Issue link: https://nbm.uberflip.com/i/1481164
62 graphics-pro.com S T A R T H E R E 2 0 2 2 By Matt Charboneau L et's face it, if you are reading this you most likely are not sitting in an NYC design studio creative room as part of an eight-mem- ber design team who works on $50,000 corporate branding logo packages for multibillion dollar corporations. en again, perhaps you are. is article is for the design warriors out there who are disciplined to turn on their creativity at 8 a.m. and off again at 5 p.m. e folks who are leaned upon to spit out award-winning designs like they are a graphic design Pez dispenser in the hands of a 5-year-old. is is the design market where clients don't have an extra $50,000 in the budget for their donut shop logo, but they do have an extra $200, $300, $500 or $1,000 for a simple, easy-to-recognize design that is clever, unique and works well in the space for their sign. The customers you are working with are typically hands-on owners who most likely mortgaged their home to finance their dream of owning a donut shop. ey are invested, they care, and they are involved in every step of the pro- cess, and you have won their trust for a logo design. If this sounds like the custom- ers you work with, then sit down in that chair right there and let me show you how it's done. Well, at least how I do it. A LITTLE GROUNDWORK... Chances are, you are a designer with three to 10 years of experience. Perhaps you are formally trained in graphic design, perhaps not. You are most likely someone who creates marketing pieces, visual products, labels, pen designs, brew- ery coasters, T-shirt concepts, cof- fee mug graphics, key chains, tro- phies, book covers, tire covers, truck wraps, window decals, banners, signs, labels and of course, logos at either a small to medium size design firm, sign company or other mar- keting agency. How do you approach logo design? Follow these steps! Matt Charboneau started his career in the sign industry in 1985 as Charboneau Signs. In 2017, he published the Pre-Sale Sign Survey Field Guide. In 2019, he started Storm Mountain Signs and the Sign Design Institute. Contact him at Matt@stormmountainsigns.com; www. stormmountainsigns.com; and 970-481-4151. LOGOS GETTING CREATIVE WITH (All images courtesy Matt Charboneau)