Red Instead

Business Cards and Brochure: Christie Ann Beauty Therapy

2010-08-27T03:04:34Z

Chris from Christie Ann Beauty Therapy recently asked me to help her with her business cards and price lists for her salon. Her last lot of business cards didn’t turn out so well, so she asked me for some help, while sticking with the logo she already has in use in the shop.

Blacks can sometimes prove difficult for the DIY designer, as can be seen on this business card that Chris designed herself and has been using up until now.

Chris decided that black was a little too “dark” for a beauty salon in any case, so she has opted for a cleaner, fresher look this time around. I set her logo on a white background and had some business cards printed for her.

She also had some Price Lists that she previously printed on her home printer but she wanted to go with a more professional look so I took her Publisher files and finessed them a little before organising a professional printer to print and machine-fold them into a brochure for her.

Are you a DIY Designer in need of some professional help with your marketing and business stationery? Would you like me to take your “home made solution” and turn it into a more professional package? Contact me and let’s talk about how we can get your business looking its very best.

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Website: Goyder Street Library

2010-08-22T04:20:36Z

The Goyder Street Library is a small independent community library in Narrabundah (here in Canberra) and they recently approached me to design a website for them. They only had limited funds so I agreed to provide them with a website at reduced cost in support of their organisation. They were very happy with the design and they hope that their new website can bring a love of books and reading to more people in the Canberra area.

Do you need a website for your business or community group? Contact Jen at Red Instead to tell me more about what you need.

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Business Card and Logo: Viva Handmade

2010-08-14T08:57:58Z

Recently, I designed and printed some Business Cards / Swing Tags for Viva Handmade. Business Owner, Leanne Murdoch had played around in a graphics program at home and had come up with a design for her new business but she wasn’t completely happy with it, and more importantly she didn’t know how to get it into the right format required for professional printing.

This is the logo that Leanne had been playing with:

While it had some good points, I felt that the text was not presenting a strong enough message for her business. There was a little too much going on at once – different fonts, colours and styles all competing for attention. Also the hands image bothered me as I was sure I had seen something very much like it before. A few days later I realised where I had seen it – it was very similar to the logo for TomTom, who make car GPS navigation aids. I saw this logo every time I turned my GPS on!

I reworked the hands design and strengthened all of the elements so that they worked together better. The “Viva Handmade” words are now a lot stronger and bolder than the ones in Leanne’s original mockup, providing a better fit with the style that Viva Handmade wants to be known for. Then I designed a business card (to double as a swing tag for her clothing items) and this is the end product:

The cards are a lovely gloss on both sides, with the bright orange on the back side. I also produced a disc for Leanne that had her artwork and design information on it, so that she can keep a copy for whenever she needs it in the future.

One of the things on that disc is the colour information for her logo – these codes can be used by any other designer to match the colours for print or web design, so that the orange and blue for Viva Handmade will always be just the right shades.

Have you been playing with a design for your new business – be honest now, does it need a little professional finessing? Do you need a professional logo or new business cards to put your best foot forward? Contact Jen at Red Instead to talk about how we can work together to give you the visual tools to project the right image for your business.

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Business Card: Cheeky Textiles

2010-07-22T08:05:28Z

I recently did some work for Anastasia de Grave at Cheeky Textiles – maker of beautiful fabric wall art. Anastasia needed some business cards designed and printed so she came to me.

The hummingbird design was drawn for her by another designer last year so I put it to work for her, and the resulting business card shows off a stylish and modern design that perfectly complements the wall art that Cheeky Textiles produces.

Do you need a business card or some social networking advice for your business? Get in contact and let me help you give your business the edge.

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Logo, Business Cards, Photos, Website: Erica Soy Candles

2010-08-13T14:44:01Z

In May I did some work for Erica Soy Candles – logo, business cards, product photography and a website.

