Just Hanging Out on a Saturday Afternoon...

The Many Faces of Dave

Using a similar structure to the black greyhound below, this is my dog Dave. The illustration is more simple in nature.

Image Recycling

Take a look at my previous "logo blog," and you might notice something vaguely familiar about the dog. This poster (not for sale), was something I created a few months ago. The featured dog was borrowed from the created logo. Since the logo was designed specifically for a paying client, I won't be using the dog in any other poster or item I offer for sale. This poster was shamelessly created for my unborn child. My husband and I are expecting our first child in June and, until she is old enough to tell me to kindly remove the poster, it will hang in her nursery. Contact me at: info@posterhoundz.com if you might like something similar for your new little one.

Need a Logo for Your Dog-Themed Business?

I really do enjoy creating logos for various dog-related events/businesses. While some clients have absolutely no idea exactly what they want, many at least have some kind of starting point. You might have certain colors in mind, or a specific feel that you're after. Even if you don't, I can come up with a few ideas to get the ball rolling.

I generally have a couple of rules when I create logos. I do try to keep the logo fairly simple. Even if there's an illustration of a dog in it somewhere, I will always provide you with dog-less versions, and versions for both black and white backgrounds. These often work better on stationary, business cards, forum signatures, etc.

I will provide you with as many images as you need, in as many different versions as you desire (ai, jpg, png, pdf, etc). I always tell clients that if they ever find they want an image scaled up or down, to please contact me. Even if I finished your logo a year ago, you are always encouraged to contact me if you need anything done to it. Trust me. It will always be easier for me to pull up an old image in Illustrator and scale it up or down for you, than for you to try to do it on your own. It will only take a few minutes, and it will look much better in the long run.

Above is an example of a logo I created a couple of years ago. The client knew that she wanted an edgy feel to her logo, and she knew she wanted cool colors in it like gray, green and blue. Frankly, this is more information than I'd normally get to start with, but it didn't make creating her logo any less challenging. Even with all this starting information, I had a fairly rough time coming up with an original idea. The easiest place to start is usually with the text (remember, there will be a dog somewhere in the final version). Because she wanted something edgy, I had originally thought of using some kind of graffiti font, but there's a problem with this. Many of these kinds of fonts are barely legible, and nothing stirs up confusion for a potential customer like a logo they can't read. The next best thing? To use a readable font that would allow me to layer colors on it to make it look a little like graffiti. The font I chose here is called "Wicked Queen." By layering this text in the client's chosen colors, you end up with something that has a little dimension to it. Pictured is the original starting draft and the final completed text the client agreed to.

Creating the image of the dog to go with it was actually more challenging than the text itself. Because I wanted a very simple dog illustration, I figured (incorrectly) that I could simply whip up something directly in Illustrator. In many instances these days, I don't have to resort to a sketch first. However, after spending way too much time trying to pull something together, I shut down my computer, and in minutes, came up with the sketch and final version of the dog pictured above.

The client was happy with the final version, but requested to see the logo in another color scheme she liked. The last two images represent the version that she chose (in gray, green and blue) and a similar logo in chocolate brown and blue. You can see how simply changing out a few colors can completely change the feel of the logo, so choose your colors carefully!

If you are interested in a logo for your dog-related organization or business, please contact me at: info@posterhoundz.com for details.