Client: Blue Ribbon Sweets specializes in high end sweets, mostly truffle like chocolates.

The client wanted a logo that was elegant, modern and crisp, something that would appeal to higher end clients. The client wanted to see a blue ribbon incorporated into the logo.

We started out with a few sketches.

We illustrated those same sketches digitally, and made some minor changes.

Once we had the black and white samples done, we put a little color into them.

Our client liked the top left logo, but asked for some color changes as well as incorporating the ribbon into the hat.

Here’s the final logo the client chose.

Be sure to visit BlueRibbonSweets.com

admin Branding your Company, Design Logo Online, Design a Logo, General Design, LogoBang.com, Typography case study, graphic design, logo case study, logo design

Client: A freelance photographer who specializes in event photography such as weddings and bar mitzvahs.

The client wanted a logo that was professional but not stuffy, he was using a logo that was tall and not wide, he also wanted to change that and make a wide logo. He wanted to use one or two colors maximum in the final logo. The client really didn’t have much direction other than that and pretty much gave us free reign to produce the samples.

We started out with lots of rough sketches of cameras and camera related items.

We paid more attention to certain sketches and made some roughs of what we want the first round of logos to look like.

Once we created those digitally, this is how the first round came out.

Revision 1: The client liked the third logo sample, but first he wanted to see the words
Focal and Finesse separated by more than just a capital “F” we opted to add the second color and also make the type on “Finesse” italicized.

Revision 2: The client liked the color combination but he wanted to try a more playful type. He also wanted to add something to the camera to bring it together. We added the bar below the camera to give it a more defined look.

Revision 3: Our client asked to see a few more typefaces for the word Finesse, he also asked to see what the flash would look like if it were a little more rectangular.

Final logo: The client chose the 3rd logo as the final logo, we provided the logo in both color and black so that they client may easily also use the logo as a watermark.

admin Branding your Company, Design a Logo, General Design, LogoBang.com, Typography Branding, case study, graphic design, logo case study, logo design

In this tutorial we’ll show you how to create a reflection in Illustrator.

Step 1:  Open the image you want to reflect in Illustrator.

Step 2:  With the image selected right click (command click for Mac) and select the Transform>Reflect option, then COPY the reflection.

Step 3: Move the copied image so it sits directly below the original image.

Step 4:  Place a box with a black/white gradient fill above the reflected image.  Be sure the black is at the bottom while the white sits at top.

Step 5:  Select both the gradient box and the reflected image, click on the arrow next to the Transparency tab and select “Make Opacity Mask.”

This is how it should look after Step 5.

Step 6: Select the reflection and change the opacity to your liking.

Final: This is how the final product should look.

admin Tutorial, Web 2.0

Setting Up Your Hosting Account

Once we’ve designed your website it’s up to you to get your domain name as well as your hosting. There are several companies online that provide these services for low fees.

Our Other Services

We also offer full hosting services here at LogoBang.com, our prices start at $24.99, please contact a representative should you wish to take advantage of our hosting services.

Services We Recommend

An alternative to having us host your website is to use a service such as GoDaddy.com, Go Daddy provides affordable hosting as well as lots of free add-on applications that can help you maintain your site.

Once You’ve Set Up Your Hosting Account

Once you’ve set up your hosting account be sure to email us with your login information so we may start working on making your website live.

admin LogoBang.com hosting, logo bang

There are many reasons why someone may want to design their own logo, many times the owner of the company will have their own vision or maybe the company is just starting out and wants to save some money, but it’s important to have a high quality logo whether you’re making the logo yourself or having a logo company create one for you.

The first step in creating your own logo is to identify your business, a lot of people tend to over-think this process and want to include every element of their company name or the services they provide, into the logo. You want to keep your logo simple and unique so it’s often hard to find that balance on your own, which is why lots of companies choose to hire a professional comapny to take care of this. Sometimes a logo doesn’t have to include a definable image at all, especially when their services are in a wider range. There are many factors that contribute to what should be included in a logo and what shouldn’t be. For example, if a comany was called Red Bucket Lawn Services, some might include a lawn mower illustration, while some might include both a lawn mower and a red bucket, though it might be best to focus on only the red bucket, as it’s what’s making your company unique and set apart from other lawn service companies. It is not always necessary to be so literal in the translation of your company name to a logo.

After you identify your business you should also identify your clientele. An example would be marketing towards children, you would want something that will appeal to them but still have that simplicity, but what appeals to children will probably not appeal to an executive business crowd.

Once you’ve narrowed down your business and your audience getting started on sketches is a good idea. It may be a long process but it’s important to use the right type of font as well as the right type of illustration, if any. After narrowing down a sketch you can proceed to illustrate the logo online. Usually it’ll take a few tries and you may have to tweak it a little, but once you get it right, you will know.

admin Design a Logo

Everyone loves icons these days, here we’re going to show you how to make a really cool envelope icon.

