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?

When my husband and I were engaged, I created the Save the Dates, invitations, and thank you cards. I had people in Kinko’s compliment me on my work and suggest I should do this for a living, and I even tried to sale a printable Christmas card on Etsy.

However, as you may have read through my blog, I never designed anything as a professional graphic designer before. Meaning I never got paid for it. I was contacted once before by Gamma Alpha Lamba to do some pro-bono work. They wanted a whole reconstruction/reorganization of their website. However they wanted to keep their current design with pop-up windows and Flash.

I was still working full-time and pregnant while trying to finish my associates degree in Graphic Design through Penn Foster. With the amount of hefty work that they wanted me to put into this website and to do it pro-bono, I had to decline it. There was absolutely no way that this was going to fit into my schedule. I gave my advice on where else they can look for help to completing their massive project.

Now I’m a SAHM. I’m finished with my degree program, and my child is almost 2 and my other one is almost 1 years old.

Today, I submitted my first professional graphic design for payment. I stumbled upon 99designs several months ago. It’s this awesome website where web designers can compete and submit their graphic design ideas for real companies who need some help with a variety of design projects. 99designs is a great way to build a portfolio.

I sat down and came up with some designs for two different companies that were needing a logo. The first one is for Juliet Gold Design. They are an interior design firm based in New York. They wanted an elegant, classy and modern design. Which means straight lines and professional colors (Gray, Black, White).

I tried to design the most sleek design I could come up with. However the only thing that I could come up with that was sleek enough was to use a comic sans font and that was it. Talk about boring. What I came up with was what I think is a mid-west version of elegant, classy and modern that doesn’t match the logo for Chanel. I did not submit my project because I had to face reality. My graphic design style doesn’t consist of designing for glamour and class. I create fun, colorful, and functional designs. No way am I saying that those designs for Juliet Gold Design is boring, but if I was the interior designer I would not be looking for something so sleek, simple, and plain-jane glamour/classy.

This is what I love about working for myself, I get to pick what things I can design and make. I am skilled in certain areas. I’m not skilled in absolutely everything that graphic design has to offer.

The second project I worked on today was for a cleaning company called Foundations Health Solutions. They primarily clean for hospitals and do maintenance. I didn’t feel comfortable putting a hospital sign in their logo. If I saw a hospital emblem (the famous “+” sign) I would be confused thinking that Foundations Health Solutions was a company that helps hospitals with back-end administration instead of cleaning toilets and repairing holes in the walls.

Instead I came up with a logo where I used shapes instead. You can find the design here. I wouldn’t mind if you went and “starred” my design either. :) Let the company know you think my design rocks. If you do, he’ll favor it if his customers will favor it.