Formerly known as Hugs & Kisses Hand Poured Soy Candles by Erica, owner Erica Walker wanted to give her business a professional new look so she came to me for some help. Erica and I had a productive meeting and then I didn’t hear from her for a little while. She spent a lot of time talking to focus groups – her trusted friends and work colleagues and she canvassed ideas with them. When Erica came back to me, she knew exactly what she wanted and the first thing she did was to change the name of the business to something a bit snappier and a lot shorter! After much thought she decided to go with her own name – Erica Soy Candles.

First up, I designed a logo for her and then a business card. Erica likes very understated, minimal styling and lots of white space. Here is her new business card – it is glossy and lovely and it has the same hot pink on the back side:

I then designed a website using the same design principles – very simple and understated, and lots of white space. The website serves as a place for Erica’s customers to find out more about her range and to learn all about soy candles and what makes them so much better than wax. I also set it up so that Erica can write blog posts quickly and easily and the site is structured so that it can grow with her business.

Erica also gave me a selection of her products and I took some professional product photos for her. My studio smelled so beautiful while I had her candles here – even without lighting them, they were just gorgeous to have around.

Erica Soy Candles are hand poured right here in Canberra by Erica herself and you can buy them locally at Shop Handmade in Civic, or at the Handmade Markets which are held quarterly in Canberra.

To finish up, I put everything on a disc for her so that she would have a copy of the design files and product photos to keep for herself.

Do you need a logo, business cards, product photography or a website for your business? Let Red Instead help you be the best you can – get in touch with Jen to find out more.

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JL Logo

2010-05-18T03:24:55Z

Recently I worked on some logo ideas based around my initials, JL for Jen Leheny. I wanted to keep things simple and go for a modern classical look.

I love seeing what happens when I sit down to make many variations on a theme. Here are some ideas that I played around with:

This one is my favourite and my final choice:

Modern, simple, a little bit abstract. I love the contrast of the smooth curve of the J and the straight lines of the L. Here it is again, showing variation in sizes:

Would you like me to work on a design for a logo for your business? Please get in touch so we can talk about it some more.

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Logo, Website, Poster: Brilliant Idea

2010-04-08T12:20:14Z

I recently designed a logo, website and poster for Brilliant Idea – a new microcredit program that is being run by Lighthouse Innovation on behalf of the ACT Government.

I was so happy with the way the logo turned out – bright and bold and striking. It’s funny – in the beginning the client was adamant that they didn’t want pink, and then part way through the process said “how about trying the logo with something bright, like fuschia.” It was the right call – I think the blue and pink work beautifully together, providing a balance and brilliance. The exclamation mark (the I in Idea) of course represents the eureka moment of an idea.

Along with the logo, I designed a website template, which was then coded and turned into a live website by another company. Here is the designI did for the front page of the Brilliant Idea website:

You might recognise the faces of three fabulous Canberra business women in the photos above. They all kindly gave permission for their photos to be used for the microcredit website. Left to right: Clare Incher from h for handbag, musician Sarah Daphne Foo with ukelele, and Heather from Handle with Care. I photographed these three (and many others) when I was asked to document the November Handmade Market for organiser, Julie Nichols, and I knew they would be a great match with this project.

I also designed an A5 poster for publicity of the microcredit program. They needed the poster provided to them in a format that they could easily edit themselves, to change the venue and date information for subsequent information sessions that will be run throughout the year. So I designed as usual and then inserted that design into a Publisher document as requested, with an editable space for them to insert the information session date, time and booking details as necessary.

If you need a logo or some design done for your business, why not contact me to discuss it further?

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BIKEtype

2010-04-02T02:32:03Z

Recently I was given the challenge of finding an alphabet. Not making one or arranging one to be found, but looking at something with new eyes and finding the letters of the alphabet within. The alphabet had to have a theme and had to have a good name.

I found all the letters of the alphabet hiding within the frame of my bike. Here is what I came up with:

I cut all the letters from their backgrounds and resized them to provide a usable typeface, but cutting them from their original photo did lose the context of the bike. So here is the same piece with the background remaining in the photo. The letters are not as bold but this time, the bike is clearly seen around them.

