expand the image without pixelating it.

There are loads of people out there and various pricing structures but I would expect to pay about £200 for a decent one, in a variety of formats.

I know a couple of people who do this so if you want any info please give me a shout.

ES · Veteran Member

I've just had my logo done, paid £25.00 (online) and they must have done 18 attempts at it before I was happy. Make sure that they will do as many attempts at it until you are happy, most I found would only do 3 attempts.

HendyPhilhendy · Guru

ES wrote:

I've just had my logo done, paid £25.00 (online) and they must have done 18 attempts at it before I was happy. Make sure that they will do as many attempts at it until you are happy, most I found would only do 3 attempts.

Out of curiosity, who did you get to do that for you?

moxby · Veteran Member

I have a web design business on the side, and do logo design as well so would be happy to help - the price is about right £25-£30+VAT depending on time. I did 3 logos for one client after some research. There were a few tweaks he wanted and the final price was £50+VAT. That gave him the logo in various formats depending on the output.

If you want your logo for screen then PNG or JPEG is fine depending on colour depth.
If you want to use it in print then a high-resolution PNG, TIFF and myriad others may be appropriate depending on the medium.

If you want to discuss this then e-mail me on design[at]moxby.org.uk and I would be happy to help. Your logo needs to well represent your business and you need to be happy with it for a long while especially if you want it to appear on business cards/letterheads etc.

Don't rush to make a decision but consider the aim and the use of the logo then you can decide better what's good for your business.

P.S. If you already know what you want then £30+VAT is probable.

-- Edited by moxby on Tuesday 11th of January 2011 04:06:07 PM

-- Edited by moxby on Tuesday 11th of January 2011 05:16:23 PM

UTI Creative · Newbie

Hi everyone. I run a graphic design studio and have recently started working with a Bookkeeper and require a vector file the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers.

Does anyone know if this is available?

Thank you

Peasie · Expert

They do have files in various format on the ICB website but they are in the Members section. You'd need to get the Bookkeeper you are working with to download the file for you.

ICBUK · Guru

Hi UTI Creative,

There are ones available that either the bookkeeper can give you (by downloading from the members area), or contact the ICB with the member's number and they can email you one.