1. Select the rectangle tool and draw a horizontal rectangle, make sure you have a bold black stroke around that.

2. Add a linear gradient to the rectangle, make sure the angle is set at 0 and that the white is on the outside while the gray is in the middle.

3.  Using the pen tool, draw a triangle as shown above, this will serve as the bottom of your envelope. Be sure to have the same stroke as the previous rectangle you drew.

4. Using a gray and white gradient, add a linear gradient to the triangle, make sure that the gray slider is to the right and the angle is at -90.

5. Draw a rounded square with the same stroke as the previous objects, this will be the start of the top of your envelope.

6. With your rounded square selected, double click on the rotate tool and set the angle at 45.

7. After your shape has been rotated, click on the top ruler of the window and drag down to pull a guide line.

8. Select the guideline and the shape. Use the divide selection on the pathfinder tool to cut the shape.

9. Delete the top portion to leave only the above image.

10. Add a gradient fill by selecting the gradient tool from the palette. Make sure you’re using a light gray and white for you gradient. Set the type to linear and the angle to -90. The light gray color should be place to the right of the slider.

11. Set the two triangles above the rectangle to form the envelope.

12. Copy the top shape on the envelope and add a gradient fill with these settings: Type: Linear, Angle: -90, Transparency: Multiply and Opacity to 100%. Leave the dark gray color to the right of the slider, just like we did on the previous steps.

13. Select the top envelope flap and bring to front.

14. Move the shape from step 12 to sit just below the top flap, this will serve as the shadow for the top flap. Also put a bolder stroke on the main rectangle.

15. Using the pen tool draw a shape that will add and accent the top envelope flap.  Add a gradient with the following settings for the gradient and the transparency: Type: Linear, Angle: -90,Transparency: Multiply and Opacity 100%.

16. This is how your enevelope should turn out. We added a few extra touches to make it pop, which we’ll cover in a future tutorial.

admin Tutorial graphic design, illustrator, Tutorial

When designing a website, it is important that you pay special attention to the tabbed navigation.  Usually tabbed navigation if a row of buttons at the top of the website.  It is important that you keep your navigation of your website clean and straight forward using these tabs.  When designing the look of your tabs, it is essential that you create a cool and clean look to the tabs.  You may want to add separation of each button in the row, use shading and or 3d effects to have the tab highlighted, or to use a separation line between tabs.  You can also play with many options for hover effects.  Hover effects is when your mouse is hovering over a button, the act of hovering can make the button show up to say that it is being highlighted.  There are many style elements that you can put into your tabbed navigation but the key is to keep it simple, cool and effective.

admin Website Design Menu, Navigation, Tabs, Websites

We live in the age of the internet and you have to bet that companies are using it to find prospective employees.  Therefore, paper resumes may need to be supplemented with the online variety.  There are many ideas on the web on how to make a creative, attractive and professional online resume.  These online resumes can give something more than just the paper variety.  If for instance, you’re applying for something graphic related, the website alone can show off your talents as a designer.  It is important you get a great logo for your name or something to set yourself apart.  Once you do so, you can have your link on your paper resume or send out electronic feelers to prospective companies searching for new hires.

admin General Design Logo, Online Resume, Resume

Since the release of the iPhone it’s been very popular not only for users  but for application programmers,  here in this tutorial, we’re gonna show you how to make a proper iPhone styled icon.

1. Draw a square with the Rounded Rectangle tool.

2. Fill the shape with a 90 degree Linear gradient with 3 different shades, make sure the darkest shade is on top while the lightest shade is at the bottom.

3.  Make a copy of the shape and draw an ellipse above that shape. Make sure the ellipse is centered vertically with the rounded square.

4. Select both shapes and divide them by using the Pathfinder tool.

5. Delete the bottom part of the divided rounded square and the top part of the ellipse.

6. Select the remaining part of the divided shape as well as the original rounded square, make sure the they are aligned horizontally and at the top using the align tool.

7. Fill the newly formed top of the square with a black and white gradient, make sure the gradient is a linear at -90 degrees and that Hard Light is selected for the transparency.

8. Select the main square and add a think stroke to it.

9. Import your desired logo.

10. Select the top portion of the rounded square and bring it to the front.

11. This is how your final icon should look, minus the reflection, which we will cover in another tutorial.

admin Tutorial icon, iphone, Tutorial

Here is another fun and easy tutorial on how to draw polar lines in illustrator.

1. Select the Rectangle tool and draw two identically sized vertical rectangles in two complimenting colors, we chose green and orange.

2. Duplicate the rectangles, we duplicated the set 5 more times, though it’s up to you on how many times you want to duplicate them.

3. Select all the rectangles and in the brushes window, select New Pattern Brush and click OK.

4. Leave the settings at the default, and click OK.

5. Your new pattern will appear in the brushes window.

6. Using the circle tool, draw a circle and apply the brush you just created.

7. Your circle should come out looking like the above circle.

8. You can then use the polar stripes as a background for a neat effect.

admin Tutorial illustrator, polar lines, Tutorial