The K and Z I do admit to – I placed the bike pump casually against the bike to form part of the letter. I searched and searched for these two letters and could not find them, so I used the allowed “tiny bit of manipulation if absolutely necessary” clause that was provided as part of the challenge.

The rest were found just as they are within the bike. The water bottle holder yielded many letters (F, G, L, N and S) and the wheels and spokes provided the C, E and H. D is stitching on the seat and R is a repeated motif on the tyre.

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Website and Store Photos: Childplay

2010-03-31T04:14:37Z

Recently I designed a one page website for a children’s store called Childplay. They are having an e-commerce website developed for them by another company (as part of the POS system they have within their store) but they wanted something in the meantime to let people know who they were and what to expect in the store, so I designed this webpage for them:

Luckily for me, they already have a great identity (branding) in place, so I just built on that to create a fun and playful placeholder website. The original branding was done by Quantum Ideas and I just love the bright colours and fun treatment they designed.

I was also commissioned by Childplay to take some professional photos of their store, to be used on their upcoming e-commerce website, as well as for use at trade shows and other events.

This little boy was shopping with his mum and he loved playing with the kitchen equipment.

I took a series of internal shots to showcase the range of products stocked at Childplay.

There are so many lovely colourful products on display and I took some detail shots, some children playing, as well as giving a larger view of the whole store. These are just a small selection of the photos I took.

If you would like me to take some professional photos of your store or products, or need a website, then please get in touch so that we can discuss your needs further.

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New Logo: Education with Intention

2010-03-18T00:36:34Z

Education with Intention is an educational consultancy that specialises in designing school education packs for teachers and other organisations. The business has been running very successsfully for about a year now but the owner, Irene Serrat, realised that she needed a new logo to better reflect the professional nature of her business. She had originally signed up for a logo service as part of her current website deal. This is her old logo:

As you can see, this logo is not as clear and bold as the new one, and it also struggles at small sizes. This logo suffers because not enough thought has gone into the design and production of this logo – the most important part of your business identity. A logo must work well at large and small sizes, in black and white and in colour. Think about this – how will your logo look when you have faxed a letter to somebody? Fax machines will render your logo as a scratchy black and white image – but it must still be recognisable and readable. Your logo is your branding.

A well designed logo will last many years and represent your company in a professional manner. As David Airey says in his book Logo Design Love:

Anyone can design a logo, but not everyone can design the right logo… A truly enviable iconic design will be simple, relevant, enduring, distinctive, memorable and adaptable.

When someone comes to me for a new logo, the first thing we do is talk. I find out as much as I can about the business and the person behind the business. I ask the client to bring along any material they currently have, such as business cards, brochures or letterhead so that I can see what they currently use. We talk about why these aren’t working s and what would work. We discuss colours and styles and I leave the meeting with a good understanding of what the logo needs to say about the business.

I provide a minimum of five logos for the client to take a look at – though once I get started, I very often end up presenting 10 or 12 logos. I will also include colour or style variations of the same logo as it gives a good range and helps to show the big difference that changing a colour can make. From there, the client gets a much better idea of what they like and what they don’t – they choose a couple of their favourites (sometimes taking a colour from that one and the style of this one) and I work to refine these, getting closer to the required look and feel. Then I present these again and there is usually a final finetune required before we have our finished logo.

If you are interested in giving your business a fresh new look, please contact me so we can talk about your branding and identity.

Next up, I will be designing a new website for EWI, from the ground up. Irene and I have had a couple of meetings to discuss her requirements, and each time she has gone away and really thought about where she wants her business to be going, what is the core of her business – it is really useful to take stock and check to see if you are on the right path to get to where you want to be in 5 or 10 years. Sometimes we are so busy working in the business that we don’t get a chance to stand back, think about our direction and work on the business.

Education with Intention has a fresh and bold new look and it’s just the beginning!

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