Great News! I recently entered a design competition and the contest holder said they liked my design! I was one of the few that he immediately selected and did not eliminate. Unfortunately, my design sent a spiral of other graphic designers to produce my design but in a sharper contrast that I didn’t even think of. Rats! I hate copycats. And I’m starting to not like submitting my designs in the design competitions just for that reason!

However, here’s my last design I submitted for the project;

The client wanted a design that was professional and young. They were going to be educating 11-15 year olds about drugs and prescription drugs (and how they shouldn’t do them). I honestly think I hit the spot with this design. The designer is currently picking his last contestants.

I also entered another competition for East Ave Community Church. The contest holder did not want any symbol that made it stand out as a church. No cross, no sun, nothing that resembled a church. They wanted a design with water. I used my abstract art abilities to create the design, but unfortunately I was eliminated. They wanted either something very close to looking realistic or they wanted a real picture of water in their logo. We can’t use stock images or clip art in our design so it’s hard to make something realistic when all you have to rely on is your own drawings. You have to be really good. This is what I submitted;

There was another designer that submitted a drawing that was as close to realistic as possible. The contest holder wasn’t 100% pleased, but he was more pleased then the rest of the designs that were submitted. I decided that competition was certainly note a competition I had a chance at winning. I did not enter another design. I believe you’re a great graphic designer if you are honest with a client and let them know that you cannot create what they seek. With this realization, it made me want to take my business down into a more direct path of what specific things I can design for. Right now I’m teetering more towards abstract art then realistic images.

In regards to business news, I started the rough draft for a Design Brief questionnaire. The design brief is a list of questions that I will be sending to interested clients. It will enable me to get a better feel of what logo they would like me to design for them. I believe at the moment I’m going to start out by designing logo’s, and then I will venture into web design. I will probably venture into blog design, or designing templates for wordpress.

Let’s Discuss!

What do you think about my designs? Is there anything I should design different? Is there anything you would change?